1986 in British television

January

• 2 January – A special edition of Tomorrow's World travels back a century to discover the latest developments in science and technology from 1886.^[1]
• 4 January – Televised football returns to British television after the contractual dispute from the previous year is resolved.
• 17 January – BBC1 airs a feature-length episode of US soap Dynasty that sets up the storyline ready for the spin-off series Dynasty II: The Colbys, which begins on 24 January.^[2]
• 19 January – Debut of the Screen Two film The Silent Twins, a drama based on the true story of June and Jennifer Gibbons, identical twin sisters known as the "Silent Twins" because they refuse to speak to anyone but each other.^[3]
• 24 January – British television debut of Dynasty II: The Colbys on BBC1.^[4]
• 28 January – NASA's Space Shuttle Challenger spacecraft disintegrates. Pictures from CNN in the United States (owned by Turner Broadcasting System, then owners of American superstation WTBS), are aired in countries around the world.

February

• 19 February – BBC1 airs Round Britain Whizz, an edition of the science series Q.E.D..^[5] The 30 minute programme consists of a sped up flight around the coastline of Great Britain with guest appearances from geologists and TV personalities including Patrick Moore, David Bellamy and Terry Wogan telling the viewer about the geology and natural history of certain areas.
• February – Channel 4 launches animated teletext graphics as part of 4-Tel On View.

March

• 10 March – The first advert for a sanitary towel is broadcast on British television, on Channel 4.
• 30 March – BBC2 aired the TWO ident, which stayed until 1991.

April

• 1 April –
  • All commercial activities of the BBC are now handled by BBC Enterprises Ltd.
  • As part of the BBC's Drugwatch campaign, BBC1 airs It's Not Just Zammo, a Newsround special presented by John Craven and Nick Ross that seeks to warn younger viewers about the dangers of using drugs. The programme follows a recent drug abuse storyline in Grange Hill involving the character Zammo McGuire (played by Lee MacDonald), and features the launch of a version of the anti-drugs song "Just Say No" recorded by members of the Grange Hill cast. The song goes on to reach the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, while members of the cast are invited to the White House to meet First Lady Nancy Reagan, who founded the Just Say No campaign.^[6][7][8]
• 2 April – The first in-vision teletext service is seen on ITV when Central launches its Jobfinder service which broadcasts for one hour after the end of the day's programming. Other regions launch their own Jobfinder service later in the 1980s.

May

• 9 May – BBC1 airs "Video Jukebox", a special extended edition of its Omnibus arts programme telling the story of the rock video. The programme is presented by John Peel and John Walters.^[9]
• 11 May – Spitting Image's "The Chicken Song" reaches No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart, holding the position for three weeks.^[10]
• 21 May – A Very Peculiar Practice debuts on BBC2.^[11]
• 31 May–29 June – BBC and ITV provide coverage of the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

June

• 8 June – Brian Walden presents his final edition of London Weekend Television's political programme, Weekend World after nine years in the role.
• 15 June – Singer Helen Shapiro joins Granada's Albion Market as hairdresser Viv Harker.
• 18 June – In Coronation Street the Rovers Return pub is gutted by fire with landlady Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) trapped inside.

July

• 23 July – In London, Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.^[12] The event receives significant television coverage both in the UK and around the world.
• 25 July–2 August – BBC Television broadcasts the 1986 Commonwealth Games and for the first time the Games are shown live and in full with around ten hours of live coverage each day.

August

• August – "Anyone Can Fall in Love", a song performed by EastEnders actress Anita Dobson which gives words to the soap's theme tune, is released as a single, and peaks at #4 on the UK Singles Chart.
• 5 August – Michael Cashman makes his EastEnders debut as Colin Russell, the soap's first gay character.
• 9 August – The Yorkshire Television ITV region becomes the first UK terrestrial channel to broadcast 24 hours a day, initially simulcasting the cable and satellite music video channel Music Box throughout the night. The other ITV regions gradually switch to 24-hour television over the next two years.
• 24 August – Granada's ill fated Albion Market airs for the last time.
• 26 August – In Emmerdale Farm, original character Pat Sugden dies after rolling her car down a hillside to avoid a flock of sheep.
• 30 August – BBC1 begins a run of films making their debut on British television, and under the banner of Saturday Night at the Movies. The first in the season is Harold Becker's 1981 drama Taps.^[13]
• 31 August –
  • Debut of Alan Bleasdale's four-part World War I drama The Monocled Mutineer on BBC1.^[14] The series causes some controversy when some right-wing newspapers cite it as an example of what they believe to be a left-wing bias of the BBC.^[15]
  • British television premiere of the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only on ITV.^[16]

September

• 2 September – Ahead of the launch of all-day television on BBC1, the weekly magazine programme for Asian women, Gharbar, transfers back to BBC2. The programme moves to a new day and new slot – 9 am on Tuesdays.
• 6 September –
  • Part One of The Trial of a Time Lord is broadcast on BBC1,^[17] marking the return to air of Doctor Who after a 17-month hiatus.
  • The first episode of medical drama Casualty airs on BBC1.^[18] Although an immediate success with viewers, the show attracts controversy because of its portrayal of an under-funded National Health Service, which is seen as a criticism of Margaret Thatcher's government.^[19]
  • British television premiere of Stanley Donen's science-fiction thriller Saturn 3 on BBC1.^[20]
• 9 September – The last ever non-stop all-day BBC2 Ceefax transmission takes place.
• 14 September – Matthew Parris succeeds Brian Walden as presenter of Weekend World.
• 19 September – Central TV revives New Faces, a 1970s talent show produced by its predecessor, ATV. Styled as New Faces of '86, it is presented by Marti Caine, a winner from the previous version.
• 20 September – British television premiere of Gordon Carroll's action thriller Blue Thunder on BBC1.^[21]
• 27 September – BBC1 airs the British television premiere of Jay Sandrich's adventure Seems Like Old Times.^[22]
• September – For a brief period Channel 4 shows a red triangle at the start of, and during, films with adult themes.

October

• 4 October – BBC1 airs the British television premiere of Dick Lowry's adventure film Wet Gold.^[23]
• 11 October – British television premiere of Roger Spottiswoode's crime thriller The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper on BBC1.^[24]
• 12 October – "Every Loser Wins" performed by the actor Nick Berry begins a three-week run at the top of the UK Singles Chart after featuring in recent episodes of EastEnders. The song was an instant hit on release and went on to win its writers an Ivor Novello Award.
• 14 October – BBC2 begins regular late afternoon programming by showing a film during the second half of the gap between the end of Daytime on Two and the start of the evening's programmes.
• 15 October – Channel 4 starts weekend morning broadcasting with weekend transmissions now beginning at around 9:30 am.
• 16 October – The first two-hander episode of EastEnders, featuring Den and Angie Watts (Leslie Grantham and Anita Dobson), is aired by BBC1. The episode, in which Angie tells Den she has six months to live after he tells her he wants a divorce, was an experiment as the two-hander format had not been tried in a British soap before, but received well by viewers and critics.
• 17 October – BBC2 broadcasts a teatime news summary with subtitles for the last time. For the past three years this bulletin, which had been broadcast at around 5.25 pm, had been the first programme of the day (apart from educational programmes and sports coverage).
• 18 October – BBC1 airs the British television premiere of Peter Weir's romantic drama The Year of Living Dangerously.^[25]
• 24 October – Ahead of the launch of the BBC's new daytime service, News After Noon is broadcast for the final time. The bulletin is replaced by a revamped lunchtime news programme One O'Clock News.
• 27 October –
  • BBC One starts a full daytime television service. Before today, excluding special events coverage, BBC One had closed down at times during weekday mornings and afternoons, broadcasting trade test transmissions and, from May 1983, Pages From Ceefax. BBC Two also expands its programming hours, providing a full afternoon service for the first time but it wasn't until the end of the decade that BBC Two was on air all day every day.
  • As part of the new service, Australian soap Neighbours makes its British television debut on BBC1, a year after it was first aired in its homeland.
• 29 October – The Equalizer, a US crime drama series starring Edward Woodward makes its British television debut on ITV.

November

• 10 November – Breakfast Time is relaunched with a more formal news and current affairs format.
• 13 November – Self-employed hod carrier Michael Lush is killed during his first rehearsal for a live stunt planned for BBC1's The Late, Late Breakfast Show. The stunt, called "Hang 'em High", involved bungee jumping from an exploding box suspended from a 120 ft-high crane. The carabiner clip attaching his bungee rope to the crane sprang loose from its eyebolt during the jump, and he died instantly of multiple injuries. The 15 November edition of Breakfast Show is cancelled after presenter Noel Edmonds resigns, saying he does not "have the heart to carry on".^[26]
• 15 November – British television premiere of Michael Chrichton's science fiction crime drama Looker on BBC1.^[27]
• 16 November – Dennis Potter's critically acclaimed television serial The Singing Detective makes its debut on BBC1.^[28]

December

• 6 December –
  • Doctor Who concludes its The Trial of a Time Lord story arc with part 2 of "The Ultimate Foe".^[29] This would mark the final televised appearance of Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor before he was abruptly fired from the role.
  • British television premiere of Jack Smight's romantic comedy Loving Couples on BBC1.^[30]
• 7 December – Jack Rosenthal's original two-hour TV movie of London's Burning, directed by Les Blair is broadcast on ITV. It returns for a full series in February 1988.
• 8 December – Six weeks after launching its daytime service, BBC TV starts broadcasting hourly news summaries. Morning bulletins are shown on BBC1 and early afternoon bulletins (at 2pm, 3pm and 3.50pm) are shown on BBC2. Each bulletin is followed by a weather forecast.
• 11 December – The IBA announces that BSB has been awarded a fifteen-year franchise to operate a satellite television service in the UK.^[31]
• 13 December –
  • Comedian Duggie Small wins New Faces of '86.
  • British television premiere of Don Coscarelli's fantasy adventure The Beastmaster on BBC1.^[32]
• 17 December – Ringo Starr narrates his last ever Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends stories which make up the second series finale, “Woolly Bear” and "Thomas & the Missing Christmas Tree".
• 25 December –
  • 30.15 million tune in to watch "Dirty" Dennis Watts hand wife Angie her divorce papers in EastEnders, making it the highest rated episode of any drama in British television history.^[33]
  • ITV screens the British terrestrial television premiere of Never Say Never Again.^[34]
• 26 December – The Rainbow 30 minute Christmas special, Rainbow Christmas Show (aka The Colours of the Rainbow) is the highest ever rating episode of the show. It was thought that Rainbow would end following this episode, but Thames Television renewed the contract after good ratings.
• 28 December – BBC1 begins a season of films starring Dustin Hoffman, starting with the British television premiere of Tootsie.^[35]
• 31 December – New Year's Eve highlights on BBC1 include the British television premiere of the 1984 Australian animated film The Camel Boy, and Day After the Fair, a screenplay starring Hannah Gordon, Kenneth Haigh, Anna Massey and Martyn Stanbridge. Terry Wogan welcomes in the New Year from the BBC Television Theatre.^[36]

BBC1

• 6 January – Jimbo and the Jet Set (1986–1987)
• 7 January – Fax (1986–1988)
• 8 January – Wizbit (1986–1988)
• 9 January – Blackadder II (1986)
• 10 January – Lovejoy (1986–1994)
• 15 January – Running Scared (1986)
• 21 January – The Really Wild Show (1986–2006)
• 8 February – Every Second Counts (1986–1993)
• 19 February – You Should Be So Lucky (1986–1987)
• 12 March – The December Rose (1986)
• 23 April – Jossy's Giants (1986–1987)
• 1 May – Bread (1986–1991)
• 28 May – / Pingu (1986–2000, 2004–2006)
• 9 June – Hell's Bells (1986)
• 31 August – The Monocled Mutineer (1986)
• 1 September –
  • / The Mysterious Cities of Gold (1982–1983)
  • Brush Strokes (1986–1991)
• 6 September – Casualty (1986–present)
• 9 September – Butterfly Island (1985–1987)
• 13 October – The Clothes Show (1986–present)
• 22 October – Pinny's House (1986)
• 27 October –
  • One O'Clock News (1986–present)
  • Open Air (1986–1990)
  • Neighbours (1985–present)
• 16 November – The Singing Detective (1986)
• 26 November – The Children of Green Knowe (1986)
• 8 December – BBC News Summary (1986–present)
• 24 December – / Babar and Father Christmas (1985)

BBC2

• 12 May – Naked Video (1986–1991)
• 8 July – Steam Days (1986)

ITV

• 6 January – Telebugs (1986–1987)
• 8 January – Allsorts (1986–1995)
• 9 January – Bellamy's Bugle (1986–1988)
• 10 January –
  • Central Weekend (1986–2001)
  • Constant Hot Water (1986)
• 12 January – Catchphrase (1986–2002, 2013–present)
• 14 January – Boon (1986–1992, 1995)
• 19 January – The Return of the Antelope (1986–1988)
• 1 February – Ask No Questions (1986–1987)
• 13 February – Farrington of the F.O. (1986–1987)
• 16 February – Hot Metal (1986–1989)
• 2 April – The Blunders (1986–1987)
• 3 April – The Raggy Dolls (1986–1994)
• 3 May – Get Fresh (1986–1988)
• 6 May – Ladies in Charge (1986)
• 14 July –
  • The Wuzzles (1985)
  • Langley Bottom (1986)
• 3 September – Slinger's Day (1986–1987)
• 15 September – Paradise Postponed (1986)
• 23 September – C.A.B. (1986–1989)
• 29 September – Chocky's Challenge (1986)
• 30 September – First Among Equals (1986)
• 6 October – The Trap Door (1986–1987)
• 20 October –
  • Executive Stress (1986–1988)
  • Henry's Leg (1986)
• 24 October – Lost Empires (1986)
• 25 October – Jem (1985–1988)
• 29 October – Strike It Lucky and Strike It Rich (1986–1999)
• 31 October – The Two of Us (1986–1990)
• 12 November – S.W.A.L.L.O.W. (1986)
• 13 November – Running Loose (1986–1988)
• 22 November – Beadle's About (1986–1996)

Channel 4

• 11 April – The Chart Show (1986–1998, 2008–2009)
• 31 July – Equinox (1986–2006)
• 24 December – Max Headroom's Giant Christmas Turkey (1986)
• 29 December – Fox Tales (1986–1988)

Sky Channel

• Unknown – The DJ Kat Show (1986–1995)

Changes of network affiliation

Shows	Moved from	Moved to
Sesame Street (British syndication)	ITV	Channel 4
Opportunity Knocks		BBC1
/ Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats	The Children's Channel

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

• 11 September – This Week (1956–1978, 1986–1992)
• 19 September – New Faces (1973–1978, 1986–1988)

1920s

• BBC Wimbledon (1927–present)

1930s

• BBC Cricket (1939–1999, 2020–2024)

1940s

• Come Dancing (1949–1998)

1950s

• Panorama (1953–present)
• What the Papers Say (1956–2008)
• The Sky at Night (1957–present)
• Blue Peter (1958–present)
• Grandstand (1958–2007)

1960s

• Coronation Street (1960–present)
• Songs of Praise (1961–present)
• The Jetsons (1962–1963, 1985–1987)
• Doctor Who (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–present)
• World in Action (1963–1998)
• Top of the Pops (1964–2006)
• Match of the Day (1964–present)
• Crossroads (1964–1988, 2001–2003)
• Play School (1964–1988)
• Mr. and Mrs. (1964–1999)
• Jackanory (1965–1996, 2006–present)
• Sportsnight (1965–1997)
• Call My Bluff (1965–2005)
• The Money Programme (1966–2010)
• The Big Match (1968–2002)

1970s

• Old Grey Whistle Test (1971–1987)
• The Two Ronnies (1971–1987, 1991, 1996, 2005)
• Rainbow (1972–1992, 1994–1995)
• Emmerdale (1972–present)
• Newsround (1972–present)
• Weekend World (1972–1988)
• We Are the Champions (1973–1987)
• Last of the Summer Wine (1973–2010)
• That's Life! (1973–1994)
• Wish You Were Here...? (1974–2003)
• Arena (1975–present)
• Jim'll Fix It (1975–1994)
• One Man and His Dog (1976–present)
• 3-2-1 (1978–1988)
• Grange Hill (1978–2008)
• Terry and June (1979–1987)
• The Book Tower (1979–1989)
• Blankety Blank (1979–1990, 1997–2002)
• The Paul Daniels Magic Show (1979–1994)
• Antiques Roadshow (1979–present)
• Question Time (1979–present)

1980s

• Children in Need (1980–present)
• Razzamatazz (1981–1987)
• Bergerac (1981–1991)
• Sorry! (1981–1988)
• 'Allo 'Allo! (1982–1992)
• Wogan (1982–1992)
• Saturday Superstore (1982–1987)
• The Tube (1982–1987)
• Brookside (1982–2003)
• Countdown (1982–present)
• Let's Pretend (1982–1988)
• No. 73 (1982–1988)
• Timewatch (1982–present)
• Right to Reply (1982–2001)
• Breakfast Time (1983–1989)
• Dramarama (1983–1989)
• Don't Wait Up (1983–1990)
• Good Morning Britain (1983–1992, 2014–present)
• First Tuesday (1983–1993)
• Highway (1983–1993)
• Blockbusters (1983–93, 1994–95, 1997, 2000–01, 2012)
• How Dare You (1984–1987)
• Ever Decreasing Circles (1984–1989)
• Bob's Full House (1984–1990)
• Wide Awake Club (1984–1992)
• Spitting Image (1984–1996)
• The Bill (1984–2010)
• Channel 4 Racing (1984–2016)
• C.A.T.S. Eyes (1985–1987)
• No Limits (1985–1987)
• Victoria Wood As Seen On TV (1985–1987)
• All in Good Faith (1985–1988)
• Your Mother Wouldn't Like It (1985–1988)
• Three Up, Two Down (1985–1989)
• Home to Roost (1985–1990)
• Howards' Way (1985–1990)
• Busman's Holiday (1985–1993)
• EastEnders (1985–present)
• The Cook Report (1985–1998)
• Crosswits (1985–1998)
• Telly Addicts (1985–1998)
• Comic Relief (1985–present)