1974 in British television

This is a list of British television related events from 1974.

Events

January

3 January – BBC1 shows the first episode of the Second World War-set comedy series It Ain't Half Hot Mum starring Windsor Davies.
5 January
*Debut of the Saturday morning children's show Tiswas, hosted by Chris Tarrant. The series starts as a local programme in the Midlands but is not shown on most ITV stations until October 1979. It would run until 1982.
*Due to the ongoing overtime ban by the National Union of Mineworkers, strike action in the electricity supply industry and effects of the 1973 oil crisis which have led to a Three-Day Week, the government orders both the BBC and ITV television services to resume early closedowns each night at 10:30pm to save electricity. The early closedowns will later alternate each day between the BBC and ITV. They would end on Friday 8 February following calling of the February 1974 United Kingdom general election.
7 January
*A two-minute mid-afternoon regional news summary is broadcast on BBC1 for the first time. It is transmitted immediately before the start of the afternoon's children's programmes.
*ITV launches the long-running travel show Wish You Were Here...? hosted by Judith Chalmers. It would run until 2003.
30 January – BBC2 shows the first early morning Open University programming, airing between 6:40am and 7:30am.

February

12 February – BBC1 first airs the children's series Bagpuss, made by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate's Smallfilms in stop-motion animation. Despite just 13 episodes being made, it becomes fondly remembered and gains a huge cult following.
18 February – The American depression era family drama series The Waltons makes its UK debut on BBC2.
22 February – BBC2 was supposed to air the drama Girl as part of its Second City Firsts anthology series. The drama which tells the story of an affair between two army officers, is the first on British television to feature a gay kiss between two women. However it was replaced at the last minute by a Party Political Broadcast by The Conservative Party in the run up to General Election scheduled for the 28th February 1974. The episode was instead shown three days later on the 25th February 1974.
February – The fifth of the five experimental community cable television channels, Wellingborough Cablevision, begins broadcasting.

March

31 March – Charlie Williams hosts his final edition of The Golden Shot. The show's original host, Bob Monkhouse, would return in July.

April

6 April – The 19th Eurovision Song Contest is held at the Brighton Dome, produced and transmitted by the BBC. Katie Boyle hosts the event for the fourth time. Sweden wins the contest with the song "Waterloo", performed by ABBA who become the first group to win the contest and go on to achieve huge international success.
April – The Annan Committee on the future of broadcasting is established to discuss the United Kingdom broadcasting industry, including new technologies and their funding, the role and funding of the BBC, Independent Broadcasting Authority and programme standards.

May

9 May – BBC1 launches the popular sitcom Happy Ever After, starring Terry Scott and June Whitfield

June

8 June – Jon Pertwee makes his final regular appearance as the Third Doctor in the concluding moments of Part Six of the Doctor Who serial Planet of the Spiders. Tom Baker briefly appears as the Fourth Doctor at the conclusion of the serial.

July

14 July – Bob Monkhouse returns as host of ATV gameshow The Golden Shot after he was fired in January 1972 for allegedly taking bribes.
29 July – Coronation Street introduces the character Gail Potter, played by Helen Worth, who will remain in the show for 50 years.

August

5 August – For the first time on a pre-school children's programme, the show Inigo Pipkin covers the death of the main character, Inigo, as the actor who played him has died. The show is renamed Pipkins. This predates the Mr. Hooper death episode of Sesame Street by nine years.
24 August – BBC1 begins airing the American police series Kojak, starring Telly Savalas as the titular character.
31 August – Star Trek: The Animated Series debuts on BBC1.

September

2 September – ITV launches the sitcom Rising Damp starring Leonard Rossiter and Richard Beckinsale.
5 September
* ITV shows the feature-length pilot episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, starring Lee Majors as the half-man, half-cyborg action hero Steve Austin.
* Following the pilot shown in April 1973, BBC1 commences with the Ronnie Barker prison comedy series Porridge.
9 September – John Craven's Newsround expands to four days a week. Previously, the programme had aired only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
23 September
*The BBC teletext service Ceefax goes live with 30 pages of information.
*BBC Schools starts broadcasting programmes in colour.

October

13 October – ITV begins airing the American science fiction series Planet of the Apes, based on the successful film franchise and starring Roddy McDowall.
16 October – The Welsh language soap Pobol y Cwm makes its debut on BBC Wales.
21 October – BBC1 airs the first episode of the children's animated series Roobarb, featuring Roobarb the green dog and Custard the pink cat.

December

5 December – "Party Political Broadcast", the final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus is broadcast on BBC2.
24 December – ITV Anglia screens the 1966 Batman movie, several years before other regions. However, the film has already been broadcast in the UK on Tyne Tees.
25 December – Christmas Day film premiere on BBC of the 1969 western adventure True Grit, starring John Wayne. There is no Morecambe and Wise Christmas show this year because of Eric Morecambe's health, but the pair feature on a Michael Parkinson show.
26 December – Boxing Day highlights on BBC1 are the network premieres of the blockbuster films Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, starring Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes and the 1960 Western The Magnificent Seven, starring Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson.
28 December
*BBC1 & BBC2 are rebranded with new logos and idents.
*Tom Baker makes his first full appearance as the Fourth Doctor in the Doctor Who serial Robot.
31 December – Roger Hargreaves' hugely popular Mr. Men animated series is first broadcast on BBC1. All 28 episodes are narrated by Arthur Lowe, with the first episode featuring Mr Happy. The series would be continually shown on the BBC until 1988.

Unknown

ITV begins developing the ORACLE teletext service. Dates for its launch are unclear but it becomes popular around 1980.
ITV begins broadcasting from Bluebell Hill transmitting station on the North Downs, initially for the London area franchisees.

Debuts

BBC1

3 January – It Ain't Half Hot Mum
7 January – Tom's Midnight Garden
18 January – Heidi
20 January – John Halifax, Gentleman
28 January – Carrie's War
12 February – Bagpuss
20 February – Marty Back Together Again
15 March – Fall of Eagles
3 April
*The Family
*Shoulder to Shoulder
4 April
*Barnaby Jones
*Seven Little Australians
9 April – The Electric Company
10 April – The Prince of Denmark
17 April – No Strings
9 May – Happy Ever After
20 May – Dial M for Murder
24 May – The Small World of Samuel Tweet
9 July – Wodehouse Playhouse
24 August – Kojak
31 August – Star Trek: The Animated Series
5 September – Porridge
7 October – The Case of Eliza Armstrong
21 October – Roobarb
20 October – Heidi
23 October – Second Time Around
13 November – The Chinese Puzzle
22 November – Ken Dodd's World of Laughter
1 December
* David Copperfield
* The Gathering Storm
4 December – Francis Durbridge Presents: Melissa
20 December – Churchill's People
31 December – Mr. Men
Unknown – ''Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings''

BBC2

19 January – The Pallisers
18 February – The Waltons
3 March – Bedtime Stories
5 March – The Lady from the Sea
13 March – BBC2 Playhouse
21 April – The Carnforth Practice
22 April – Masquerade
14 July – The Double Dealers
17 August – The Haggard Falcon
15 September – Network
18 September – Microbes and Men
24 September – Look and Read: Cloud Burst
3 November – Notorious Woman
9 November – Cakes and Ale
17 November – The End of the Pier Show
19 November – Rhoda
30 November – The Early Life of Stephen Hind
1 December – A Day with Dana
19 December – One-Upmanship
28 December – ''An Unofficial Rose''

ITV

4 January – Within These Walls
5 January – Tiswas
7 January – Wish You Were Here...?
16 January – Hold the Front Page
25 February – Zodiac
3 March – Not On Your Nellie
5 March – Napoleon and Love
10 March – Death or Glory Boy
16 March – Who Killed Lamb?
24 March – Boy Dominic
5 April
* The Aweful Mr. Goodall
* The Zoo Gang
9 April – A Little Bit of Wisdom
13 April – The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club
14 April – Catholics: A Fable of the Future
21 April
* Childhood
* Doctor at Sea
22 April – My Name Is Harry Worth
1 May – ...And Mother Makes Five
3 May – My Old Man
13 May – Skiboy
24 May – Funny Ha-Ha
28 May – Armchair Cinema
1 June – Thick as Thieves
2 June – Seven Faces of Woman
29 June – Moody and Pegg
8 July –The Squirrels
9 July – The Capone Investment
10 July
* Julie on Sesame Street
* Late Night Drama
15 July – Soldier and Me
16 July – Village Hall
24 July – How's Your Father?
27 July
* Don't Drink the Water
* Good Girl
* Vicky the Viking
28 July – Antony and Cleopatra
4 August – The Nearly Man
15 August – The Inheritors
1 September – Occupations
2 September – Rising Damp
5 September – The Six Million Dollar Man
13 September – The Russell Harty Show
15 September
* The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs
* Miss Nightingale
16 September – South Riding
20 September – Intimate Strangers
23 September – Badger's Set
24 September – King Lear
26 September – Father Brown
29 September – Affairs of the Heart
30 September – Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt
2 October – Going a Bundle
4 October – No, Honestly
8 October – Graceless Go I
13 October – Planet of the Apes
22 October – Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill
5 November
* Jennie
* Rooms
6 November – Rogue's Rock
13 November – Follow That Dog
31 December – The Canterville Ghost
Unknown – ''Don't Ask Me''

Continuing television shows

1920s

''BBC Wimbledon''

1930s

1940s

''Come Dancing''

1950s

1960s

1970s

Ending this year

Unknown – Crystal Tipps and Alistair
1 February – The Protectors
1 April – Colditz
6 May – Bagpuss
8 May – The World at War
9 May – Special Branch
9 July – Comedy Playhouse
10 October – Clangers
28 October – Sunday Night at the London Palladium
5 December – Monty Python's Flying Circus
24 December – Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
26 December – Steptoe and Son
31 December – ''Heidi''

Births

1 January – Clare Calbraith, actress
2 January – Karin Giannone, newsreader
12 January – Melanie Chisholm, English pop singer
15 January – Danny Cohen, television executive
30 January – Olivia Colman, actress
22 February – Chris Moyles, disc jockey
21 March – Ursula Holden-Gill, actress
11 April – Zöe Lucker, English actress
17 April – Victoria Beckham, English pop singer and fashion designer
24 April – David Vitty, radio and television host
26 April – Adil Ray – actor and presenter
28 April – Vernon Kay – television presenter
1 May – Tamzin Malleson, actress
8 May – Jon Tickle, English television host
27 May – Denise van Outen, actress and television presenter
9 July – Dani Behr, singer, actress and television presenter
14 July – David Mitchell, comedian and actor
31 July – Emilia Fox, English actress
21 August – Paul Chowdhry, comedian and actor
23 August – Ray Park, Scottish actor
17 October – Matthew Macfadyen, English actor
4 November – Louise Redknapp, English singer
11 December – Ben Shephard, television presenter
12 December – Steven Arnold, actor
13 December – Sara Cox, English television and radio presenter
Unknown – Mark Dymond, actor

Deaths

29 May – James MacTaggart, television producer
22 August – Jacob Bronowski, scientist and presenter