Updates from our television presentation sites in the last 24 hours
The latest recordings from TV Home
Updates from our television presentation sites over the last 7 days
Older updates
On This Day...21st December
Channels
1978
No programmes are broadcast on BBC One and BBC Two due to industrial action by the ABS union. An apology caption and music is broadcast on both channels.
1978
Yorkshire Television is blacked out by an industrial dispute.
Programmes
1954
The first edition of Zoo Quest airs on BBC TV.
1974
The final edition of The Sound of Petula airs on BBC One.
Musical variety show presented by Petula Clark.
Musical variety show presented by Petula Clark.
1975
The final episode of Upstairs Downstairs airs on ITV.
1980
The final episode of Shoestring airs on BBC One.
1980
The final edition of Go with Noakes airs on BBC One.
1981
The final episode of Blake's 7 airs on BBC One.
1981
The final episode of Brideshead Revisited airs on ITV.
1982
The final episode of Squadron airs on BBC One.
1984
The final edition of Crackerjack airs on BBC One.
1984
The final episode of Hallelujah! airs on ITV.
1984
The first episode of City Lights airs on BBC One.
BBC Scotland comedy starring Gerard Kelly.
BBC Scotland comedy starring Gerard Kelly.
1985
The final episode of Juliet Bravo airs on BBC One.
1986
The final episode of The Singing Detective airs on BBC One.
1987
The final episode of Dear John airs on BBC One.
1988
Alas Smith and Jones airs on BBC Two for the final time.
From series 5 onwards, the programme is broadcast on BBC One.
From series 5 onwards, the programme is broadcast on BBC One.
1989
The final edition of Victoria Wood airs on BBC One.
1991
The first edition of Barrymore airs on ITV.
1994
The final episode of Between the Lines airs on BBC One.
1995
The final episode of Roughnecks airs on BBC One.
2000
The final edition of Videotech airs on ITV.
2001
The final edition of Record Breakers airs on BBC One.
2004
The first edition of Grumpy Old Women at Christmas airs on BBC Two.
2012
CBBC programmes air on BBC One for the final time:
3.05pm Show Me What You’re Made Of.
3.30pm The Cow That Almost Missed Christmas.
4pm Blue Peter.
4.30pm CBeebies Jack and the Beanstalk.
3.05pm Show Me What You’re Made Of.
3.30pm The Cow That Almost Missed Christmas.
4pm Blue Peter.
4.30pm CBeebies Jack and the Beanstalk.
2012
The final edition of Freshly Squeezed airs on Channel 4.
2024
Strictly Come Dancing: 20 Fabulous Years airs on BBC One.
2024
The 200th edition of Saturday Mash-Up! airs on CBBC.
Test Card/Teletext In-Vision Music
1992
BBC Christmas tape Jingle Bells (3) (Eddy Starr Singers) airs on BBC One for the first time.
1995
BBC Christmas tape Jingle Bells (3) (Eddy Starr Singers) airs on BBC One for the final time.
2002
BBC Two Christmas tape Christmas Traditions airs for the first time.
EXTERNAL LINK: Christmas Traditions.
EXTERNAL LINK: Christmas Traditions.
2002
BBC Two Christmas tape Jolly Old St Nicholas airs for the first time.
2009
BBC Two Christmas tape While Shepherds Watched at Christmas airs for the first time.
On This Day...21st December
Births
1971
TV/radio presenter, Jamie Theakston.
1974
Actor and TV presenter. Tristan Bancks.
Deaths
1986
Former actor and TV presenter, Bill Simpson.
2013
Former TV sports presenter/commentator, David Coleman.
Events
1954
David Attenborough makes his first on-screen appearance in Zoo Quest (BBC TV).
1987
Michael Cole, BBC TV news correspondent, was relieved of his royal reporting duties after leaking details of HM The Queen's Christmas Day speech, in which HM denounced the IRA and called for an end to violence in Northern Ireland.
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.
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.
TV Pres has been created to promote our partnership of independent television presentation sites. These feature high-quality, curated video content that documents the history of TV ephemera such as idents, promotions, advertisements, programme graphics and set design.
TV Pres from The Ident Gallery © 2021-2025 Andrew J Wood