1981 in British television

Events

January

• 1 January – The Channel Four Television Company is established in preparation for the launch of Channel 4.
• 5 January –
• *Debut of the BBC1 soap Triangle, a twice-weekly series set aboard a North Sea ferry, and filmed on location using outside broadcast cameras. The website TVARK describes the programme as being chiefly remembered as "some of the most mockable British television ever produced" owing to its cliched storylines and stilted dialogue. It is axed after three series.
• *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the television version of Douglas Adams' radio comedy of the same name debuts on BBC2.
• 20 January – BBC2 airs live coverage of the inauguration of Ronald Reagan as the 40th President of the United States.

  February

• 10 February – Alan Rogers animation Pigeon Street begins on BBC1. The series ran until December before repeats on BBC1 and BBC2 throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

  March

• 21 March – After an unprecedented seven years starring in Doctor Who, Tom Baker makes his final appearance as the Fourth Doctor in Part 4 of Logopolis. Peter Davison makes his first appearance as the Fifth Doctor at the conclusion of that story.
• 29 March – BBC1 airs highlights of the first London Marathon under the International Athletics strand. Live coverage of the event begins the following year.
• March – TV-am purchases a former car showroom in Camden as its headquarters. The building is subsequently is renovated to create the Breakfast Television Centre.

  April

• 4 April – The UK wins the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Making Your Mind Up", sung by Bucks Fizz.
• 30 April – The long running British science fiction series Doctor Who starts airing for the first time in Sri Lanka with the very first part of the first serial of the seventh season Spearhead from Space. Doctor Who will be broadcast on ITN.

  May

• 17 May – Sunday Grandstand launches. It broadcasts during the summer months on BBC Two.

  June

• 2 June – Razzamatazz debuts on ITV. The British music based series for children ran for 6 years.

  July

• 27 July – In a specially timed event by the show's writers, Ken Barlow marries Deirdre Langton on Coronation Street, just two days before the real-life wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. The wedding of Ken and Deirdre is watched by over 24 million viewers in Britain.
• 29 July – The marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer takes place at St Paul's Cathedral. More than 30,000,000 viewers watch the wedding on television – the second highest television audience of all time in Britain.

  August

• 1 August — The issue of Radio Times following the Royal Wedding souvenir edition is not published, due to a printing dispute.
• 11 August – TSW takes over Westward Television but continues to use the Westward name until 1 January 1982.
• 27 August – Moira Stuart, aged 29, is appointed the BBC's first black newsreader.
• August – Southern sells its studios to TVS but Southern continues to use them until its franchise runs out at the end of the year.

  September

• 5 September – The BBC1 Mirror globe changes colour from yellow on blue to green on blue.
• 7 September –
• *News After Noon is launched as a 30-minute lunchtime news programme, replacing the much shorter Midday News.
• *BBC1 airs a two-part adaptation of the Stephen King novel Salem's Lot with Part 2 being shown on 9 September.
• 8 September – BBC One airs the first episode of the popular comedy series Only Fools and Horses starring David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst.
• 18 September – Debut of a children's television series about a rural postman with a black and white cat written and created by John Cunliffe and voiced and narrated by Ken Barrie, Postman Pat on BBC One. Episode 8 introduced a more authentic look to the Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd logos and more storybooks produced after 13 episodes being broadcast repeating on BBC1 and BBC2 made the programme more popular than usually expected to be.
• 28 September – Thames Television broadcasts the first episode of Cosgrove Hall Films' children's animated series, Danger Mouse, with the lead character voiced by David Jason, later that day ATV broadcasts the first episode of the gameshow Bullseye.

  October

• 3 October – TVTimes is rebranded as TVTimes Magazine, the premise for the change of name being it contains more than simply television listings.
• 8 October – ITV airs the British television premiere of Steven Spielberg's 1975 thriller Jaws which is watched by an estimated 23 million viewers making it the most watched film of the year.
• 12 October – Brideshead Revisited, a television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel of the same name, begins on ITV.
• 18 October – BBC1 airs season 5 of the US drama series Dallas.
• 23 October – The last ever teatime block of Open University programmes are transmitted today. From the 1982 season, only a single Open University programme is aired, at 5.10pm ahead of the start of BBC2's evening programmes.
• October – Scottish Television becomes the first ITV station to operate a regional Oracle teletext service, containing over 60 pages of local news, sport and information.

  November

• 2 November – The TV licence increases in price from £34 to £46 for a colour TV, and £12 to £15 for black and white.
• 12 November – Noele Gordon, eight times winner of the TVTimes award for best actress, leaves Crossroads after playing Meg Richardson since the series began in 1964. She had been sacked from the programme.

  December

• December – BBC1 and the BBC's Open University broadcasts begin using computer generated clocks.
• 31 December – The final day on air for the ITV regional stations ATV, Southern and Westward.

  Debuts

BBC1

• 5 January – Triangle
• 10 February – Pigeon Street
• 20 February – Finders Keepers
• 4 March – The Life and Times of David Lloyd George
• 12 March – Sorry!
• 7 September – News After Noon
• 8 September – Only Fools and Horses
• 18 September – Postman Pat
• 24 September – Fanny by Gaslight
• 18 October – Bergerac
• 22 October – / Tenko
• 8 December – Codename Icarus

  BBC2

• 5 January – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• 14 January – Sons and Lovers
• 17 May – Sunday Grandstand
• 29 September – Timewatch

  ITV

• 1 January – Wood and Walters
• 3 January – Punchlines
• 4 January – Barriers
• 9 January – The Gaffer
• 13 January – Wolcott
• 10 February – Bognor
• 5 April – Smuggler
• 9 April – Get Up and Go!
• 23 April – Funny Man
• 13 May – Into the Labyrinth
• 22 May – Till Death...
• 2 June – Razzamatazz
• 24 July – That Beryl Marston...!
• 29 August – Stay with Me Till Morning
• 4 September – Kinvig
• 5 September – Take a Letter, Mr. Jones
• 6 September –
• 7 September – Never the Twain
• 26 September – Game for a Laugh
• 28 September –
• *Bullseye
• *Danger Mouse
• 29 September – Rod, Jane and Freddy
• 12 October – Brideshead Revisited
• 23 October – That's My Boy
• 26 October – Astronauts
• 27 October – It Takes a Worried Man
• 1 November – A Fine Romance
• 2 November – Marmalade Atkins
• 8 December – Freetime

  Television shows

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

• 1 March – Open All Hours
• 9 April – Are You Being Served?

  Continuing television shows

1920s

• BBC Wimbledon

  1930s

• BBC Cricket

  1940s

• Come Dancing

  1950s

• The Good Old Days
• Panorama
• Crackerjack
• What the Papers Say
• The Sky at Night
• Blue Peter
• Grandstand

  1960s

• Coronation Street
• Songs of Praise
• Animal Magic
• Doctor Who
• World in Action
• Top of the Pops
• Match of the Day
• Crossroads
• Play School
• Mr. and Mrs.
• World of Sport
• Jackanory
• Sportsnight
• Call My Bluff
• It's a Knockout
• The Money Programme
• ITV Playhouse
• The Big Match
• Nationwide
• Screen Test

  1970s

• The Goodies
• The Old Grey Whistle Test
• The Two Ronnies
• Clapperboard
• Crown Court
• Pebble Mill at One
• Rainbow
• Emmerdale
• Newsround
• Weekend World
• We Are the Champions
• Last of the Summer Wine
• That's Life!
• Tiswas
• Wish You Were Here...?
• Arena
• Jim'll Fix It
• Multi-Coloured Swap Shop
• Rentaghost
• One Man and His Dog
• The Professionals
• Strangers
• Butterflies
• 3-2-1
• Grange Hill
• Dick Turpin
• Friday Night, Saturday Morning
• Not the Nine O'Clock News
• Only When I Laugh
• Sapphire & Steel
• Terry and June
• The Book Tower
• Blankety Blank
• The Paul Daniels Magic Show
• Antiques Roadshow
• Question Time

  1980s

• Into the Labyrinth
• The Gentle Touch
• Juliet Bravo
• Cockleshell Bay
• Children in Need
• Postman Pat

  Ending this year

• 1 March – Agony
• 15 March – The Muppet Show
• 31 March – Robin's Nest
• 21 April – When the Boat Comes In
• 29 April – The Life and Times of David Lloyd George
• 1 August – You're Only Young Twice
• 3 September – It Ain't Half Hot Mum
• 10 October – Take a Letter, Mr. Jones
• 29 November – To the Manor Born
• 11 December – Postman Pat
• 12 December – Worzel Gummidge
• 17 December – Pigeon Street
• 21 December – Blake's 7
• 29 December – Pipkins

  Births

• 19 January – Thaila Zucchi, singer and actress
• 31 January – Gemma Collins, television personality
• 8 February – Helen Pearson, journalist and presenter
• 10 February
• * Max Brown, actor
• * Holly Willoughby, television presenter
• 1 April – Hannah Spearritt, actress and singer
• 5 June – Jade Goody, reality show contestant and media personality
• 25 June – Sheridan Smith, actress
• 2 July – Angela Hazeldine, actress and musician
• 12 July – Rebecca Hunter, actress and singer
• 3 September – Fearne Cotton, radio and television presenter
• 5 September – Elize du Toit, actress
• 21 September – Jack Ryder, actor
• 25 September – Sarah Jayne Dunn, actress
• 29 September – Suzanne Shaw, actress and singer
• 10 October – Laura Tobin, broadcast meteorologist
• 19 December – Sam Bloom, actor and singer

  Deaths