1989 in British television

January

5 January – The first episode of Channel 4's comedy series Desmonds is shown.

8 January – Original airdate of the Only Fools and Horses episode Yuppy Love during which Del Boy falls through a bar. A 2006 poll named the scene the most popular of the entire programme, while it was also named 7th Greatest Television Moment of all time in a 1999 Channel 4 poll.

16 January –

The Late Show, Britain's first daily television arts programme, which is presented by Sarah Dunant debuts on BBC 2 directly after Newsnight.

Debut of the critically acclaimed children's television series Press Gang on ITV.

20 January – BBC2 airs live coverage of the inauguration of George Bush as the 41st President of the United States.

22 January – ITV launches an omnibus edition of Coronation Street, which airs on Sunday afternoons. But the repeat is not stranded across the network, with different regions airing it at different times. Some regions, including Central Television, later move the episode to a Saturday afternoon slot, and the omnibus is dropped in some areas from September 1990.

February

February – Anglia and Central Television reschedule Emmerdale Farm to 19:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

5 February – The world's first commercial DBS system, Sky Television, goes on air.

11 February – Australian soap Home and Away makes its British television debut on ITV.

12 February – ITV launches its Find a Family campaign to find permanent homes for youngsters in care.

14 February – Debut of Channel 4's Out on Tuesday, the UK's first weekly magazine programme for gay and lesbian viewers. Later changing its name to Out, the programme aired for four series before being axed in 1992.

23 February – Some 23 million viewers tune in to watch the exit of the hugely popular character Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) from EastEnders. Grantham filmed his final scenes in the show in the autumn of 1988 but his exit was delayed into 1989 to avoid the show suffering the double blow of losing Den so soon after his former wife Angie (Anita Dobson) exited in April 1988. The character falls into a canal after being shot, but the character's exact fate is left unconfirmed.

25 February – The long-awaited WBA Heavyweight title fight between Britain's Frank Bruno and America's Mike Tyson is held at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. Because of the time difference between Britain and the United States, the fight is televised in the UK in the early hours of 26 February. Tyson wins after the referee stops the bout in the fifth round.

March

2 March – After much publicity, a two-minute advert for Pepsi featuring Madonna's single "Like a Prayer" is shown during a commercial break on ITV, 12 minutes into The Bill.

6 March – Debut of the three-part ITV drama Winners and Losers starring Leslie Grantham; the series is Grantham's first post-EastEnders role.

10 March – On the second Red Nose Day, BBC1 airs the eight hour telethon, A Night of Comic Relief 2.

15 March – BBC1 airs John's Not Mad, an edition of the QED documentary strand that shadowed John Davidson, a 15-year-old from Galashiels in Scotland, with severe Tourette syndrome. The film explores John's life in terms of his family and the close-knit community around him, and how they all cope with a misunderstood condition.

April

2–3 April – ITV airs The Heroes, an Australian-British television miniseries based on the World War II Operation Jaywick, starring John Bach and Jason Donovan.

3 April – Channel 4 launches its breakfast television show The Channel Four Daily. The programme is based heavily on news and current affairs, with segments focusing on sports, finance, lifestyles, arts and entertainment, and discussion. It is axed in 1992 after failing to gain enough viewers and was subsequently replaced by The Big Breakfast.

15 April – The date of the Hillsborough Disaster. BBC Television's cameras are at the Hillsborough ground to record the FA Cup semi-final clash between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest for their Match of the Day programme, but as the disaster unfolds the events are relayed to their live sports show, Grandstand, resulting in an extreme emotional impact on the general British population.

20 April – John Leslie becomes the first Scottish presenter of Blue Peter.

24 April –

The BBC's Ceefax teletext only runs as a partial service due to a strike by broadcasting unions.

Jon Snow joins the Channel 4 News as the main newscaster, for the replacement of Peter Sissons.

May

2 May – ITV airs an edition of the First Tuesday documentary strand investigating the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War. Four Hours in My Lai is later shown in the United States as part of the Frontline series with the title Remember My Lai.

26 May –

The High Court rejects a legal challenge to overturn the broadcasting restrictions introduced in October 1988 after deciding the Home Secretary acted lawfully.

ITV broadcast live the last game of the season, between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield. Arsenal win the league title with the last kick of the season thanks to a late goal from Michael Thomas. More than 8 million people are said to have tuned in.

June

22 June –

John Craven signs off for the last time on the children's news programme John Craven's Newsround. The show continues under the name Newsround.

An edition of Question Time looks back at Robin Day's ten years as the show's presenter as he prepares to step down from the role. The edition is presented from the Greenwood Theatre in London, with panellists Michael Foot, Lady Antonia Fraser, Michael Heseltine, David Owen.

July

10 July –

The first edition of the music magazine programme The O-Zone airs on BBC1.

ITV introduces a second daily showing of Home and Away.

12 July – A special edition of Question Time from Paris, France, is the last to be chaired by Robin Day. Panellists on the programme are |Leon Brittan, Chantal Cuer, Denis Healey and Yvette Roudy.

19 July – The BBC programme Panorama accuses Shirley Porter, Conservative Leader of Westminster City Council, of gerrymandering.

25 July – ITV airs "Don't Like Mondays", an episode of The Bill featuring a storyline in which several characters are caught up in a bank robbery. The episode sees the exit of PC Pete Ramsey (played by Nick Reding), who is shot in the chest by one of the robbers while protecting a colleague. The fate of the character is left unresolved.

30 July – Sky Channel is rebranded as Sky One, and confines its broadcasting to Britain and Ireland.

August

25 August – Rupert Murdoch delivers the MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival in which he launches an attack on the narrow elitism within the British television industry.

27 August – Launch date of the first Marcopolo Satellite, which will serve as a platform for British Satellite Broadcasting.

28 August–3 September – BBC1 airs News '39, a week of news-style programmes presented by Sue Lawley, marking the 50th anniversary of the start of World War II. Each edition is presented in news bulletin format, reporting on events as if they were occurring in the present.

September

1 September – The first ITV generic look is introduced.

10 September – BBC1 debuts Screen One, an anthology of one off dramas. The first film is One Way Out, directed by Mick Ford, and starring Bob Peck, Denis Lawson, Samantha Bond and Enn Reitel.

13 September – The BBC is accused of censorship after banning an interview with Simon Hayward, a former Captain of the Life Guards who spent several years in a Swedish prison after a drug smuggling conviction, just hours before he is due to appear on the Wogan show. The decision, taken by BBC1 Controller Jonathan Powell followed protests from several MPs. The BBC says the subject is not appropriate for a family programme, but will be discussed on other shows.

14 September – Peter Sissons takes over as presenter of Question Time as the series returns after its summer break.

15 September – The ITV national weather bulletin is launched.

25 September – BBC2 airs The Interrogation of John, Malcolm McKay's 1987 screenplay, starring Dennis Quilley, Bill Paterson and Michael Fitzgerald. The film, about the police questioning of a murder suspect and first shown in 1987, now forms the first of a three-part series titled A Wanted Man, which further develops the story. The second part of the trilogy, The Secret, airs on 27 September, while Shoreland concludes the series on 28 September.

26 September – Debut of Capital City, a series about investment bankers produced by Euston Film for Thames Television. Thames spend an estimated £500,000 to run newspaper and billboard advertisements to promote the series' launch, believed at the time to be the largest advertising spend for a program in the history of ITV. Full-page advertisements are taken in six national newspapers including The Financial Times, The Times and The Independent, promoting Shane-Longman, the fictitious company of the series, and featuring images of cast members in character.

October

2 October –

Launch of RTL Veronique, a Dutch private commercial television station broadcasting from Luxembourg. The channel aired to Europe via the Astra Satellite, and attracted attention in its early days due to its late night line up of erotic programmes. The station changed its name to RTL 4 in 1991.

The BBC breakfast programme Breakfast Time is relaunched as Breakfast News.

4 October – Jeremy Paxman makes his first appearance as presenter of BBC2's Newsnight.

20 October – ITV introduces a third weekly episode of Coronation Street which airs on Fridays at 7:30pm.

November

1 November – ITV air One Day in the Life of Television, a documentary filmed by 50 camera crews looking behind-the-scenes of British television on 1 November 1988.

2 November – The Final Episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, "Goodbyeee" is broadcast on BBC1. With one of the most moving endings ever seen on British television, it is broadcast nine days before Armistice Day.

9 November – The Last Episode of Emmerdale Farm.

14 November – Yorkshire Television soap Emmerdale Farm changes its name to Emmerdale after 17 years.

19 November–26 November – Prince Caspian becomes the second Narnia book to be aired as a television serial by the BBC in two parts.

21 November – Television coverage of proceedings in the House of Commons begins.

22 November – The Stone Roses are invited to appear on BBC2's The Late Show. During their performance the electricity is cut off by noise limiting circuitry, prompting singer Ian Brown to shout "Amateurs, amateurs" as presenter Tracey MacLeod tries to link into the next item.

25 November – Helen Sharman is selected as the first Britain to travel into space in a live programme aired by ITV. She was one of 13,000 people to apply for the chance to become an astronaut after responding to a radio advertisement, and journeys to the Mir space station in 1991.

December

3 December–24 December – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, another Narnia story, is aired as a four-part serial by the BBC.

6 December – The last episode of the 26-year original run of Doctor Who, Part 3 of Survival, is broadcast on BBC1. The show would not resume regular airing for 16 years, with the only new material during this time being an American telemovie in 1996.

8 December – Alan Bradley (Mark Eden) is fatally run over by a Blackpool tram on Coronation Street, getting the programme's biggest ever audience at almost 27 million viewers, a record that remains to this day.

24 December – ITV airs the original television film adaptation of Susan Hill's novella The Woman in Black.

25 December –

Christmas Day highlights on BBC1 include the network television premieres of Crocodile Dundee and Clockwise.

Christmas Day highlights on ITV include the network television premieres of The BFG, and Down and Out in Beverly Hills.

26 December – Boxing Day highlights on ITV include the network television premieres of The Return of the Jedi and Ruthless People.

29 December – Deirdre Barlow confronts her husband Ken on Coronation Street before throwing him out, ending their decade-long television marriage.

December

The controversial Broadcasting Bill is introduced into Parliament by the Government. It will pave the way for the deregulation of commercial television.

A hearing at the Appeal Court upholds the broadcasting ban.

BBC1

5 January – Dooby Duck's Disco Bus (1989–1992)

22 January – Campion (1989–1990)

6 April – Tricky Business (1989–1991)

20 May – That's Showbusiness (1989–1996)

4 September – Breakfast News (1989–2000)

8 September – Challenge Anneka (1989–1995, 2006)

14 September –

The Poddington Peas (1989–1990)

Penny Crayon (1989–1990)

Clockwise (1989–1991)

19 September – The Paradise Club (1989–1990)

16 October – Birds of a Feather (1989–1998 BBC, 2014–present ITV)

8 November – Byker Grove (1989–2006)

16 November – Maid Marian and her Merry Men (1989–1994)

31 December – The Eighties

BBC2

13 January – A Bit of Fry & Laurie (1989–1995)

12 May – KYTV (1989–1993)

9 June – I, Lovett (1989–1993)

ITV

8 January – Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013)

13 January – A Bit of a Do (1989)

16 January – Press Gang (1989–1993)

12 February – Find a Family (1989–1991)

24 February – Fun House (1989–1999)

13 March – The Labours of Erica (1989–1990)

6 April – Rolf's Cartoon Club (1989–1993)

14 April – Windfalls (1989)

7 June – Everybody's Equal (1989–1991)

11 July – Somewhere to Run

26 September – Capital City (1989–1990)

2 November – The Riddlers (1989–1998)

6 November – About Face (1989–1991)

24 December – The Woman in Black

Channel 4

5 January – Desmond's (1989–1994)

3 April – The Channel Four Daily (1989–1992)

23 May – Absolutely (1989–1993)

31 December – Granpa (1989)

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

Watch with Mother (1946–1973) (1987, 1989, 1993 VHS Only)

1940s

Come Dancing (1949–1998)

1950s

Panorama (1953–present)

Opportunity Knocks (1956–1978, 1987–1990)

This Week (1956–1978, 1986–1992)

What the Papers Say (1956–2008)

The Sky at Night (1957–present)

Blue Peter (1958–present)

Grandstand (1958–2007)

1960s

Coronation Street (1960–present)

Songs of Praise (1961–present)

World in Action (1963–1998)

Doctor Who (1963–1989)

Top of the Pops (1964–2006)

Match of the Day (1964–present)

Mr. and Mrs. (1964–1999, 2008–2010, 2012–present)

Jackanory (1965–1996, 2006–present)

Sportsnight (1965–1997)

The Money Programme (1966–2010)

The Big Match (1968–2002)

1970s

Rainbow (1972–1992, 1994–1995)

Emmerdale (1972–present)

Newsround (1972–present)

Last of the Summer Wine (1973–2010)

That's Life! (1973–1994)

Wish You Were Here...? (1974–2003)

Arena (1975–present)

Jim'll Fix It (1975–1994)

One Man and His Dog (1976–present)

Grange Hill (1978–2008)

Blankety Blank (1979–1990, 1997–2002)

The Paul Daniels Magic Show (1979–1994)

Antiques Roadshow (U.K. TV Series) (1979–present)

Question Time (1979–present)

1980s

Children in Need (1980–present)

Bergerac (1981–1991)

'Allo 'Allo! (1982–1992)

Wogan (1981–1992)

Brookside (1982–2003)

Countdown (1982–present)

Timewatch (1982–present)

Right to Reply (1982–2001)

Don't Wait Up (1983–1990)

Good Morning Britain (1983–1992, 2014–present)

First Tuesday (1983–1993)

Highway (1983–1993)

Blockbusters (1983–93, 1994–95, 1997, 2000–01, 2012)

Bob's Full House (1984–1990)

Wide Awake Club (1984–1992)

Aspel & Company (1984–1993)

Spitting Image (1984–1996)

The Bill (1984–2010)

Channel 4 Racing (1984–2016)

Home to Roost (1985–1990)

Howards' Way (1985–1990)

Busman's Holiday (1985–1993)

EastEnders (1985–present)

The Cook Report (1985–1998)

Crosswits (1985–1998)

Telly Addicts (1985–1998)

Comic Relief (1985–present)

Bread (1986–1991)

Brush Strokes (1986–1991)

Naked Video (1986–1991)

Boon (1986–1992, 1995)

Every Second Counts (1986–1993)

Lovejoy (1986–1994)

Beadle's About (1986–1996)

The Chart Show (1986–1998, 2008–2009)

Casualty (1986–present)

Allsorts (1987–1995)

Going Live! (1987–1993)

Watching (1987–1993)

The Time, The Place (1987–1996)

Going for Gold (1987–1996, 2008–2009)

Chain Letters (1987–1997)

ChuckleVision (1987–2009)

Noel's Saturday Roadshow (1988–1990)

All Clued Up (1988–1991)

I Can Do That (1988–1991)

After Henry (1988–1992)

Park Avenue (1988–1992)

Count Duckula (1988–1993)

You Rang, M'Lord? (1988–1993)

You Bet! (1988–1997)

Playdays (1988–1997)

London's Burning (1988–2002)

On the Record (1988–2002)

Fifteen to One (1988–2003, 2013–present)

This Morning (1988–present)

Garfield and Friends (1988–1994)

Ending this year

19 April – Charlie Chalk (1988–1989)

1 May – The Benny Hill Show (1955–1989)

30 May – The Book Tower (1979–1989)

18 June – Three Up, Two Down (1985–1989)

20 June – TUGS (1988–1989)

21 August – Dramarama (1983–1989)

29 September – Breakfast Time (1983–1989)

8 October – First of the Summer Wine (1988–1989)

6 December – Doctor Who (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–present)

24 December – Ever Decreasing Circles (1984–1989)

Births

23 July – Daniel Radcliffe, actor (Harry Potter films)