1981 in British radio

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This is a list of events in British radio during 1981.

Events[]

January[]

• 2 January – Dave Lee Travis presents his final edition of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show after two and a half years at the helm.
• 5 January – Mike Read succeeds Dave Lee Travis as presenter of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show.

February[]

• 11 February – BBC Radio London begins broadcasting in stereo.

March[]

• No events.

April[]

• No events.

May[]

• No events.

June[]

• No events.

July[]

• 4 July – BBC Radio Blackburn expands to cover all of Lancashire and is renamed accordingly.
• 27th July – Northsound Radio launched in Aberdeen from studios at 45 King's Gate.

August[]

• No events.

September[]

• 21 September – Steve Wright in the Afternoon is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 for the first time.
• 24 September – John Lade presents BBC Radio 3's Record Review for the final time. His last broadcast is the programme's 1,000th edition.^[1] Paul Vaughan takes over the programme the following week.

October[]

• October – BBC Radio Deeside is expanded to cover all of north east Wales and is renamed BBC Radio Clwyd
• 4 October – The first edition of All Time Greats, presented by Desmond Carrington, is broadcast on BBC Radio 2.^[2] The programme, broadcast on Sunday lunchtimes, remains on air until the late 2000s.

November[]

• 23 November – BBC Radio Birmingham expands to cover the West Midlands, South Staffordshire, north Worcestershire and north Warwickshire and is relaunched as BBC WM.

December[]

• Three months after launching, Essex Radio expands into mid-Essex when it starts broadcasting from transmitters located near Chelmsford.

Station debuts[]

• 27 July – Northsound Radio
• 1 September – Radio Aire
• 7 September – Centre Radio
• 12 September – Essex Radio
• 15 October – Chiltern Radio
• 27 October – Radio West
• 4 December – West Sound Radio

Closing this year[]

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Programme debuts[]

• 8 March – The Lord of the Rings (radio series), BBC Radio 4 (1981)
• 21 September – Steve Wright in the Afternoon, originally billed as Steve Wright, BBC Radio 1 (1981–1993, 1999–Present)

Continuing radio programmes[]

1940s[]

• Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
• Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
• Down Your Way (1946–1992)
• Letter from America (1946–2004)
• Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
• A Book at Bedtime (1949–Present)

1950s[]

• The Archers (1950–Present)
• The Today Programme (1957–Present)
• Sing Something Simple (1959–2001)
• Your Hundred Best Tunes (1959–2007)

1960s[]

• Farming Today (1960–Present)
• In Touch (1961–Present)
• The World at One (1965–Present)
• The Official Chart (1967–Present)
• Just a Minute (1967–Present)
• The Living World (1968–Present)
• The Organist Entertains (1969–2018)

1970s[]

• PM (1970–Present)
• Start the Week (1970–Present)
• Week Ending (1970–1998)
• You and Yours (1970–Present)
• I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1972–Present)
• Good Morning Scotland (1973–Present)
• Kaleidoscope (1973–1998)
• Newsbeat (1973–Present)
• The News Huddlines (1975–2001)
• File on 4 (1977–Present)
• Money Box (1977–Present)
• The News Quiz (1977–Present)
• Breakaway (1979–1998)
• Feedback (1979–Present)
• The Food Programme (1979–Present)
• Science in Action (1979–Present)

1980s[]

• Radio Active (1980–1987)

Births[]

• 25 May – Huw Stephens, Welsh radio presenter
• 1 July – Clemency Burton-Hill, classical music presenter
• 3 September – Fearne Cotton, broadcast presenter

Deaths[]

• 7 January – Alvar Liddell, 72, BBC Radio announcer and newsreader
• 10 February – Leonard Plugge, 91, commercial radio promoter and politician
• 13 April – Gwyn Thomas, 67, Welsh writer and broadcaster
• 23 September – Sam Costa, 71, crooner, voice actor and disc jockey
• 30 November – Val Gielgud, 81, pioneer director of broadcast drama

See also[]

• 1981 in British music
• 1981 in British television
• 1981 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1981

References[]