1970 in British television

This is a list of British television related events from 1970.

Events

January

1 January – 5 February – BBC2 airs The Six Wives of Henry VIII, a series of six teleplays, each of which focusses on the life of one of King Henry VIII of England's six wives.
3 January – Jon Pertwee makes his first appearance as the Third Doctor in the Doctor Who serial Spearhead from Space. It also marks the first time that the series is in colour.
4 January – BBC2 first airs Morning Story, starring Lee Montague.
5 January – A Question of Sport first airs on BBC1. The programme continues past its 50th anniversary until 2023.
c. January – An Open University/BBC team replace BBC News & Current Affairs at its Alexandra Palace studios in London.

February

9 February – The science fiction drama series Doomwatch makes its debut on BBC1, starring John Paul, Simon Oates and Robert Powell.
15 February – BBC1 airs the Ken Russell film Dance of the Seven Veils as part of its Omnibus strand. The film, about German composer Richard Strauss, attracts complaints because of its sex scenes and controversy by depicting Strauss as a Nazi sympathiser. Strauss's family subsequently withdraw their permission for the use of his music, meaning the film cannot be shown again until the copyright on his work has expired. It is not until 2020 that the film is given a second airing, at that year's Keswick Film Festival.
20 February – The popular American children's show The Banana Splits first airs on BBC1, 2 months after NBC cancelled it.

March

7 March – The American children's show H.R. Pufnstuf first airs on selected ITV regions.
30 March – The first episode of the sitcom Up Pompeii, starring Frankie Howerd, airs on BBC1.

April

6 April – HTV starts broadcasting in colour from the Wenvoe transmitting station and from this day, the station becomes known on air as HTV rather than Harlech Television.
18 April – The Home International football match between Northern Ireland and Scotland at Windsor Park is the first match featuring either nation to be televised in colour, covered by ITV cameras for all broadcasters. Wales also receive their first colour coverage, from BBC cameras, as they host England at Ninian Park.
20 April – The children's literacy programme Words and Pictures debuts on BBC1.

May

31 May – 21 June – ITV introduces a studio panel, joining presenters Brian Moore and Jimmy Hill to analyse the latest action in the 1970 World Cup. This is the first time a studio panel of pundits has been used as part of UK sporting coverage.

June

18 June – General election results are shown on BBC1 and ITN in colour for the first time.

July

8 July – Jack Walker dies off-screen of a heart attack in Coronation Street as a result of the death of actor Arthur Leslie. Jack becomes the first major character to be written out due to the death of an actor.
16–25 July – The BBC covers the 1970 Commonwealth Games with the afternoon events broadcast live, resulting in approximately three hours a day of live coverage each day plus a highlights programme broadcast at 8pm during the week.
17 July – Tyne Tees Television starts broadcasting in colour from the Pontop Pike transmitting station.

August

3 August – The UK's final 405-lines television transmitter is switched on at Newhaven, East Sussex. All future transmitters are at the higher definition 625-lines.
6 August – A BBC2 broadcast of Christopher Marlowe's 16th century drama Edward II features the first same-sex kiss on British television, between Ian McKellen and James Laurenson.
19 August – ITV airs what is billed as the 1000th episode of Coronation Street. A souvenir edition of TVTimes is also published for the episode, even though it is, in fact, the 999th.
August – Yorkshire and Tyne Tees Television announce plans to merge when the two are brought under the control of Trident Television Limited, a company formed to deal with the problem of effective ownership of the Bilsdale UHF transmitter and the allocation of airtime.

September

14 September
*Ulster Television launches a colour service, but only from the Divis transmitting station. To mark the change, the logo is redesigned.
*The first colour edition of Blue Peter airs on BBC1, but the last black and white edition will be transmitted on 24 June 1974. The programme alternates between colour and black and white depending on studio allocation.
*The Nine O'Clock News is first broadcast on BBC1. The programme airs until 13 October 2000 when the station's main evening bulletin is switched to 10pm.
16 September – Gerry Anderson's live action science fiction series UFO airs on ITV.
17 September – The hugely popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon show Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? makes its first UK television appearance on BBC1.
18 September – London Weekend Television launches its famous river ident.
19 September – The American cartoon series The Pink Panther Show makes its debut on BBC1.

October

1 October — Anglia Television starts broadcasting in colour from the Tacolneston transmitting station.
15 October – BBC1 launches the popular Play for Today which showcases one-off dramas by a diverse variety of writers and directors.

November

6 November – ITV begins showing the original 1930s Universal Classic Monsters films, starting with the 1931 Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi.
7 November – Felix Dennis becomes the first person to use the word "cunt" on British television during a live broadcast of The Frost Programme.
8 November – BBC2 shows the first episode of the long running comedy sketch show The Goodies starring Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie.
13 November – The Colour Strike begins when ITV staff refuse to work with colour television equipment following a dispute over pay with their management.
18 November – The first episode of the long-running children's movie themed quiz show Screen Test is broadcast on BBC1.
20 November – A bomb is placed under a BBC outside broadcast vehicle stationed to cover the Miss World 1970 beauty pageant at the Royal Albert Hall, London, by The Angry Brigade anarchist group in protest at South Africa's entry of separate black and white contestants.
23 November – The first edition of Engineering Announcements is broadcast on ITV.

December

9 December – 10th anniversary of the first episode of Coronation Street.
10 December – BBC1 shows the acclaimed folk horror drama Robin Redbreast, as part of the Play for Today series; however, a power outage blacks out the ending of the broadcast in many areas, resulting in the BBC reshowing the drama on 25 February 1971.
17 December – British television premiere of the film Summer Holiday starring Cliff Richard shown on BBC1.
25 December – Pluto's Christmas Tree is broadcast on BBC1, the first complete Mickey Mouse cartoon to be shown on British television in colour.
28 December
*ITV shows a Charlie Brown cartoon for the first time in the UK, with A Charlie Brown Christmas.
*BBC1 screens the network television premiere of the 1964 Beatles musical comedy film, A Hard Day's Night.

Undated

Summer – Public information films promoting the wearing of seat belts with the slogan "Clunk Click Every Trip" begin, initially presented by Shaw Taylor.
The Hannington transmitting station in north Hampshire is built.

Debuts

BBC1

3 January – It's Cliff Richard!
4 January – Ivanhoe
5 January – A Question of Sport
2 February – A Stranger on the Hills
3 February – On Trial
9 February – Doomwatch
20 February – The Banana Splits
30 March – Up Pompeii
6 April – The Adventures of Parsley
20 April – Words and Pictures
24 April – The Culture Vultures
29 May – Tarbuck's Luck
2 July – The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens
20 August – Hope and Keen's Crazy House
13 September – The Black Tulip
14 September
* Nine O'Clock News
* Ryan International
17 September
*Bachelor Father
*Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
19 September
* Ben Travers' Farces
* The Pink Panther Show
15 October – Play for Today
24 October – If It's Saturday, It Must Be Nimmo
25 October – Little Women
27 October – Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines
18 November – Screen Test
23 November – ''Drama Playhouse''

BBC2

1 January – The Six Wives of Henry VIII
5 January – Barry Humphries' Scandals
19 January – Germinal
15 February – The Woodlanders
15 March – Daniel Deronda
22 March – Charley's Grants
7 April – Codename
26 April – The Spoils of Poynton
31 May – Villette
6 August – Edward II
9 August – Sentimental Education
22 September – The Roads to Freedom
27 September – Oh in Colour
29 September – Menace
8 November – The Goodies
4 December – ''Waugh on Crime''

ITV

2 January
*Aquarius
*Manhunt
3 January – The Val Doonican Show
6 January – Kate
7 January – Redgauntlet
14 February – Wicked Women
15 February – Catweazle
17 February – The Tribe That Hides From Man
3 March – The Misfit
4 March – Smith
9 March – David Nixon's Magic Box
16 March – Crime of Passion
1 April – Shine a Light
2 April – Norman
14 April – A Family at War
20 April – For the Love of Ada
13 June – Albert and Victoria
17 June – Shadows of Fear
23 June – His and Hers
3 July – Confession
6 July – Two D's and a Dog
10 July – The Kenny Everett Explosion
11 July – The Sky's the Limit
29 July
*Ace of Wands
*Husbands and Lovers
3 August – Bright's Boffins
4 August – Never Say Die
28 August – If It Moves, File It
30 August – Big Brother
15 September – Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
16 September – UFO
18 September
* Conceptions of Murder
* From a Bird's Eye View
* Diamond Crack Diamond
24 September – On the House
28 September – Timeslip
9 October – The Mating Machine
27 October – The Lovers
28 October
* The Adventures of Rupert Bear
* Wreckers at Dead Eye
30 October
* Tales of Unease
* The Adventures of Don Quick
31 October - Ev
4 November – Macbeth
5 November – Queenie's Castle
24 November – Grady
14 December – ''Man at the Top''

Television shows

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

Andy Pandy
''Steptoe and Son''

Continuing television shows

1920s

''BBC Wimbledon''

1930s

1940s

The Ed Sullivan Show
''Come Dancing''

1950s

1960s

Coronation Street
Songs of Praise
Z-Cars
Animal Magic
Doctor Who
World in Action
Top of the Pops
Match of the Day
Crossroads
Play School
Mr. and Mrs.
World of Sport
All Gas and Gaiters
Jackanory
Sportsnight
It's a Knockout
The Money Programme
Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width
Callan
The Golden Shot
Playhouse
Reksio
Me Mammy
Please Sir!
Father, Dear Father
Dad's Army
Magpie
The Big Match
On the Buses
Clangers
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Nationwide
''Screen Test''

Ending this year

Andy Pandy Crackerjack The Wednesday Play Not Only... But Also Not in Front of the Children Never a Cross Word Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) Scooby Doo, Where Are You!

''Department S (TV series)''

Births

8 February – Glenn Hugill, actor, presenter and producer
10 February – Robert Shearman, broadcast scriptwriter
14 February – Simon Pegg, comedian, writer and actor
7 March
*Emma Davies, actress
*Rachel Weisz, British actress
29 March – Ruth England, presenter and actress
3 April – Lucy Alexander, presenter
5 April – Krishnan Guru-Murthy, journalist and presenter
9 April – Tricia Penrose, actress and singer
10 May – Sally Phillips, Hong Kong-born English comedy actress
15 May – Nicola Walker, actress
20 May – Louis Theroux, presenter and author
22 May – Naomi Campbell, model
18 June – Katie Derham, newsreader and television presenter
25 June – Lucy Benjamin, actress
7 July – Zoë Tyler, singer and actress
10 July – John Simm, actor
13 July – Sharon Horgan, English-born Irish comedy writer-performer
29 July – Andi Peters, presenter and producer
4 August – Kate Silverton, journalist, newsreader and television presenter
7 August – Melanie Sykes, presenter
5 September – Johnny Vegas, actor and comedian
6 September – Emily Maitlis, journalist and newsreader
13 September – Louise Lombard, actress
28 September – Jo Wyatt, actress, voice actress and singer
29 September – Emily Lloyd, actress
31 October – Craig Kelly, actor
12 November – Harvey Spencer Stephens, child actor
22 November – Stel Pavlou, novelist and screenwriter
23 November – Zoe Ball, television and radio presenter
28 November
*Lucy Owen, Welsh television newsreader
*Richard Osman, television presenter
10 December – Susanna Reid, journalist and television presenter
13 December – Jesse Armstrong, screenwriter
21 December – Jamie Theakston, broadcast presenter and producer
29 December – Aled Jones, singer and presenter
Unknown – Jenny Scott, journalist and economist

Deaths

27 April – Philip Harben, chef, aged 63
13 May – Tom Sloan, television executive, aged 50
30 June – Arthur Leslie, actor, aged 70