1968 in British television

Events

1 January – The Colour television licence is introduced when a £5 "colour supplement" is added to the £5 monochrome licence fee, therefore making the cost of a colour licence £10.

4 February – The cult series The Prisoner finishes its first run on British television.

6 April – The 13th Eurovision Song Contest is held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Spain wins the contest with the song "La, la, la", performed by Massiel. This year marks the first time the event is broadcast in colour, with several European countries transmitting the event in colour. Because BBC1 does not yet broadcast in colour, BBC2 airs an encore edition of the show in colour the following day.

20 April – Conservative MP Enoch Powell makes his infamous Rivers of Blood speech about immigration and anti-discrimination legislation in the United Kingdom. The speech is made at the Midland Hotel in Birmingham to a meeting of the Conservative Political Centre at 2:30 pm. The Birmingham-based television company ATV saw an advance copy of the speech that morning, and its news editor ordered a television crew to go to the venue, where they filmed sections of the speech. The speech provokes great outcry among the British public, making Powell one of the most popular and loathed politicians in the country, and leading to his dismissal from the Shadow Cabinet by Conservative party leader Edward Heath.

4 May – Mary Hopkin performs on the British TV show Opportunity Knocks. Hopkin catches the attention of model Twiggy, who recommends her to Beatle Paul McCartney. McCartney soon signs Hopkin to Apple Records.

20 May – Harlech (which became HTV in 1970) starts its dual service for Wales and the West Country, replacing the interim ITSWW, which had replaced TWW on 4 March.

28 July – Final day on air for ABC which had broadcast to the North and Midlands regions during weekends. The 1968 Contract Round sees the end of weekend franchises in these regions. It is also the last day on air for ATV London which lost its weekend franchise to the newly formed London Weekend Television.

29 July – Granada and ATV broadcast seven days a week to the Midlands and the North-West respectively. The North is split into two regions with Granada broadcasting to the North-West and Yorkshire Television broadcasting to the Yorkshire region. It is also the last day on air for Rediffusion, London in the London area.

30 July – **Thames Television goes on air, having taken over the ITV London weekday franchise from Rediffusion, London. Thames is a result of a merger between the respective parent companies of ABC (ABPC, famously known for the ABC cinema chain) and Rediffusion (British Electric Traction), the ABPC having been awarded the controlling 51% stake in the new London weekday broadcaster.

Magpie premieres on ITV.

31 July – Popular sitcom Dad's Army begins its nine-year run on BBC1.

2 August – London Weekend Television takes over the ITV London weekend franchise from ATV London. They went on air initially using the name London Weekend Television but then adopted the name London Weekend before reverting to London Weekend Television (often abbreviated to LWT) in 1978.

August – Independent Television technicians strike immediately after the 1968 franchise changes, causing a national stoppage. The individual companies are off the air for several weeks and an emergency service is established. The ITV Emergency National Service is presented by management personnel with no regional variations. This was the first time that a uniform presentation practice was adopted across all regions.

BBC1

12 February – The Herbs

14 June – Me Mammy (1968–1971)

31 July – Dad's Army (1968–1977)

ITV

4 April – Freewheelers (1968–1973)

30 July – Magpie (1968–1980)

15 August – Nearest and Dearest (1968–1973)

21 September – Strange Report (1968–1969)

24 September – How We Used To Live (1968–2002)

25 September – The Champions (1968–1969)

29 September – Joe 90 (1968–1969)

5 November – Father, Dear Father (1968–1973)

8 November – Please Sir! (1968–1972)

16 November – Journey to the Unknown (1968–1969)

Unknown – The Big Match (1968–1992)

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)

Dixon of Dock Green (1955–1976)

Crackerjack (1955–1984)

Opportunity Knocks (1956–1978, 1987–1990)

This Week (1956–1978, 1986–1992)

Armchair Theatre (1956–1974)

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)

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)

The Newcomers (1965–1969)

Public Eye (1965–1975)

World of Sport (1965–1985)

Sportsnight (1965–1997)

Softly, Softly (1966–1969)

The Trumptonshire Trilogy (1966–1969)

Jackanory (1965–1996, 2006)

It's a Knockout (1966–1982, 1999–2001)

The Money Programme (1966–2010)

Market in Honey Lane (1967–1969)

Not in Front of the Children (1967–1970)

Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width (1967–1971)

The Golden Shot (1967–1975)

ITV Playhouse (1967–1982)

Ending this year

Take Your Pick (1955–1968, 1992–1998)

Double Your Money (1955–1968)

White Heather Club (1958–1968)

Danger Man (1960–1961, 1964–1968)

Theatre 625 (1964–1968)

Beggar My Neighbour (1966–1968)

At Last the 1948 Show (1967–1968)

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967–1968)

Man in a Suitcase (1967–1968)

Pinky and Perky (1967–1968)

The Prisoner (1967–1968)

Births

3 February – David Scarboro, actor (died 1988)

29 February – Wendi Peters, actress

4 March – Patsy Kensit, English actress

11 March – Dominic Mafham, actor

21 March – Jaye Davidson, British actor

23 March – Abigail Cruttenden, actress

3 April – Charlotte Coleman, actress (died 2001)

8 April – Jenny Powell, British television presenter

22 April – Amanda Mealing, actress

23 April – Ricky Groves, actor

4 May – Julian Barratt, comedian and actor

12 May – Catherine Tate, comedian

15 May – Sophie Raworth, journalist and newsreader

22 May – Graham Linehan, Irish writer and director

7 June – Sarah Parish, actress

28 June – Adam Woodyatt, actor

4 July – Ronni Ancona, actress and impressionist

20 July – Julian Rhind-Tutt, film, television and radio actor

26 July – Olivia Williams, actress

4 August – Lee Mack, comedian and actor

5 August – Stephanie Flanders, broadcast journalist

9 August

Kate Gerbeau, television presenter and newsreader

Gillian Anderson, British actress (born in the U.S.)

11 August – Gray O'Brien, actor

14 August – Adrian Lester, British actor

17 August – Helen McCrory, actress

21 August – Laura Trevelyan, BBC journalist

9 September – Julia Sawalha, English actress

20 September – Philippa Forrester, British TV presenter

23 September – Yvette Fielding, television presenter and actress

28 September – Shiulie Ghosh, television journalist

1 October – Mark Durden-Smith, British television presenter

2 October – Victoria Derbyshire, British Radio presenter

19 October – Kacey Ainsworth, British actress.

20 October – Susan Tully, television producer, director and former actress

12 November – Jo Coburn, journalist and broadcaster

22 November – Andrew Gilligan, British journalist

23 November – Kirsty Young, television presenter

12 December – Kate Humble, television presenter

Unknown – Sarah Smith, journalist