1991 in British television
This is a list of British television related events from 1991.
Events
January
- 1 January – The Independent Television Commission (ITC) replaces the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA). On the same day the 1990 Broadcasting Act takes effect, thus beginning the deregulation of British television and radio.
- 7 January – BBC 1 launches the local news programme, East Midlands Today for the East Midlands region. News coverage for the area had previously been provided by a seven-minute opt out from the Birmingham-based Midlands Today.[1]
- 17 January – Regular programming is abandoned to bring live coverage of the Gulf War after Allied Forces launch Operation Desert Storm against Iraq. Over the coming weeks there is extended coverage of events in the Persian Gulf. ITV also broadcasts news and discussion programmes about the war throughout the night. Some broadcasting, particularly in the earlier part of the war, comes from CNN.
- 28 January – Oliver Reed appears on an edition of the late night discussion programme After Dark discussing militarism, masculine stereotypes and violence to women. Reed drinks alcohol during the broadcast, leading him to become drunk, aggressive and incoherent.[2] He refers to another member of the panel, who has a moustache, as 'tache' and uses offensive language. After one hour Reed returns from the toilet and, getting more to drink, rolls on top of the noted feminist author Kate Millett. The show is briefly taken off air following a hoax call to the station claiming that Channel 4 boss Michael Grade is furious.
February
- 15 February – The COW ident is seen for the final time on BBC1, after six years in use, and the BBC2 'TWO' ident is also seen for the final time after five years in use.
- 16 February – BBC1 and BBC2 receive new idents, both generated from laserdisc and featuring the BBC corporate logo introduced in 1986. BBC1 features a numeral '1' encased in a globe, and BBC2 features eleven idents based around a numeral '2'.
- 21 February – American television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is broadcast in the United Kingdom for the first time, making its debut on BBC2.
- 26 February – Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. As the war comes to its conclusion, television programming begins to return to regular broadcasting.
March
- 1 March – The monopoly on listings magazines ends with the deregulation of TV listings. Before today, the Radio Times published only BBC listings and TVTimes published ITV and, from 1982, Channel 4 listings. However, from today they can carry listings for all channels. Newspapers are also allowed to publish 7-day listings for the first time, having previously only been able to publish the present day's (and two days on Saturdays). A raft of listings magazines start up in the wake of the changes.[3]
- 9 March – While a guest on the ITV chat show Aspel & Company, singer Rod Stewart takes off his shoes and tosses them into the audience.
April
- April – Channel 4's three-week Banned season features a series of films and programmes which had previously been banned from British television or cinema.[4] The season includes network television showings of Scum, Monty Python's Life of Brian and Sebastiane. There is also a second broadcast of the controversial 1988 Thames Television documentary Death on the Rock which investigated the shooting of three members of the IRA by the SAS in Gibraltar. The season proves to be controversial and Channel 4 is investigated by the Obscene Publications Squad and referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.[5]
- 1 April – Sue Lawley interviews Prime Minister John Major for ITV.[6]
- 7 April – ITV airs the first Prime Suspect serial starring Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison.
- 8 April – The Power Station, one of the channels to have survived the BSB merger with Sky, closes down at 4am after it was decided that the American MTV would be used as the music channel on BSkyB's Astra satellite service.
- 9 April – British actor Derek Nimmo makes a cameo appearance in Australian soap Neighbours as an eccentric English aristocrat, the episode having debuted in Australia on 26 February 1990.[7]
- 20 April – The Sports Channel is rebranded as Sky Sports.
- 29 April – On an edition of Terry Wogan's evening chat show Wogan and amid howls of laughter from the studio audience, former footballer David Icke claims that he is "the son of God," and that Britain will be devastated by tidal waves and earthquakes.[8] He later said that he had been misinterpreted, and that he had used the term "the son of God" to mean an "aspect" of the Infinite consciousness.[9] The interview proved devastating for him. The BBC was later criticised for allowing the interview to go ahead, Des Christy in The Guardian calling it a "media crucifixion."[10]
May
- 13 May – ITV airs an edition of World in Action making allegations of malpractice in the Irish beef processing industry. The programme leads to the establishment of the Beef Tribunal, which at the time was to become Ireland's longest public inquiry.[11][12]
June
July
August
September
- 5 September – The actor Arthur Pentelow, who died on 6 August, makes his final on screen appearance as Henry Wilks in Emmerdale. The character dies off screen on 3 October.
- 11 September – ITV screens Thatcher: The Final Days, a dramatisation of the final days of Margaret Thatcher's premiership. The film stars Sylvia Sims as the former prime minister.
- 13 September – The documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife is aired on Channel 4. It is set during the final days of the apartheid regime in South Africa, particularly centring on Eugène Terre'Blanche, founder and leader of the far-right, white supremacist political organisation AWB. In 1992, Channel 4 faces its first libel case by Jani Allan, a South African journalist, who objected to her representation in the documentary.[14]
- 17 September – Comedy series Bottom starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson debuts on BBC2.[15]
- 20 September – BBC2 begins a rerun of Gerry Anderson's classic 1960s television series Thunderbirds.[16] The series proves to be popular, leading to a shortage of Tracy Island toys in stores during the run up to Christmas 1992, something that prompts the children's television series, Blue Peter to show viewers and their parents how to make their own Tracy Island model.[17] An instruction sheet produced by the programme receives more than 100,000 requests.[18]
- 22 September – Sponsorship of ITV programmes are first allowed.
- 26 September – Children's TV series Brum debuts on BBC1.
October
November
December
Debuts
BBC1
BBC2
ITV
Channel 4
Television shows
Returning this year after a break of one year or longer
- 16 January – Van der Valk (1972–1973, 1977, 1991–1992)
- 10 April – The Two Ronnies for a 20th Anniversary special (1971–1987, 1991, 1996, 2005)
- 16 September – Postman Pat (1981, 1991–1994, 1996, 2004–2008)
- 14 December – Up Pompeii! (1969–1975, 1991)
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
- Children in Need (1980–present)
- 'Allo 'Allo! (1982–1992)
- Wogan (1981–1992)
- Brookside (1982–2003)
- Countdown (1982–present)
- Timewatch (1982–present)
- Right to Reply (1982–2001)
- Good Morning Britain (1983–1992, 2014–present)
- First Tuesday (1983–1993)
- Highway (1983–1993)
- Blockbusters (1983–93, 1994–95, 1997, 2000–01, 2012)
- Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (1984–present)
- Wide Awake Club (1984–1992)
- Spitting Image (1984–1996)
- The Bill (1984–2010)
- Busman's Holiday (1985–1993)
- EastEnders (1985–present)
- The Cook Report (1985–1998)
- Crosswits (1985–1998)
- Telly Addicts (1985–1998)
- Comic Relief (1985–present)
- Boon (1986–1992, 1995)
- Every Second Counts (1986–1993)
- Lovejoy (1986–1994)
- Beadle's About (1986–1996)
- The Chart Show (1986–1998, 2008–2009)
- Casualty (1986–present)
- All Clued Up (1987–1992)
- Going Live! (1987–1993)
- Watching (1987–1993)
- The Time, The Place (1987–1996)
- Allsorts (1987–1995)
- Going for Gold (1987–1996, 2008–2009)
- Chain Letters (1987–1997)
- ChuckleVision (1987–2009)
- After Henry (1988–1992)
- Park Avenue (1988–1992)
- Count Duckula (1988–1993)
- You Rang, M'Lord? (1988–1993)
- You Bet! (1988–1997)
- Playdays (1988–1997)
- London's Burning (1988–2002)
- On the Record (1988–2002)
- Fifteen to One (1988–2003, 2013–present)
- This Morning (1988–present)
- The Channel 4 Daily (1989–1992)
- Absolutely (1989–1993)
- KYTV (1989–1993)
- Press Gang (1989–1993)
- Birds of a Feather (1989–1998, 2014–present)
- A Bit of Fry & Laurie (1989–1995)
- Desmond's (1989–1994)
- Mike and Angelo (1989–2000)
- The Simpsons (1989–present)
1990s
Ending this year
Births
Deaths
References