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The museum of TV ephemera

On This Day in TV History

23rd December 2025

Channels
1978 BBC One and BBC Two programme schedules resume after a two-day blackout caused by an industrial dispute.

An on-screen caption on BBC One read: "We will be back on air with our published programmes at 3.00pm on BBC 1. Details of Christmas Programmes in Radio Times."

BBC Two's schedule returned to normal from 1.30pm.
EXTERNAL LINK: BBC News reports on the restoration of programmes on BBC One and BBC Two following strike action in December 1978.
1978 Yorkshire Television is blacked out by an industrial dispute.
2005 The ITV News Channel closes down.

Alastair Stewart presents the final programme.

The closure was originally planned for 2006. However, the reason given for the change of plan was that it would have been unfair to expect staff to work long hours over Christmas knowing that the channel would soon be closing.
RELATED ARTICLE: ITV News Channel: final programme (23rd December 2005).
Programmes
1959 The final edition of Zoo Quest airs on BBC TV.
1960 The final episode of Prudence Kitten airs on BBC TV.
1966 The final edition of Ready Steady Go! airs on ITV.
1968 The final episode of Sherlock Holmes airs on BBC One.
1975 The first episode of Bod airs on BBC One.
1982 The final edition of Service Information airs on BBC Two.
1983 The first edition of Whistle Test airs on BBC Two.

The programme had previously been titled The Old Grey Whistle Test.
1984 The final edition of The Hot Shoe Show airs on BBC One.
1986 The final episode of Fresh Fields airs on ITV.
1988 Blackadder's Christmas Carol airs on BBC One.
1988 The final edition of Freetime airs on ITV.

Presented by Andi Peters.
1993 The final edition of Life in the Freezer airs on BBC One.
1996 The final episode of The Thin Blue Line airs on BBC One.
1998 The final edition of Clive James on TV airs on ITV.
2006 The final edition of Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes airs on ITV.
2007 The final edition of Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work airs on BBC One.
2009 The Grumpy Guide to Christmas airs on BBC Two.
2014 The final episode of The Wrong Mans airs on BBC One.
2016 The final edition of Deal or No Deal (original incarnation) airs on Channel 4.
2016 The final episode of Citizen Khan airs on BBC One.
2018 The pilot episode of King Gary airs on BBC One.
2019 The first edition of The Goes Wrong Show airs on BBC One.
2019 The final episode of Still Open All Hours airs on BBC One.
2024 The Hairy Bikers: You'll Never Ride Alone airs on BBC Two.

Tribute to Dave Myers, with 46,000 bikers riding from London to Barrow-in-Furness.
2024 Doctor Who: The War Games in Colour airs on BBC Four.

The final adventure of Patrick Troughton's Doctor. First shown in 1969. Re-edited and colourised as a 90-minute special.
Test Card/Teletext In-Vision Music
1975 BBC Two tape Riverside Downs airs for the first time.
1975 BBC Two tape Concerto d'Aranjuez airs for the first time.
1975 BBC Two tape If I Were a Carpenter airs for the first time.
EXTERNAL LINK: test card accompanied by the first couple of tracks from If I Were a Carpenter (1st March 1976).
1992 BBC Christmas tape Santa Claus Is Coming to Town airs on BBC One for the final time.
EXTERNAL LINK: Pages from Ceefax accompanied by some tracks from Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (18th December 1995).
2000 BBC Two Christmas tape Am Weihnachtsbaume airs for the first time.
2003 BBC Two Christmas tape I Saw Three Ships airs for the first time.
2003 BBC Two Christmas tape A Christmas Suite airs for the first time.

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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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