This is a list of events from British radio in 1963.

Events

*6 January – Alan Freeman takes over as presenter of ''

Pick of the Pops ''Pick of the Pops'' is a long-running BBC Radio programme originally based on the Top 20 from the UK Singles Chart and first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme on 4 October 1955. It transferred to BBC Radio 1 (simulcast on BBC Radio 2) from 19 ...

''; he remains with the programme until the BBC ceases to broadcast it in 1972, and then with revivals. *19 February – Actress Ellis Powell is dismissed from the leading role of Mrs Dale in the BBC Light Programme soap opera '' The Dales'', which she has played since the first episode as ''Mrs Dale's Diary'' in 1948, and it is given to former musical actress

Jessie Matthews Jessie Margaret Matthews (11 March 1907 – 19 August 1981) was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1920s and 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period. After a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, Ma ...

; Powell dies 3 months later aged 57. *29 September–December – Don Moss joins Alan Freeman to host ''Pick of the Pops''. *23 November – 20th anniversary of the first broadcast of the

British Forces Broadcasting Service The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselv ...

. *

Martin Esslin , birth_date = , birth_place = Budapest, Austria-Hungary , death_date = , death_place = London, England, UK , education = University of ViennaMax Reinhardt Seminar, ...

is appointed Head of Radio Drama at the BBC, a position he holds until 1977. *

Richard Imison Richard Imison (31 October 1936 – 9 February 1993) was Script Editor for BBC Radio Drama from 1963 to 1991. In the thirty years that Imison worked for BBC Radio Drama it was the largest patron of original creative dramatic writing in Britai ...

is appointed Script Editor for BBC Radio Drama, a position he holds until 1991.

Programme debuts

*4 June – ''Pop Go

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

'' on the BBC Light Programme (1963)

Continuing radio programmes

1940s

* ''

Music While You Work ''Music While You Work'' was a daytime radio programme of continuous live popular music broadcast in the United Kingdom twice daily on workdays from 23 June 1940 until 29 September 1967 by the BBC. Initially, the morning edition was generally ...

'' (1940–1967) * ''

Sunday Half Hour ''The Sunday Hour'' was a long-standing show broadcast on the BBC Light Programme and then BBC Radio 2 in the United Kingdom, broadcast for 78 years between 14 July 1940 and 28 January 2018. For most of its life it occupied a Sunday evening ...

'' (1940–2018) * '' Desert Island Discs'' (1942–Present) * ''

Family Favourites ''Family Favourites'' (remembered by its later name ''Two-Way Family Favourites'') was the successor to the wartime radio show ''Forces Favourites'', broadcast at Sunday lunchtimes on the BBC Light Programme, later BBC Radio 2 from 1945 unti ...

'' (1945–1980) * ''

Down Your Way ''Down Your Way'' was a BBC radio series which ran from 29 December 1946 to 1992, originally on the Home Service, later on BBC Radio 4, usually being broadcast on Sunday afternoons. It visited towns and villages around the United Kingdom, spoke to ...

'' (1946–1992) * '' Have A Go'' (1946–1967) * ''

Housewives' Choice ''Housewives' Choice'' was a BBC Radio record request programme, broadcast every morning between 1946 and 1967 on the BBC Light Programme. It played a wide range of mostly popular music intended to appeal to housewives at home during the day. ...

'' (1946–1967) * ''

Letter from America ''Letter from America'' was a weekly fifteen-minute speech radio series broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and its predecessor, the Home Service, and around the world through the BBC World Service. From its first edition to its last, it was presented by A ...

'' (1946–2004) * ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...

'' (1946–Present) * '' Twenty Questions'' (1947–1976) * '' Any Questions?'' (1948–Present) * '' The Dales'' (1948–1969) * '' Billy Cotton Band Show'' (1949–1968) * ''

A Book at Bedtime ''Book at Bedtime'' (''A Book at Bedtime'' until 9 July 1993) is a long-running radio programme that is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each weekday evening between 22.45 and 23.00. The programme presents readings of fiction, including modern classics, ...

'' (1949–Present)

1950s

* ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural settin ...

'' (1950–Present) * ''

Listen with Mother ''Listen with Mother'' was a BBC radio programme for children which ran between 16 January 1950 to 10 September 1982. It was originally produced by Freda Lingstrom and was presented over the years by Daphne Oxenford, Julia Lang, Eileen Browne, ...

'' (1950–1982) * ''

From Our Own Correspondent ''From Our Own Correspondent'' is a weekly BBC radio programme in which BBC foreign correspondents deliver a sequence of short talks reflecting on current events and topical themes in the countries outside the UK in which they are based. The pro ...

'' (1955–Present) * ''

The Clitheroe Kid ''The Clitheroe Kid'' was a BBC Radio comedy show featuring diminutive Northern comic Jimmy Clitheroe in the role of a cheeky schoolboy, who lived with his family at Lilac Avenue in an unnamed town in the North of England. The pilot show, pil ...

'' (1957–1972) * ''

My Word! ''My Word!'' is a British radio quiz panel game broadcast by the BBC on the Home Service (1956–67) and Radio 4 (1967–88). It was created by Edward J. Mason and Tony Shryane, and featured the humorous writers Frank Muir and Denis Norden, k ...

'' (1957–1988) * ''

Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. It broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 LW ( ...

'' (1957–Present) * ''

The Today Programme ''Today'', colloquially known as ''the Today programme'', is a long-running British morning news and current-affairs radio programme on BBC Radio 4. Broadcast on Monday to Saturday from 6:00 am to 9:00 am, it is produced by BBC News and is the ...

'' (1957–Present) * ''

The Navy Lark ''The Navy Lark'' is a radio sitcom about life aboard a British Royal Navy frigate named HMS ''Troutbridge'' (a play on HMS ''Troubridge'', a Royal Navy destroyer) based in HMNB Portsmouth. In series 1 and 2, the ship and crew were stationed ...

'' (1959–1977) * ''

Sing Something Simple ''Sing Something Simple'' was a half-hour radio programme, which featured Cliff Adams and The Cliff Adams Singers, with Jack Emblow on accordion. The programme ran for 42 years from 1959 until 2001, initially on the BBC Light Programme and later ...

'' (1959–2001) * ''

Your Hundred Best Tunes ''Your Hundred Best Tunes'' was a BBC radio music programme, always broadcast on Sunday evenings, which presented popular works which were mostly classical excerpts, choral works, opera and ballads. The hundred tunes which made up the playlist w ...

'' (1959–2007)

1960s

* ''

Farming Today ''Farming Today'' is a radio programme about food, farming, and the countryside broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom. It is broadcast each weekday morning (having been recorded the day before) from 5.45 to 5.58, and a longer programme ...

'' (1960–Present) * '' Easy Beat'' (1960–1967) * '' In Touch'' (1961–Present) * ''

The Men from the Ministry ''The Men from the Ministry'' is a British radio comedy series broadcast by the BBC between 1962 and 1977, starring Wilfrid Hyde-White, Richard Murdoch and, from 1966, when he replaced Hyde-White, Deryck Guyler. Written and produced by Edward ...

'' (1962–1977)

Births

*6 January –

Julian Worricker Julian Gordon Worricker (born 6 January 1963 in Woking, Surrey) is an English journalist, currently working as one of the main presenters of ''Weekend'' on the BBC World Service, as stand in presenter of ''Any Answers'' on BBC Radio 4 and a rel ...

, radio and television journalist *14 January –

Adjoa Andoh Adjoa Andoh Hon. FRSL (born 14 January 1963) is a British actress. On stage, she has played lead roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre. On television, she appeared in two ...

, film, television, stage and radio actress *4 April –

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy ...

, Irish actor, comedian, television presenter, columnist and broadcaster *2 May –

Esther Freud Esther Freud (born 2 May 1963) is a British novelist. Early life and training Born in London, Freud is the daughter of Bernardine Coverley and painter Lucian Freud. She is also a great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud and niece of Clement Freud. ...

, novelist and broadcaster *19 May –

Michael Symmons Roberts Michael Symmons Roberts FRSL (born 1963 in Preston, Lancashire) is a British poet. He has published eight collections of poetry, all with Cape (Random House), and has won the Forward Prize, the Costa Book Award and the Whitbread Prize for Poetr ...

, poet and radio dramatist *20 May –

Jenny Funnell Jenny Victoria Funnell (born 20 May 1963) is a British actress best known for her role as Sandy in the long-running British sitcom '' As Time Goes By'' from 1992 to 2005. Early life Funnell was born in Kenya and has a twin sister. She moved t ...

, radio and television actress *26 May –

Simon Armitage Simon Robert Armitage (born 26 May 1963) is an English poet, playwright, musician and novelist. He was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds. He has published over 20 collections of poetr ...

, poet laureate and broadcaster *June –

Philip Middlemiss Philip Middlemiss (born Philip Sean Lloyd; 19 June 1963) is an English television, radio actor and businessman, best known for playing bookmaker Des Barnes in ITV's '' Coronation Street'' between 1990 and 1998. The character was killed off, or ...

, radio and television actor *7 June –

Lesley Douglas Lesley Douglas (born 7 June 1963) is a British former radio executive. She was the Controller of BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music from early 2004 until her resignation in October 2008 over The Russell Brand Show prank calls row. Early life Lesley Dougl ...

, BBC radio executive, Controller of Radio 2 and 6 Music from 2004–2008 *2 July –

Mark Kermode Mark James Patrick Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter and podcaster. He is the chief film critic for ''The Observer'', contributes to the magazine ''Sight & Sound'', prese ...

, film critic *30 October –

Wendy Robbins Wendy Robbins (born 30 October 1963 in Bromley, Kent) is a British radio and television presenter and producer. She presents ''The House I Grew Up In'' broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and reports for ''The One Show'' on BBC1. Career Prior to her career ...

, radio and television presenter and producer *3 November –

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...

, footballer and radio and television presenter *28 November –

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of ...

, Scottish broadcast and film writer-producer and presenter *Unknown **

Shola Adewusi Shola Adewusi (born 1963) is an England, English actress of Nigerian descent, of stage screen and radio. Her television work includes ''Little Miss Jocelyn'', the BBC Television comedy, comedy sketch show series written by and starring Jocely ...

, stage, screen and radio actress **

Lynn Bowles Lynn Bowles is a British broadcaster and a former traffic weekday mornings reporter for BBC Radio 2. Early life Bowles was born in Splott, Cardiff, Wales, and is the youngest of three siblings. Her father, Cliff, was a marine engineer; her mother ...

, BBC Radio 2 travel presenter ** Jeremy Rees, radio presenter

Deaths

*10 March –

Lindley Fraser Lindley Macnaghten Fraser (14 August 1904 – 10 March 1963) was a Scottish academic, author, broadcaster and economist. After an academic career, during which he successfully switched from classics to economics, holding university posts in Amer ...

, Scottish-born academic economist and broadcaster (born 1904) *18 March – Peter Eckersley, pioneering radio engineer (born 1892) *10 May –

Stanley Maxted Stanley Maxted (21 August 1895 – 10 May 1963) was a British-Canadian soldier, singer, radio producer, journalist and actor. He worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and later for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a ...

, war reporter and actor (born 1895)

References

{{Reflist

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

Years in British radio

Events

Programme debuts

Continuing radio programmes

1940s

1950s

1960s

Births

Deaths

See also

References