1955 in British television

This is a list of British television related events from 1955.

Events

January – First televised Welsh language play Cap Wil Tomos.
2 January – Annette Mills, host of Muffin the Mule, makes her last appearance on television.
10 January – Annette Mills dies from a heart attack after an operation. Following her death, Muffin the Mule is dropped by the BBC Television Service for 50 years.
15 January
*Sketch comedy The Benny Hill Show premieres on the BBC Television Service, later moving to ITV. Its global audience figures will be counted in the billions.
*The BBC broadcasts Heinz Sielmann's pioneering nature documentary Zimmerleute des Waldes as Woodpecker at the behest of David Attenborough and presented by Peter Scott; it is repeated several times during the year.
16 January – Glove puppet bear Sooty gets his own TV series hosted by Harry Corbett. It was transmitted fortnightly for the first seven years alternating with other children's programmes.

8 April – The BBC broadcasts Billy Graham's All Scotland Crusade live from the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. This has the second highest audience share at this time, after the Coronation.

4 May – A consortium of the initial four Independent Television broadcasting companies establishes ITN, which will provide ITV with its news service when it launches in September.
17 May – Sir Anthony Eden hosts a ground-breaking television election programme for the Conservative Party, the first broadcast of its type. The 30 minute programme features government ministers pitted against newspaper editors.
26–27 May – The BBC provides around 17 hours of results coverage of the 1955 United Kingdom general election. The BBC records the coverage for the first time but only around three hours still exists in the BBC archives.

29 June – Life with the Lyons, one of the first successful British sitcoms, premieres on the BBC Television Service, having previously been broadcast only on radio. It will later transfer to ITV.

9 July – Police procedural Dixon of Dock Green, created by Ted Willis, premieres on the BBC Television Service, featuring Jack Warner as Police Constable George Dixon, an old-style "bobby" on the beat in east London.
21 July – The BBC brings into service its Divis transmitting station, its first permanent 405-line VHF Band I facility serving Northern Ireland, marking the launch of a television service for Northern Ireland; the 35 kW transmissions can also be readily received in much of the Republic of Ireland.
29 July – Panel show This Is Your Life premieres on the BBC Television Service.

2 September – Under the guidance of Dr. Humphry Osmond, his friend Christopher Mayhew MP ingests 400 mg of Mescaline hydrochloride and allows himself to be filmed as part of a Panorama special for BBC TV that is never broadcast.
4 September – Newsreaders appear "in vision" for the first time on BBC TV.
14 September – The highly popular and long-running live children's variety show Crackerjack! is broadcast for the first time on BBC TV, hosted by Eamonn Andrews.
22 September – Commercial broadcasting starts in the UK with the launch of ITV in London, Associated-Rediffusion on weekdays and Associated Television Network at weekends, from Croydon transmitting station. The rest of the UK receive their ITV regions over the next seven years. Leslie Mitchell is the first announcer to be heard; the first advertisement shown is for Gibbs SR toothpaste.
25 September – ATV's variety show Sunday Night at the London Palladium launches on ITV; tonight's edition is compered by Tommy Trinder with Gracie Fields and Guy Mitchell featuring; the programme initially runs until 1967. This evening also, ITV launches I Love Lucy on UK television.
September – Barbara Mandell becomes Britain's first female newsreader, presenting the Midday News bulletin on ITV.

10 October – Alexandra Palace begins test transmissions of a 405-line colour television service.
22 October – Science fiction serial Quatermass II sequel to 1953's The Quatermass Experiment, premieres on the BBC Television Service. It ends on 26 November.

25 December – After being on radio since 1932, the Royal Christmas Message is broadcast on British television for the first time, in sound only at 3pm. The first visual Christmas message is shown in 1957.

BICC constructs North Hessary Tor transmitting station for the BBC on Dartmoor to bring television coverage to Devon.

10 January – Annette Mills, actress, dancer, singer-songwriter and children's television presenter