1963 in British television

This is a list of British television related events from 1963.

Events

• 7 January – Granada Television first broadcasts World in Action, its influential investigative current affairs series, which will run for 35 years.
• 13 January – BBC TV broadcasts the play The Madhouse on Castle Street in the Sunday-Night Theatre strand. The play co-stars a young American folk music singer named Bob Dylan.
• 23 March – The 8th Eurovision Song Contest is held at the BBC Television Centre in London. Denmark wins the contest with the song "Dansevise", performed by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann.
• 9 August – Ready Steady Go! premieres on ITV.
• 30 September – BBC TV begins using a globe as their symbol. They would continue to use it in varying forms until 2002.
• 22 November – BBC TV interrupts regular programming to report the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
• 23 November
  • That Was The Week That Was broadcasts its famous, non-satirical Kennedy tribute episode on BBC TV.
  • Doctor Who premieres on BBC TV with the first episode of the four-part serial An Unearthly Child. The First Doctor is portrayed by William Hartnell.
• 21 December – First episode of the seven-part serial The Daleks broadcast in the Doctor Who series, introducing the titular aliens (revealed fully in the following week's episode).
• 28 December – The satirical BBC show That Was The Week That Was (TW3) airs for the last time.

Debuts

BBC Television Service/BBC TV

• 23 November – Doctor Who (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–present)
• Unknown – Bleep and Booster (1963–1977)

ITV

• 7 January – World in Action (1963–1998)
• 30 March – The Human Jungle (1963–1964)
• 9 August – Ready Steady Go! (1963–1966)
• 2 October – Espionage (1963–1964)
• 9 November – Emerald Soup (1963)

Television shows

1940s

• Watch with Mother (1946–1973)
• Come Dancing (1949–1998)

1950s

• Andy Pandy (1950–1970, 2002–2005)
• Rag, Tag and Bobtail (1953–1965)
• The Good Old Days (1953–1983)
• Panorama (1953–present)
• Picture Book (1955–1965)
• 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 (1955–1984)
• Opportunity Knocks (1956–1978, 1987–1990)
• This Week (1956–1978, 1986–1992)
• Armchair Theatre (1956–1974)^[1]
• What the Papers Say (1956–2008)
• The Sky at Night (1957–present)
• Blue Peter (1958–present)
• Grandstand (1958–2007)
• Noggin the Nog (1959–1965)

1960s

• Sykes and A... (1960–1965)
• The Flintstones (1960–1966)
• Coronation Street (1960–present)
• Ghost Squad (1961–1964)
• The Avengers (1961–1969)
• Points of View (1961–present)
• Songs of Praise (1961–present)
• Compact (1962–1965)
• Steptoe and Son (1962–1965, 1970–1974)
• Hugh and I (1962–1967)
• The Saint (1962–1969)
• Z-Cars (1962–1978)
• Animal Magic (1962–1983)

Ending this year

• Zoo Quest (1954–1963)
• That Was The Week That Was (1962–1963)
• The Jetsons (1962–1963, 1985–1987)

Births

• 16 January – James May, motoring journalist and television show host
• 19 January – Martin Bashir, television journalist
• 22 January – Nicola Duffett, actress
• 10 February – Philip Glenister, actor
• 16 March – Jerome Flynn, British actor
• 20 March – David Thewlis, English actor
• 16 April – Nick Berry, actor and singer
• 11 May – Natasha Richardson, actress (died 2009)
• 20 May – Jenny Funnell, radio and television actress
• 22 May – David Schneider, actor
• 6 June – Jason Isaacs, actor
• 2 July – Mark Kermode, British film critic
• 3 July - Jo Wheeler, weather forecaster
• 31 August – Todd Carty, actor and director
• 11 September – Colin Wells, actor
• 26 September
  • Lysette Anthony, English actress
  • Jo Caulfield, actress, writer and comedian.
• 5 October – Nick Robinson, journalist, BBC News political editor
• 3 November – Ian Wright, footballer and radio and television presenter
• 10 November – Hugh Bonneville, actor
• 28 November – Armando Iannucci, Scottish comedian, satirist and radio producer
• 24 December – Caroline Aherne, comic actress/writer (died 2016)
• Unknown
  • Ruth Goodman, historian and television presenter
  • Judy Flynn, British actress, (Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom)

References