1969 in British television
This is a list of British television related events from 1969.
Events
- 4 January - Guitarist Jimi Hendrix causes complaints of arrogance from television producers after playing an impromptu version of "Sunshine of your Love" past his allotted timeslot on the BBC1 show Happening for Lulu.
- 19 March – A 385 metre tall TV-mast at Emley Moor collapses because of icing.
- 29 March – The UK shares the win of the Eurovision Song Contest, in a four-way tie with France, Spain, and the Netherlands. Lulu represents the UK, singing "Boom bang-a-bang".
- 21 June
- 3 July – Lulu the elephant runs amok on Blue Peter. The clip is subsequently repeated many times, becoming the archetypal British TV "blooper".
- 20–21 July – A live transmission from the Moon is viewed by 720 million people around the world, with the landing of Apollo 11: at 10:56 p.m. EDT on 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the Moon, broadcast live.[3]
- 21 September – Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) premieres on ITV.
- 4 October – The ITV Seven, a programme which shows live coverage of horse racing from racecourses around the UK, is first aired. The programme was an essential part of ITV's Saturday afternoon World of Sport show and continued until a few weeks before World of Sport ended in 1985.
- 5 October – Monty Python's Flying Circus airs its first episode on the BBC.
- 15 November – Regular colour broadcasting is introduced to BBC1 and ITV.
- 16 November – The first episode of Clangers (a British stop motion animated television program for children) is broadcast by the BBC.
- 19 November – The Benny Hill Show premieres on Thames Television.
- 21 November – The controversial London Weekend Television comedy Curry and Chips begins airing. The programme is the first LWT comedy to have been recorded in colour. It is pulled off air after six episodes following a ruling by the IBA that it is racist.[4]
- Unknown – Sir Charles Curran becomes Director-General of the BBC.
Debuts
BBC1
BBC2
ITV
Television shows
1940s
1950s
1960s
Ending this year
Births
- 23 January – Hardeep Singh Kohli, comedian, writer and television presenter
- 10 June – Jane Hill, journalist and newsreader
- 20 July – Gillian Joseph, newscaster
- 25 September – Catherine Zeta-Jones, Welsh actress
- 2 October – Natasha Little, actress
- 5 October – Andrea McLean, television presenter
- 13 November – Gerard Butler, Scottish actor
- 19 December – Richard Hammond, British TV presenter
- Unknown – Julie Etchingham, journalist and newsreader
References