1966 in British television

List of years in British television (table)
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This is a list of British television related events from 1966.

Events[]

January[]

• 1 January – The first edition of Rugby Special is broadcast on BBC2, showing weekly highlights of rugby union matches.^[1]
• 3 January – Camberwick Green is the first television programme on BBC1 to be shot in colour.
• 15 January – BBC2 goes on air in the South and West of England.

February[]

• No events.

March[]

• 3 March – The BBC announces plans to begin broadcasting television programmes in colour from next year.^[2]

April[]

• 5 April – The Money Programme debuts on BBC2. It continues to air until 2010.
• 7 April–24 September – Weavers Green, made by Anglia Television, airs on ITV in 49 half-hour episodes twice-weekly; it is the first rural soap opera on British television, and one of the first television programmes to be shot on location using videotape and outside broadcast equipment, rather than film, as has usually been the case for non-studio shooting until this point.^[3]
• 21 April – The opening of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is televised for the first time.

May[]

• 23 May – Julie Goodyear makes her Coronation Street debut as Bet Lynch. She did not become a regular character until 1970.

June[]

• 6 June – BBC1 sitcom Till Death Us Do Part begins its first series run.
• 11 June – BBC2 Northern Ireland goes on the air.

July[]

• 9 July – BBC2 Scotland goes on the air, the last regional area to receive BBC2 (including the Gaelic language strand BBC Dhà Alba). It ceases broadcasting on 17 February 2019 to make way for the new BBC Scotland channel launching on 24 February 2019.
• 30 July – England beat West Germany 4-2 to win the 1966 World Cup at Wembley, attracting an all-time record UK television audience of more than 32,000,000.^[4]

Summer[]

• Summer – Patrick McGoohan quits the popular spy series Danger Man after filming only two episodes of the fourth season, in order to produce and star in The Prisoner, which begins filming in September.

August[]

• No events.

September[]

• No events.

October[]

• 2 October
  • The four-part serial Talking to a Stranger, acclaimed as one of the finest British television dramas of the 1960s, begins transmission in the Theatre 625 strand on BBC2.
  • Thunderbirds is back with a second season on ITV but without David Holliday (the original voice of Virgil Tracy) as he is now replaced by Jeremy Wilkin, and running only for six episodes.
• 29 October – Actor William Hartnell makes his last regular appearance as the First Doctor in the concluding moments of Episode 4 of the Doctor Who serial The Tenth Planet. Actor Patrick Troughton briefly appears as the Second Doctor at the conclusion of the serial.

November[]

• 5 November – Patrick Troughton appears in his first full Doctor Who serial The Power of the Daleks as the Second Doctor.
• 16 November – Cathy Come Home, possibly the best-known play ever to be broadcast on British television, is presented in BBC1's The Wednesday Play anthology strand.

December[]

• 25 December – The final episode of Thunderbirds is broadcast on ITV.
• 28 December – Jonathan Miller's production of Alice in Wonderland is broadcast.

Debuts[]

BBC1[]

• 1 January – The Spies (1966)
• 3 January – The Trumptonshire Trilogy: Camberwick Green (1966)
• 5 January – Softly, Softly (1966–1969)
• 16 January – David Copperfield (1966)
• 10 March – The Frost Report (1966)
• 7 May – Quick Before They Catch Us (1966)
• 17 May – All Gas and Gaiters (1966–1971)
• 24 May – Beggar My Neighbour (1966–1968)
• 14 June – Room at the Bottom (1966)
• 19 June – Thirteen Against Fate (1966)
• 23 June – Adam Adamant Lives! (1966–1967)
• 6 July – King of the River (1966–1967)
• 2 August – The Reluctant Romeo (1966–1967)
• 7 August – It's a Knockout (BBC1 1966–1982, Channel 5 1999–2001)
• 5 September – (1966)
• 16 September – Foreign Affairs (1966)
• 2 October – The Woman in White (1966)
• 15 October – (1966–1967)
• 28 October – (1966–1970)
• 4 November – (1966–1968)
• 13 November – The Three Musketeers (1966)
• 17 November – The Illustrated Weekly Hudd (1966–1967)
• 31 December – The Monkees (broadcast on BBC1 in black & white)

BBC2[]

• 7 January – This Man Craig (1966–1967)
• 11 January – (1966)
• 15 January – (1966)
• 15 February – A Farewell to Arms (1966)
• 26 February – (1966)
• 8 March – (1966)
• 19 March – (1966)
• 5 April – The Money Programme (1966–2010)
• 10 April – Take a Pair of Private Eyes (1966)
• 26 April – (1966)
• 16 June – This Is Petula Clark (1966–1968)
• 18 June – (1966)
• 19 June – Watch the Birdies (1966)
• 23 July – (1966)
• 20 September – (1966)
• 20 October – (1966)
• 25 October – Broome Stages (1966)
• 26 November – Bat Out of Hell (1966)
• 9 November – On the Margin (1966)
• 31 December – (1966–1967)

ITV[]

• 7 January – (1966)
• 11 January – (1966)
• 29 January – Mystery and Imagination (1966–1970)
• 2 February – The Rat Catchers (1966–1967)
• 22 February – (1966)
• 14 March – Mrs Thursday (1966–1967)
• 22 March – How (1966–1982)
• 7 April – Weavers Green (1966)
• 9 May – (1966)
• 7 July – You Can't Win (1966)
• 3 August – The Informer (1966–1967)
• 26 August – The Corridor People (1966)
• 23 September – (1966–1969)
• 28 September – The Baron (1966–1967)
• 1 October –
  • (1966–1967)
  • (1966)
• 19 November – George and the Dragon (1966–1968)
• 31 December – (1966–1969)

Continuing television shows[]

1920s[]

• BBC Wimbledon (1927–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–2024)

1930s[]

• The Boat Race (1938–1939, 1946–2019)
• BBC Cricket (1939, 1946–1999, 2020–2024)

1940s[]

• Watch with Mother (1946–1973)
• Come Dancing (1949–1998)

1950s[]

• Andy Pandy (1950–1970, 2002–2005)
• The Good Old Days (1953–1983)
• Panorama (1953–present)
• Sunday Night at the London Palladium (1955–1967, 1973–1974)
• Take Your Pick (1955–1968, 1992–1998)
• Double Your Money (1955–1968)
• Dixon of Dock Green (1955–1976)
• Crackerjack (1955–1984, 2020–present)
• Opportunity Knocks (1956–1978, 1987–1990)
• This Week (1956–1978, 1986–1992)
• Armchair Theatre (1956–1974)^[5]
• What the Papers Say (1956–2008)
• The Sky at Night (1957–present)
• Blue Peter (1958–present)
• Grandstand (1958–2007)

1960s[]

• Coronation Street (1960–present)
• The Avengers (1961–1969)
• Songs of Praise (1961–present)
• Hugh and I (1962–1967)
• The Saint (1962–1969)
• Z-Cars (1962–1978)
• Animal Magic (1962–1983)
• Doctor Who (1963–1989, 2005–present)
• World in Action (1963–1998)
• The Wednesday Play (1964–1970)
• Top of the Pops (1964–2006)
• Match of the Day (1964–present)
• Crossroads (1964–1988, 2001–2003)
• Play School (1964–1988)
• Mr. and Mrs. (1964–1999, 2008–2010, 2012–present)
• The Newcomers (1965–1969)
• Not Only... But Also (1965–1970)
• World of Sport (1965–1985)
• Call My Bluff (1965–2005)
• Jackanory (1965–1996, 2006)

Ending this year[]

• Captain Pugwash (1957–1966, 1974–1975, 1997–2002)
• The Flintstones (1960–1966)
• Marriage Lines (1963–1966)
• Thank Your Lucky Stars (1961–1966)
• Our Man at St. Mark's (1963–1966)
• Ready Steady Go! (1963–1966)
• The Likely Lads (1964–1966)
• Redcap (1964–1966)
• BBC-3 (1965–1966)
• The Bed-Sit Girl (1965–1966)
• Thunderbirds (1965–1966)
• Stingray (1965–1966)

Births[]

• 13 January – Shelagh Fogarty, radio and television presenter
• 26 February – Fay Ripley, actress and recipe author
• 6 March – Alan Davies, comedian and actor
• 22 March – Samantha Robson, actress
• 1 April – Chris Evans, radio disc-jockey
• 14 April – Lloyd Owen, actor
• 19 June – Samuel West, actor
• 5 July – Susannah Doyle, actress, playwright and film director
• 12 July – Tamsin Greig, actress
• 16 July – Johnny Vaughan, broadcaster and journalist
• 23 July – Samantha Beckinsale, actress
• 30 August – Helen Fospero, newsreader and journalist
• 26 October – Steve Valentine, actor

See also[]

• 1966 in British music
• 1966 in British radio
• 1966 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1966

References[]