This is a list of

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

related events from 1954.

Events

January

*11 January – The first weather forecast with an in-vision presenter is televised in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, its first presenter is

George Cowling George Cowling (2 March 1920 – 24 December 2009) was the BBC's first television weather forecasting, weatherman. Cowling joined the Met Office in 1939 and worked as a forecaster for the RAF before joining the BBC in 1954. On 11 January 1954 ...

February

*No events.

March

*No events.

April

*9 April – ''

The Grove Family ''The Grove Family'' was a British television series soap opera, generally regarded as the first of its kind broadcast in the UK, made and broadcast by the BBC Television Service from 1954 to 1957. The series concerned the life of the family of ...

'', generally considered the first British TV

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, debuts on the BBC Television Service.

May

*No events.

June

*No events.

July

*5 July – First actual news bulletin, ''News and Newsreel'', aired on the BBC Television Service, replacing ''

Television Newsreel ''Television Newsreel'' is a British television programme, the first regular news programme to be made in the UK. Produced by the BBC and screened on the BBC Television Service from 1948 to 1954 at 7.30pm, it adapted the traditional cinema news ...

''. *30 July – The

Television Act 1954 The Television Act 1954 was a British law which permitted the creation of the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom, ITV. Until the early 1950s, the only television service in Britain was operated as a monopoly by the Britis ...

is given Royal Assent. It authorises the setting up of the infrastructure for British commercial television.

August

*No events.

September

*No events.

October

*7 October – BBC Television covers a party political conference for the first time when it broadcasts from the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool.

November

*No events.

December

*12 December – The BBC Television Service screens its famous, and controversial, adaptation of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

's ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final ...

'', which attracts criticism in the House of Commons. *30 December – The first

BBC Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just one, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. Several new awards have been i ...

ceremony is presented from London's

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 188 ...

Christopher Chataway Sir Christopher John Chataway (31 January 1931 – 19 January 2014) was a British middle- and long-distance runner, television news broadcaster, and Conservative politician. Education He was born in Chelsea, London, the son of James Denys ...

is the first winner. The award airs annually from now on. *The

British Academy Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

, the most prestigious awards in the British television industry, are first awarded.

Debuts

BBC Television Service

*5 January – ''A Castle and Sixpence'' (1954) *16 January – ''

The Lost Planet ''The Lost Planet'' is a 1953 American horror science fiction serial film 15-chapter serial which has the distinction of being the last interplanetary-themed sound serial ever made. It was directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet with a screenplay b ...

'' (1954) *19 January – '' Show Case'' (1954–1955) *27 January – ''

Friends and Neighbours ''Friends and Neighbours'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Arthur Askey, Megs Jenkins and Peter Illing. Plot At the height of the Cold War, a working-class British family have to entertain two visitors from R ...

'' (1954) *6 February – '' Clementina'' (1954) *16 February – '' The Cabin in the Clearing'' (1954) *17 February – ''

The Bespoke Overcoat ''The Bespoke Overcoat'' is a 1956 British black and white short film directed by Jack Clayton, based on a 1953 play of the same name by Wolf Mankowitz. The story is an adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's short story ''The Overcoat'' with the action ...

'' (1954) *30 March – ''

The Wide, Wide World ''The Wide, Wide World'' is an 1850 novel by Susan Warner, published under the pseudonym Elizabeth Wetherell. It is often acclaimed as America's first bestseller. Plot ''The Wide, Wide World'' is a work of sentimentalism about the life of yo ...

'' (1954) *31 March – '' Gravelhanger'' (1954) *9 April – ''

'' (1954–1957) *21 April – '' Running Wild'' (1954) *11 May – '' The Windmill Family'' (1954) *12 May – '' The Dancing Bear'' (1954) *12 May – '' Fast and Loose'' (1954–1955) *23 May – ''The Promised Years'' (1954) *7 June – '' Emney Enterprises'' (1954–1957) *15 June – '' The Gentle Falcon'' (1954) *10 July – ''

Happy Holidays The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...

'' (1954) *13 July – ''

Dear Dotty ''Dear Dotty'' is a British television sitcom that aired on the BBC in 1954. Starring Avril Angers, Naomi Chance, and Jack Melford John Kenneth George Melford Smith (5 September 1899 – 22 October 1972) was a British stage, film and telev ...

'' (1954) *14 July – '' The Six Proud Walkers'' (1954) *3 August – ''

Paradise Island Paradise Island is an island in The Bahamas formerly known as Hog Island. The island, with an area of (2.8 km2/1.1 sq mi), is located just off the shore of the city of Nassau, which is itself located on the northern edge of the island of ...

'' (1954) *16 August – '' Stage by Stage'' (1954–1955) *25 August – '' Crime on Our Hands'' (1954) *1 October – '' And So to Bentley'' (1954) *13 November – ''

Fabian of the Yard ''Fabian of the Yard'' is a British police procedural television series based on the real-life memoirs of Scotland Yard detective Robert Fabian, made by the BBC and broadcast between November 1954 and February 1956. It is considered the earliest ...

'' (1954–1956) *24 November – ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

'' (1954) *12 December – ''

'' (1954) *21 December – ''

Zoo Quest ''Zoo Quest'' is a series of multi-part nature documentaries broadcast on the BBC Television Service between 1954 and 1963. It was the first major programme to feature David Attenborough. In each series, Attenborough travelled with staff from ...

'' (1954–1963) *24 December – '' Carols From Kings'' (1954–present) *Unknown – **''Sportsview'' (1954-1968) **''Walk in the Air'' (1954–1955)

Independent productions

* ''

The Halls of Ivy ''The Halls of Ivy'' is an American situation comedy that ran from 1950 to 1952 on NBC radio, created by '' Fibber McGee & Molly'' co-creator/writer Don Quinn. The series was adapted into a CBS television comedy (1954–55) produced by ITC Enterta ...

'' (produced by

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme Compan ...

) * ''

The Vise ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (produced by Danziger Productions)

Continuing television shows

1920s

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

1930s

The Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's ...

(1938–1939, 1946–2019) *''BBC Cricket'' (1939, 1946–1999, 2020–2024)

1940s

*''

Muffin the Mule Muffin the Mule is a puppet character in a British 1946-1955 television programme for children. The puppet had been made in 1933 for Hogarth Puppets. The original TV programmes featuring the animal character himself were presented by Annette M ...

'' (1946–1955, 2005–2006) *''

Come Dancing ''Come Dancing'' is a British ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off on the BBC from 1949 to 1998. Unlike its follow-up show, ''Strictly Come Dancing'', contestants were not celebrities. The show was created by Eric Morley, the ...

'' (1949–1998)

1950s

*''

Andy Pandy ''Andy Pandy'' is a British children's television series that first appeared on BBC Television in summer 1950. Originally live, a series of 26 filmed programmes was shown until 1970, when a new series of 13 episodes was made. A revival of the s ...

'' (1950–1970, 2002–2005) *''

Flower Pot Men ''Flower Pot Men'' is a British programme for young children produced by BBC Television. It was first transmitted in 1952, and repeated regularly for more than twenty years. A reboot of the show called ''Bill and Ben'' was produced in 2001. ...

'' (1952–1958, 2001–2002) *''

Watch with Mother ''Watch with Mother'' was a cycle of children's programmes created by Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird. Broadcast by BBC Television from 1952 until 1975, it was the first BBC television series aimed specifically at pre-school children, a developmen ...

'' (1952–1975) *''

The Appleyards ''The Appleyards'' is a British television soap opera for children, made and transmitted fortnightly by BBC Television from October 1952 to April 1957, from the BBC's Lime Grove Studios. It was produced and directed by Naomi Capon. Transmitted l ...

'' (1952–1957) *''

All Your Own ''All Your Own'' is a BBC children's television programme broadcast from 1952 until 1961. The show provided the first television appearances for Jimmy Page, John Williams and the King Brothers. Commissioned by Freda Lingstrom and produced by C ...

'' (1952–1961) *'' Rag, Tag and Bobtail'' (1953–1965) *'' The Good Old Days'' (1953–1983) *''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

'' (1953–present)

Ending this year

* ''

'' (1948–1954)

Births

* 6 January –

John Sparkes John Sparkes (born 6 January 1954) is a Welsh actor and comedian. He portrayed Barry Welsh, presenter of the HTV Wales series ''Barry Welsh Is Coming''. He has also had major roles in ''Naked Video'', '' Absolutely'', ''Fireman Sam'', ''Shaun ...

, comedian * 20 February –

Anthony Head Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, w ...

, actor * 16 March –

Jimmy Nail James Michael Aloysius Bradford (born 16 March 1954), known as Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' a ...

, actor and singer * 17 March –

Lesley-Anne Down Lesley-Anne Down (born 17 March 1954) is a British actress, singer and former model. She achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1973–75). She received further recognition for her performances in t ...

, actress * 28 April - Mary Jo Randle, actress * 9 May –

Nicholas Crane Nicholas Crane (born 6 May 1954) is an English geographer, explorer, writer and broadcaster. Since 2004 he has written and presented four television series for BBC Two: ''Coast'', ''Great British Journeys'', '' Map Man'' and ''Town''. Early ...

, geographer and TV presenter * 21 June –

Anne Kirkbride Anne Kirkbride (21 June 1954 – 19 January 2015) was an English actress, best known for her long-running role as Deirdre Barlow in the ITV (TV network), ITV soap ''Coronation Street'', which she played for 42 years from 1972 to 2014. For this ...

, actress (

Deirdre Barlow Deirdre Anne Barlow (also Hunt, Langton and Rachid) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Anne Kirkbride. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 November 1972 ...

in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'') (died

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

) * 16 July –

Nicholas Frankau Nicholas Frankau (born 16 July 1954) is an English actor best known for playing the role of Flt. Lt. Carstairs in the British sitcom Allo 'Allo!'' whose recurring theme involves failure to get back to Britain. Early life and career Frankau ...

, actor * 26 August – Steve Wright, broadcaster * 27 August – Andrew Marshall, scriptwriter * 8 September –

Anne Diamond Anne Margaret Diamond (born 8 September 1954) is a British journalist and broadcaster. She presently hosts the weekend breakfast show on GB News with Stephen Dixon as her co-presenter. She hosted '' Good Morning Britain'' for TV-am and ''Good ...

, journalist and television presenter * 24 September **

Helen Lederer Helen Margaret Lederer (born 24 September 1954) is an English comedian, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s. Among her television credits are the BBC2 sketch series ''Naked Video'' ...

, comedian and actress **

Martin Sixsmith Martin Sixsmith (born 24 September 1954) is a British author and radio/television presenter, primarily working for the BBC. He has also worked as an adviser to the Labour government and to the BBC television comedy series ''The Thick of It''. Si ...

, journalist, author and radio and television presenter * 3 October – Jeff Randall, journalist and television presenter * 14 October –

Carole Malone Carole Anne Malone (born 14 October 1954) is an English TV presenter, journalist and broadcaster. Career Malone was born on 14 October 1954 in the mining village of West Allotment, near Newcastle upon Tyne. She started her career as a journalis ...

, journalist and presenter * 19 October –

Ken Stott Kenneth Campbell Stott (born 19 October 1954) is a Scottish stage, television and film actor who won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1995 in the play '' Broken Glass'' at Royal National Theatre. He portrayed th ...

, actor * 24 November – Susan Gilmore, actress (Avril Rolfe in ''

Howards' Way ''Howards' Way'' is a television drama series produced by BBC Birmingham and transmitted on BBC1 between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the wealthy yachting and business comm ...

'') * 1 December –

Alan Dedicoat Alan Dedicoat (born 1 December 1954) is an English announcer for programmes on BBC One. He is known as the "Voice of the Balls" on the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lottery The National Lottery Draws, programmes, providing a voice ...

, newsreader and the National Lottery's "Voice of the Balls" * 5 December –

Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and novelist of South Asian and English descent. In 2008, ''The Times'' included Kureishi in its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Early l ...

, novelist and screenwriter * 22 December –

Hugh Quarshie Hugh Anthony Quarshie (born 22 December 1954) is a Ghanaian-born British actor. Some of his best-known roles include his appearances in the films '' Highlander'' (1986), '' The Church'' (1989), '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' ...

, actor

References

{{Years in TV by country, 1954

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Debuts

BBC Television Service

Independent productions

Continuing television shows

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

Ending this year

Births

See also

References