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On This Day...29th April
Buildings
1929
BBC Broadcasting House opens in Manchester.
Channels
1961
Westward Television - the first ITV franchisee for the south west of England - begins broadcasting.
Programmes
1962
The Royal Variety Performance is televised for the first time - on BBC TV.
1962
The final episode of Supercar airs on ITV. First true Supermarionation TV series, featuring the voices of David Graham (Dr Horatio Beaker), Graydon Gould (Mike Mercury), Syliva Anderson (Jimmy Gibson) and George Murcell (Professor Rudolph Popkiss).
1968
The first episode of Marty airs on BBC Two. Written by Marty Feldman and Barry Took. Additional material by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.
1970
The 1970 FA Cup Final Replay at Old Trafford, Manchester airs on BBC One/ITV. Chelsea beat Leeds United 2-1. The match attracted an audience of 28.49m, making it the sixth most-watched TV special event in UK history.
1972
The final edition of Braden's Week airs on BBC One.
1976
The final episode of Couples airs on ITV.
1978
The 100th edition of Celebrity Squares airs on ITV.
1981
The final episode of The Life and Times of David Lloyd George airs on BBC Two.
1983
The first episode of Hallelujah! airs on ITV.
1984
The first edition of Praise Be! airs on BBC One.
1988
The final edition of Friday Night Live airs on Channel 4.
1997
The first episode of Touching Evil airs on ITV.
1999
The first episode of Grand Designs airs on Channel 4.
2002
The first edition of Ri:se airs on Channel 4.
2011
The wedding of HRH Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey airs on BBC One. It attracted a TV audience of 13.59m.
2013
The first episode of Vicious airs on ITV.
2013
The first episode of The Job Lot airs on ITV.
2014
The first episode of Happy Valley airs on BBC One.
2015
The first episode of Peter Kay's Car Share airs on BBC One. Co-written by and starring Peter Kay and Sian Gibson.
2020
The first episode of Code 404 airs on Sky Showcase/Sky Comedy. Comedy starring Stephen Graham and Daniel Mays.
Test Card/Teletext In-Vision Music
1974
BBC One tape Rosetta airs for the first time.
Test Cards
1983
This would be the final day of regular daytime transmissions of Test Card F on BBC One and BBC Two. From the following Monday (2nd May 1983), Ceefax In-Vision would be used to fill gaps in the daytime programme schedule. Test Card F would be relegated to short transmissions in the early morning (5.52am - 6am weekdays on BBC One and pre-9am weekdays on BBC Two).
On This Day...29th April
Births
1916
Former actor and TV announcer, William Squire.
1927
Former TV/radio weather presenter, Don Maunder.
1929
Former TV announcer, Ian Curry.
1976
TV presenter, Ana Boulter.
Deaths
2008
Former TV announcer, Michael Speake.
Events
1999
Justin Webb presents the Six o’Clock News for the final time, alongside Anna Ford.
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.
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