1999 In British Television

This is a list of British television related events from 1999.

Events

January

*1 January
**New Year's Day highlights on BBC One include ''Apollo 13''.
** Denise van Outen presents her final edition of ''The Big Breakfast'' although she would return in September of the following year.
**In ''Coronation Street'', four-decade resident Alf Roberts dies of a heart attack, just one month before the real-life death of Bryan Mosley, the actor who had portrayed him since his debut in 1961.
*3–4 January – BBC One airs a two-part adaptation of Andy McNab's book '' Bravo Two Zero'', starring Sean Bean as McNab and set during the Gulf War.
*4 January
**GMTV2 launches during the breakfast downtime of ITV2.
**Debut of ''The Vanessa Show'' on BBC One.
**Australian children's drama ''Misery Guts'' begins to air on BBC One.
**Canadian television series for preschoolers ''Polka Dot Shorts'' begins to air in the UK on BBC Two. The series was so popular in the UK, it continued airing on the BBC for 6 years until 2004 and a range of videos of the series were released by Abbey Home Media.
**Debut of Canadian science-fiction drama television series '' First Wave'' on Sky One, starring Sebastian Spence.
*5 January
**Provisional viewing figures suggest that an episode of ITV's ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' aired on 3 January was watched by 17 million viewers, making it the highest viewed television programme, excluding soaps and World Cup matches since 1997.
**As he prepares to launch a new series of '' Parkinson'', broadcaster Michael Parkinson criticises his chat show rival, footballer Ian Wright telling BBC Radio 5 Live's Sybil Ruscoe that Wright has a "careless attitude" and does not have the "understanding" to do his job properly.
*6 January
**In a stunt organised by the recently launched "lads magazine" Front, television presenter Noel Edmonds is hit in the face with two custard pies while filming for '' Noel's House Party'' in London's Oxford Street.
**A Broadcasting Standards Commission survey indicates that many viewers believe sex is used on television in order to boost ratings.
*7 January – BBC One airs the network television premiere of ''Braveheart'', Mel Gibson's 1995 historical drama about the late-13th century warrior William Wallace who led the Scots which leading the clans in the fight for Scottish independence, it also starred Patrick McGoohan, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine McCormack and Sophie Marceau in her first English-language appearance.
*8 January
**Teenage model Kelly Brook is chosen to replace Denise van Outen as co-host of Channel 4's ''The Big Breakfast'' alongside Johnny Vaughan.
**Nita Desai, played by Rebecca Sarker arrives in ''Coronation Street'' to take over from Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold) as manager of the corner shop. She is the first member of the Desai family—the soap's first Asian family—to be seen on screen.
**Debut of the sitcom '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'' on BBC Two, starring Kathy Burke and James Dreyfus.
*10 January – ITV begins a six-part adaptation of Bill Bryson's ''Notes from a Small Island''.
*11 January – The black comedy show ''The League of Gentlemen'' debuts on BBC Two. Along with ''The Fast Show'' and '' Goodness Gracious Me'', it is credited with boosting international interest in British comedy series.
*12 January
**Debut of the '' Casualty'' spin-off, ''Holby City'' on BBC One. Among the cast are several former soap stars including Michael French, Angela Griffin, Nicola Stephenson and Lisa Faulkner.
**''Airline'' returns to ITV for a second series with EasyJet now as the featured company.
*13 January – BBC One's audience share drops below 30% for the first time.
*16 January – ITV's '' On the Ball'' has been recommissioned for a second run for the 1999–2000 football season despite getting off to a slow start, The Mirror newspaper reports.
*19 January
**ITV's '' This Morning'' becomes the first programme on British television to show men how to check themselves for signs of testicular cancer.
**Carlton Communications has spent £91 million on a library of 300 films from Universal Studios. The titles which were part of the ITC Television library, include '' The Eagle Has Landed'', '' The Big Easy'', '' Sophie's Choice'', '' Thunderbirds'', '' The Saint'', ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'' and ''Jesus of Nazareth''.
**Claire King makes her final regular appearance as ''Emmerdale'' character Kim Tate after a decade with the series. Following a two decades long absence from the soap in September 2018, ITV confirms King will reprise the role for a special week of episodes from 8 October 2018.
*20 January
**The UK government says no political pressure was applied to the BBC over its decision not to give Scotland a separate version of the '' Six O'Clock News''.
**ITV announce that Michael Nicholson and Jonathan Maitland will join Trevor McDonald to present a new current affairs programme for the network.
**Channel 4 defends a segment on that day's edition of ''The Big Breakfast'' in which guest presenter Jenny McCarthy assumed a number of suggestive poses as she played a "Guess the Balls" game with footballer Vinnie Jones. The item appears at 8:30am when the content can be viewed by children, but a Channel 4 spokesman tells Scotland's Daily Record that "Jenny McCarthy's performance within this criteria has been stunning and we see no areas where she has let us or the public down this week."
**The Broadcasting Standards Commission upholds viewer complaints against the TV series '' Compromising Situations'', aired on Channel 5 as well as the film ''Centerfold'' which the network aired in Summer 1998. Channel 5 is also criticised by the BSC for making sexually explicit material available on free-to-air television.
*21 January – ITV and Channel 4 sign a deal with ''Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer''.
*27 January – After upholding four viewer complaints about ''Compromising Situations'', a late-night erotic anthology series aired on Channel 5, the Broadcasting Standards Commission warns that erotic content on the channel could lead to soft porn being shown on mainstream television. The Commission expresses the opinion that complaints about ''Compromising Situations'' and another series, '' Hot Line'' raises "significant issues for public debate". The ruling leads to a row between the Commission and Channel 5, with its Chief Executive David Elstein, comparing the reprimand to the 1960 prosecution of Penguin Books''.
*29 January – Channel 5 airs episode 480 of ''Family Affairs'' which sees the entire Hart family killed in a boat explosion. The episode marks a change in direction for the soap which is to move from its riverside location to west London.

February

*1 February
**Kelly Brook takes over from Denise van Outen as co-presenter of Channel 4's ''The Big Breakfast''.
**'' The Channel 4 Political Awards'' is broadcast for the first time.
*2 February – As Glenn Hoddle is sacked as England Manager following the controversy over comments he made during a recent interview it is revealed his 13-year-old daughter Zara, wrote to the BBC's Ceefax asking people to leave Hoddle alone to get on with his job.
*3 February
**It is reported that Martini is to sign a £1 million contract with ITV to sponsor a season of James Bond films. The channel is planning to screen all 18 Bond films, beginning with ''GoldenEye'' in March, then broadcasting them in chronological order from '' Dr. No'' to ''Tomorrow Never Dies''. ''GoldenEye'' airs at 8.30 pm on 10 March. ''Dr. No'' is screened on 29 May. ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' makes its television debut on 13 October.
**The US romantic comedy-drama ''Sex and the City'' makes its British television debut on Channel 4.
*8 February – Following a five-week trial at Manchester Crown Court, former '' Central News'' reporter John Caine is convicted of sexually abusing underage boys over a period of two decades and jailed for five and a half years.
*11 February – Three members of production staff are suspended from BBC One's ''The Vanessa Show'' following reports in The Mirror that fake guests appeared on the programme. They are later sacked following an internal inquiry.
*12 February – ITV's '' Trisha'' show is caught up in a fake guests controversy after it emerges that the agent who supplied guests to the rival ''Vanessa Show'' did the same for ''Trisha'', but the show's editor Sally-Ann Howard, denies any of her team were aware that the guests were fakes.
*13 February – BBC One airs ''Face Value'', the 250th episode of '' Casualty''.
*18 February – ITV screens the Granada Television film ''The Murder of Stephen Lawrence'', a dramatisation of the aftermath of the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence told from the point of view of his parents.
*21 February – US/Canadian animated series for preschoolers '' Salty's Lighthouse'' which uses footage taken from the children's model animated series that was originally broadcast on ITV is shown on Channel 4 for the first time in the UK. At the same time, it was also the second time ''TUGS'' was shown in its homeland.
*23 February – Channel 4 debuts Russell T. Davies's groundbreaking series ''Queer as Folk''.
*25 February
**The BBC announces that '' Noel's House Party'' will be axed after eight years. The most recent edition of the show drew an audience of less than six million and it will finish when its current run ends on 20 March.
**The Broadcasting Standards Commission upholds a complaint about a feature in the Teletext games magazine ''Digitiser'' from 26 October 1998. The gossip column, Gossi the Dog had alluded to Gossi's master thrashing the talking cartoon dog with a belt.
*26 February
**''Channel 4 News'' presenter Sheena McDonald is in intensive care after receiving head injuries when she was hit by a police van on an emergency call in north London.
**Channel 4 is fined £150,000 by the Independent Television Commission for including fake scenes in ''Too Much Too Young: Chickens'', a documentary about rent boys in Glasgow that aired in 1997. The fine is the first such penalty imposed on Channel 4.

March

*4 March – BBC Prime is launched for the first time in South Africa.
*5 March – After 32 years, what was billed as the last ever '' News at Ten'' is broadcast on ITV, hosted as usual by Trevor McDonald. It is replaced with a 6:30pm bulletin, the ''ITV Evening News'' and an 11pm programme, '' ITV Nightly News'' from the following Monday. In the event, News at Ten returns in 2001, is axed again in 2004, and resurrected in 2008. It is restored as a five-nights-a-week programme from March 2009. That day also sees the final broadcast of the ''ITV Evening News'' in its long-running 5:40pm slot. The changes at ITV also prompt other broadcasters to review their news scheduling with Sky News and BBC News 24 both launch 10pm bulletins to fill the gap left by ''News at Ten'', while Channel 5 reschedules its evening news bulletin to 6pm. ''Channel 4 News'' is also relaunched.
*7 March – BBC Two airs the final episode of the 1993 series of ''Grange Hill'', concluding a Sunday morning rerun of the first 16 series of the school drama which began in April 1993.
*8–12 March – ITV's first week without ''News at Ten'' includes the network television premieres of two films, ''GoldenEye'' and ''The Specialist'', an episode of ''Kavanagh QC'' and a series of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?''.
*8 March – Following the introduction of the ''ITV Evening News'', UTV's evening news programme, ''UTV Live'' is brought forward by half an hour to start at 5:30pm. The first half-hour sees feature reports, light-hearted stories and the weather forecast branded as part of a separate programme, ''UTV Life'' which runs before the main evening news which starts at 6pm and keeps the ''UTV Live'' name.
*9 March – A contestant who won £125,000 on ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' despite answering a question incorrectly will be allowed to keep his prize money, it is reported. The error occurred after researchers matched the wrong answer with a question about tennis, but the mistake was quickly spotted by viewers. Celador which produces the show, says it will review its checking procedure.
*10 March
**Carlton Television buys Bob Geldof's production company, Planet 24, in a deal City analysts believe to be worth £15 million.
**''The Vanessa Show'' is interrupted by a male streaker. The lads' magazine Front later claims responsibility for the stunt.
*11 March – Reports that new ''The Big Breakfast'' presenter Kelly Brook is struggling with her presenting role are laughed off by the programme after an email from its assistant producer suggested the number of big words in her script should be limited was leaked to the media.
*12 March – This year's Comic Relief telethon includes a ''Doctor Who'' parody featuring Rowan Atkinson as The Doctor, Julia Sawalha as his sidekick and Jonathan Pryce as The Master. The 29-minute sketch, written by Steven Moffat also includes the first female version of The Doctor, portrayed by Joanna Lumley. A special episode of ''The Vicar of Dibley'' includes cameo appearances by Johnny Depp and Sarah, Duchess of York.
*15 March
**Debut of the BBC One prison documentary series ''Jailbirds'', a ten-part series that looks at life inside New Hall women's prison in West Yorkshire.
**Provisional viewing figures released for the first week of ITV's schedule changes indicate the channel enjoyed a 5% increase in ratings. ITV says it is pleased with the results, but expects the figures to drop again following the initial interest in its new lineup.
**The BBC children's programme ''Teletubbies'' goes on the air in Japan.
*16 March – The NSPCC launches its new 'full stop' advertising campaign which shows different objects of childhood heroes shielding their eyes as voices were heard being abused they want everyone to prevent cruelty, it was broadcast after the 9.00pm watershed behind its disturbing problem as shock tactics needed to break people's complacency. This advertisement is part of the largest campaign ever undertaken by a charity and the beginning of a long-term strategy to end violence against children.
*17 March
**Entertainer Rod Hull dies after falling from the roof of his house while trying to adjust a television aerial.
**The ''Surfer'' advertisement for Guinness first airs on ITV.
**An attempt by BSkyB to buy Manchester United is rejected by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
**To celebrate the recently aired 250th episode of ''Casualty'', BBC One airs ''Casualty 250: the Full Medical'', a documentary in which Gaby Roslin looks back at the show's history. Later the same evening sees a repeat of '' Gas'', the very first episode from 1986.
*20 March
**The network television premiere of Roger Donaldson's 1995 American science-fiction horror ''Species'' on ITV, starring Michael Madsen, Marg Helgenberger, Forest Whitaker, Ben Kingsley and Natasha Henstridge.
**The final episode of '' Noel's House Party'' is shown on BBC One.
*21 March – Ernie Wise, the surviving half of the beloved comedy duo, Morecambe and Wise dies of a heart attack, aged 73, following ongoing heart trouble.
*22 March
**It is announced that '' The Jack Docherty Show'' will end after two years as host Jack Docherty is to leave Channel 5. He says the show has "burned out" and is running out of guests. The final edition airs on 23 June.
**A November 1998 episode of the children's series '' Sooty & Co.'' about fragrances in which the characters were seen sniffing medicine bottles is criticised by the Independent Television Commission amid concerns it could prompt copycat behaviour.
*24 March
**Major networks provide news coverage as NATO launches air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
**The BBC confirms that Ross Kemp who plays Grant Mitchell in ''EastEnders'', will leave the soap in the Autumn after signing a contract with ITV.
**Mirror Group sells its 18.6% stake in SMG to Granada.
*26 March – Debut of ''As the Crow Flies'', a seven-part BBC Two series in which Janet Street-Porter sets out to walk the 350 miles between the Edinburgh and Greenwich observatories.
*28 March – Lloyd Burgess wins the 1999 series of ''MasterChef''.
*29 March
**''Pokémon'' makes its British television debut on Sky One.
**The final episode of the children's series ''Bodger & Badger'' is aired on BBC One.
*30 March
**UKTV announces plans to rebrand UK Gold Classics as UK Gold 2. The changes will take place from the coming weekend.
**In its annual review of UK commercial television, the Independent Television Commission criticises ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 for showing too much sex.
*31 March
**ITV announce that Mary Nightingale will take over as presenter of its long-running holiday show '' Wish You Were Here...?'', succeeding Anthea Turner who is stepping down from the role.
**ITV and Channel 5 are heavily criticised in the Independent Television Commission's annual report. ITV is criticised for its low amount of current affairs coverage, particularly in relation to the NATO campaign in Yugoslavia, while Channel 5 is branded as "tacky" for its reliance on low-budget erotic dramas and factual programmes about sex for its late-night schedule.

April

*1 April
**The BBC announces that Craig Doyle will succeed Jill Dando as the presenter of ''Holiday''.
**In ''EastEnders'' the Queen Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell, played by Barbara Windsor marries Frank Butcher ( Mike Reid).
*2 April
**After two and a half years, Channel 4 is given another whole new look replacing the previous circles idents with all-new idents with the Channel 4 logo in a square and lines against various backgrounds scrolling across the screen.
**UK Gold launches new fireworks idents and UK Gold Classics is renamed UK Gold 2. It operates as a time-shift service of UK Gold by broadcasting the channel's daytime output during the evening.
**The two-part adaptation of Minette Walters 1995 crime novel '' The Dark Room'' airs on BBC One, starring Dervla Kirwan as the shaven-headed Jane "Jinx" Kingsley and James Wilby as Dr. Protheroe. The serial concludes on 3 April, ending a run of her novels adapted for television which began in February 1996 with ''The Sculptress''.
**BBC One airs ''Parkinson Meets Woody Allen'', a 50-minute programme in which film director Woody Allen gives his first British television interview for 35 years. Allen is questioned extensively about his private life by host Michael Parkinson, but is reluctant to speak on some topics. The BBC subsequently rejects reports that Allen had asked producers to edit out parts of the interview in which he discusses his marriage to his stepdaughter.
*4 April – Sky One airs its special Valentine's Day episode of ''The Simpsons'', featuring guest appearance by British pop superstar Elton John.
*5 April
**BBC One and ITV air a national television appeal to help refugees from Kosovo. The Kosovo Crisis Appeal, co-ordinated by the Disasters Emergency Committee raises £3m by midday the following day.
**ITV airs ''Martine McCutcheon: This is My Moment'', a one-hour documentary chronicling former ''EastEnders'' actress Martine McCutcheon's efforts to launch her singing career. Her debut single, Perfect Moment, reaches number one in the UK Singles Chart on 11 April.
*8 April
**Debut of the BBC children's series ''Miami 7'' featuring the manufactured pop group S Club 7. The series combines drama and musical performance and is intended as a vehicle to launch the group's music career with their debut single Bring It All Back being released on 7 June.
**ITV launches its new news and current affairs programme '' Tonight with Trevor McDonald''. Based on the format of US shows such as ''60 Minutes'' and featuring a team of high-profile journalists, the first edition features an interview with the five individuals suspected of the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The launch comes amid reports that ITV news coverage has lost as many as a million viewers since ''News at Ten'' was axed in March. The edition prompts fifteen complaints to the Independent Television Commission from viewers who felt it was wrong to give the men a platform to defend themselves, but the Commission rules in August that Martin Bashir's questioning had meant the programme was "anything but a platform" for the suspects.
*9 April – Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Stephen Byers announces that BSkyB's £626m bid to buy Manchester United will not be allowed to go ahead.
*12 April – Long-running children's animated television series ''Bob the Builder'' begins on BBC One.
*13 April – Past and present stars of ''Coronation Street'' attend a memorial service for Bryan Mosley at Salford Cathedral.
*14 April – ITV airs the network television premiere of ''Girls' Night'', a film that was produced by Granada Television as part of the ITV Film Initiative, a scheme established in 1996 aimed at boosting the British film industry and increasing the number of home grown films.
*15 April – A fire breaks out at the headquarters of MTV Europe the former TV-am Breakfast Television Centre) in Camden, London, forcing them off air while the fire is being tackled.
*19 April – US talk show presenter Jerry Springer makes his UK television debut presenting the first of two editions of ''This Morning'' alongside Judy Finnigan while her husband Richard Madeley is busy working on another television project.
*20 April – It is emerged that Channel 4 have asked the producers of ''Brookside'' to tone down an attempted rape scene due to air the following evening because the content may be too graphic to air before the 9pm watershed.
*21 April – A week after the Government announces new targets for the proportion of ethnic police officers, ITV's ''The Bill'' announces two new black characters will join the series. Police Constable Di Worrell, played by Jane Wall and Detective Constable Danny Glaze ( Karl Collins) who will become the show's first black male CID officer. ''The Bill''s producers say the announcement is not a response to the government initiative, but had been planned for several months.
*26 April
**Television presenter Jill Dando is assassinated outside her home in west London. Her death sparks a huge manhunt by the Metropolitan Police and leads to the trial of Barry George. Initially convicted of the murder after a successful appeal and retrial, George is acquitted on 1 August 2008, thus leaving the crime unsolved.
**BSkyB Chief Executive Mark Booth announces his resignation after 18 months in the position.
*27 April
**The Open University wins the 1998–99 series of ''University Challenge'', beating Oriel College, Oxford 265–210.
**Channel 5 announce plans to resurrect ''It's a Knockout'' with original presenter Stuart Hall at the helm. The channel is also bringing Jeremy Beadle back to television with a new series in which contestants win his money.
*28 April – BBC Two debuts ''My Year with Beethoven'', a six-part programme with German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter talks about the devastating impact which the onset of deafness on Beethoven's life and music was accompanied by American pianist Lambert Orkis who performs one of his most tempestuous works on a personal journey throughout ten different sonatas. The series continues on 11 May.
*29 April
**Six episodes of Channel 5's ''Sex and Shopping'' are criticised by the Broadcasting Standards Commission for containing explicit material which the Commission feels was "unacceptable for broadcast at any time".
**Retailer WHSmith announces plans to sell books and stationary via interactive digital television after signing a deal with the Rupert Murdoch backed venture Open.
**'' The Planets'', an eight-part documentary series exploring the Solar System, debuts on BBC Two.
*30 April
**The BBC is reviewing whether or not to air the remaining episodes of ''Antiques Inspectors'' following Jill Dando's murder, Broadcast magazine reports. The series had made its debut with Dando as presenter on 25 April with filming of the final episode completed two days before that. The programme is subsequently cancelled, but it is decided later in the year that it should be aired as a tribute to the presenter with the series beginning its run from 5 September.
** Sky Soap closes due to poor viewing figures.
**Scottish Television launches S2.

May

*1 May
**Channel 4 airs ''Now We Are Two'', a weekend of programmes marking the second anniversary of the election of Tony Blair's Labour Government. On that day, ''If John Smith Had Lived'' imagines the direction the Labour Party might have taken under the leadership of John Smith, while ''The Trial of Margaret Thatcher'' debates the policies of former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in a courtroom setting. The following day, ''Blair's Third Way'' looks at Tony Blair's governing style.
**''From the Earth to the Moon'', a thirteen-part spin-off from the film ''Apollo 13'' made by HBO debuts on Channel 4.
**The cable-only film service Home Video Channel closes after 14 years on air.
*2 May – Sheena McDonald is released from hospital two months after she received severe head injuries when she was hit by a police van.
*5 May – An inquest into the death of Rod Hull records a verdict of accidental death.
*6–7 May – BBC One provides coverage of the first elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, as well as the year's local elections.
*9 May – Michael Parkinson presents the 1999 British Television Academy Awards in which the UK television industry pays tribute to the late Jill Dando. She had been due to host the ceremony alongside Parkinson, but following her death the BBC had decided not to replace her.
*10 May – BBC network news is relaunched with new music, titles and a red and ivory set. This design is used for the 25 October relaunch of News 24, enhancing cross-channel promotion of the service.
*11 May
**'' News at Ten'' and ''World in Action'', both of which have been axed by ITV are announced as winners at the Royal Television Society's Journalism Awards. ''News at Ten'' is voted programme of the year, while ''World in Action'' wins the judges' award. Other winners include the '' Nine O'Clock News'' in the international category for its coverage of the Drenica massacre and Dermot Murnaghan for an ''ITV Lunchtime News'' interview with Peter Mandelson in which he questioned the politician about his loan from Geoffrey Robinson.
**The BBC confirms that ''EastEnders'' actress Danniella Westbrook will return to the soap as Sam Mitchell in the Summer, three years after she was last seen on screen.
*14 May – Helen Rollason presents the first Friday sport bulletin on the BBC's ''Six O'Clock News''.
*17 May
**The Independent Television Commission rejects a number of viewer complaints about editions of ''The Jerry Springer Show'' featuring a gay marriage and amateur strippers that aired on weekday afternoons as not being inappropriate viewing. The Commission finds that the subject of same-sex marriage was dealt with sensitively, while the episode featuring the strippers was "not explicit" because they had only removed some of their clothes. However, a complaint is upheld against Sky One's ''Bloody Foreigners'' that aired on 2 March which featured an interview with a female member of a wife-swapping club while an explicit pornographic film played on a television in the background.
**Channel 4 airs the network television premiere of Bill Condon's 1995 American horror sequel film '' Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh'', starring Tony Todd and Kelly Rowan.
*18 May – The BBC's ''Crimewatch'' programme broadcasts a reconstruction of presenter Jill Dando's murder. The show opens without its usual titles and music.
*19 May – ITV airs the first British Soap Awards, which are presented by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The Awards ceremony had been recorded the previous weekend.
*20 May
**The first Pride of Britain Awards, an annual event launched by The Mirror newspaper to honour ordinary people who have acted bravely or extraordinarily in challenging situations is presented by Carol Vorderman at London's Dorchester Hotel. The Awards are such a success that ITV agrees to screen the second event the following year.
**The broadcasters union BECTU condemns plans to air a Party election broadcast by the far right British National Party due to be shown on 21 May and says it will support any of its members who refuse to work on the broadcast. The BNP was allocated a party political broadcast slot for the forthcoming European election after fielding enough candidates to qualify for free airtime during the election campaign. The Independent Television Commission receives seven complaints from viewers that the BNP should not have been allowed to air their views, but the Commission later rules that none of its rules were breached because the broadcast did not mention race or immigration and to ban the BNP from television on principle would be undemocratic.
*21 May – The funeral of Jill Dando is held in her home town of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. Although the service itself is private, footage is relayed to a crowd gathered in the town's Ellensborough Park East.
*24 May – The Digital Spy website reports that UK Gold 2 is to have its broadcasting hours extended from 1 June. The channel has operated on a limited basis, airing on Fridays to Sundays from 6pm to 2am, but will become a daily service.
*25 May – Bostock's Cup a single comedy-drama about a fictional football team winning the 1974 FA Cup Final airs on ITV.
*26 May
**Following a ten-day trial at London's Snaresbrook Crown Court, former '' London's Burning'' actor John Alford is jailed for nine months after he was convicted of supplying cocaine and cannabis resin to an undercover reporter. He had been the victim of a sting by a tabloid newspaper, a factor taken into account in his sentencing. He is released from prison six weeks later.
**19 million viewers see Manchester United complete The Treble by beating Bayern Munich 2–1 in Injury time in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona.
*27 May – The Broadcasting Standards Commission upholds several viewer complaints about an episode of ''EastEnders'' aired on Valentine's Day that featured the killing of the character Saskia Duncan which the watchdog rules was too graphic to be shown before the watershed when the content could be seen by children.
*28 May – The BBC have signed a deal to air the network television premiere of ''Titanic''.
*29 May – Sweden's Charlotte Nilsson wins the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest with Take Me to Your Heaven.

June

*1 June
** ITN's Bill Neely sends a report from the Albania-Kosovo border as NATO aircraft mistakenly bomb Albanian army forces on the Albanian side of the border, destroying a guard box.
**The educational channel BBC Knowledge goes on the air.
**Debut of ITV's gritty prison drama '' Bad Girls'', a series set in a high security women's prison.
*4 June – ITV airs the final edition of the 1999 series of ''Play Your Cards Right'', the last of the current run since the series was revived in 1994. It would be revived again in 2002 but was axed again a year later.
*5 June – Ian Moor wins the tenth series of ''Stars in Their Eyes'', performing as Chris De Burgh.
*6 June – Six TV, Britain's sixth and last analogue local channel launches in both Oxfordshire and Southampton as the Oxford channel in Oxfordshire and the Southampton channel in Hampshire.
*7 June – A study by the Broadcasting Standards Commission finds an increase in the number of viewer complaints about the amount of sex on television. Among those surveyed, the number feeling there was too much sex on television rose from 32% in 1997 to 38% in 1998.
*8 June – The BBC axes the Hale and Pace entertainment series ''h&p@bbc'' due to poor ratings. The series was planned to "hilariously interact" with the public.
*10 June – BBC One announces that the short-lived ''The Vanessa Show'' which was at the centre of a fake guests controversy earlier in the year, will be axed. The final edition will air on 23 July.
*13 June
**S Club 7, stars of the BBC children's television series ''Miami 7'', reach number one in the UK Singles Chart with their debut single Bring It All Back.
**''Changing Places'', the '' Heartbeat'' spin-off starring Nick Berry that took his character, PC Nick Rowan to Canada after Berry left the series, receives its debut on ITV.
*19 June – The wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones takes place at St George's Chapel, Windsor.
*20 June – The BBC broadcasts live cricket for the final time for more than 20 years when it shows live coverage of the 1999 Cricket World Cup Final, bringing to an end of sixty years of continuous cricket coverage on the BBC. The terrestrial rights now transfer to Channel 4.
*22 June – The Independent Television Commission criticises Channel 4 for failing to warn viewers about the level of explicit sex scenes in its controversial gay drama, ''Queer as Folk''. Concern is also expressed about the series first episode which included a scene portraying the seduction of a teenager below the age of consent by an older gay male, but says the content did not breach broadcasting regulations.
*24 June – The Broadcasting Standards Commission rejects viewer complaints about the second series of BBC One drama '' The Lakes'' which had featured sexual violence, rape and a relationship between a Roman Catholic priest and a member of his congregation, saying the programme "had not exceeded acceptable boundaries". However, the watchdog does uphold complaints and expresses its concerns about the first episode of Channel 4's ''Queer as Folk''.
*25 June – It is announced that Pearson TV chairman Greg Dyke will succeed John Birt as Director-General of the BBC from April 2000.
*28 June
**BBC One airs the last episode in the original run of its time-travelling comedy series '' Goodnight Sweetheart''. It returned in 2016 for a one-off special as part of the BBC's 60th anniversary of comedy celebrations.
**Ulster Television launches TV You (later UTV2).
*30 June – Janet Street-Porter, pioneer of "yoof" television at the BBC, is appointed as editor of The Independent on Sunday, her first major role in print journalism.

July

*1 July
**BBC One airs a special edition of ''Question Time'' from Birmingham featuring Leader of the Opposition William Hague as the sole panelist.
**Channel 4 starts broadcasting cricket following the channel sensationally obtaining the rights from the BBC the previous year.
*3 July – FilmFour will launch an interactive service similar to Digital Teletext, the website Digital Spy reports.
*5 July – BBC One Controller Peter Salmon has commissioned a ''World in Action''-style investigative series to air as part of the Autumn schedule. The as-yet untitled programme is being developed by several members of the team who formerly worked for the now defunct ITV programme.
*6 July
**BBC Director-General John Birt warns that the increase in paid for digital television could lead to a "knowledge underclass" if public service broadcasters such as the BBC do not remain universally available.
**ITV unveils its first Autumn schedule since moving ''News at Ten'' to a later time slot. Highlights include a new adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel ''Oliver Twist'', written by Alan Bleasdale that will attempt to update the character of Fagin, moving him away from the Ron Moody interpretation that is often associated with the story.
*8 July
**Singer Robbie Williams will appear in a TV advert aimed at raising awareness of testicular cancer, it is reported.
**BBC One airs a special edition of ''Question Time'' from London with Prime Minister Tony Blair as its sole panelist.
*9 July – Carlton Cinema has signed a deal with MGM.
*14 July – Debut of BBC One's groundbreaking series ''The Secret Life of Twins''.
*15 July – US crime drama ''The Sopranos'' makes its British television debut on Channel 4.
*16 July
**BBC One airs the ''Two Ronnies Night'', an evening of programmes paying tribute to The Two Ronnies, Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker. The evening sees the two comedians reunited on screen for the first time since Christmas Day 1987.
**Channel 4 announces the axing of the highly acclaimed ''Trial and Error'', a series that investigates miscarriages of justice which it feels is outdated. The final edition looking at the murder of Billie-Jo Jenkins airs on 26 July.
**Channel 4 launches its Over the Moon season to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing. The season includes ''Real Time Apollo'', a five-day broadcast of footage of the Moon mission, airing at roughly the same time events happened in 1969. The programme also features interviews with Buzz Aldrin who took part in the mission.
*17 July – Debut of Channel 4's ''Late Night Poker'', a series which helped to popularise poker in the 2000s and developed a cult following. The programme includes under table cameras allowing viewers to view players cards that are hidden from the others taking part in the game and is unique in that participants are allowed to smoke on air.
*19 July – Channel 4 airs an evening of programmes about space ahead of the Moon landing anniversary.
*22 July – Test cricket coverage debuts on Channel 4 with an updated format and new presenters.
*23 July
**The Queen unveils a bronze statue of Eric Morecambe at a ceremony in the Lancashire town of Morecambe, the comedian's home town from which he took his stage name, fifteen years after his death.
**Channel 4 has commissioned Projector Productions to make a £2 million feature-length adaptation of the children's fairytale ''Cinderella'' to be aired over Christmas.
**Broadcast magazine reports that Teletext Ltd's plans for a digital teletext service have been put back by delays in software development to support the service on the ONdigital platform.
*24 July – ''Goodness Gracious Me Night'', an evening of programming dedicated to the Asian comedy sketch show '' Goodness Gracious Me'' airs on BBC Two.
*27 July – Cable TV operator NTL buys its largest rival, Cable & Wireless Communications, for £8.2bn.
*30 July
**After two decades with the BBC, comedy writer John Sullivan signs a deal to write material for ITV, although he will continue to write his current BBC series ''Roger Roger'' and ''Heartburn Hotel''.
**Three contestants who did not disclose unspent criminal convictions before appearing on ITV's ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' are to have their winnings withdrawn, the show's producers confirm.
**Channel 4 confirms that Kelly Brook has left ''The Big Breakfast''. The announcement follows recent media speculation about her future with the programme.

August

*1 August
**Dominique Fraser wins the 1999 series of ''Junior MasterChef''.
**BBC One airs the network television premiere of '' A Time to Kill''.
*2 August – It is announced that ITV has signed the BBC sports presenter Des Lynam on a four-year contract. He is to become the company's main football presenter.
*3 August – Liza Tarbuck is chosen to replace Kelly Brook as co-presenter of ''The Big Breakfast''.
*5 August
**The publication of the Davies Report which sets out proposals for the future funding of BBC digital services.
**Former ''EastEnders'' co-stars Leslie Grantham and Anita Dobson who played Den and Angie Watts are to team up again to play husband and wife in a Sky Premier adaptation of the Stephen Leather thriller '' The Stretch'' which will air the following year.
*6 August – ITV axes two programmes from its primetime Monday night slot because of falling ratings. ''Tested to Destruction'' presented by Carol Vorderman and documentary series ''The Sexual Century'' debuted at 9pm and 9:30pm respectively on 26 July, but will be replaced from 9 August and aired elsewhere in the schedule.
*8 August
**The Sunday Telegraph reports that Gary Lineker has signed a £500,000 five-year contract to become the BBC's new face of football coverage following the departure of Des Lynam.
**Noel Edmonds announces he is leaving the BBC because its programmes are "too boring". His contract with the Corporation expires in March 2000 and he will present two further shows before his departure, an August Bank Holiday special and '' Noel's Christmas Presents Unwrapped''.
*9 August – Helen Rollason who in 1990 became the first female presenter on BBC One's ''Grandstand'', dies aged 43, following a two-year battle with cancer.
*11 August – BBC One and Channel 5 show live coverage of the 1999 solar eclipse. It is not shown live on the ITV network, but in the only region where the eclipse was total, Westcountry Television which was just weeks away from losing its on-screen identity opts out and provides its own coverage.
*12 August – The BBC programme complaints unit rules that jokes about speech impediments made by comedian Frank Skinner on an edition of his BBC One chat show on 20 May were "insensitive".
*13 August – Following a successful month-long trial, Cable & Wireless Communications begins offering its customers email and internet services through their television sets.
*16 August – The US version of ITV's ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' debuts on ABC with Regis Philbin as host. The show's success leads to an increase in interest in UK game shows from American producers.
*19 August – Claims by '' The Sun'' that it has obtained a document detailing ''EastEnders'' plotlines for the forthcoming year have been dismissed by the show's producers.
*22 August – Sky Sports Xtra launches, initially as an interactive service.
*24 August – BBC One airs ''Helen Rollason: The Bravest Fight'', a 30-minute documentary presented by Peter Sissons in which friends and colleagues pay tribute to her.
*27 August – The BBC names Gordon Brewer and Anne Mackenzie as the presenters of ''Newsnight Scotland'', BBC Two's forthcoming ''Newsnight'' opt-out for Scottish viewers.
*31 August – The BBC unveils plans to create separate television, radio and online news services for four new regions in London and the South East.

September

*1 September – Launch of Nick Jr., the UK's first television channel dedicated to viewers under the age of seven.
*2 September
**Comedian Frank Skinner has been dropped by the BBC after demanding a reported £20 million to stay with the network.
**ITV's '' Tonight with Trevor McDonald'' that launched earlier in the year, is to be cut from an hour to 45 minutes and moved from Thursdays to Wednesdays. ITV says this is to make way for documentaries and drama in the Thursday slot.
*3 September – An updated version of the classic slapstick game show ''It's a Knockout'' makes its Channel 5 debut with Keith Chegwin taking on the presenting role. He is joined by Frank Bruno, Lucy Alexander and Nell McAndrew. Two series are aired over the following 18 months before Channel 5 announce in April 2001 that they have no plans to commission more series.
*5 September – ITV debuts ''Springer on Sunday'', a one-off David Letterman-style chat show presented by Jerry Springer. Guests include Robbie Coltrane, Glenda Jackson and Tom Jones.
*6 September
**The ITV London Weekday franchise Carlton drops the on-air branding of the Central and Westcountry ITV regions, replacing them both with Carlton.
**CITV show ''Art Attack'' is now broadcast twice weekly on Mondays and Wednesdays.
**''Diagnosis Murder'', a US comedy/mystery/medical drama series starring Dick Van Dyke, makes its BBC One debut.
**Debut of ITV's daytime topical discussion show, ''Loose Women''.
**The popular children's programme ''Tweenies'' makes its debut on BBC2 at 10:30am and again at 3:25pm on BBC1.
*7 September
**A man is arrested by police after using a coffee table to smash his way through a plate glass window into the BBC newsroom at White City as journalists prepare for the 11am bulletin. The intruder also hurled computers and furniture in what is reported to be a protest against the BBC's coverage of a story. The broadcaster launches an inquiry into the incident, after security was tightened at the BBC in the wake of Jill Dando's murder earlier in the year.
**Channel 5 airs the network television premiere of Roland Emmerich's 1996 science-fiction epic film ''Independence Day'', giving the broadcaster an average audience of 4.98 million (24%) and peaking at 5.5 million (25%) at 10pm, its largest to date.
*9 September – Debut of the ITV documentary series ''The Second World War in Colour'' which marked sixty years since the start of the conflict, showing rare colour footage of World War II and took ten years to collate together. The series is narrated by the actor John Thaw.
*11 September – The first of Channel 4's '100 Greatest' programmes air, starting with ''100 Greatest TV Moments''.
*13 September – ''Blackadder Back and Forth'', a new installment of the ''Blackadder'' comedy series will be part of the exhibition at the Millennium Dome from January 2000. The episode will receive its television debut on Sky in 2001 with the BBC also planning to show it. The episode is part of "Skyscape", the Sky-sponsored entertainment venue at the Dome, something which had led to some confusion over who owns the broadcasting rights to the series that made its debut on the BBC.
*15 September
**S4C2 launches. It broadcasts coverage of the National Assembly for Wales and extended coverage of events being shown on S4C.
**A police officer is charged with driving without due care and attention over the accident that left newsreader Sheena McDonald in hospital earlier in the year.
*16 September – The first episode of the British-Canadian children's stop-motion animated series ''Rotten Ralph'' begins on BBC One with ''Happy Birthday Rotten Ralph''.
*19 September – ITV airs '' Clive James's Postcard from... Havana'', a documentary in which Clive James

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