1982 in British television

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This is a list of British television related events from 1982.

Events

January

• 1 January –
  • Associated Television (ATV) was restructured into Central Independent Television but still broadcasting in the Midlands. Television South (TVS) starts broadcasting to the South and South East of England, replacing Southern Television, and Television South West (TSW) starts broadcasting to the South West, replacing Westward Television.
  • The Bluebell Hill transmitter in Kent is transferred from Thames/LWT to TVS, to increase the size of TVS's new South East sub-region and the Kendal transmitter, covering much of southern Cumbria, is transferred from Granada to Border.
  • Yorkshire Television extends its coverage on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border, when transmitters covering Todmorden and Walsden are transferred from the Granada region.
  • In London, the Friday handover hours for Thames and LWT is moved from 7.00 pm to the earlier time of 5.15 pm.
  • ITV airs the network television premiere of Steven Spielberg's 1977 science-fiction epic Close Encounters of the Third Kind for the first time, starring Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut and Melinda Dillon.
  • The first showing on British television of Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is aired as part of BBC1's New Year's Day lineup.
• 3 January – Final edition of The Generation Game to be presented by Larry Grayson. It is a compilation of highlights of the previous series.
• 4 January – Peter Davison makes his first full appearance as the Fifth Doctor in the Doctor Who serial "Castrovalva".
• 8 January – Launch of London Weekend Television's Friday evening magazine programme The Six O'Clock Show. Until December 1987, the programme includes a fifteen minute news bulletin produced by Thames Television and titled Thames Weekend News.
• January – John Birt replaces Michael Grade as Director of Programmes at London Weekend Television, and makes major changes to output aimed at maximising audiences with some niche programming, such as arts and science, moving out of primetime to the schedule margins to make way form more entertainment shows at peak time.

February

• February – The first-ever 3D broadcast in the UK is screened by Television South. The programme includes excerpts of test footage shot by Philips in the Netherlands. Red/green 3D glasses were given away free with copies of the TV Times magazine, but the 3D sections of the programme are shown in monochrome.
• 3 February – ITV airs the network television premiere of John Carpenter's 1978 slasher film Halloween, starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

March

• 2 March – Second television version of John Mortimer's play A Voyage Round My Father, produced by Thames Television for ITV, is broadcast, with Laurence Olivier as Mortimer's blind barrister father, Alan Bates as the young Mortimer, Elizabeth Sellars the mother and Jane Asher as Elizabeth and featuring blind actor Esmond Knight as a (sighted) judge.
• 5 March – The BBC is given permission by the Government to start broadcasting television programmes on two satellite channels from early 1986. Ultimately, however, the channels are not launched.
• 27 March – The final edition of Saturday morning children’s magazine show Multi-Coloured Swap Shop is broadcast.
• 28 March – The British television premiere of the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me on ITV.

April

• 2 April – The Falklands War begins as Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. Both the BBC and ITV broadcast additional and extended news bulletins throughout the conflict.
• 3 April – The final edition of Saturday morning programme Tiswas is shown on ITV. It had been aired, albeit originally as a regional programme made by ATV, since 1974.
• 15 April – BBC2's start time moves to the later time of 5:10pm with transmissions beginning with a single Open University programme with regular programmes now beginning at 5:40pm. For the past six months BBC2 had been starting its weekday broadcasts at the earlier time of 3:55pm.
• 17 April – The BBC launches its first summer Saturday morning magazine programme, Get Set. However unlike its winter counterpart, the summer shows air only for the first half of the morning. This allows for an earlier start to Grandstand to accommodate live test cricket and on the weeks that cricket is not being shown, a feature film is broadcast from around 11 am until the start of Grandstand at 12.30 pm.
• 24 April – The 27th Eurovision Song Contest is held in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The contest is presented by Jan Leeming and won by Germany's Nicole with "Ein bißchen Frieden".
• 26 April – The Satellite Channel launches. However to be able to view the channel in the UK, a satellite dish approximately 10 feet (3 meters) wide is required due to the satellite on which the channel is broadcast. In 1984 it is renamed Sky Channel after it is purchased by Rupert Murdoch and in 1989 it becomes known as Sky One.

May

• 1 May – British television debut of the American soap opera Dynasty.
• 9 May – BBC1 airs live coverage of the London Marathon for the first time. It had aired highlights of the event under the International Athletics strand the previous year.
• 28 May–2 June – The BBC and ITV provide extensive live coverage of Pope John Paul II's visit to the United Kingdom.

June

• 14 June – The Falklands War ends after Argentina surrenders.
• 17 June – American musical high school drama Fame starts airing on UK television on BBC1.
• 20 June – The BBC relaunches its Sunday morning programme for the Asian community. The new programme is called Asian Magazine.

July

• 9 July – British television premiere of Ridley Scott's 1979 science-fiction horror Alien airs on ITV, starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton.
• 26 July – Alasdair Milne succeeds Ian Trethowan as Director-General of the BBC.

August

• 2 August – Test broadcasts commence for Channel 4 and S4C. These mainly consist of showing the IBA's testcard ETP-1 between 9.00 am and 8.00 pm.

September

• 20 September – The first showing of BBC Schools' first computer generated ident takes place.

October

• 2 October – The first edition of Multi-Coloured Swap Shop's Saturday morning replacement show Saturday Superstore is broadcast on BBC1. It adopts a similar format to its predecessor.
• 3–9 October – As part of its coverage of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, the BBC broadcasts a two-hour breakfast programme Breakfast with Brisbane. The programme includes regular news summaries and is the first time the BBC has broadcast a scheduled news bulletin at breakfast and comes three months ahead of the launch of the BBC's breakfast television programme Breakfast Time. Other coverage of the Games consists of highlights programmes broadcast at lunchtime and early evening.
• 6 October – BBC1 airs season 6 of the US drama series Dallas.
• 10 October – Boys from the Blackstuff premieres on BBC2 (last episode was shown on 7 November).
• 17 October – First showing on British television of Lord of the Flies on BBC2.
• 24 October – British television premiere of George Lucas' 1977 science-fiction epic Star Wars: A New Hope airs on ITV for the first time.
• 31 October – Programmes in Welsh are broadcast both on BBC and HTV for the final time.

November

• 1 November – S4C, the first Welsh language TV service is launched.
• 2 November – Channel 4 starts broadcasting in the UK at 4.45 pm. The first programme shown is the game show Countdown, which, barring the news, is the only programme from the launch night that is still running today. The first ever episode of Brookside is broadcast. The programme was shown on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8.00 pm.
• 3 November – Television debut of the nostalgic coming-of-age film P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang on Channel 4, a film produced by David Puttnam and directed by Michael Apted as part of the First Love series.
• 5 November – Debut of Channel 4's innovative music programme The Tube.
• 7 November – Coverage of American football is first shown on Channel 4 at 5.30 pm, beginning the channel's several years of association with the sport. The programme is initially presented by Nicky Horne and Miles Aiken. Due to an NFL players strike over pay negotiation rules the programme is forced to show matches played earlier in the season. In spite of this, and because of the British viewing public's limited knowledge of American football, coverage of the sport proves to be popular. The players have ended their action by January 1983, enabling Channel 4 to air live coverage of that year's Super Bowl.
• 7–28 November – The London Weekend Television epic production The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is aired by Channel 4 over its first four Sunday evenings on air.
• 8 November – Channel 4 begins airing basketball coverage, presented by Simon Reed and Miles Aiken. Each week sees coverage of a match from Division One of the National Basketball League, with highlights of the first half of the game and live coverage of the second half. The first match to be shown is a game between the Birmingham Bullets and Crystal Palace.
• 9 November – The first episode of anarchic sitcom The Young Ones starring Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan and Alexei Sayle is aired on BBC2.
• 14 November – The viewer complaints programme Right to Reply first airs on Channel 4.
• 16 November – A dispute over new technology forces Border Television to close for around a month.

December

• 2 December – 10.2 million viewers saw a classic comedy scene from the Only Fools and Horses episode "A Touch of Glass", in which the Trotters accidentally smash a priceless chandelier.
• 23 December – Service Information is broadcast on BBC2 for the final time.
• 26 December – Premiere of Raymond Briggs' The Snowman on Channel 4.
• 27 December –
  • British television premiere of the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker on ITV.
  • Channel 4 airs its first theme night, Fifties to the Fore. The evening includes episodes of ABC and ATV shows such as Armchair Theatre and Oh Boy!.
• 28 December –
  • BBC1 airs the British television premiere of the 1978 musical hit Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
  • ITV airs the British television premiere of the 1977 comedy Smokey and the Bandit, starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and Jackie Gleason.
• December – ITV conducts a national 3D experiment, with red/blue glasses allowing colour 3D to be shown for the first time. The programme, an episode of the weekly science magazine The Real World (produced by TVS) is shown on a weekday evening and repeated that weekend on Sunday afternoon, followed by a rare screening of the Western Fort Ti, starring George Montgomery and Joan Vohs.

Debuts

BBC1

• 3 January – Gulliver in Lilliput (1982)
• 4 January –
  • Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow (1982)
  • Police (1982)
• 6 January – The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1982)
• 8 January – Fame is the Spur (1982)
• 10 January – King's Royal (1982–1983)
• 28 January – Goodbye, Mr Kent (1982)
• 31 January – Stalky & Co. (1982)
• 16 February – Legacy of Murder (1982)
• 1 March – Alexa (1982)
• 25 March – Love Is Old, Love Is New (1982)
• 29 March – Cagney & Lacey (1981–1988)
• 11 April – Badger by Owl-Light (1982)
• 13 April – Play for Tomorrow (1982)
• 16 April – Odd One Out (1982–1985)
• 22 April – Bird of Prey (1982)
• 1 May – Dynasty (1981–1989)
• 4 May – Wogan (1982–1992)
• 17 June – Fame (1982–1987)
• 17 August – An Inspector Calls (1982)
• 4 September – The Late, Late Breakfast Show (1982–1986)
• 5 September – Cousin Phillis (1982)
• 9 September – Claire (1982)
• 29 September – The Jockey School (1982)
• 2 October –
  • Carrott's Lib (1982–1983)
  • Saturday Superstore (1982–1987)
• 3 October – The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982)
• 19 October – Squadron (1982)
• 31 October – Beau Geste (1982)
• 17 November – Break Point (1982)
• 30 December –
  • 'Allo 'Allo! (1982–1992)
  • The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1982)
• Then Churchill Said to Me (made but not screened until 1993)

BBC2

• 7 January – Ennal's Point (1982)
• 13 January – The Bell (1982)
• 25 January – West Country Tales (1982–1983)
• 10 February – Nancy Astor (1982)
• 18 February – County Hall (1982)
• 5 March – Dear Heart (1982)
• 14 April – The Woman in White (1982)
• 19 May – Frost in May (1982)
• 14 July – Cloud Howe (1982)
• 2 August – Jane (1982)
• 1 September – Timewatch (1982–present)
• 5 September – Thunderbirds Weekends (1982–1983)
• 20 September –
  • Smiley's People (1982)
  • There's a Lot of It About (1982)
• 21 September – Take Three Women (1982)
• 8 October – L for Lester (1982)
• 10 October – Boys from the Blackstuff (1982)
• 1 November – The Further Adventures of Lucky Jim (1982)
• 4 November – Eureka (1982–1986)
• 9 November – The Young Ones (1982–1984)
• 10 November – The Barchester Chronicles (1982)
• 12 November – Objects of Affection (1982)
• 26 December – Spider's Web (1982)
• 29 December – East Lynne (1982)

ITV

• 1 January – Central News (1982–present)
• 2 January –
  • No. 73 (1982–1988)
  • O.T.T. (1982)
• 3 January – Airline (1982)
• 4 January –
  • Don't Rock the Boat (1982–1983)
  • Let's Pretend (1982–1988)
  • Let There Be Love (1982–1983)
• 5 January –
  • Emu's World (1982–1984)
  • CBTV (1982–1985)
• 8 January – Shine on Harvey Moon (1982–1985, 1995)
• 12 January – Muck and Brass (1982)
• 22 January – Hill Street Blues (1981–1987)
• 12 February – We'll Meet Again (1982)
• 15 February – Dead Ernest (1982)
• 16 February – On Safari (1982–1985)
• 18 February – Falcon Crest (1981–1990)
• 26 February – The Haunting of Cassie Palmer (1982)
• 28 February – Father Charlie (1982)
• 1 March – Murphy's Mob (1982–1985)
• 2 March – A Voyage Round My Father (1985)
• 14 March – Whoops Apocalypse (1982)
• 29 March – 3-2-1 Contact (1980–1988)
• 4 April – A Kind of Loving (1982)
• 6 April – The Brack Report (1982)
• 13 April – Horace (1982)
• 14 April – I Remember Nelson (1982)
• 16 April – The Bounder (1982–1983)
• 19 April – Union Castle (1982)
• 28 May – On the Line (1982)
• 9 June – Andy Robson (1982–1983)
• 10 June – There's Nothing to Worry About! (1982)
• 14 June – The World Cup: A Captain's Tale (1982)
• 30 June – Something in Disguise (1982)
• 6 July – Pullover (1982)
• 9 July – Rep (1982)
• 12 July – A.J. Wentworth, B.A. (1982)
• 25 July – All for Love (1982–1983)
• 26 July – Ragdolly Anna (1982–1987)
• 2 August – Comic Roots (1982–1983)
• 6 August – Third Time Lucky (1982)
• 1 September – Radio Phoenix (1982)
• 7 September – The Agatha Christie Hour (1982)
• 13 September –
  • Hold Tight! (1982–1987)
  • Tom, Dick and Harriet (1982)
• 23 September – Wales This Week (1982–present)
• 26 September – Ivanhoe (1982)
• 25 October –
  • Foxy Lady (1982–1984)
  • Harry's Game (1982)
• 27 October – A Country Practice (1981–1994)
• 30 October – The Saturday Show (1982–1984)
• 31 October – Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House (1982)
• 3 November – The Cut Price Comedy Show (1982–1983)
• 9 November – S.W.A.L.K. (1982)
• 10 November – Nobody's Hero (1982)
• 13 November – Saturday Night Thriller (1982)
• 28 December – Anyone for Denis? (1982)

Channel 4

• 2 November –
  • Countdown (1982–present)
  • Brookside (1982–2003)
  • Channel 4 News (1982–present)
  • The Comic Strip Presents (1982–2005)
  • Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow (1982)
• 3 November - P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang (1982)
• 5 November – The Tube (1982–1987)
• 14 November – Right to Reply (1982–2001)
• 26 December – The Snowman (1982)
• 28 December – Treasure Hunt (1982–1989)

S4C

• 1 November –
  • SuperTed (1982–1986)
  • Newyddion (1982–present)
• 3 November – Y Byd ar Bedwar (1982–present)
• 4 November – Joni Jones (1982)
• 5 November – Anturiaethau Syr Wynff a Plwmsan (1982–1989)
• 11 November – Noson Lawen (1982–present)

New channels

Date	Channel
1 January	ITV Central Television South & Television South West
1 November	S4C
2 November	Channel 4

Television shows

Changes of network affiliation

Show	Moved from	Moved to
Rising Damp	ITV	Channel 4
Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow (1982)	BBC1

Continuing television shows

1920s

• BBC Wimbledon (1927–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–present)

1930s

• The Boat Race (1938–1939, 1946–2019)
• BBC Cricket (1939, 1946–1999, 2020–2024)

1940s

• Come Dancing (1949–1998)

1950s

• The Good Old Days (1953–1983)
• Panorama (1953–present)
• Crackerjack (1955–1984, 2020–present)
• What the Papers Say (1956–2008)
• The Sky at Night (1957–present)
• Blue Peter (1958–present)
• Grandstand (1958–2007)

1960s

• Coronation Street (1960–present)
• Songs of Praise (1961–present)
• Animal Magic (1962–1983)
• Doctor Who (1963–1989,1993,1996,2005–present)
• World in Action (1963–1998)
• Top of the Pops (1964–2006)
• Match of the Day (1964–present)
• Crossroads (1964–1988, 2001–2003)
• Play School (1964–1988)
• Mr. and Mrs. (1964–1999, 2008–2010, 2012–present)
• World of Sport (1965–1985)
• Jackanory (1965–1996, 2006)
• Sportsnight (1965–1997)
• Call My Bluff (1965–2005)
• The Money Programme (1966–2010)
• The Big Match (1968–2002)
• Nationwide (1969–1983)
• Screen Test (1969–1984)

1970s

• The Old Grey Whistle Test (1971–1987)
• The Two Ronnies (1971–1987, 1991, 1996, 2005)
• Crown Court (1972–1984)
• Pebble Mill at One (1972–1986)
• Rainbow (1972–1992, 1994–1997)
• Emmerdale (1972–present)
• Newsround (1972–present)
• Weekend World (1972–1988)
• We Are the Champions (1973–1987)
• Last of the Summer Wine (1973–2010)
• That's Life! (1973–1994)
• Wish You Were Here...? (1974–2003)
• Arena (1975–present)
• Jim'll Fix It (1975–1994)
• Rentaghost (1976–1984)
• One Man and His Dog (1976–present)
• Open All Hours (1976, 1981–1982, 1985)
• The Professionals (1977–1983)
• Butterflies (1978–1983, 2000)
• 3-2-1 (1978–1988)
• Grange Hill (1978–2008)
• Terry and June (1979–1987)
• The Loud House (1979-1988)
• The Book Tower (1979–1989)
• Blankety Blank (1979–1990, 1997–2002)
• The Paul Daniels Magic Show (1979–1994)
• Antiques Roadshow (1979–present)
• Question Time (1979–present)

1980s

• The Gentle Touch (1980–1984)
• Juliet Bravo (1980–1985)
• Cockleshell Bay (1980–1986)
• Children in Need (1980–present)
• The Gaffer (1981–1983)
• A Fine Romance (1981–1984)
• Punchlines (1981–1984)
• Finders Keepers (1981–1985, 1991–1996, 2006)
• Freetime (1981–1985)
• Game for a Laugh (1981–1985)
• Tenko (1981–1985)
• That's My Boy (1981–1986)
• Razzamatazz (1981–1987)
• Bergerac (1981–1991)
• BBC News After Noon (1981–1986)
• Sorry! (1981–1988)

Ending this year

• Unknown –
  • How (1966–1982)
  • Boys from the Blackstuff (1982)
  • Harry's Game (1982)
  • Noggin the Nog (1959–1970, 1979–1982)
  • O.T.T. (1982)
• 1 January – Clapperboard (1972–1982)
• 13 February – The Goodies (1970–1982)
• 6 March – Dick Turpin (1979–1982)
• 8 March – Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982)
• 27 March – Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (1976–1982)
• 30 March - The Mighty B! (1977–1982)
• 2 April – Friday Night, Saturday Morning (1979–1982)
• 3 April – Tiswas (1974–1982)
• 25 April – Open All Hours (1976, 1981–1982, 1985, 2013)
• 30 July – It's a Knockout (1966–1982, 1999–2001)
• 31 August – Sapphire & Steel (1979–1982)
• 8 September – Into the Labyrinth (1980–1982)
• 15 October – Something Else (1978–1982)
• 20 October – Strangers (1978–1982)
• 16 December – Only When I Laugh (1979–1982)
• 27 December – Sorry! (1981–1982, 1985–1988)
  Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow (1982)

Births

• 3 January – Amanda Robbins, model
• 20 January – Joe Swash, actor
• 9 March – Paul 'Des' Ballard, television presenter
• 22 March – Pete Bennett, reality show contestant
• 2 April – Jenny Ryan, game show contestant
• 9 April – Jennifer Maguire, reality show contestant and television presenter
• 24 April – Laura Hamilton, television presenter
• 28 April – Nikki Grahame, model, dancer and television personality
• 7 June – Amy Nuttall, actress and opera singer
• 13 June – Davood Ghadami, actor
• 3 September – Fearne Cotton, television presenter
• 22 September – Billie Piper, singer and actress
• 28 October – Matt Smith, actor
• 29 November – Imogen Thomas, reality show contestant
• 21 December – Tom Payne, soap actor

Deaths

Date	Name	Age	Cinematic Credibility
21 March	Harry H. Corbett	57	actor (Steptoe and Son)
15 April	Arthur Lowe	66	actor (Dad's Army, Coronation Street)
12 July	Kenneth More	67	actor
4 November	Talfryn Thomas	60	actor (Dad's Army)
16 November	Arthur Askey	82	comedian
2 December	Marty Feldman	48	comedian and actor (At Last the 1948 Show, Marty)

See also

• 1982 in British music
• 1982 in British radio
• 1982 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1982