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1994 in British television

This is a list of British television related events from 1994.

Events

January

  • 1 January – In the early hours of the morning, BBC2 airs the first Hootenanny which began late the previous evening. The annual New Year's Eve music show is hosted by Jools Holland and the first edition includes performances from Sting, the Gipsy Kings and Sly and Robbie.
  • 2 January – BBC2 begins a repeat run of the 1960s US series The Fugitive.
  • 3 January
  • TCI acquires a 60.4% stake in Flextech. This gives the company a 25% stake in UK Gold.
  • The network television premiere on ITV of the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill, starring Timothy Dalton.
  • 4 January
  • Sky One moves E Street back to the 6:30pm weekday timeslot with the afternoon repeat shown the following day at 12:30pm, while Paradise Beach moves to 6pm and 12pm, thus creating an "Aussie Soap Hour" on the channel.
  • Debut of the military comedy-drama All Quiet on the Preston Front on BBC1.
  • The children's animated series Budgie the Little Helicopter, based upon a series of books by Sarah, Duchess of York, makes its debut on CITV.
  • 5 January – "The Empath", an episode of the US sci-fi series ', is shown for the first time in the UK on BBC2, having not been seen on British television since the series original run on BBC1.
  • 7 January
  • The Times reports that merger talks between Yorkshire Television and Tyne Tees have collapsed because it has proved impossible to reach an agreement on a suitable structure for the new company. Also, Anglia have withdrawn from the proposed alliance with London Weekend Television, making an LWT take over of YTV impossible.
  • ZZZap! returns for a new series on ITV with a new character called Daisy Dares You, played by Deborah McCallum; the part of Tricky Dicky and Smart Arty's segments have been updated with him using a magic pen to draw pictures that come to life.
  • 8 January
  • The US sci-fi series ' makes its UK debut on BBC1, starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher.
  • BBC2 shows the network television premiere of the cult Japanese science-fiction animated film Akira.
  • 10 January
  • The Welsh language soap opera Pobol y Cwm makes its debut in the rest of the UK when BBC2 begins airing episodes daily from Mondays to Thursdays. The series, shown with English subtitles, airs on BBC2 for three months, and on an experimental basis.
  • The classic children's series Rainbow is relaunched with a new format, made by Tetra Films by for HTV. However, the new series is not well received and is axed a year later and subsequently replaced by Rainbow Days.
  • 12 January – Terror Towers debuts as a new Halloween-Themed game show on CITV before broadcasting the final series of Knightmare.
  • 13 January – David Dimbleby takes over as host of Question Time on BBC1. He will continue to 2018 in the role.
  • 14 January – An episode of the Channel 4 soap Brookside shows a lesbian kiss between two of its characters.
  • 15 January – Debut of the US police procedural series NYPD Blue on Channel 4, starring Dennis Franz, James McDaniel, Amy Brenneman and Nicholas Turturro.
  • 16 January – The first episode of the archaeology series Time Team is broadcast on Channel 4, presented by Tony Robinson.
  • 19 January
  • ', an episode of the US sci-fi TV series ', is shown on BBC2 for the first time in the UK having not been seen on British television since the series original run on BBC1.
  • BBC2 debuts The Day Today, a comedy television show that parodies news, current affairs and various documentaries created by Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris, also starring Doon Mackichan, Patrick Marber, David Schneider, Rebecca Front and Steve Coogan (including his Alan Partridge character). Each episode is presented as a mock news programme, relying on a combination of ludicrous fictitious stories covered with a serious pseudo-professional attitude. The series ends on 23 February.
  • 20 January – BBC1 airs an edition of Question Time from Birmingham which includes a confrontation between Jeffrey Archer and David Starkey over the age of homosexual consent.
  • 27 January – The popular sitcom Absolutely Fabulous returns for a second series, now being shown on BBC1.

February

  • 4 February
  • Following a review of the broadcasting ban on Irish terrorist-related organizations conducted by Heritage Secretary Peter Brooke, the Major government decides to maintain the status quo.
  • The US sitcom Home Improvement debuts in the UK on Channel 4, two years and five months after its American debut.
  • 7 February – Granada Television increases its takeover bid for London Weekend Television to £774 million. However, the LWT board once again rejects the offer.
  • 12 February
  • BBC1 airs Tunnel Vision: Le Walk, a special live coverage event presented by Mike Smith, Anthea Turner and Juliet Morris explores the 31-mile charity walk through the Channel Tunnel from France during the last eight hours led by Daley Thompson, Kriss Akabusi, Graham Gooch, Todd Carty and Nicholas Witchell, with Mr Blobby leading the celebration committee for those who have made it to England.
  • The light entertainment series Don't Forget Your Toothbrush makes its debut on Channel 4, presented by Chris Evans.
  • 12–27 February – The BBC provides live and recorded coverage of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games from Norway. The majority of the coverage is shown on BBC2.
  • 18 February – Flextech buys a 20% stake in HTV, thereby clearing the company's debts.
  • 19 February – The Independent reports that Anglia has been bought by MAI (owners of Meridian). MAI subsequently merges with United Newspapers to form United News and Media.
  • 20 February
  • Debut of the children's consumer affairs series Short Change on BBC1.
  • The network television premiere of David S. Ward's 1991 American comedy King Ralph on BBC1, starring John Goodman, Peter O'Toole, Richard Griffiths, Joely Richardson and John Hurt.
  • 25 February – LWT accepts a £770 million takeover bid from Granada, resulting in the departure of Greg Dyke and Sir Christopher Bland from the broadcaster.
  • 28 February
  • HTV's main evening news programme Wales at Six is replaced by Wales Tonight.
  • The game show Talking Telephone Numbers makes its debut on ITV, presented by Phillip Schofield and Emma Forbes.
  • February
  • The ITC decides to readvertise the Channel 5 broadcasting licence, but must first seek confirmation that the frequencies it planned to allocate to the channel are still available.
  • Pages from Ceefax broadcasts adopt the Level 2 teletext graphics. The change sees a significant expansion to the number of pages shown and title pages for each section return. However, the new expanded Pages from Ceefax broadcasts are confined to the 15 minutes prior to the start of programmes which often is insufficient time to show the entire sequence which is now between 40 and 50 pages in length.

March

  • 4 March – The network television premiere on BBC2 of Laurel Avenue, the acclaimed US miniseries that tells the story of an eventful weekend in the lives of an extended African American family living in St. Paul, Minnesota. The second part is shown on 6 March.
  • 5 March – The network television premiere of David Cronenberg's 1986 horror remake The Fly on ITV, starring Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz.
  • 17 March – Robbie Williams and Mark Owen of Take That present an edition of Top of the Pops, becoming the first in a line of celebrities to guest present the show between 1994 and 1996 under the banner of "".
  • 18 March – The game show Play Your Cards Right returns to ITV after a seven-year break, with returning host Bruce Forsyth.
  • 19 March – ITV airs the network television premiere of Paul Verhoeven's 1987 American science fiction thriller RoboCop, starring Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith and Miguel Ferrer.
  • 25 March – Lynne Perrie makes her final appearance as Coronation Street battleaxe Ivy Tilsley. The press later speculates that Perrie's decision to have plastic surgery without consulting her bosses was the reason for her departure, though Perrie denied this, insisting that she felt that her character had simply run its course. Ivy's death occurs off-screen the following year.
  • 26 March – ITV's darts-based game show Bullseye is moved from Sunday afternoons to Saturday evenings.

April

May

  • 1 May – BBC2 broadcasts live coverage of the San Marino Grand Prix, the third race of the Formula 1 season, in which former triple world champion Ayrton Senna is tragically killed in a high speed accident on the seventh lap of the race.
  • 2 May – BBC2 airs Cry Freedom, Richard Attenborough's 1987 acclaimed drama about South African journalist Donald Woods.
  • 3 May – Channel 4 starts airing Brookside on Tuesdays instead of Mondays, which means the soap is now seen on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
  • 6 May – BBC1 broadcasts special live coverage for the opening of Channel Tunnel, as Queen Elizabeth II travels to Calais by train to be greeted by president François Mitterrand, to open the French terminal; they then journey on the Shuttle to Folkestone as they inaugurate the British end of the venture.
  • 10 May – The launch of BBC Worldwide.
  • 12 May
  • The European Commission of Human Rights rejects a legal challenge brought by the National Union of Journalists seeking to take the British government to court for breach of freedom of expression under the European Convention of Human Rights over the broadcast ban on Irish terrorist-related organisations.
  • The death of Labour Party leader and Leader of the Opposition John Smith who suffered a massive heart attack. This evening's edition of the BBC Nine O'Clock News is extended to an hour, meaning the following programme due to air at 9:30pm and coincidentally called Cardiac Arrest is postponed. Panellists on the evening's edition of Question Time, include George Robertson and Menzies Campbell as they depart from the usual political debate to pay tribute to Smith.
  • Comedian Jack Dee guest presents Top of the Pops.
  • 19 May – Alice Cooper joins Bruno Brookes to present an edition of Top of the Pops.
  • 22 May – Sky One airs the 100th episode of The Simpsons.
  • 23 May – The BBC2 youth strand DEF II comes to an end after six years.
  • 25 May – The game show Wipeout, created by Bob Fraser, makes its debut on BBC1, presented by Paul Daniels.
  • 30 May – Release of the Comic Relief single "Absolutely Fabulous" by the Pet Shop Boys, named for the popular sitcom of the same name. The song reaches number six on the UK Singles Chart.

June

  • 2 June – BBC1 airs a special D-Day edition of Blue Peter in which Anthea Turner travels to France to tell the story of the Normandy landings during World War II.
  • 3 June – The original airdate of an episode of Have I Got News for You in which panellist Ian Hislop is suffering from appendicitis during recording. Having spent most of that day in hospital awaiting treatment, he had temporarily discharged himself to record the episode, before returning to undergo surgery.
  • 5–10 June – Sue Lawley presents News '44, a series of news bulletin-style programmes to mark the 50th anniversary of D-Day.
  • 6 June
  • Due to a failed satellite link, BBC1 is unable to broadcast a remembrance concert marking the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Instead, it is forced to show recorded highlights of D-Day commemoration events and a repeated Wildlife on One documentary about racoons. The concert, featuring Dame Vera Lynn and other stars from the QE2 off the Normandy port of Cherbourg, is recorded and shown three days later.
  • Scottish actor Mark McManus, best known for his portrayal of Glaswegian detective Jim Taggart, dies aged 59. The Taggart series continues under this name following his death without recasting the character.
  • 9 June – Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer guest present an edition of Top of the Pops.
  • 12 June – The Independent on Sunday reports that Cable & Wireless are in the final stages of establishing a television service in the remote British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, a nation that has not previously had access to television. Because of this, the introduction of television to the island is to be the subject of a study by British psychologist Dr. Tony Charlton of Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education to determine its effects on the island's culture and way of life.
  • 16 June – Angus Deayton guest presents an edition of Top of the Pops.
  • 17 June–17 July – The 1994 FIFA World Cup takes place in the United States but the BBC and ITV only show the majority of group stage matches in highlight form with viewers having to tune in to satellite channel Eurosport to see live coverage of those games.
  • 18 June – The final episode of The Paul Daniels Magic Show is broadcast on BBC1 after fifteen years on the air.
  • 19 June – The final episode of the long-running magazine programme That's Life!, presented by Esther Rantzen, is broadcast on BBC1 after twenty one years on the air.
  • 20 June – The BBC's Arabic television service is launched with funding from the Saudi Arabian Mawarid Group.
  • 21 June – BBC1 begins its Daily Detective season, a short season of episodes from 1980s US detective series. The first programme is an episode from Remington Steele with Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist. The season also includes episodes from Cagney & Lacey, aired on Mondays, Remington Steele on Tuesdays, Quincy on Wednesdays, Charlie's Angels on Thursdays and Moonlighting on Fridays. The season ends with Moonlighting on 30 September.
  • 26–27 June – ITV airs the network television premiere of Kevin Costner's 1990 American western epic Dances with Wolves, which is showing over two consecutive nights.
  • 29 June – ITV airs the 150-minute documentary ' about Prince Charles, and presented by Jonathan Dimbleby.

July

August

September

  • 1 September – Claire Sturgess guest presents an edition of Top of the Pops.
  • 2 September – Television entertainer Roy Castle, who became best known to British viewers as the long-running presenter of the BBC children's series Record Breakers, dies from lung cancer at the age of 62.
  • 3 September – The network television premiere of James Cameron's 1991 American science fiction blockbuster sequel ' on BBC1, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick and Linda Hamilton.
  • 5 September
  • UK Gold introduces new idents as part of the total rebrand which is based on the forging of bullion bars, with the station's logo appearing to have been stamped into gold.
  • The Children's BBC idents receive a refresh with new 3D graphics.
  • Sky One moves E Street to a 7pm weekday timeslot.
  • 7 September – Debut on ITV of Police Camera Action!, at this time known as Police Stop!, presented by Alastair Stewart.
  • 8 September
  • Brian Harvey and Tony Mortimer from East 17 guest present an edition of Top of the Pops.
  • BBC1 airs the first edition of 999 Lifesavers, the sister show to 999.
  • 11 September – The network television premiere on Channel 4 of Tim Burton's 1990 American romantic fantasy Edward Scissorhands, starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Alan Arkin and Vincent Price.
  • 12 September – The pre school children's programme Playdays moves to predecessor series Play School former slot on BBC2 after 6 years on BBC1 and including Play School's later years, 11 years. Series is still shown at existing time of 10am which will air among schools programmes. It would make a brief return to BBC1 in the summer of 1995 for the holidays.
  • 14 September – The fantasy drama The Wanderer makes its debut on Sky One, starring Bryan Brown, Tony Haygarth, Kim Thomson and Otto Tausig. Every episode brings a new adventure about the story of long-ago brothers slowly unfolding to the present-day with searches for an ancient grave, a magic stone and a lost book of power. The series continues on 7 December.
  • 15 September – The ITC announces its decision to readvertise the Channel 5 licence.
  • 16 September
  • The restrictions that prevents radio and television broadcasting the voices of members of some Irish political and military groups are lifted in the wake of the Provisional IRA's ceasefire declaration.
  • BBC1 airs ', a made-for-television biographical drama written by Phil Penningroth and directed by Larry Shaw, with Alexandra Powers as Tonya Harding and Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Kerrigan. The film focuses on the American figure skating scandal of the 1994 Cobo Arena attack during the extensive media coverage surrounding the infamous incident based on the public domain material.
  • 17 September – BBC2 airs the first edition of Top of the Pops 2, a spin-off showing footage from present day editions of Top of the Pops as well as material from the series archive.
  • 19 September
  • Release of The Cranberries single "Zombie", a song written about the 1993 IRA bombing in Warrington. The video is banned by the BBC because it contains images from the Troubles; instead, an edited version that focuses on the band's performance footage is released.
  • BBC2 launches a weekday afternoon business, personal finance and consumer news programme Working Lunch, which broadcasts for 42 weeks per year.
  • The US science-fiction drama series The X-Files makes its UK debut on BBC2, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.
  • 21 September – University Challenge returns after a seven-year absence and two years after a special edition was shown; this revived series on BBC2 is presented by Jeremy Paxman.
  • 22 September – BBC1 airs the Inside Story documentary Silent Twin – Without My Shadow, a film about June and Jennifer Gibbons, identical twins who became known as "The Silent Twins" because they communicated only with each other.
  • 26 September – The network television premiere of Joe Dante's 1990 American comedy horror sequel ' on ITV, starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, John Glover, Christopher Lee and Robert Picardo, with cameo appearances by film critic Leonard Maltin and professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.
  • 27 September
  • The Australian drama series Heartbreak High makes its UK television debut on BBC2.
  • The comedy sketch series The Fast Show makes its debut on BBC2, starring Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Caroline Aherne and Arabella Weir.
  • 29 September
  • Claire Sturgess makes her second appearance as a guest presenter on Top of the Pops.
  • Chris Evans presents his final edition of The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 after two years as one of the show's original presenters which coincides with the second anniversary of the series.
  • 30 September – Launch of the UK version of the music channel VH1.
  • September – The Learning Channel is renamed to TLC.

October

November

December

  • December – The final encrypted BBC Select broadcasts take place although the service will continue broadcasting unencrypted programmes for the next ten months.
  • 1 December – The character Lily Savage guest presents an edition of Top of the Pops.
  • 3 December – Comedian Larry Grayson makes his final television appearance at the Royal Variety Performance, recorded on 28 November. He has been absent from television for some years and makes a reference to this during his act, commenting to the audience, "They thought I was dead!". He dies a month later.
  • 8 December – Neneh Cherry guest presents an edition of Top of the Pops.
  • 15 December – Damon Albarn of Blur guest presents an edition of Top of the Pops.
  • 17 December
  • BBC2 begins a season of films starring Burt Lancaster following his death in October, opening with Elmer Gantry, a 1960 film in which he stars alongside Jean Simmons.
  • BBC1 airs its first terrestrial television showing of Russell Mulcahy's 1992 crime thriller Blue Ice, starring Michael Caine, Sean Young, Ian Holm and Bob Hoskins.
  • 20 December
  • The final episode of the animated children's series The Raggy Dolls is broadcast on ITV.
  • The network television premiere on BBC1 of Penelope Spheeris's 1992 American comedy Wayne's World, starring Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe and Tia Carrere.
  • 22 December – Gary Glitter guest presents an edition of Top of the Pops.
  • 23 December – BBC1 airs Simply Red – Live, a concert given by the band in their home city of Manchester.
  • 24 December – The final episode of The Generation Game to be presented by Bruce Forsyth is broadcast on BBC1; Jim Davidson will succeed him the following year.
  • 25 December
  • Christmas Day highlights on BBC1 include the network television premieres of the 1990 animated film ' and the 1991 action adventure blockbuster ', starring Kevin Costner as Robin Hood and Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
  • Take That guest present the Christmas Day 1994 edition of Top of the Pops.
  • The network television premiere of Walt Disney's 1959 animated musical fantasy classic Sleeping Beauty on ITV.
  • ITV airs its first Christmas episode of Heartbeat called "A Winter's Tale".
  • 26 December – Boxing Day highlights on BBC1 include the network television premieres of Ivan Reitman's 1990 action comedy Kindergarten Cop and Barry Sonnenfeld's 1991 spooky comedy The Addams Family.
  • 27 December – The network television premiere on BBC1 of the 1990 American action crime comedy Dick Tracy, starring Warren Beatty, Madonna and Al Pacino.
  • 29 December
  • The final episode in the original run of the children's series Brum is broadcast on BBC1, but the show will return with a revamped series in 2001 and will continue being repeated on the BBC. It is also Toyah Willcox's final episode as narrator.
  • The network television premiere of ', a film following the singer Madonna during her 1990 Blonde Ambition Tour, which was broadcast on BBC2.
  • The final episode of the game show Strike It Lucky is broadcast on ITV; it will be relaunched in 1996 as Michael Barrymore's Strike It Rich.
  • 30 December
  • The network television premiere of Dennis Dugan's 1990 American black comedy Problem Child on BBC1, starring John Ritter, Michael Oliver, Jack Warden, Gilbert Gottfried, Amy Yasbeck and Michael Richards.
  • One of the most famous moments in British television history occurs during ITV's Catchphrase: uncovering the answer "snake charmer" to the bonus round puzzle is done in such a way that causes the audience, the contestants and the host, Roy Walker, to laugh uncontrollably as it appears that Mr. Chips and the snake are doing something sexual.
  • 31 December
  • New Year's Eve highlights on BBC1 include Barbra Streisand – The Concert, a performance given by the singer at Ponds, California earlier in the year.
  • New Year's Eve highlights on BBC2 include Plague and the Moonflower, a musical drama about the human race's abuse of the planet. There is also a special end-of-year edition of TOTP2 featuring highlights of the Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops.

Debuts

BBC1

BBC2

ITV

Channel 4

Sky One

Sky Sports (1/2)

  • 20 August – Soccer AM (1994–2023)

Nickelodeon UK

Channels

New channels

Television shows

Changes of network affiliation

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

  • 10 January – The new version of Rainbow (1972–1992, 1994–1997)
  • 27 January – ' (1990; 1994)
  • 18 March – Play Your Cards Right (1980–1987, 1994–1999, 2002–2003)
  • 18 April – Blockbusters (1983–1993, 1994–1995, 1997, 2000–2001, 2012, 2019)
  • 5 September – The Russ Abbot Show (1980–1985; 1986–1991; 1994–1996)
  • 21 September – University Challenge (1962–1987 ITV, 1994–present BBC)

Continuing television shows

1920s

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

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

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

Ending this year

Births

Deaths

See also

References

External links