
On This Day...
2nd January
People
1987
Former BBC joint-director-general Sir Cecil Graves dies.
Programmes
1954
The final edition of Newsreel airs on BBC TV.
1962
The first episode of Z-Cars airs on BBC TV.
1962
The first episode of Compact airs on BBC TV.
1965
The first edition of World of Sport airs on ITV.
1967
The first episode of Turn Out the Lights airs on ITV.
1967
The 100th edition of Face the Music airs on BBC Two.
Music panel game. Presented by Joseph Cooper.
1968
The final episode of Sergeant Cork airs on ITV.
1969
The first edition of Holiday airs on BBC One.
Presented by Cliff Michelmore, the programme is billed in Radio Times as "a series of programmes to help you choose your next holiday".
1969
The 100th episode of Softly, Softly airs on BBC One.
1975
The first episode of The Sweeney airs on ITV.
1977
The first episode of Wings airs on BBC One.
1978
The first episode of Blake's 7 airs on BBC One.
1979
The first edition of Great Egg Race airs on BBC Two.
1980
The Black Stuff airs on BBC Two.
The characters later appeared in Boys from the Blackstuff (1982).
1982
The first edition of No 73 airs on ITV.
1982
The first edition of OTT airs on ITV.
Created and presented by Chris Tarrant, the programme is billed as the adult version of Tiswas.
1985
The first episode of Gems airs on ITV.
1985
The first episode of A Woman of Substance airs on Channel 4.
1985
The first episode of Wynne and Penkovsky airs on BBC One.
1987
The final edition of Razzmatazz airs on ITV.
1988
The final edition of No 73 airs on ITV.
1990
The first episode of Hit and Run airs on BBC Two.
1992
The final edition of Canned Carrot airs on BBC One.
1994
The first episode of US series The Fugitive airs on BBC Two.
1995
20 Years of Jim'll Fix It airs on BBC One.
1996
The first episode of The Demon Headmaster airs on BBC One.
1996
The final edition of Bad Influence! airs on ITV/CITV.
Presented by Andy Crane and Violet Berlin.
1998
The final episode of Blind Men airs on ITV.
1999
Auntie's Unbelievable New Year Bloomers airs on BBC One.
2010
The first edition of So You Think You Can Dance airs on BBC One.
2012
The pilot episode of Endeavour airs on ITV 1.
2012
The first edition of 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown airs on Channel 4.
2014
The first episode of Birds of a Feather (latest incarnation) airs on ITV.
2019
The first edition of Bradley and Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad airs on ITV.
2022
The first episode of Anne airs on ITV.
Drama. Starring Maxine Peake as Hillsborough campaigner Anne Williams.
2023
The first edition of The Mayfair Hotel Megabuild airs on BBC Two.
2023
The Papers airs for the final time on the BBC News channel.
Presented by David Eades. The programme first aired on the channel in 2013.
RELATED ARTICLE: BBC drops nightly newspaper review.
2023
The first episode of Stonehouse airs on ITV 1.
Drama. Based on real-life events. Starring Matthew Macfadyen as former Labour MP John Stonehouse, and Keeley Hawes as his wife Barbara.
2025
The final episode of Vera airs on ITV 1.
Detective drama. Starring Brenda Blethyn as DCI Vera Stanhope.
2025
The first episode of Lockerbie: A Search for Truth airs on Sky Atlantic.
Real-life drama. About a father's fight for justice in the aftermath of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. Starring Colin Firth as Dr Jim Swire.
Test Card/Teletext In-Vision Music
1964
BBC TV tape Water Music airs for the final time.
1964
BBC TV tape Organ Grinder airs for the final time.
1971
BBC One tape The Lark in the Clear Air airs for the first time.
1975
BBC Two tape Born Free airs for the first time.
1985
BBC One Ceefax AM tape Barbiroussa airs for the final time.
2002
BBC Two tape New York Train airs for the final time.
Test Cards
1964
Trade test transmissions begin for the new BBC Two television service.

On This Day...
2nd January
Births
1942
TV/radio presenter and voiceover artist,
Ray Moore.
1968
TV presenter/producer, Violet Berlin.
1974
TV news presenter, Karin Giannone.
Deaths
2020
Former actress and TV presenter, Patricia Driscoll.
Events
1970
George Luce presents a BBC TV weather forecast for the final time.
1982
Towards the end of the BBC One lunchtime news summary within
Grandstand, a studio light explodes.
Hot fragments of glass land on news presenter
Jan Leeming.
She removes several very hot pieces of glass from her chair and continues on to complete the bulletin.
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.