BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

'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, and the fireworks show on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and London Eye. For 2000, the BBC led the global '' 2000 Today'' 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 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 has aired '' Jools' Annual Hootenanny''—a concert special spun off from '' Later... with Jools Holland'', while

BBC One Scotland BBC One Scotland is a Scottish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Scotland and is a Scottish variation of the UK-wide BBC One. For all of the time the channel is referred to on screen as ''BBC One Scotland'', sometimes us ...

opts out to air '' Hogmanay'' (formerly ''Hogmanay Live''), a special from

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

themed around Scotland's Hogmanay festivities.

Format

2000: ''2000 Today''

For 1999–2000, the BBC broadcast '' 2000 Today'', 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, 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, and London's New Year's fireworks show on the South Bank. Alongside the television broadcast,

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

aired ''One World'', an international

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

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 Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

on the morning of 1 January, UK time), ''Dance Anthems'' host

Dave Pearce David Alistair Pearce (born 14 June 1963) is an English dance DJ, EDM producer and broadcaster, who has performed across the United Kingdom and the world. He previously presented ''Dance Anthems'' on BBC Radio 1 for ten years. He is renowned f ...

(who would host a show from Glasgow for the countdown to midnight UK time), Pete Tong,

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mas ...

, and Fatboy Slim among others.

Emma B Emma Louise Boughton (born 27 November 1970), better known as Emma B, is a radio presenter in the UK. Early career Boughton's childhood was spent in Canada before she moved to Birmingham, England as a teenager. She graduated from the Univers ...

and Scott Mills 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 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 Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

. 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 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 Patrick Joseph McGuinness (born 14 August 1973) is an English actor, comedian and television presenter. He rose to fame with the help of Peter Kay, who invited him to appear in his programmes ''That Peter Kay Thing'', '' Phoenix Nights'' and ''M ...

and

Maya Jama Maya Indea Jama (, ; born 14 August 1994) is an English television, radio presenter, and DJ. She co-presented BBC One's '' Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer'' alongside Peter Crouch and Alex Horne and is presenter of the BBC Three competition '' ...

, a New Year's Eve edition of ''

The Graham Norton Show ''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton s ...

'', 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 Years & Years is the solo project of British singer Olly Alexander. Originally formed as a band in 2010, Years & Years' music has been described as electropop, mixing R&B and 1990s house elements. The band's debut studio album, '' Communion'', ...

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, and a performance by the West End Musical Choir at

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays, in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames. The original theatre was built in ...

), with the city having cancelled a planned in-person celebration at

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

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 Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

whilst '' BBC Scotland's Hogmanay'' airs on

with celebrations based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. Both, however, are available to watch anywhere in the United Kingdom on digital television and online on BBC iPlayer.

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