Events

• 5 January—Desperate Housewives
  Desperate Housewives
  Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
  
  makes its initial UK debut with an impressive 5 million viewers. These are the highest figures Channel 4
  Channel 4
  Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
  
   has had since the debut night of The Simpsons
  The Simpsons
  The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
  
  on 5 November 2004
• 8 January—Jerry Springer - The Opera airs on BBC Two
  BBC Two
  BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
  
  , despite protests from Christian Voice
  Christian Voice (UK)
  Christian Voice is a Christian pressure group based in the United Kingdom. Its stated objective is "to uphold Christianity as the Faith of the United Kingdom, to be a voice for Biblical values in law and public policy, and to defend and support traditional family life." It is independent of...
  
   and other groups.
• 21 January—The auction channel bid-up.tv is rebranded as bid.tv.
• 8 February—Teachers' TV, run by the Department for Education and Skills, launches on Sky Digital (channel 686) and Freeview.
• 9 February—The Africa based BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
   journalist and producer Kate Peyton
  Kate Peyton
  Katherine Mary Peyton was Senior Producer for the BBC Johannesburg Bureau 2002-05...
  
   is killed in a shooting incident in Mogadishu
  Mogadishu
  Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
  
  , Somalia
  Somalia
  Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
  
   while reporting on that country's nascent peace process.
• 19 February—EastEnders
  EastEnders
  EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
  
  celebrates its 20th anniversary on the air, airing a special episode in which Dirty Den Watts
  Den Watts
  Dennis Alan "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den"....
  
   is killed by his new wife Chrissie. 14.34 million watch the episode (shown on 18 February). It is the UK's second highest rated programme of 2005 (the first was an episode of Coronation Street
  Coronation Street
  Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
  
  three days later).
• 23 February—UKTV Style Gardens
  UKTV Style Gardens
  UKTV Gardens was a digital television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom, part of the UKTV family of channels. As its name suggests, the channel focused entirely on gardening shows. When it originally launched, the channel was known as UKTV Style Gardens and all the gardening content from...
  
  , a channel dedicated to gardening programmes, launches.
• 26 February—Sound TV
  Sound TV
  Sound TV was a free-to-air television channel following the tradition of the variety show, which has not been popular in Britain since the 1980s...
  
  , known pre-launch as The Great British Television Channel, launches on Sky Digital (588). It closed in the Autumn.
• 20 March—BBC Director General
  Director-General of the BBC
  The Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC.The position was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC and is now appointed by the BBC Trust....
  
   Mark Thompson
  Mark Thompson
  Mark John Thompson is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004, and a former chief executive of Channel 4...
  
   announces BBC staff of 27,000 will be cut by 3,780.
• 26 March—Nine years after its last new episode and sixteen years since its last regular run, Doctor Who
  Doctor Who
  Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
  
  returns to BBC One
  BBC One
  BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
  
   for a new series, the twenty-seventh in total since 1963. Christopher Eccleston
  Christopher Eccleston
  Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
  
   and Billie Piper
  Billie Piper
  Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
  
   star. An average 10.81 million viewers, over 40% of the watching audience, tune in, winning its timeslot and making it No. 3 BBC show and No. 7 across all channels for the week. The episode went on to become the UK's 7th highest rated programme of 2005.
• 30 March—As a test trial, the small Welsh towns of Ferryside
  Ferryside
  Ferryside is a seaside village in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is situated 8½ miles south of Carmarthen, near the mouth of the River Tywi and close to golden sandy beaches....
  
   and Llansteffan
  Llansteffan
  Llansteffan is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Llansteffan is one of three settlements positioned on the Tywi river, other settlements include Ferryside and Carmarthen . Llansteffan Castle, built by the Normans in the 12th century, is located in the village...
  
   have their analogue television
  Analog television
  Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...
  
   signals switched off. The trial proved a success and the digital switchover fully began two and a half years later
  2007 in British television
  This is a summary of the year 2007 in British television.-Events:*1 January - Celebrity Big Brother 5 launched on Channel 4, with celebrities such as Jermaine Jackson, Dirk Benedict and Leo Sayer....
  
   in Cumbria
  Cumbria
  Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
  
  .
• 30 March-Only days after his having debuted as the Ninth Doctor
  Ninth Doctor
  The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
  
  , the BBC announces that Christopher Eccleston
  Christopher Eccleston
  Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
  
   will be leaving Doctor Who
  Doctor Who
  Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
  
  after only one season. Soon after, David Tennant
  David Tennant
  David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
  
   is announced as the Tenth Doctor
  Tenth Doctor
  The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
  
  .
• 2 April—Digital channel BBC Four
  BBC Four
  BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
  
   broadcasts a live re-make of the famous 1953 science-fiction drama The Quatermass Experiment
  The Quatermass Experiment
  The Quatermass Experiment is a British science-fiction serial broadcast by BBC Television in the summer of 1953 and re-staged by BBC Four in 2005. Set in the near future against the background of a British space programme, it tells the story of the first manned flight into space, overseen by...
  
  . The production is the first live drama broadcast by the BBC for over twenty years, and draws BBC Four's second highest audience to date, with an average of 482,000 viewers.
• 8 April—13.03 million viewers watched Ken Barlow tie the knot with Deirdre Rachid
  Deirdre Barlow
  Deirdre Anne Barlow is a long-standing fictional character in the UK television ITV Granada soap opera, Coronation Street...
  
   on Coronation Street
  Coronation Street
  Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
  
  , one day before Prince Charles's wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles (7.36 million viewers watched). The scheduling move echoed Ken and Deirdre's first marriage, which occurred two days before Charles's nuptials to Diana, Princess of Wales
  Diana, Princess of Wales
  Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
  
  , and which also beat the Royal wedding in the television ratings (see 1981 in British television
  1981 in British television
  This is a list of British television related events from 1981.-Events:*5 January – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the television version of Douglas Adams' radio comedy of the same name debuts on BBC2....
  
  ).
• 11 April—ITV Day launches on ITV1
  ITV1
  ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
  
  .
• 5 May-6 May—Coverage of the 2005 general election
  United Kingdom general election, 2005
  The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
  
   is shown on British television. The Labour Party
  Labour Party (UK)
  The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
  
   attains a third successive General Election victory.
• 16 May—BBC Weather
  BBC Weather
  BBC Weather is the BBC's department in charge of preparing and broadcasting weather forecasts and is now part of BBC News. The broadcast meteorologists are employed by the Met Office...
  
   relaunches, changing from 2D to 3D graphics.
• 23 May—Over one third of BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
   staff join a strike in response to proposed job cuts at the corporation.
• 18 June—Christopher Eccleston
  Christopher Eccleston
  Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
  
  's final episode of the Ninth Doctor
  Ninth Doctor
  The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
  
   in Doctor Who
  Doctor Who
  Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
  
  , 'The Parting of the Ways
  The Parting of the Ways
  "The Parting of the Ways" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 18 June 2005. It was the second episode of the two-part story that featured Christopher Eccleston making his last appearance as the Ninth Doctor...
  
  ', is broadcast on BBC One. David Tennant
  David Tennant
  David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
  
   becomes the Tenth Doctor
  Tenth Doctor
  The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
  
   in the same episode.
• 25 June—The Girl in the Café
  The Girl in the Café
  The Girl in the Café is a British made-for-television drama film directed by David Yates, written by Richard Curtis and produced by Hilary Bevan Jones. The film is produced by the independent production company Tightrope Pictures and was originally screened on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 25...
  
  , a comedy-drama by Richard Curtis
  Richard Curtis
  Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
  
   made as part of the global Make Poverty History
  Make Poverty History
  Make Poverty History is the name of a campaign that exists in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark , Finland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and Ireland...
  
   campaign, is shown by both BBC One in the United Kingdom and HBO in the United States on the same day.
• 26 June—Television presenter Richard Whiteley
  Richard Whiteley
  John Richard Whiteley, OBE DL , usually known as Richard Whiteley, was an English broadcaster and journalist. He was famous for his twenty-three years as host of Countdown, a letters and numbers arrangement game show broadcast most weekdays on Channel 4...
  
   dies at Leeds General Infirmary
  Leeds General Infirmary
  Leeds General Infirmary, also known as the LGI or, more correctly, The General Infirmary at Leeds, is a large teaching hospital based in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England and is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust....
  
   following a short illness.
• 2 July—Broadcast of Live 8
  Live 8
  Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
  
  , a string of benefit concert
  Benefit concert
  A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
  
  s, in the G8
  G8
  The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
  
   states and South Africa
  South Africa
  The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
  
  . They were timed to precede the 31st G8 summit
  31st G8 summit
  The 31st G8 summit was held from July 6 to July 8, 2005 at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, United Kingdom and hosted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair...
  
   being held at the Gleneagles Hotel
  Gleneagles Hotel
  The Gleneagles Hotel is a luxury hotel near Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, Scotland.- History :The hotel was built by the former Caledonian Railway Company and opened in 1924, originally with its own railway station...
  
   in Auchterarder
  Auchterarder
  Auchterarder is a small town located north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the famous Gleneagles Hotel. The 1.5 mile long High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "Lang Toon"....
  
  , Scotland from 6–8 July; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid
  Live Aid
  Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
  
  .
• 17 July—After forty-one years broadcasting on BBC One, music show Top of the Pops
  Top of the Pops
  Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
  
  is switched to the less mainstream BBC Two
  BBC Two
  BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
  
   channel due to declining audiences. This is not enough to save it, and it is axed the following year.
• 1 August—BBC Broadcast, formerly Broadcasting & Presentation, and responsible for the playout and branding of all BBC Channels, is sold to Creative Broadcast Services, owned by the Macquarie Capital Alliance Group and Macquarie Bank. It is renamed Red Bee Media on 31 October.
• 8 September—Faze TV
  Faze TV (UK)
  Faze TV was a planned television channel in the United Kingdom that aimed to be the first channel in the country specifically targeted towards gay men. It was expected to start broadcasting on 1 September 2005 on Sky Digital...
  
  , a British digital channel aimed at gay men, cancels its launch after failing to secure sufficient funding to deliver "sufficient quality." http://www.media247.co.uk/skydigital/news.php
• 22 September—It is announced that Des Lynam
  Des Lynam
  Desmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish television and radio presenter based in the UK.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...
  
   will succeed the late Richard Whiteley
  Richard Whiteley
  John Richard Whiteley, OBE DL , usually known as Richard Whiteley, was an English broadcaster and journalist. He was famous for his twenty-three years as host of Countdown, a letters and numbers arrangement game show broadcast most weekdays on Channel 4...
  
   as presenter of Channel 4
  Channel 4
  Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
  
  's Countdown
  Countdown (game show)
  Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...
  
  , with his first episode airing on 31 October.
• 22 September—ITV airs a second live episode
  Live episodes of The Bill
  The Bill has aired two live episodes in its history, the first being in 2003 to commemorate its 20th anniversary of the pilot episode "Woodentop" and the second in 2005 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ITV1.-Live Episode :...
  
   of The Bill
  The Bill
  The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
  
  to mark the broadcaster's 50th year on air.
• 26 September-27 September—No Direction Home
  No Direction Home
  No Direction Home is a documentary film by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th century American popular music and culture. The film does not cover Dylan's entire career; it concentrates on the period between Dylan's arrival in New York in January 1961 and his...
  
  , Martin Scorsese
  Martin Scorsese
  Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
  
  's documentary on Bob Dylan
  Bob Dylan
  Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
  
  , receives its broadcast premiere on BBC Two
  BBC Two
  BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
  
   in the UK, under the Arena banner.
• September—ITV
  ITV
  ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
  
   celebrates its 50th anniversary with a collection of special programmes, under the name ITV50.
• 10 October—More4
  More4
  More4 is a digital television channel, run by British broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky, UK IPTV broadcaster TalkTalk TV and on UK cable network Virgin Media and in the Republic of Ireland cable networks...
  
  , a digital channel from Channel 4
  Channel 4
  Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
  
   offering factual content, launches.
• 24 October—Sky News
  Sky News
  Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
  
   moves to new studios, with a new schedule and on-air look.
• 25 October—The relaunched Doctor Who is the major winner at the annual National Television Awards
  National Television Awards
  The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...
  
   in the UK, taking the Most Popular Drama award, with its stars Christopher Eccleston
  Christopher Eccleston
  Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
  
   and Billie Piper
  Billie Piper
  Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
  
   winning Most Popular Actor and Most Popular actress.
• 27 October-16 December—Bleak House, a 15-episode adaptation of the Charles Dickens
  Charles Dickens
  Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
  
   novel of the same name designed to capture a soap opera
  Soap opera
  A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
  
  -style audience by using Dickens's original serial
  Serial (literature)
  In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
  
   structure in half-hour episodes, is broadcast on BBC One.
• 31 October—Sky3 is launched on British digital terrestrial and satellite platforms. On the same day Sky Mix is rebranded as Sky Two
  Sky2
  Sky2 is a British television channel originally launched on 2 December 2002 as Sky One Mix. Sky2 is now available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable and TalkTalk TV platforms in the UK. It is also available in the Republic of Ireland on the UPC Ireland platform.-Rebrand:Sky One Mix was...
  
  , and Sky Travel
  Sky Travel
  Sky Real Lives was an in-house channel from BSkyB that showed extensive programmes about travel, adverts for travel agencies and documentaries. The channels closed on 19 August 2010.-History:...
  
   ceases transmission on Freeview.
• 1 November—ITV4
  ITV4
  ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
  
  , a digital channel aimed at men, is launched in the UK. It is launched on Sky Digital Channel 120 on 7 November.
• 7 November-28 November—BBC One broadcasts ShakespeaRe-Told
  ShakespeaRe-Told
  ShakespeaRe-Told is the umbrella title for a series of four television adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays broadcast on BBC One during November 2005. In a similar manner to the 2003 production of The Canterbury Tales, each play is adapted by a different writer, and relocated to the present day...
  
  , a series of four adaptations of William Shakespeare
  William Shakespeare
  William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
  
  's plays based in 21st century Britain. The plays in order are Much Ado About Nothing
  Much Ado About Nothing
  Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
  
  , Macbeth
  Macbeth
  The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
  
  , The Taming of the Shrew
  The Taming of the Shrew
  The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
  
  , and A Midsummer Night's Dream
  A Midsummer Night's Dream
  A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
  
  .
• 11 November—EastEnders
  EastEnders
  EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
  
  is the first British drama to feature a two minute silence. This episode later goes on to win the British Soap Award
  British Soap Awards
  The British Soap Awards is an annual awards ceremony to honour the best of British soap operas.The first event took place in 1999 and takes place in May each year. Although it is an ITV production, the events were held at the BBC Television Centre, in London until 2010. The 2011 awards relocated to...
  
   for 'Best Single Episode'.
• 18 November—BBC One broadcasts this years annual Children in Need
  Children in Need
  Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
  
   appeal. It contained several highlights including Catherine Tate
  Catherine Tate
  Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
  
   in EastEnders
  EastEnders
  EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
  
  , the BBC Newsreaders performing Bohemian Rhapsody
  Bohemian Rhapsody
  "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
  
  , and a brand new Doctor Who
  Doctor Who
  Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
  
   adventure. The first to fully star David Tennant
  David Tennant
  David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
  
   as the Doctor, the 7 minute episode directly follows on from The Parting of the Ways
  The Parting of the Ways
  "The Parting of the Ways" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 18 June 2005. It was the second episode of the two-part story that featured Christopher Eccleston making his last appearance as the Ninth Doctor...
  
   and directly leads on to The Christmas Invasion
  The Christmas Invasion
  "The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...
  
  .
• 7 December-16 December—Space Cadets is shown on Channel 4
  Channel 4
  Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
  
  , a hoax
  Hoax
  A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
  
   reality TV
  Reality television
  Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
  
   show where the contestants believe they are in a space shuttle
  Space Shuttle
  The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
  
   orbiting Earth
  Earth
  Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
  
  , when in fact they are in a set in a disused aircraft hangar in Suffolk
  Suffolk
  Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
  
  .
• 15 December—Sir Trevor McDonald
  Trevor McDonald
  Sir Trevor McDonald OBE is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and journalist. He had a long career as a news presenter with ITN...
  
   makes his final ITN
  Independent Television News
  ITN is a news and content provider with headquarters in the United Kingdom. It is made up of four key businesses: ITN News, ITN Source, ITN Productions and ITN Consulting. The ITN logotype can be displayed in any of 4 different colours, each of which represents a business unit. This is the...
  
   news broadcast after over 25 years. As a tribute, the closing theme tune for the News at Ten Thirty that night is replaced with the News at Ten
  News at Ten
  The ITV News at Ten is the flagship news programme on British television network ITV, produced by ITN and founded by news editor Geoffrey Cox in 1967. It was originally planned as a thirteen week project in July 1967 because senior figures at ITV refused to believe that a permanent 30-minute late...
  
   theme used from 1992 to 1999, McDonald having presented the show during that time.
• 23 December—ITV News Channel
  ITV News Channel
  The ITV News Channel was a 24-hour television news channel in the United Kingdom which broadcast from 1 August 2000 to 23 December 2005. It was available on Sky, NTL:Telewest, Freeview and analogue cable, presenting national and international news plus regular business, sport, entertainment and...
  
   closed. http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=318353
• 25 December—BBC One airs the Doctor Who
  Doctor Who
  Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
  
  Christmas Special, "The Christmas Invasion
  The Christmas Invasion
  "The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...
  
  "
• 30 December-Family Affairs
  Family Affairs
  Family Affairs was a British soap opera broadcast on Five, from 1997 to 2005. It was the second programme to be broadcast on the channel on 30 March 1997, the channel's launch night...
  
   is axed on five.

BBC One

BBC One

BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

• 13 March – Supervolcano (2005)
• 11 September – Sunday AM
  Sunday AM
  The Andrew Marr Show is an hour-long British television programme broadcast on BBC One on Sunday mornings from 9am. It is presented by Andrew Marr, previously the BBC's Political Editor. In it, the host interviews political figures and others involved in the current events of the week...
  
  (2005–present)

ITV1

ITV1

ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...

• 24 September – Afterlife premieres. However, despite being a British series, it had actually received its world premiere some weeks earlier on Australia's Nine Network
  Nine Network
  The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
  
   (2005–2006).

Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

• 7 March – Coach Trip
  Coach Trip
  Coach Trip is a reality show that was broadcast on Channel 4 with More4 and Pick TV showing repeats since 7 March 2005. The programme returned on 25 May 2009. The show's format consists of 4 to 7 teams of 2 undertaking a coach tour principally of continental Europe...
  
  (2005–2006, 2009–present)
• 3 June – 8 out of 10 Cats
  8 Out of 10 Cats
  8 out of 10 Cats is a television comedy panel game made by Zeppotron for Channel 4. It was first broadcast on 3 June 2005. The show is based on statistics and opinion polls, and draws on polls produced by a variety of organizations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by...
  
  (2005–present)
• 31 August – It's Me or the Dog
  It's Me or the Dog
  It's Me or the Dog is a television program produced by television production company Shed Media US, in which dog trainer Victoria Stilwell tackles behavioral problems in dogs by teaching their owners responsible dog ownership...
  
  (2005–present)
• 31 October – The UK version of Deal or No Deal
  Deal or No Deal (UK game show)
  Deal or No Deal is the United Kingdom version of the Endemol game show format Deal or No Deal, hosted by Noel Edmonds. 1,758 shows have been aired...
  
  premieres, relaunching the career of Noel Edmonds
  Noel Edmonds
  Noel Ernest Edmonds, is an English broadcaster and executive, who made his name as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presented many light entertainment television programmes, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Top of the Pops, The Late, Late Breakfast Show, Telly Addicts, Noel's Saturday...
  
   and bringing the channel a surprise daytime hit (2005–present).

More4

More4

More4 is a digital television channel, run by British broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky, UK IPTV broadcaster TalkTalk TV and on UK cable network Virgin Media and in the Republic of Ireland cable networks...

• 10 October – Launch of More4 News
  More4 News
  More4 News was a daily news programme on the More4 digital television channel in the United Kingdom, airing Monday to Friday from 8.00pm to 8.30pm from 2005 to 2009.-History:More4 News launched at the inception of the More4 channel on 10 October 2005...
  
  on new digital channel More4
  More4
  More4 is a digital television channel, run by British broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky, UK IPTV broadcaster TalkTalk TV and on UK cable network Virgin Media and in the Republic of Ireland cable networks...
  
   (2005—2009).

Changes of Network affiliation

Television shows

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

• Doctor Who
  Doctor Who
  Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
  
  (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–present)
• Roobarb and Custard Too
  Roobarb
  Roobarb is a British animated television programme for children, originally shown on BBC1 just before the evening news. Each cartoon, written by Grange Calveley and animated by Bob Godfrey, was about five minutes long. Thirty episodes were made, and the show was first shown on October 21, 1974...
  
  premieres (1974, 2005–present)
• Fireman Sam
  Fireman Sam
  Fireman Sam is a Welsh animated children's television series about a fireman called Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other townspeople in the Welsh town of Pontypandy . The original idea for the show came from two ex-firemen from Kent...
  
  (1987–1994, 2005–present)
• The Two Ronnies Sketchbook
  The Two Ronnies Sketchbook
  The Two Ronnies Sketchbook was a collection of classic sketches from the BBC comedy series The Two Ronnies, with newly filmed introductions by the stars, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett...
  
  sequaled to take over from The Two Ronnies
  The Two Ronnies
  The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show that aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.-Origins:...
  
  (1971–1987, 1991, 1996, 2005)

1950s

• Panorama
  Panorama (TV series)
  Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
  
  (1953–present)
• What the Papers Say
  What the Papers Say
  What The Papers Say is a BBC radio programme that originally ran for many years on British television.Its first incarnation was the second longest-running programme on British television after Panorama...
  
  (1956–2008)
• The Sky at Night
  The Sky at Night
  The Sky at Night is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show has had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first airing on 24 April 1957, making it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.The...
  
  (1957–present)
• Blue Peter
  Blue Peter
  Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
  
  (1958–present)
• Grandstand
  Grandstand (BBC)
  Grandstand was a British television sport programme. Broadcast between 1958 and 2007, it was one of the BBC's longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year.Its first presenter was Peter Dimmock...
  
  (1958–2007).

1960s

• Coronation Street
  Coronation Street
  Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
  
  (1960–present).
• Songs of Praise
  Songs of Praise
  Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional Christian hymns. It is a widely watched and long-running religious television programme, one of the few peak-time free-to-air religious programmes in Europe Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional...
  
  (1961–present).
• Top of the Pops
  Top of the Pops
  Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
  
  (1964–2006).
• Match of the Day
  Match of the Day
  Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
  
  (1964–present).
• The Money Programme
  The Money Programme
  The Money Programme is a finance and business affairs television programme on BBC2.It was first broadcast on 5 April 1966 and presented by "commentators" William Davis, Erskine Childers and Joe Roeber. At this time David Attenborough was the controller of BBC2...
  
  (1966–present).

1970s

• Emmerdale
  Emmerdale
  Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
  
  (1972–present).
• Newsround
  Newsround
  Newsround is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972, and was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically at children...
  
  (1972–present).
• Last of the Summer Wine
  Last of the Summer Wine
  Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and...
  
  (1973–2010).
• Arena
  Arena (TV series)
  Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. It has run since 1 October 1975, and over five hundred episodes have been made. Arena covers all manner of subjects, from profiles of notable people such as Bob Dylan to the Ford Cortina car...
  
  (1975–present).
• Top Gear
  Top Gear (current format)
  Top Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style...
  
  (1977–2001, 2002–present).
• Grange Hill
  Grange Hill
  Grange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...
  
  (1978–2008).
• Antiques Roadshow
  Antiques Roadshow
  Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979...
  
  (1979–present).
• Question Time
  Question Time (TV series)
  Question Time is a topical debate BBC television programme in the United Kingdom, based on Any Questions?. The show typically features politicians from at least the three major political parties as well as other public figures who answer questions put to them by the audience...
  
  (1979–present)

1980s

• Postman Pat
  Postman Pat
  Postman Pat is a British stop-motion animated children's television series first produced by Woodland Animations. It is aimed at pre-school children, and concerns the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman in the fictional village of Greendale .Postman Pat's first 13-episode season was screened on...
  
  (1981, 1991, 1996, 2004–present).
• Timewatch
  Timewatch
  Timewatch is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29th September 1982 and is produced by the BBC, the Timewatch brandname is used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual...
  
  (1982–present)
• The Bill
  The Bill
  The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
  
  (1984–2010).
• EastEnders
  EastEnders
  EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
  
  (1985–present).
• Comic Relief (1986–present).
• Casualty
  Casualty (TV series)
  Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
  
  (1986–present).
• ChuckleVision
  ChuckleVision
  ChuckleVision is a popular British television series shown mainly on CBBC. New episodes are always first aired on BBC One, and occasionally episodes are shown on BBC Two. The first episode was shown on 26 September 1987. It follows the adventures of the Chuckle Brothers & the Patton Brothers, who...
  
  (1987–present).
• This Morning
  This Morning (TV series)
  This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
  
  (1988–present).

1990s

• Have I Got News for You
  Have I Got News for You
  Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
  
  (1990–present)
• Heartbeat (1992–2010)
• Time Team
  Time Team
  Time Team is a British television series which has been aired on Channel 4 since 1994. Created by television producer Tim Taylor and presented by actor Tony Robinson, each episode features a team of specialists carrying out an archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson explaining...
  
  (1994–present)
• Hollyoaks
  Hollyoaks
  Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
  
  – (1995–present)
• Silent Witness
  Silent Witness
  Silent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was...
  
  (1996–present).
• Midsomer Murders
  Midsomer Murders
  Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
  
  (1997–present).
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
  Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (UK game show)
  Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a British television quiz show which offers a maximum cash prize of one million pounds for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty...
  
  (1998–present).
• Bob The Builder
  Bob the Builder
  Bob the Builder is a British children's animated television show created by Keith Chapman. In the original series Bob appears as a building contractor specialising in masonry in a stop motion animated programme with his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends, and their gang of...
  
  (1999–present).
• Bremner, Bird and Fortune
  Bremner, Bird and Fortune
  Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner.The show started in 1999. The fourteenth series...
  
  (1999–present).

2000s

• Doctors (2000–present)
• Big Brother
  Big Brother (UK)
  Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four...
  
  (2000–present)
• The Weakest Link
  The Weakest Link
  The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...
  
  (2000–2012)
• Real Crime
  Real Crime
  Real Crime is a British documentary television series produced by ITV Studios for the ITV network. Each episode examines a notorious crime and includes interviews with relatives of the victims. It has been broadcast since 2001 and is currently in its tenth series...
  
  (2001–present)
• I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
  I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
  I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here is a reality television game show series in which 8 to 15 celebrities live together in a jungle environment for a few weeks. They have no luxuries, and compete to win a cash prize...
  
  (2002–present)
• Harry Hill's TV Burp
  Harry Hill's TV Burp
  Harry Hill's TV Burp is a British television comedy programme produced by Avalon Television for ITV and hosted by comedian Harry Hill. The show presents a satirical look at the week's television, including extracts from TV shows with added sketches, observational voice-overs, and guest appearances...
  
  (2002–present)
• Spooks
  Spooks
  Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
  
  (2002–present)
• The Daily Politics
  The Daily Politics
  The Daily Politics is a British television show launched by the BBC in 2003. Presented by Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn, the programme takes an in-depth and sometimes irreverent look at the daily goings on in Westminster and other areas across Britain and the world, and includes interviews with leading...
  
  (2003–present)
• Peep Show
  Peep Show (TV series)
  Peep Show is a British sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The television programme is written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, with additional material by Mitchell and Webb themselves, amongst others. It has been broadcast on Channel 4 since 2003. The show's seventh series makes it...
  
  (2003–present)
• The Politics Show
  The Politics Show
  The Politics Show is an hour long BBC One television political programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sundays. The programme usually starts at midday, but is often earlier or later when sporting events clash in the schedules. It was launched in 2003 and was originally presented by Jeremy...
  
  (2003–present)
• QI
  QI
  QI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given...
  
  (2003–present)
• The Royal
  The Royal
  The Royal is a British medical drama series produced by ITV. The show comprises one hour episodes which were normally first aired on ITV in the Sunday early evening slot....
  
  (2003–2011)
• This Week
  This Week (BBC One TV series)
  This Week is a current affairs and politics TV programme in the United Kingdom on the BBC, screened on Thursday evenings, hosted by former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil alongside former Conservative Member of Parliament and Minister Michael Portillo, and a left leaning guest panellist on...
  
  (2003–present)
• Strictly Come Dancing
  Strictly Come Dancing
  Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
  
  (2004–present)
• Sea of Souls
  Sea of Souls
  Sea of Souls is a BBC paranormal drama series, based around the fictional activities of a group of investigators into psychic and other paranormal events. Produced in-house by BBC Scotland, initially in association with Sony Pictures Television International, the series debuted on BBC One in the UK...
  
  (2004–2007)
• Supernanny
  Supernanny
  Supernanny is a reality TV programme which originated in the United Kingdom about parents struggling with their children's behaviour. The UK version has aired on Channel 4 with E4 showing repeats since 2004. The program returned in 2010...
  
  (2004–2008, 2010–present)
• Shameless (2004–present)
• The X Factor
  The X Factor (UK)
  The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
  
  (2004–present)

Ending this year

Deaths