1966 in British television

none 1966 British television March 2024 This is a list of British television related events from 1966. Events January 1 January – The first edition of Rugby Special is broadcast on BBC2, showing weekly highlights of rugby union matches.https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/f08a7b8a4aee4702b10e1c034298f14a https://web.archive.org/web/20141017111009/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/f08a7b8a4aee4702b10e1c034298f14a dead 17 October 2014 Rugby Special – BBC Two – 1 January 1966 BBC BBC Genome 9 February 2021 3 January – Stop-motion children's television series Camberwick Green, first of the 'Trumptonshire' trilogy, is first shown on BBC1 as part of Watch with Mother; it is the channel's first programme to be filmed in colour (although transmitted in black and white at this time) and the first BBC programme to feature a copyright year in the end credits. 4 January – More than 4,000 people attend a memorial service at Westminster Abbey for the broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, who died the previous month aged 52. 15 January – BBC2 goes on the air in the South and West of England. 29 January – ITV begins showing the anthology horror series Mystery and Imagination, which features numerous adaptations of classic horror stories. March 3 March – The BBC announces plans to begin broadcasting television programmes in colour from next year. https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/3/newsid_2514000/2514719.stm BBC tunes in to colour BBC On This Day 16 May 2009 1966-03-03 10 March – The Frost Report, which launches the television careers of John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett and other writers and performers, is first broadcast on BBC1. 22 March – ITV launches How, the educational children's programme hosted by Jack Hargreaves and Fred Dinenage. April 5 April – The Money Programme debuts on BBC2. It continues to air until 2010. 7 April–24 September – Weavers Green, made by Anglia Television, airs on ITV in 49 half-hour episodes twice-weekly. Based around a country veterinary practice, it is the first rural soap opera on British television and one of the first television programmes to be shot on location using videotape and outside broadcast equipment, rather than film, as has usually been the case for non-studio shooting until this point.http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1400763/index.html BFI Screenonline Weavers Green (1966) John Williams 2019-09-03 21 April – The opening of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is televised for the first time. May 21 May – ITV Midlands and Northern (ABC Weekend) and ITV Southern begin broadcasting Batman, the American live-action series, starring Adam West and Burt Ward. Other ITV regions broadcast it soon afterwards, with STV first showing it on 2 July, Rediffusion (London) on 5 July, and Border on 13 August. Episodes are shown in two parts over Saturday and Sunday evenings.History of Batman 1966 https://www.66batmania.com/bios/history/Barmy-Brilliant-Batman https://www.transdiffusion.org/2017/06/27/barmy-brilliant-batmanBatman (1966–1968) Release Info https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059968/releaseinfoBritish Newspaper Archive 21 May 1966 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1966-05-21/1966-05-21?basicsearch=batman&exactsearch=false&retrievecountrycounts=false&sortorder=2&page=0 25 May – Julie Goodyear makes her Coronation Street debut as Bet Lynch. She will become a regular character between 1970 and 1995, as well as brief returns in 2002 and 2003. June 6 June – BBC1 sitcom Till Death Us Do Part begins its first series run. 11 June – BBC2 Northern Ireland goes on the air. 16 June – The Beatles perform live on BBC television's Top of the Pops. Although the group had previously pre-recorded appearances on the show, this would be their first and only live broadcast, miming to both "Paperback Writer" and its b-side, "Rain".http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/eab79562db7b467e9e4d2fb66f8fe72e https://web.archive.org/web/20141030145302/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/eab79562db7b467e9e4d2fb66f8fe72e dead 30 October 2014 Broadcast – BBC Programme Index 11 February 2022https://www.beatlesbible.com/1966/06/16/beatles-only-live-top-of-the-pops-appearance/ The Beatles Bible – the Beatles' only live Top of the Pops appearance 5 May 2020 11 February 2022Turner Steve Steve Turner (writer) Beatles '66: The Revolutionary Year 2016 Ecco New York, NY 978-0-06-247558-9 211, 213Everett Walter Walter Everett (musicologist) 1999 The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology Oxford University Press New York, NY 978-0-19-512941-0 https://books.google.com/books?id=eTkHAldi4bEC 68 The appearance is subsequently lost due to the BBC's habit of wiping expensive video tape for reuse,Rodriguez Robert Revolver: How the Beatles Reimagined Rock 'n' Roll 2012 Backbeat Books 978-1-61713-009-0 Milwaukee, WI 164 but in 2019 a collector unearths 11 seconds of the performanceClip of 'lost' Beatles Top of the Pops performance unearthed 8 April 2019 BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-47854806 11 February 2022 and a longer 92 seconds is found later in the year.Footage of Beatles' only Top of the Pops live show found 29 May 2019 BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-birmingham-48450810/footage-of-beatles-only-top-of-the-pops-live-show-found 11 February 2022 July 4 July – BBC2 presents Samuel Beckett's television play Eh Joe. 9 July – BBC2 Scotland goes on the air, the last regional area to receive BBC2 (including the Gaelic language strand BBC Dhà Alba). It ceases broadcasting on 17 February 2019 to make way for the new BBC Scotland channel launching on 24 February 2019. 30 July – England beat West Germany 4–2 to win the 1966 World Cup at Wembley, attracting an all-time record UK television audience of more than 32,000,000.https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/30/newsid_2644000/2644065.stm "Football glory for England" BBC On This Day 9 May 2009 1966-07-30 BBC News August 20 August – BBC2 begins showing a Midnight Movie on Saturday nights. The film airs through the midnight hour, offering an alternative to BBC1 and ITV as both those channels generally closed at around midnight. Summer Summer – Patrick McGoohan quits the popular spy series Danger Man after filming only two episodes of the fourth season, in order to produce and star in The Prisoner which begins filming in September. October 1 October – A Carry On comedy film is shown on UK television for the first time, with ITV Midlands broadcasting the first in series from 1958, Carry On Sergeant, starring William Hartnell, Bob Monkhouse, Shirley Eaton, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey and Kenneth Williams. 2 October The four-part serial Talking to a Stranger, acclaimed as one of the finest British television dramas of the 1960s, begins transmission in the Theatre 625 strand on BBC2. Thunderbirds is back with a second season on ITV but without David Holliday (the original voice of Virgil Tracy) as he is now replaced by Jeremy Wilkin and running only for six episodes (because of failure to sell to the U.S. market). 8 October – First episode of the Doctor Who serial The Tenth Planet aired, introducing the Cybermen. 29 October – Actor William Hartnell makes his last regular appearance as the First Doctor in the concluding moments of Episode 4 of the Doctor Who serial The Tenth Planet. Patrick Troughton briefly appears as the Second Doctor at the conclusion of the serial. November 5 November – Patrick Troughton makes his first full Doctor Who appearance in the serial The Power of the Daleks as the Second Doctor. No episodes of this serial survive. 16 November – BBC television drama Cathy Come Home, filmed in a docudrama style, is broadcast on BBC1's The Wednesday Play anthology strand. Viewed by a quarter of the British population, it is considered influential on public attitudes to homelessness and the related social issues it deals with,John Corner Cathy Come Home http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/cathycomeho/cathycomeho.htm Museum of Broadcast Communications 2010-06-28 https://web.archive.org/web/20130928173800/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/cathycomeho/cathycomeho.htm 28 September 2013 becoming possibly the best-known play ever to be broadcast on British television. It was written by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach, with Carol White in the title role. 20 November – ITV begins showing the long running children's series Picture Box. Produced by Granada Television and developed as an educational programme for schools, it features a variety of subjects hosted by Alan Rothwell. It is also notable for its distinctive title sequence of a revolving glass box accompanied by merry-go-round music. Rothwell will host the series right up until 1989. December 17 December – First episode of the Doctor Who serial The Highlanders is aired on BBC 1.Dr. Who – BBC1 https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/740c4a0ac3aa4334ab7899ea691afd30 7 October 2026 Radio Times London, United Kingdom 17 December 1966 BBC Genome Project, the last to feature an historical event (the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden in 1746), although the character of Jamie is retained as a companion. No episodes of this serial survive.David J. Howe Howe David J. Stephen James Walker Walker Stephen James 2003 The Television Companion: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who 2nd Tolworth Telos 1-903889-51-0 25 December – The final episode of Thunderbirds is broadcast on ITV. 28 December – Jonathan Miller's production of Alice in Wonderland is broadcast on ITV. 31 December – BBC1 begins showing the American pop music sitcom The Monkees.The Monkees – BBC1 https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/f161689e6cf544d09fdb041283991833 7 October 2026 Radio Times London, United Kingdom 31 December 1966 BBC Genome Project Undated The "Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet" campaign launches on television, running until the prohibition of tobacco product advertising on British television in 1991.http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/greatest_ads/ The 100 Greatest TV Ads 2000 Channel 4 London https://web.archive.org/web/20010618095141/http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/greatest_ads/ 2001-06-18 dead 2025-06-22 Wayback Machine Debuts BBC1 1 January – The Spies (1966) 3 January – The Trumptonshire Trilogy: Camberwick Green (1966) 5 January – Softly, Softly (1966–1969) 16 January – David Copperfield (1966) 10 March – The Frost Report (1966) 7 May – Quick Before They Catch Us (1966) 17 May – All Gas and Gaiters (1966–1971) 24 May – Beggar My Neighbour (1966–1968) 14 June – Room at the Bottom (1966) 19 June – Thirteen Against Fate (1966) 23 June – Adam Adamant Lives! (1966–1967) 6 July – King of the River (1966–1967) 2 August – The Reluctant Romeo (1966–1967) 7 August – It's a Knockout (BBC1 1966–1982, Channel 5 1999–2001) 18 August – Dusty (1966–1967) 5 September – Jennings (1966) 16 September – Foreign Affairs (1966) 2 October – The Woman in White (1966) 3 October – Joe (1966–1971) 15 October – The Late Show (1966–1967) 17 October – Daktari (1966–1969) 28 October – Harry Worth (1966–1970) 4 November – Vendetta (1966–1968) 13 November – The Three Musketeers (1966) 17 November – The Illustrated Weekly Hudd (1966–1967) 28 December – Alice in Wonderland (1966) 31 December – The Monkees (broadcast on BBC1 in black & white) BBC2 7 January – This Man Craig (1966–1967) 11 January – The Idiot (1966) 15 January – The Man in the Mirror (1966) 15 February – A Farewell to Arms (1966) 26 February – A Game of Murder (1966) 8 March – The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1966) 19 March – Mild and Bitter (1966) 5 April – The Money Programme (1966–2010) 10 April – Take a Pair of Private Eyes (1966) 26 April – Lord Raingo (1966) 22 May – Death is a Good Living (1966) 16 June – This Is Petula Clark (1966–1968) 18 June – Chronicle (1966–1991) 19 June – Watch the Birdies (1966) 9 July – The Heart of Midlothian (1966) 23 July – Mr. John Jorrocks (1966) 20 September – North and South (1966) 2 October – Talking to a Stranger (1966) (originally shown on Theatre 625 anthology series) 20 October – Breaking Point (1966) 25 October – Broome Stages (1966) 9 November – On the Margin (1966) 16 November – Cathy Come Home (1966) 26 November – Bat Out of Hell (1966) 31 December – The Dark Number (1966–1967) ITV 7 January – The Liars (1966) 11 January – The Master (1966) 29 January – Mystery and Imagination (1966–1970) 2 February – The Rat Catchers (1966–1967) 22 February – Object Z Returns (1966) 14 March – Mrs Thursday (1966–1967) 22 March – How (1966–1981) 7 April – Weavers Green (1966) 14 April – The Untouchables (1959–1963) 9 May – Seven Deadly Sins (1966) 21 May – Batman (1966–1968) 18 June – Cooperama (1966) 7 July – You Can't Win (1966) 3 August – The Informer (1966–1967) 26 August – The Corridor People (1966) 20 September – Picture Box (1966–1989) 23 September – Conflict (1966–1969) 28 September – The Baron (1966–1967) 29 September – The New Forest Rustlers (1966) 1 October All Square (1966–1967) Intrigue (1966) 19 November – George and the Dragon (1966–1968) 31 December – Life with Cooper (1966–1969) Unknown – I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970) Continuing television shows 1920s BBC Wimbledon (1927–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–2024) 1930s Trooping the Colour (1937–1939, 1946–2019, 2023–present) The Boat Race (1938–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–present) BBC Cricket (1939, 1946–1999, 2020–2024) 1940s The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971) Come Dancing (1949–1998) 1950s Andy Pandy (1950–1970, 2002–2005) Watch with Mother (1952–1975) The Good Old Days (1953–1983) Panorama (1953–present) Sunday Night at the London Palladium (1955–1967, 1973–1974) Take Your Pick! (1955–1968, 1992–1998) Double Your Money (1955–1968) Dixon of Dock Green (1955–1976) Crackerjack (1955–1970, 1972–1984, 2020–2021) ITV Wimbledon (1956–1968) Opportunity Knocks (1956–1978, 1987–1990) This Week (1956–1978, 1986–1992) Armchair Theatre (1956–1974)Mark Duguid "Armchair Theatre (1956–74)", BFI screenonline What the Papers Say (1956–2008)What the Papers Say in pictures https://www.theguardian.com/media/gallery/2008/may/29/what.the.papers.say The Guardian 2 April 2022 29 May 2008 The Sky at Night (1957–present) Blue Peter (1958–present) Grandstand (1958–2007) 1960s Coronation Street (1960–present) The Avengers (1961–1969) Songs of Praise (1961–present) Hugh and I (1962–1967) The Saint (1962–1969) Z-Cars (1962–1978) Animal Magic (1962–1983) Doctor Who (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–present) World in Action (1963–1998) The Wednesday Play (1964–1970) Top of the Pops (1964–2006) Match of the Day (1964–present) Crossroads (1964–1988, 2001–2003) Play School (1964–1988) Mr. and Mrs. (1965–1999) The Newcomers (1965–1969) Not Only... But Also (1965–1970) World of Sport (1965–1985) Call My Bluff (1965–2005) Jackanory (1965–1996, 2006) Ending this year Captain Pugwash (1957–1966, 1974–1975, 1997–2002) The Flintstones (1960–1966) Thank Your Lucky Stars (1961–1966) Marriage Lines (1963–1966) Our Man at St. Mark's (1963–1966) Ready Steady Go! (1963–1966) The Likely Lads (1964–1966) Redcap (1964–1966) BBC-3 (1965–1966) The Bed-Sit Girl (1965–1966) Thunderbirds (1965–1966) Stingray (1965–1966) Births 13 January – Shelagh Fogarty, radio and television presenter 26 February – Fay Ripley, actress and recipe author 6 March – Alan Davies, comedian and actor 22 March – Samantha Robson, actress 1 April – Chris Evans, radio DJ and presenter 14 April – Lloyd Owen, actor 14 June – Jeremy Dyson, English screenwriter (The League of Gentlemen) 19 June – Samuel West, actor 5 July – Susannah Doyle, actress, playwright and film director 12 July – Tamsin Greig, actress 16 July – Johnny Vaughan, broadcaster and journalist 23 July – Samantha Beckinsale, actress 30 August – Helen Fospero, newsreader and journalist 17 October – Mark Gatiss, English actor, writer and comedian (The League of Gentlemen) 26 October – Steve Valentine, actor See also 1966 in British music 1966 in British radio 1966 in the United Kingdom List of British films of 1966 References External links List of 1966 British television series at IMDb 1966