1971 in British television

This is a list of British television related events from 1971.

Events

January

1 January – BBC1 first airs the children's sitcom Here Come the Double Deckers!.
3 January – BBC Open University broadcasts begin on BBC2.
21 January
* The third Emley Moor transmitting station in Yorkshire begins broadcasting. A tapered, reinforced concrete tower, it is the tallest freestanding structure in the United Kingdom at a height of.
* BBC2 debuts the comedy show Dave Allen at Large.
27 January – The character Valerie Barlow is electrocuted by a faulty hairdryer and then perishes in a house fire on Coronation Street.

February

3 February – After nearly three months, the ITV Colour Strike ends and programmes resume being made in colour.
6 February–13 March – BBC Two first broadcasts the serial Jude the Obscure, starring Robert Powell, in six 45-minute episodes.
17 February – BBC2 airs Elizabeth R, a drama serial of six 85-minute plays starring Glenda Jackson in the title role of Queen Elizabeth I of England.
25 February – The animated children's adventure series Mr Benn airs on BBC1 with the copyright year shown from the previous year in the end credits shortly before the BBC tv logo. However the other regular BBC programmes unlike The Trumptonshire Trilogy still won't show any copyright years until the following year.

March

5 March – The third in Peter Cook's live late night chat show series Where Do I Sit? is shown on BBC2 after which the BBC pulls the 9 remaining scheduled episodes on quality grounds.
24 March – The Benny Hill Show on ITV reaches an audience of over 21 million with the episode "Cinema: The Vintage Years".
29 March – ITV shows the television premiere of Ray Harryhausen's 1963 fantasy action film Jason and the Argonauts.
29 March – The American children's educational series Sesame Street begins airing on British television for the first time, debuting on ITV by first airing on HTV.

April

3 April – Terry Wogan makes his debut as commentator on BBC1's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest, broadcast live from Dublin. He would remain the regular voice of Eurovision until 2008.
10 April – Sketch comedy show The Two Ronnies makes its debut on BBC1. Starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, it will go on to become one of the most successful and long-running light entertainment shows on British television, running until 1987.
17 April – ITV shows the animated Charlie Brown special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

May

14 May – ITV Midlands shows the original 1931 Frankenstein film for the first time, starring Boris Karloff
22 May – Westward Television starts broadcasting in colour from the Redruth transmitting station.
29 May – ITV Midlands shows the 1933 classic monster film King Kong for the first time.

June

7 June – The UK children's magazine show Blue Peter buries a time capsule in the grounds of BBC Television Centre, due to be opened on the first episode of the year 2000.
10 June – The BBC's new Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham are opened by Princess Anne.
16 June – BBC1 airs the documentary Yesterday's Men as part of the 24 Hours strand, a film about former Prime Minister Harold Wilson and the Labour Party Cabinet following Labour's loss of power at the 1970 general election. The BBC removes parts of the programme amid complaints from Labour about allegations surrounding Wilson's memoirs, prompting producer Angela Pope to have her name removed from the documentary. The BBC ultimately agrees not to repeat the film during Wilson's lifetime and it is not shown again until 2013.
19 June – The first episode of the late night chat show Parkinson with host Michael Parkinson is broadcast on BBC1.

August

2 August – The Pendle Forest transmitter begins transmissions and becomes the first UHF relay service to be operated by the Independent Television Authority.
7 August – ITV cameras cover the Football Association Charity Shield for the first time, with highlights shown the following day. Second Division champions Leicester City, standing in for Double winners Arsenal, beat Liverpool 1–0.

September

1 September – Border Television marks its tenth anniversary and begins broadcasting in colour, but initially only from the Caldbeck transmitting station, while viewers served by the Selkirk transmitter have to wait until the following year for colour television broadcasts to begin.
4 September – BBC1 debuts The Wonderful World of Disney. Initially broadcast as 'Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color', the anthology series features original Disney short films as well as appearances from numerous Disney characters.
13 September – Westward begins broadcasting in colour from the Stockland Hill and Caradon Hill transmitters and to mark the change, Westward's Golden Hind ship ident is reshot in colour.
17 September – ITV debuts the action-comedy series The Persuaders! starring Roger Moore and Tony Curtis.
21 September – Album music show The Old Grey Whistle Test premieres on BBC2.
25 September – Sesame Street starts airing on LWT and Grampian Television.
30 September – Grampian Television marks its tenth anniversary and begins broadcasting in colour from the Durris transmitter.

October

2 October – Debut of The Generation Game on BBC1, presented by Bruce Forsyth.
9 October – ITV airs the UK version of the popular American game show Sale of the Century.
10 October – Upstairs, Downstairs debuts on ITV.

November

20 November – The children's programme Play Away debuts on BBC2, hosted by Brian Cant.
27 November – BBC2 screens the network premiere of the 1960 Roger Corman horror film Fall of The House of Usher, starring Vincent Price and based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe.

December

24 December – BBC1 airs M. R. James' The Stalls of Barchester, the first of several made-for-television short films, shown annually until 1978, known collectively as A Ghost Story for Christmas.
26 December – BBC2 airs its first terrestrial television showing of Victor Fleming's 1948 American epic film version of Joan of Arc, starring Ingrid Bergman, José Ferrer, Leif Erickson, John Ireland and Ward Bond.
28 December – The terrestrial television premiere of the classic 1963 World War II film The Great Escape on BBC1, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson, Richard Attenborough and James Coburn.

Debuts

BBC1

1 January – Here Come the Double Deckers!
17 January – The Last of the Mohicans
21 January – Dave Allen at Large
22 January – That's Your Funeral
13 February – The Mary Tyler Moore Show
22 February – Joe and the Gladiator
25 February – Mr Benn
26 February – Sykes and a Big Big Show
15 March – Island of the Great Yellow Ox
1 April – Now, Take My Wife
10 April – The Two Ronnies
15 April – It's Awfully Bad for Your Eyes, Darling
19 April
* Alias Smith and Jones
* Brett
14 May – Look, Mike Yarwood!
18 June – Ryan and Ronnie
19 June – Parkinson
22 August – The Silver Sword
4 September – The Wonderful World of Disney
15 September
* Barlow at Large
* Owen, M.D.
20 September – A Taste of Honey
21 September – The Partridge Family
2 October – The Generation Game
4 October – The Witch's Daughter
15 October – The Onedin Line
21 October – Edna, the Inebriate Woman
23 October – Francis Durbridge Presents: The Passenger
5 November – Now Look Here
8 November – The Runaway Summer
14 November – Tom Brown's Schooldays
24 December – A Ghost Story for Christmas
28 December – ''The Snow Goose''

BBC2

9 January – Sense and Sensibility
22 January – Some Matters of Little Consequence
27 January – Long Voyage Out of War
6 February – Jude the Obscure
17 February – Elizabeth R
19 February – Where Do I Sit?
26 March – Sunset Song
8 May – Bel Ami
11 June – Birds on the Wing
7 July – Stage 2
7 August – Cousin Bette
26 August – Trial
12 September – Eyeless in Gaza
21 September
* The Old Grey Whistle Test
* Look and Read: The Boy from Space
22 September – The Search for the Nile
14 November – Wives and Daughters
16 November – Casanova
20 November – Play Away
25 November – The View from Daniel Pike
25 December – ''Cider with Rosie''

ITV

8 January – Six Dates with Barker
14 January – A Class by Himself
30 January – The More We Are Together
2 February – Bless This House
19 February – Coppers End
20 February – The Leslie Crowther Show
28 February – Doctor at Large
4 March – Slapstick and Old Lace
29 March – Sesame Street
30 March – The Ten Commandments
7 April – Hine
9 April – Budgie
18 April – Persuasion
27 April – ...And Mother Makes Three
10 May – The Last of the Baskets
21 May – Kindly Leave the Kerb
6 June – Jamie
12 June – The Comedians
14 June – Seasons of the Year
28 June – Follyfoot
2 July – The Trouble with Lilian
5 July – You're Only Young Twice
10 July – The Guardians
11 July – The Odd Couple
15 July – Alexander the Greatest
4 August – The Edward Woodward Hour
8 August – Justice
1 September – Frankie Howerd's Hour
15 September – Jason King
17 September – The Persuaders!
20 September – The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
21 September – Keep It in the Family
24 September – The Fenn Street Gang
1 October – The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine
9 October – Sale of the Century
10 October – Upstairs, Downstairs
20 October – Tottering Towers
25 October – Lollipop Loves Mr Mole
23 November – Suspicion
14 December – Mike and Bernie
Unknown – ''Grasshopper Island''

Television shows

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

''Whack-O!''

Continuing television shows

1920s

''BBC Wimbledon''

1930s

1940s

''Come Dancing''

1950s

Watch with Mother The Good Old Days Panorama Dixon of Dock Green Opportunity Knocks This Week Armchair Theatre What the Papers Say The Sky at Night Blue Peter Grandstand

''The Black and White Minstrel Show''

1960s

Coronation Street Songs of Praise Steptoe and Son Z-Cars Animal Magic Doctor Who World in Action Top of the Pops Match of the Day Crossroads Play School Mr. and Mrs. Call My Bluff World of Sport Jackanory Sportsnight It's a Knockout The Money Programme Callan The Golden Shot ITV Playhouse Reksio Please Sir! Father, Dear Father Dad's Army Magpie The Big Match On the Buses Clangers Monty Python's Flying Circus Nationwide

''Screen Test''

1970s

A Family at War Queenie's Castle

''The Goodies''

Ending this year

The Ed Sullivan Show All Gas and Gaiters Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width Me Mammy The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder Albert and Victoria Bachelor Father The Lovers Timeslip

''UFO''

Births

1 January – Suzanne Virdee, British regional newscaster
3 January – Sarah Alexander, actress
5 January
* Joanna Gosling, journalist and newsreader
* Jayne Middlemiss, British television presenter
12 January – Jay Burridge, British artist and television presenter
13 January – Sarah Tansey, British actress
15 January – Lara Cazalet, British actress
20 January
* Gary Barlow, singer and actor
* Pixie McKenna, Irish presenter
29 January – Clare Balding, sports presenter, journalist and jockey
30 January – Darren Boyd, actor
31 January – Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian and television presenter
2 February – Michelle Gayle, singer and actress
13 February – Sonia, English pop singer
16 February
* Amanda Holden, British actress and television presenter
* Steven Houghton, British actor and singer
17 February – Jeremy Edwards, actor
20 February – Sarah Hadland, actress
23 February – Melinda Messenger, British television presenter and model
2 March – Dave Gorman, comedian and broadcaster
3 March – Charlie Brooker, presenter and satirist
9 March – Stephanie Chambers, actress
23 March – Gail Porter, British television presenter.
5 April – Victoria Hamilton, actress
15 April
*Kate Harbour, voice actress
*Katy Hill, TV presenter
16 April – Max Beesley, actor and musician
17 April – Claire Sweeney, actress, singer and television personality
18 April – David Tennant, Scottish actor
27 May – Paul Bettany, British actor
5 June – Susan Lynch, Northern Irish actress
18 June – Lucy Owen, née Cohen, Welsh news presenter
26 June – Emma Noble, actress and model
5 July – Nicola Stephenson, actress
24 July – John Partridge, actor
25 July – Chloë Annett, actress
20 August – Helen Grace, actress
31 August – Kirstie Allsopp, British television presenter
1 September – Debbie Chazen, actress
7 September – Lisa Rogers, television presenter
8 September – Martin Freeman, actor
25 September – Jessie Wallace, British actress
29 September – Mackenzie Crook, English actor
4 October – Simone Hyams, actress
13 October – Sacha Baron Cohen, British comedian
16 October – Craig Phillips, British reality show star, winner of Big Brother UK in 2000
24 October – Dervla Kirwan, actress
1 December – Emily Mortimer, British actress
Unknown
* Helen Blakeman, playwright and screenwriter
* Sophie Stanton, actress