This is a list of events related to British television in 1937.

Events

January

*19 January – BBC Television broadcasts ''The Underground Murder Mystery'' by J. Bissell Thomas from its London station, the first play written for

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

February

*6 February – The BBC Television Service drops the Baird system in favour of the Marconi-

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

405 lines The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. The number of television lines influences the image resolution, or quality of the picture. It was ...

system.

March

*No events.

April

*No events.

May

*12 May – The BBC use their

outside broadcast Outside broadcasting (OB) is the electronic field production (EFP) of television or radio programmes (typically to cover television news and sports television events) from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video camera a ...

unit for the first time, to televise the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. A fragment of this broadcast is one of the earliest surviving examples of British television, filmed off-screen at home by an engineer with an 8 mm cine camera. A short section of this footage is used in a programme during the week of the 1953

coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

and this latter programme survives in the BBC's archives. *14 May – The BBC Television Service broadcasts a thirty-minute excerpt of ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...

'', the first known instance of a

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play on television. Among the cast are

Greer Garson Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...

and

Peggy Ashcroft Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991), known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was deter ...

who appears in a 1939 telecast of the entire play.

June

*18 June – Broadcast of the Agatha Christie play '' Wasp's Nest'', the only instance of Christie adapting one of her works for television, a medium she later came to dislike. *21 June –

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

(tennis) first shown on the BBC Television Service.

July

*No events.

August

*No events.

September

*16 September – Football is televised for the first time. It is a specially-arranged

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

between Arsenal and

Arsenal Reserves Arsenal Football Club Academy is the youth system of Arsenal Football Club based in Hale End, London, England. It is often referred to as Hale End eponymously by the club, sports media, and fans. The academy teams play in the Professional Dev ...

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

October

*No events.

November

*11 November (

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, Fran ...

) – BBC Television devotes the evening to a broadcast of ''

Journey's End ''Journey's End'' is a 1928 dramatic play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff, set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of the First World War. The story plays out in the officers' dugout of a British Army infantry c ...

'' by R. C. Sherriff (1928, set on the

Western Front (World War I) The Western Front was one of the main theatres of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of impo ...

in 1918), the first full-length television adaptation of a stage play and the first time that a whole evening's programming has been given over to a single play.

Reginald Tate Reginald Tate (13 December 1896 – 23 August 1955) was an English actor, veteran of many roles on stage, in films and on television. He is remembered best as the first actor to play the television science-fiction character Professor Ber ...

plays the lead, Stanhope, a role he has performed extensively in the theatre.

December

*31 December – 2,121 television sets have been sold in England.

Debuts

*19 January – ''The Underground Murder Mystery'' (1937) *12 April – ''

Cabaret Cruise ''Cabaret Cruise'' is a live variety programme series broadcast 193739, 1946 and 1949 on BBC Television. It was one of several spin-offs from the BBC series ''Cabaret''. Its distinctive feature was that it was set on the fictional ship RMS '' ...

'' (1937-1939; 1946; 1949) *17 April – ''

The Disorderly Room ''The Disorderly Room'' is a musical comedy sketch written by the actor and writer Eric Blore during the First World War. It was first performed at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London, in 1919 and starred Blore, Stanley Holloway, Tom Walls, Leslie ...

'' (1937–1939) *24 April – ''

For the Children ''For the Children'' is a British television programme targeted at children of school age. First broadcast on the BBC Television Service in 1937 at 3pm as the opening programme for afternoon viewing (as television would generally be broadcast ...

'' (1937–1939, 1946–1952) *14 May - ''Twelfth Night'' (1937) *19 May – ''The School for Scandal'' (1937) *18 June – '' Wasp's Nest'' (1937) *7 July – '' How He Lied to Her Husband'' (1937) *21 October – ''

Night Must Fall ''Night Must Fall'' is a play, a psychological thriller, by Emlyn Williams, first performed in 1935. There have been three film adaptations, '' Night Must Fall'' (1937); a 1954 adaptation on the television anthology series ''Ponds Theater'' sta ...

'' (1937) *11 November – ''

'' (1937) *14 December – ''Tele-Ho!" (1937) *20 December – '' The Ghost Train'' (1937) *Unknown – ''Sports Review'' (1937) *Unknown – ''Starlight'' (1937-1939; 1946-1949)

Continuing television shows

1920s

*''BBC Wimbledon'' (1927–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–2024)

1930s

*''

Picture Page ''Picture Page'' is a British television non-fiction programme, broadcast by the BBC Television Service (now known as BBC One) from 1936 to 1939, and again after the service's hiatus during the Second World War from 1946 until 1952. It was the ...

'' (1936–1939, 1946–1952)

Births

* 1 January –

Anne Aubrey Anne Aubrey (born 1 January 1937) is a retired English film actress. She was mainly active in Warwick Films in the 1950s and 1960s. She worked with Anthony Newley in such films as '' Idol on Parade'', '' Killers of Kilimanjaro'', '' The Bandit ...

, actress * 9 January – Michael Nicholson, journalist (died

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

) * 30 January –

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, tw ...

, actress * 25 February –

Tom Courtenay Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay (; born 25 February 1937) is an English actor. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Courtenay achieved prominence in the 1960s with a series of acclaimed film roles, including ''The Loneliness of ...

, actor * 8 March – Justine Lord, actress * 27 March –

Alan Hawkshaw William Alan Hawkshaw (27 March 1937 – 16 October 2021) was a British composer and performer, particularly of library music used as themes for movies and television programs. Hawkshaw worked extensively for the KPM production music company ...

, theme tune composer (died

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

) * 9 April –

Valerie Singleton Valerie Singleton (born 9 April 1937) is an English television and radio presenter best known as a regular presenter of the popular children's series ''Blue Peter'' from 1962 to 1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 '' PM'' programme for t ...

, presenter * 11 April –

Jill Gascoine Jill Viola Gascoine (11 April 1937 – 28 April 2020) was an English actress and novelist. She portrayed Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes in the 1980s television series '' The Gentle Touch'' and its spin-off series '' C.A.T.S. Eyes''. In the ...

, actress and novelist (died

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

) * 1 May – Una Stubbs, actress (died

) * 12 May –

Susan Hampshire Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, (born 12 May 1937) is an English actress known for her many television and film roles. A three-time Emmy Award winner, she won for '' The Forsyte Saga'' in 1970, ''The First Churchills'' in 1969, and for ''Vani ...

, actress * 19 May –

Pat Roach Francis Patrick Roach (19 May 1937 – 17 July 2004) was an English professional wrestler, martial artist and actor. During an acting career between the 1970s and the 1990s, he appeared in multiple films, usually cast as a support player strongm ...

, actor and wrestler (died 2004) * 5 August –

Carla Lane Romana Barrack (5 August 1928 – 31 May 2016), known professionally as Carla Lane, was an English television writer responsible for several successful British sitcoms, including '' The Liver Birds'' (co-creator, 1969–1979), ''Butterflies'' (1 ...

, comedy writer (died 2016) * 6 August –

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.

, actress (died 2020) * 18 August –

Willie Rushton William George Rushton (18 August 1937 – 11 December 1996) was an English cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and performer who co-founded the satirical magazine ''Private Eye''. Early life Rushton was born 18 August 1937 in 3 Wilbraham Plac ...

, comedian, actor and writer (died 1996) * 20 August –

Jim Bowen James Brown Whittaker (born Peter Williams; 20 August 1937 – 14 March 2018), known professionally as Jim Bowen, was an English stand-up comedian, actor and television personality. He was the long-time host of the ITV game show ''Bullseye'', ...

, comedian and host (died

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

) * 2 September – Derek Fowlds, actor (died

) * 5 September –

Dick Clement Dick Clement (born 5 September 1937) is an English writer, director and producer. He became known for his writing partnership with Ian La Frenais for television series including '' The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?' ...

, comedy scriptwriter * 16 September – Bella Emberg, born Sybil Dyke, comedy actress (died 2018) * 14 November – Alan J. W. Bell, director and producer * 17 November –

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

, comedian and writer (died

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

) * 27 November – Rodney Bewes, actor (died

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

) * 29 November –

Ingrid Pitt Ingrid Pitt (born Ingoushka Petrov; 21 November 193723 November 2010) was a Polish-British actress and writer best known for her work in horror films of the 1970s. Early life Ingoushka Petrov was born in Warsaw, Poland, one of two daughters ...

, actress (died 2010) * 20 December – Charles Denton, producer * 29 December –

Barbara Steele Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English film actress known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens" and "Britain's first lady of horror". She played th ...

, actress

References

{{Years in TV by country, 1937

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Debuts

Continuing television shows

1920s

1930s

Births

See also

References