1962 in British television

This is a list of British television related events from 1962.

Events

January

2 January – Z-Cars premieres on BBC TV, noted as a realistic portrayal of the police. Unusually for its time, the series is set in Northern England; most BBC dramas have been set in southern England. The first three series are transmitted live.
4 January – ITV Anglia region starts showing the US science fiction horror anthology series The Twilight Zone over a year before other ITV regions.
29 January – The Oxford transmitting station at Beckley begins relaying BBC radio and television.

March

18 March – "Un premier amour", sung by Isabelle Aubret, wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1962 for France, broadcast in Britain by the BBC. The UK entry is "Ring-a-Ding Girl" sung by Ronnie Carroll in the first of two consecutive appearances in the contest in which he finishes in fourth place.

April

13 April – The Johnny Morris-presented children's series Animal Magic debuts on BBC TV.
17 April – Legal sitcom Brothers in Law premieres on BBC TV, starring Richard Briers.

May

16 May – BBC1 debuts the US cartoon series Top Cat; however, a few weeks later the BBC change the title to The Boss Cat to avoid similarities with a popular cat food brand of the same name.

June

14 June – BBC Television broadcasts the first episode of the sitcom Steptoe and Son, written by Galton and Simpson and starring Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett, an unusual use at this time of "straight" actors in a sitcom; it is based on a one-off show "The Offer" in the Galton & Simpson's Comedy Playhouse strand.

July

1 July – Police 5 premieres on ITV, featuring appeals to the public to assist in solving real crimes.
11 July – First live transatlantic television transmission, via the Telstar communications satellite and Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station, is received in the UK and broadcast by the BBC. An error at the ground station causes the initial images to be of poor quality. A full public broadcast is made on 23 July.

September

1 September – Channel Television, the ITV franchise for the Channel Islands, goes on air.
14 September – Wales West and North Television goes on air to the North and West Wales region, extending ITV to the whole of the UK.
21 September – First broadcast of the long-running television quiz programme University Challenge, made by Granada Television with Bamber Gascoigne as quizmaster.
22 September – Anglia Television launches Match of the Week which shows highlights of football matches from around East Anglia. Shortly after, Tyne Tees Television in the North East of England begins broadcasting local matches under the title Shoot.

October

4 October – The Saint premieres on ITV with Roger Moore in the title role as The Saint (Simon Templar).
17 October – Veteran Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne becomes the first person to introduce The Beatles on television as the band makes its small-screen debut on Granada Television's local news programme People and Places in the north of England.
21 October – The American Folk Blues Festival in Manchester is filmed and shown in two parts of ITV's arts series Tempo.

November

24 November – The first episode of influential satire show That Was The Week That Was is broadcast live on BBC Television, presented by David Frost and produced by Ned Sherrin.

December

21 December – ITV London begins to show the popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Yogi Bear Show.
25 December – ITV London shows the 1951 Christmas film Scrooge, starring Alistair Sim.

Unknown

Cigarette adverts are banned from children's programmes in the UK. Actors in these adverts now have to be over 21 and connection to social success is no longer allowed. The tobacco companies also start a policy of not advertising before 9pm.

Debuts

BBC Television Service/BBC TV

2 January
*Compact
*Z-Cars
7 January – Oliver Twist
8 January – Crying Down the Lane
22 January – Studio 4
2 February – Corrigan Blake
19 February – Barbara in Black
10 March – The Six Proud Walkers
8 April – Stranger in the City
13 April – Animal Magic
14 April – Mr. Pastry's Progress
17 April – Brothers in Law
30 April – Suspense
16 May – Boss Cat
21 May – The Franchise Affair
26 May – William
27 May – The Master of Ballantrae
9 June – The Big Pull
14 June – Steptoe and Son
22 June – Climate of Fear
28 June – The Andromeda Breakthrough
8 July – The Dark Island
17 July – Hugh and I
21 July – Outbreak of Murder
7 August – Silent Evidence
16 August
*Dr. Finlay's Casebook
*Katy
12 September – Dial RIX
17 September – Wales Today
3 October – Zero One
6 October – The Last Man Out
14 October
*Raise Your Glasses
*The River Flows East
8 November – The Monsters
12 November – Top of the Form
24 November – That Was The Week That Was
6 December – ''The Largest Theatre in the World''

ITV

4 January – The Twilight Zone
10 January – Take a Letter
27 February – Sara and Hoppity
4 June – Richard the Lionheart
30 June – Out of This World
1 July – Police 5
19 September – Bulldog Breed
21 September – University Challenge
29 September
*On the Braden Beat
*Man of the World
*Strange Concealments
*The Sword in the Web
4 October – The Saint
11 October – It's a Living
17 October – Kingsley Amis Goes Pop
25 October – What the Public Wants
26 October – Francie and Josie
28 October
*Fireball XL5
*The New Adventures of Madeline
17 November – City Beneath the Sea
28 November – Electra
20 December – It Happened Like This
21 December – ''The Yogi Bear Show''

Continuing television shows

1920s

''BBC Wimbledon''

1930s

1940s

The Ed Sullivan Show
''Come Dancing''

1950s

1960s

Ending this year

Railway Roundabout Mess Mates Face to Face Top Cat Supercar Sir Francis Drake Strange Experiences

''Winning Widows''

Births

25 January – Emma Freud, English broadcaster and cultural commentator
7 February – Eddie Izzard, British actor and comedian
13 February – Hugh Dennis, British actor, comedian and writer
21 February – Vanessa Feltz, British television presenter
17 March – Clare Grogan, Scottish actress and singer
1 April – Phillip Schofield, British TV presenter
23 April – John Hannah, Scottish actor
17 May
*Craig Ferguson, Scottish actor and television presenter
*Alan Johnston, journalist
6 June – Sarah Parkinson, producer and writer of radio and television programmes
15 June – Chris Morris, satirist and actor
19 June – Lisa Aziz, journalist and newsreader
25 June – Phill Jupitus, comedian and broadcaster
29 June – Amanda Donohoe, English actress
4 July – Neil Morrissey, English actor
24 July – Cleo Rocos, British actress
20 August – Sophie Aldred, British actress and television presenter
5 September – Peter Wingfield, Welsh actor
8 September – Daljit Dhaliwal, British newsreader and television presenter
15 September – Steve Punt, British actor, comedian and writer
17 September – Michael French, actor
21 September – Nick Knowles, television presenter
24 September – Ally McCoist, Scottish footballer and TV pundit and A Question of Sport team captain
5 October – Caron Keating, British TV presenter
20 October – Boothby Graffoe, born James Rogers, English comedian, singer-songwriter and playwright
25 October – Nick Hancock, British actor and television presenter
26 October – Cary Elwes, British actor
12 November – Mariella Frostrup, British journalist and television presenter
26 November – Louise Harrison, actress and producer
3 December – Sarah Jarvis, General Practitioner and media personality
6 December – Colin Salmon, British actor
28 December – Kaye Adams, Scottish television presenter
Unknown
*Matthew Amroliwala, newsreader
*Jack Docherty, Scottish comedian
*Mat Fraser, actor, musician and performing artist
*Carrie Gracie, journalist and newsreader
*Kazia Pelka, actress