1950 in British television
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
This is a list of British television related events from 1950.
Events[]
January[]
- No events.
February[]
- 23 February – First televised report of general election results in the UK. There was coverage of the 1950 United Kingdom general election, although the footage was not recorded. Richard Dimbleby hosted the BBC coverage of the election, which he would later do again for the 1951, 1955, 1959 and the 1964 general elections. On this occasion, Dimbleby was joined in the BBC Lime Grove Studios by R. B. McCallum, Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, and author of The British General Election of 1945 and David Butler, research student of Nuffield College. The first election night programme ran from 10:45 pm until just after 1:00 am.[1]
March[]
- No events.
April[]
- 3 April – The BBC aspect ratio changes from 5:4 to 4:3.
May[]
- 21 May – The BBC's Lime Grove television studios open.
June[]
- No events.
July[]
- 11 July – Andy Pandy premieres on the BBC Television Service.
August[]
- 27 August – The first ever live television pictures from across the English Channel are transmitted by the BBC Television Service. The two-hour programme is broadcast live from Calais in northern France to mark the centenary of the first message sent by submarine telegraph cable from England to France.[2]
September[]
- 8 September–27 October — No issues of Radio Times were published, due to a printing dispute.
- 30 September – First BBC Television Service broadcast from an aircraft.
October[]
- 13 October – George Barnes becomes Director of BBC Television, taking over from Norman Collins.[3]
November[]
- No events.
December[]
- 20 December – Poet T. S. Eliot expresses concerns about "the television habit" in a letter to The Times (London).
- 23 December – Gala Variety with Tommy Cooper, becomes the first programme to be broadcast by the BBC from the former Gainsborough Studios in Lime Grove, purchased by the corporation in the previous year.[4]
Unknown[]
- A cable network is launched in Gloucester, to provide better television reception than was possible at the time via a roof-top aerial.[5]
Debuts[]
- 5 January – The Lone Ranger (1949–1957)
- 5 March – Sunday Night Theatre (1950–1959)[6]
- 11 July – Andy Pandy (1950–1970, 2002–2005)
- 24 November – Pet's Parlour with Petula Clark (1950–1953)[7]
- 12 December – Little Women, drama serial in six parts, starring Norah Gorsen, David Jacobs, Barbara Everest and others[8] (ends 23 January 1951)
- 31 December – Mr. Pastry's Progress (1950–1951)
Continuing television shows[]
1920s[]
- BBC Wimbledon (1927–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–2024)
1930s[]
- Picture Page (1936–1939, 1946–1952).
- The Boat Race (1938–1939, 1946–2019)
- BBC Cricket (1939, 1946–1999, 2020–2024)
1940s[]
- Kaleidoscope (1946–1953)
- Muffin the Mule (1946–1955, 2005–2006)
- Café Continental (1947–1953)
- Television Newsreel (1948–1954)
- Come Dancing (1949–1998)
- How Do You View? (1949–1953)
Ending this year[]
- For the Children (1937–1939, 1946–1950)
Births[]
- 20 January — Liza Goddard, stage and television actress
- 27 January —
- Derek Acorah, medium and television host (died 2020)
- Alex Norton, actor and screenwriter
- 3 February — Pamela Franklin, actress
- 22 February — Julie Walters, actress
- 22 March — Mary Tamm, actress (died 2012)
- 30 March — Robbie Coltrane, actor and comedian
- 3 April — Sally Thomsett, actress
- 9 May — Matthew Kelly, English actor and television host
- 10 May — Sally James, television presenter and actress
- 11 May — Jeremy Paxman, television presenter and author
- 9 June — David Troughton, actor
- 8 July — Sarah Kennedy, broadcaster
- 19 July — Simon Cadell, actor (died 1996)
- 26 July — Susan George, actress
- 19 August — Jennie Bond, journalist and television presenter
- 17 September — Sherrie Hewson, actress, television presenter and novelist
- 14 December — Vicki Michelle, actress
- 17 December — Michael Cashman, actor and politician
Deaths[]
- 4 March — Anthony Holles, actor, 49
- 8 May — Franklin Dyall, actor, 80[9]
- June — Claude Bailey, actor, 54
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "General Election Results", The Radio Times (1375): 47, 17 February 1950, retrieved 27 March 2018 – via BBC Genome
- ^ "Television crosses the Channel". BBC On This Day. 1950-08-27. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
- ^ Tony Currie (2004). A Concise History of British Television, 1930-2000. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-903053-17-1.
- ^ Chris Perry (3 February 2016). The Kaleidoscope British Christmas Television Guide 1937-2013. Lulu.com. p. 528. ISBN 978-1-900203-60-9.
- ^ "The Michael Aldrich Archive – Cable Systems". Aldricharchive.com. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
- ^ Howard Maxford (8 November 2019). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. p. 387. ISBN 978-1-4766-2914-8.
- ^ "British Television Appearances – The Fifties". Petula Clark. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
- ^ "Little Women". Film and TV Database. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ Theatre World Annual (London): A Pictorial Review of West End Productions with a Record of Plays and Players. Rockcliff. 1950. p. 22.
Categories:
- 1950 in British television