BBC One's New Year's Eve specials have aired in varying formats; in 2000, and since 2004, they prominently feature live coverage of London's New Year's Eve festivities, including the midnight bongs of

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...

, and the fireworks show on the River Thames and

London Eye The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United ...

. For 2000, the BBC led the global ''

2000 Today ''2000 Today'' was an internationally broadcast television special to commemorate the beginning of the Year 2000. This program included New Year's Eve celebrations, musical performances, and other features from participating nations. Most inte ...

'' consortium, which televised coverage of New Year's events from around the world, and served as the host broadcaster for coverage of festivities from the United Kingdom. In 2004, the BBC began to broadcast ''New Year Live'', which primarily featured live reports from the

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

to cover the countdown to midnight. From 2006 to 2009, the special also featured music performances. Beginning in 2014, BBC One began to air concert specials as part of its New Year's Eve programming. The specials are divided into two parts, with an intermission approaching midnight for the live broadcast of the London fireworks. Other BBC channels also air New Year's Eve specials; since 1993,

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

has aired ''

Jools' Annual Hootenanny ''Jools' Annual Hootenanny'' is a TV show presented by Jools Holland and broadcast on New Year's Eve as an end-of-year special edition of his series '' Later... with Jools Holland''. It is generally broadcast between approximately 11pm on 31 ...

''—a concert special spun off from '' Later... with Jools Holland'', while BBC One Scotland opts out to air ''

Hogmanay Hogmanay ( , ) is the Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) or i ...

'' (formerly ''Hogmanay Live''), a special from Glasgow themed around Scotland's

festivities.

Format

2000: ''2000 Today''

For 1999–2000, the BBC broadcast ''

'', a telecast covering global New Year's Eve festivities marking the arrival of the year 2000. The telecast was produced as part of a global consortium led by the BBC and

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

, and was designated as one of five projects undertaken by the broadcaster to mark the arrival of the 21st century. The special would feature coverage of the opening of the

Millennium Dome The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millenn ...

, and London's New Year's fireworks show on the South Bank. Alongside the television broadcast, BBC Radio 1 aired ''One World'', an international electronic music event featuring DJ sets by Carl Cox (who would begin the event from Australia during a special ''Radio 1'' ''Breakfast'', and then be the final performer in Honolulu, Hawaii on the morning of 1 January, UK time), ''Dance Anthems'' host Dave Pearce (who would host a show from Glasgow for the countdown to midnight UK time), Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, and

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

among others. Emma B and

Scott Mills Scott Robert Mills (born 28 March 1973) is an English radio DJ, television presenter and occasional actor. He is best known for presenting the '' Scott Mills'' show on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 2022 and since then, on BBC Radio 2. Mills has also ...

hosted the main block of the event, ''Millennium Dance Party'', which ran through the evening of 31 December to the following morning.

2004–2013: ''New Year Live''

The programme initially covered the New Year's Eve fireworks in London in 2004. In 2005, the format changed to include commentary from celebrity guests. The format changed further in 2006, to include live performances from music artists and the programme was extended to air for between 60 and 90 minutes. This format remained until 2009. From 2009 until 2013, the programme returned to its original format of one presenter interviewing the general public on the streets of London, leading into the New Year Fireworks.

2014–present: Concert specials and ''New Year's Eve Fireworks''

Beginning in 2013, BBC One began to air concert specials from

Central Hall Westminster The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building, which is a tourist attraction, also ho ...

on New Year's Eve; the specials are divided into two parts, with a segment featuring live coverage of midnight celebrations from London (billed in programme guides as ''New Year's Eve Fireworks'') airing in between. The first special, ''Gary Barlow's Big Ben Bash'', was headlined by Gary Barlow. During the 2014 event, drones were used to film the firework display. For the 2016 and 2017 events, the firework display was also streamed in

360-degree video 360-degree videos, also known as surround video, or immersive videos or spherical videos, are video recordings where a view in every direction is recorded at the same time, shot using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras. During pl ...

. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

, the London fireworks were cancelled as a public event in 2021 and 2022. For 2020, BBC One's New Year's Eve programming was promoted under the blanket title ''The Big New Year's In.'' It included a titular special hosted by Paddy McGuinness and Maya Jama, a New Year's Eve edition of '' The Graham Norton Show'', the concert special '' Alicia Keys Rocks New Year's Eve'' (which was filmed in Los Angeles), and a broadcast-only countdown event from London. The previous concert format returned for 2022, with BBC One airing ''The Big New Years & Years Party''. At this point the special began to be filmed at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. London's New Year's Eve fireworks were once again conducted as a "live broadcast spectacular" for BBC One (similar to the previous year, which included an appearance by

Giles Terera Giles Terera (born 14 December 1976) is a British actor, musician, and filmmaker. He is best known for his work in the theatre, particularly in the original cast of the London production of the musical ''Hamilton'', as Aaron Burr, for which ...

, and a performance by the West End Musical Choir at Shakespeare's Globe), with the city having cancelled a planned in-person celebration at Trafalgar Square due to COVID-19-related concerns.

Ratings

The first show in 2004/05 attracted 6.35 million viewers, growing to 6.43 million for 2005/06. Ratings dropped to 6 million for 2007's arrival, but peaked with 9.6 million viewers at midnight. The 2007/08 show dropped to a new low of 5.35 million viewers, then 5.83 million in 2009. The show changed to a 11.45–12.15 slot for 2010's arrival, with 7.65 million watching, peaking at more than 10 million. The 2011 show grew to 9.3 million viewers watching, peaking at more than 11 million at midnight. 2012 was the most-watched edition so far, at 10.6 million, peaking at more than 12 million viewers. The 2013 show got 9.7 million, with 13.3 million at midnight. As the show changed again to a concert, the fireworks achieved success with 13.52 million, peaking at 14.1 million. Gary Barlow's concert afterwards was boosted to 10 million viewers, dipping to 8.8 million. For 2015 the fireworks had 12.5 million viewers, and Queen + Adam Lambert's concert 10 million, dipping to 9.4 million. Viewers dropped in 2016 to 11.4 million, but Bryan Adams' concert pulled in strong ratings, getting over 6 million. 2017's arrival saw a drop to 10.8 million, while 2018 had 10.4 million. However, for the first time since 2015's arrival, the 2019 show got more than 11 million, at 12.3 million.

Broadcasts

The programme is broadcast on BBC One in England, Wales and Northern Ireland whilst '' BBC Scotland's Hogmanay'' airs on BBC One Scotland with celebrations based in Edinburgh. Both, however, are available to watch anywhere in the United Kingdom on digital television and online on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...

Presenters and guests

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

*
''New Year's Eve Fireworks''
{{New Year BBC Television shows British television specials New Year's television specials Annual television shows Annual events in the United Kingdom 2004 British television series debuts