Rewind

The museum of TV ephemera

Channels
1953 The BBC launches its first TV channel symbol - the Bat's Wings - designed by Abram Games.
Programmes
1967 The final edition of Gardening Club airs on BBC One.
1976 The final episode of The Crezz airs on ITV.
1977 The final episode of Love for Lydia airs on ITV.
1979 The final episode of Testament of Youth airs on BBC Two.
1980 The first episode of Ireland: A Television History airs on BBC Two. written and presented by Robert Kee.
1981 The final episode of Diamonds airs on ITV.
1986 The first edition of Newsnight Afternoon airs on BBC Two.
1986 The final episode of First Amongst Equals airs on ITV.
1992 The final episode of Trainer airs on BBC One.
1993 The final episode of If You See God, Tell Him airs on BBC One.
1998 The first edition of Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes airs on ITV.
1998 The first episode of Men for Sale airs on ITV.
1999 The final episode of Extremely Dangerous airs on ITV.
2001 BBC TV's domestic news programmes on BBC One get a new look.
2005 The final edition of The 7 o’Clock News airs on BBC Three.
2006 An Audience with Take That airs on ITV.
2016 The final episode of The Coroner airs on BBC One.
2018 The final episode of The Little Drummer Girl airs on BBC One.
Test Card/Teletext In-Vision Music
1973 BBC Two tape Irving Berlin Medley airs for the first time.
1994 BBC One tape Jump In airs for the final time. The tape moved across to BBC Two later in the month, where it ran until November 1997.
EXTERNAL LINK: Pages from Ceefax accompanied by Jump In (BBC Two, 30th March 1996).

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.

Contribute to this page

If you know of an event that would be worthy of inclusion on this page, please drop us a line using our Contact Form. Items of interest include:

  • Programme launches and finales;
  • Programme relaunches (including new title sequences and set changes);
  • Channel launches and closures;
  • Channel presentation changes;
  • Transmitter commissioning/decommissioning;
  • Trade test film first and final airings;
  • Test card/teletext in-vision music tape first and final airings;
  • Teletext service launches/relaunches/closures.

If you believe any of the information on this page is inaccurate, please let us know.