1961 in British radio

This is a list of events from British radio in 1961.

Events[]

• David Davis is appointed head of children's sound broadcasting at the BBC.
• Chorus singer Irene Thomas enters and wins the Brain of Britain contest, heralding a forty-year period as a mainstay of radio panel game quiz programmes.
• September – Alan Freeman replaces David Jacobs as the main presenter of Pick of the Pops.

Programme debuts[]

• 8 October – In Touch on the BBC Home Service (1961–Present)

Programme endings[]

• 29 January – Ray's a Laugh (1949–1961)

Continuing radio programmes[]

1940s[]

• Music While You Work (1940–1967)
• Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
• Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
• Family Favourites (1945–1980)
• Down Your Way (1946–1992)
• Have A Go (1946–1967)
• Housewives' Choice (1946–1967)
• Letter from America (1946–2004)
• Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
• Twenty Questions (1947–1976)
• Any Questions? (1948–Present)
• Mrs Dale's Diary (1948–1969)
• Billy Cotton Band Show (1949–1968)
• A Book at Bedtime (1949–Present)

1950s[]

• The Archers (1950–Present)
• Listen with Mother (1950–1982)
• From Our Own Correspondent (1955–Present)
• Pick of the Pops (1955–Present)
• The Clitheroe Kid (1957–1972)
• My Word! (1957–1988)
• Test Match Special (1957–Present)
• The Today Programme (1957–Present)
• The Navy Lark (1959–1977)
• Sing Something Simple (1959–2001)
• Your Hundred Best Tunes (1959–2007)

1960s[]

• Farming Today (1960–Present)
• Easy Beat (1960–1967)

Births[]

• 1 January – Fiona Phillips, radio and television presenter
• 3 January – Justin Webb, journalist and presenter on Today
• 3 March – Paul Baskerville, disc jockey
• 10 April – Nicky Campbell, Scottish-born broadcast presenter
• 14 May – David Quantick, comedy writer, music journalist and radio broadcaster
• 28 June – Mark Goodier, disc jockey
• 17 July – Jeremy Hardy, comedian (died 2019)
• 22 July – Carolyn Quinn, journalist and presenter on PM
• 27 June – Lynn Parsons, disc jockey
• 25 October – Pat Sharp, radio and television presenter
• Unknown
  • Robin Brooks, radio dramatist
  • Corrie Corfield, newsreader

Deaths[]

• 21 April – Wallace Greenslade, announcer (born 1912)
• 22 October – L. Stanton Jefferies, musician and radio producer (born 1896)

See also[]

• 1961 in British music
• 1961 in British television
• 1961 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1961

References[]