17th October 2025
- Channels
- 1984 Technicians at Thames Television walk out on strike, blacking out the channel. Management and the ACTT technicians union had been discussing implementation of plans agreed in September (at the end of the previous strike), as well as the introduction of new technology. The union warned against a management-run service, as it would be a recipe for total network disturbance. But Thames claimed that it would be justified due to the strike being unofficial.
- Programmes
- 1962 Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne becomes the first person to introduce The Beatles on television as the band makes its small screen debut on the regional news programme People and Places.
- 1964 The first episode of Redcap airs on ITV.
- 1965 The first edition of Call My Bluff airs on BBC Two.
- 1972 The first episode of Harriet's Back in Town airs on ITV.
- 1973 The final episode of Harriet's Back in Town airs on ITV.
- 1977 The first edition of Des O'Connor Tonight airs on BBC Two.
- 1978 The final episode of Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt airs on ITV.
- 1980 The first episode of To Serve Them All My Days airs on BBC One.
- 1982 The final episode of Solo airs on BBC One.
- 1984 The first episode of Rub-a-Dub-Dub airs on ITV.
- 1985 The first episode of Happy Families airs on BBC One.
- 1988 The final episode of No Frills airs on BBC One.
- 1988 The first episode of Wyatt's Watchdogs airs on BBC One.
- 1989 The first edition of Sticky Moments airs on Channel 4. With Julian Clary.
- 1989 The final edition of The Vet airs on BBC One.
- 1991 The first episode of So You Think You've Got Troubles airs on BBC One. Starring Warren Mitchell.
- 1994 The Morning daytime strand introduced to BBC One. Presented by Mo Dutta.
- 1997 The final edition of Parkinson: The Interviews airs on BBC One.
- 1999 The first edition of Bremner, Bird and Fortune airs on Channel 4.
- 2012 The 40th anniversary edition of Emmerdale airs on ITV.
- Test Card/Teletext In-Vision Music
- 1985 BBC Two tape My Sugar airs for the first time.
- 1990 BBC One tape March from The Merry War airs for the final time.
More anniversaries
There are more On This Day anniversaries on our other sub-sites:
- SHOWREEL: presenters, announcers.
- STUDIO A: broadcast buildings, studios, outside broadcast facilities.
- TX: transmitters.
Acknowledgements
Research for On This Day in TV History is by Paul R. Jackson.
Details about test card/teletext in-vision music and BBC trade test films are available as a result of decades of research and logging by members of the Test Card Circle.
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