1987 in British television

January

• 2 January – British television premiere of the supernatural horror Poltergeist on BBC1.^[1]
• 3 January – Closedowns reappear on Yorkshire Television when its experiment with 24-hour television is put on hiatus. The channel does continue with into-the-night broadcasts however by becoming the second ITV region to launch a Jobfinder service, broadcasting for an hour after closedown.
• 5 January – EastEnders is sold to Australia and goes to air on Australian television on ABC along with In Sickness and In Health.
• 12 January – The five-part Australian World War I drama Anzacs makes its British television debut on BBC1.^[2]
• 16 January – The Zircon affair becomes public knowledge when The Guardian reports that the government ordered the BBC to shelve a documentary in the Secret Society series about the Zircon satellite. Two days later documentary maker Duncan Campbell is subject to an injunction preventing him from discussing or writing about the programme's content, but subsequently writes an article about the episode for the New Statesman.
• 29 January – Alasdair Milne is sacked by the newly appointed Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors, Marmaduke Hussey. He is replaced by a senior BBC accountant, Michael Checkland.

February

• 5 February – Princess Anne appears on sports quiz A Question of Sport, a matter of weeks after team captain Emlyn Hughes famously mistook a picture of her on a horse for jockey John Reid. The episode gains a record audience of 19 million viewers.
• 21 February – An apparently inebriated Oliver Reed appears on the ITV chat show Aspel & Company, where he stumbles and lurches around the set.
• 24 February – The sitcom Hardwicke House makes its debut on ITV. The series is badly received by critics and viewers and is cancelled after just two episodes (the second broadcast the following evening). The remaining five episodes of the series have never been transmitted.
• 26 February – Michael Checkland succeeds Alasdair Milne as Director-General of the BBC.
• 27 February – The BBC and independent television begins a week of programming aimed at educating people about the AIDS virus. Highlights include AIDS – The Facts on BBC1, a short programme of facts and figures covering frequently asked questions about the disease, and First AIDS, an ITV comedy-sketch programme produced by London Weekend Television and featuring Mike Smith, Jonathan Ross and Emma Freud.^[3][4]

March

• 6 March – BBC1 airs The Elephant Man, David Lynch's acclaimed film about Joseph Merrick.^[5]
• 9 March – Debut of Central Television's Intimate Contact, a drama dealing with the issue of AIDS.
• 21 March – Opportunity Knocks returns to British television after a decade-long break, now on BBC1. It is presented by Bob Monkhouse and airs under the title Bob Says Opportunity Knocks.^[6]

April

• 6 April – Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends one of the long running children's television series in Britain goes to air in Australia for the very first time on ABC.
• 9 April – BBC1 premieres a new animated series called The Adventures of Spot based on the books by Eric Hill and narrated by Paul Nicholas.^[7]
• 24 April – The Channel 4 music series The Tube is shown for the final time.
• 25 April –
  • The Australian soap opera Prisoner: Cell Block H makes its debut on Central Television in the Midlands. This is believed by many viewers to be the series debut on British television, but in fact it had been running in the Yorkshire region since 1984. Central were the first region to conclude the series, however, in December 1991.
  • Central becomes the first station to keep its transmitters on air all night when it launches More Central. Programmes are shown into the early hours with the rest of the night filled by its Jobfinder service, which airs from closedown until the start of TV-am.^[8]
  • US prime time sitcom ALF gets its first broadcasting on television screens in the UK on ITV.
• 26 April –
  • Channel 4's The Tube airs for the last time after five series.
  • After more than 30 years, the final edition of Asian Magazine is broadcast on BBC1.^[9]
• 28 April – After nearly ten years on air, the final edition of the weekly magazine programme aimed at Asian women, Gharbar is broadcast.^[10] Both programmes are to be replaced by a new programme later in the year.

May

• 1 May – Launch of the late night discussion programme After Dark, airing on Channel 4.
• 3 May – The first of two series of groundbreaking youth television show Network 7 starts airing on Channel 4. The programme is shown live at Sunday lunchtime.
• 9 May – Ireland's Johnny Logan wins the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest with "Hold Me Now".
• 10 May – ITV airs Escape from Sobibor, a made-for-television film telling the story of the mass escape from the Sobibór extermination camp during World War II, the most successful uprising by Jewish prisoners of German extermination camps.^[11]
• 22 May–20 June – BBC TV broadcasts coverage of the first Rugby World Cup from Australia and New Zealand. This is the only time that the BBC has screened the tournament.

June

• 9 June – Debut of the Tyne Tees produced chart show The Roxy, presented by David Jensen and Kevin Sharkey. The programme is intended as a stablemate for the Independent radio hit parade The Network Chart Show, following a similar format to the BBC's Top of the Pops, but its Newcastle-upon-Tyne location impinges on its ability to secure live performances. The show also suffers from poor ratings because it does not have a regular slot on the ITV network, and is cancelled in April 1988.
• 11–12 June – Coverage of the results of the 1987 General Election is broadcast both on BBC1 and ITV.
• 19 June – Debut of The Grand Knockout Tournament, an It's a Knockout special featuring members of the British Royal Family alongside sporting and other celebrities. Also known as It's a Royal Knockout, the event attracts much media derision and is deemed to have been a failure, although it raised £1 million for charity.
• 22 June – The BBC's lunchtime children's programme moves from BBC1 to BBC2. It is shown slightly earlier, at 1.20pm.
• 29 June – Schools programmes are broadcast on ITV for the last time.

July

• 5 July – Watching, Jim Hitchmough's comedy about a mismatched couple, and starring Paul Bown and Emma Wray, debuts on ITV.
• 20 July – ITV's lunchtime news programme moves to a 12.30pm slot. Consequently, News at One ends after eleven years on air.
• 25 July – The first edition of a new weekly programme for the Asian community, Network East, is broadcast. It replaces Asian Magazine and Gharbar, which had ended three months earlier.^[12]

August

• 17 August – Thames/LWT begin 24-hour broadcasting. Anglia also begins 24-hour transmissions at around the same time.
• 20 August – In the wake of the previous day's Hungerford massacre in which 16 people were shot dead by gun enthusiast Michael Ryan, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 pull several forthcoming films and programmes containing violence from their schedules. Among them are the 1966 western Nevada Smith, an episode of The Professionals and the 1982 post-apocalyptic film Battletruck. A showing of First Blood is also cancelled.^[13]

September

• 7 September –
  • Sylvester McCoy becomes the seventh actor to play the Doctor in BBC One's long-running Doctor Who, making his first full appearance in the role in the serial "Time and the Rani". McCoy also makes his sole cameo debut as the Sixth Doctor following Colin Baker's refusal to reprise the role for the serial (in part due to his abrupt removal from the show).
  • US animated series DuckTales makes its premiere in the UK on ITV before being broadcast in the USA on Broadcast syndication several days later.
• 14 September – After 30 years on ITV, ITV Schools moves to Channel 4, allowing ITV to concentrate on building a fully commercial daytime schedule. Consequently Channel 4's weekday programming begins at 9.30am (12noon when schools programmes are not being shown).
• 21 September – As part of Channel 4’s expanded weekday broadcast hours, the first edition of a weekday business and financial news programme Business Daily is broadcast.
• 26 September – Debut of Going Live!, a Saturday morning magazine show, broadcast on BBC1, and presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene.^[14]
• 30 September – BBC2 debuts Malcolm McKay's screenplay The Interrogation of John, a film concerning the police questioning of a potential murder suspect.^[15] Starring Dennis Quilley, Bill Paterson and Michael Fitzgerald, it later forms the first of a three-part series titled A Wanted Man, which further develops the story and airs in 1989.^[16]

October

• 12 October – BBC1 debuts Going for Gold, a general knowledge quiz presented by Henry Kelly in which contestants from fourteen different European countries compete to become series champion. The winner of the first series, Daphne Hudson (later Daphne Fowler), receives ringside tickets at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and goes on to become a familiar face on television after appearing in a number of other quizzes, including Fifteen to One and Eggheads.^[17][18]
• 15 October – During a weather forecast, BBC meteorologist Michael Fish reports "Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way; well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't, but having said that, actually, the weather will become very windy, but most of the strong winds, incidentally, will be down over Spain and across into France.".^[19] Hours later, Britain is hit by the worst storm for 284 years.^[20] Fish later drew criticism for the comments, but has since claimed that they referred to Florida, USA, and were linked to a news story immediately preceding the weather bulletin, but had been so widely repeated out of context that the British public remains convinced that he was referring to the approaching storm.
• 16 October – As a result of the Great Storm of 1987, electrical power to TV-am's studios is lost and an emergency programme has to be transmitted from facilities at Thames Television's Euston Road centre using reports from TV-am's own crews and those of ITN, TSW and TVS. The BBC's Breakfast Time, which would usually come from Lime Grove and was able to broadcast as the studios were without power, as was most of BBC Television Centre at Wood Lane. The early part of the programme was broadcast from the continuity suite at TV Centre usually used for Children's BBC presentation as this area had generator support, before a larger studio was able to be brought into use.
• 17 October – First showing on British television of Stephen King's The Dead Zone on BBC1. This is the first of three films based on Stephen King works to receive their British television debut over three consecutive Saturdays.^[21]
• 24 October – First showing on British television of Stephen King's Cujo on BBC1.^[22]
• 29 October – British television premiere of the popular Spanish animated television series Around the World with Willy Fog.^[23] The 26-part series concludes on 28 April 1988.^[24]
• 30 October – The first edition of Channel 4's flagship current affairs documentary series Dispatches is broadcast.
• 31 October – British television premiere of the anthology film, Stephen King's Cat's Eye on BBC1.^[25]

November

• 4–18 November – Damon and Debbie becomes the first 'soap bubble'. It was a miniseries which took two characters from Brookside into new locations and their own story.
• 5 November – Veteran television and radio presenter Eamonn Andrews best known for hosting programmes such as World of Sport, What's My Line? and This Is Your Life dies following heart failure.
• 11 November – BBC1 airs Paul Hamann's documentary Fourteen Days in May, a film that recounts the final days before the execution of Edward Earl Johnson, an American prisoner convicted of rape and murder and imprisoned in the Mississippi State Penitentiary.^[26]
• 17 November – Fireman Sam, a children's television series about a fireman voiced and narrated by John Alderton, debuts on BBC1.
• 22 November – Final edition of the 1987 run of Play Your Cards Right. The series disappeared from ITV after this date, not returning until March 1994.^[27]
• 23 November – The TV-am strike begins after members of the technicians' union the ACTT walk out in a dispute over the station's ‘Caring Christmas Campaign’. What is meant to be a 24-hour stoppage continues for several months when staff are locked out by Managing Director Bruce Gyngell. TV-am is unable to broadcast Good Morning Britain, the regular format is replaced with shows such as Flipper, Batman and Happy Days. By December a skeleton service that sees non-technical staff operating cameras and Gyngell himself directing proceedings, begin to allow Good Morning Britain to start broadcasting again. The strikers are eventually sacked and replaced with non union staff. Viewing figures remain high throughout the disruption, which continues well into 1988, although normal programming gradually resumes. Other ITV stations later follow Gyngell's example.
• 28 November – Ventriloquist Jimmy Tamley wins New Faces of '87, coming just ahead of comedian Joe Pasquale, who is second.
• November – Tyne Tees begins 24-hour broadcasting. It does so by launching a Jobfinder service which broadcasts each night from its usual close-down time until the start of TV-am at 6 am.

December

• December – Thamesside TV, an unlicensed TV station set up by Thameside Radio, goes on air in the same city. There were only two known broadcasts in December 1987.^[28][29]
• 13 December – The Singing Detective is sold to Australia, where it is shown on ABC.
• 25 December –
  • Christmas Day highlights on BBC1 include Julie Andrews.... The Sound of Christmas, a show featuring music and presented by Julie Andrews from Salzburg, Austria, and the British television premieres of both Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Terms of Endearment.^[30]
  • ITV enjoys a record-breaking audience when more than 26 million viewers tune in for the Christmas Day episode of Coronation Street, in which Hilda Ogden (Jean Alexander) makes her last appearance in the show after 23 years.
• 31 December –
  • In an unusual move for a pre-recorded television series, the Chimes of Big Ben are integrated into an episode of EastEnders on BBC1. Character Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) brought a television into the bar of the Queen Vic, 'watched' the chimes in their entirety, and the episode resumed.^[31]
  • BBC2 airs a five hour Whistle Test special to welcome in 1988. The special, aired from 9.35pm on New Year's Eve to 2.55am on New Year's Day, takes a look back through the archives in what is the programme's final outing.^[32] It will be three decades later in 2018 before a new edition of the programme is broadcast.^[33]

Unknown

• Network 21, an unlicensed television station in London, broadcasts for around 30 minutes on Friday evenings.

BBC1

• 2 January – / ThunderCats (1987–1991)
• 4 January – The Diary of Anne Frank (1987)
• 9 January – Rockliffe's Babies (1987–1988)
• 12 January – Anzacs (1985)
• 21 January – Corners (1987)
• 18 February – Dead Entry (1987)
• 4 March – The Raccoons (1987–2002)
• 8 March – The First Eden (1987)
• 12 March – Life Without George (1987–1989)
• 9 April – The Adventures of Spot (1987–1993)
• 22 April – Best Of British (1987–1994)
• 6 May – The Eye of the Dragon (1987)
• 5 September – Pulaski (1987)
• 8 September – You Must Be The Husband (1987–1988)
• 14 September – Ratman (1987)
• 15 September – Bad Boyes (1987–1988)
• 17 September – Blackadder the Third (1987)
• 26 September –
  • ChuckleVision (1987–2009)
  • Going Live! (1987–1993)
  • Double Dare (1987–1992)
• 5 October – / Star Wars: Ewoks (1985–1986)
• 11 October – Fortunes of War (1987)
• 12 October – Going for Gold (BBC 1987–1996, Channel 5 2008–2009)
• 17 October – My Family and Other Animals (1987)
• 29 October – // Around the World with Willy Fog (1983)
• 16 November – Simon and the Witch (1987–1988)
• 17 November – Fireman Sam (BBC 1987–1994, 2005–2008, Channel 5 2008–present & CITV 2008–2012)
• 18 November – Aliens in the Family (1987)

BBC2

• 7 January – Filthy, Rich & Catflap (1987)
• 26 January – A Small Problem (1987)
• 9 March – French and Saunders (1987–2007)
• 14 May – The Celts (1987)
• 3 June – Lizzie's Pictures (1987)
• 6 July – Star Cops (1987)
• 16 September – The Victorian Kitchen Garden (1987)
• 4 November – A Perfect Spy (1987)
• 26 December – A Bit of Fry & Laurie (1987–1995)

ITV

• 5 January – The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1987)
• 6 January – Inspector Morse (1987–2000)
• 7 January –
  • Sporting Triangles (1987–1990)
  • Creepy Crawlies (1987–1989)
• 9 January –
  • My Husband and I (1987–1988)
  • Yesterday's Dreams (1987)
• 16 February – The Secret World of Polly Flint (1987)
• 24 February – Hardwicke House (1987)
• 9 March – Intimate Contact (1987)
• April – The Shoe People (1987)
• 3 April – Through the Keyhole (1987–2008, 2013–present)
• 25 April – ALF (1986–1990)
• 1 May – Matlock (1987–1997)
• 24 May – Tarby's Frame Game (1987–1989)
• 4 June – Fat Tulip Too (1987)
• 9 June – The Roxy (1987–1988)
• 14 June – Floodtide (1987–1988)
• 1 July – Home James! (1987–1990)
• 5 July – Watching (1987–1993)
• 22 July – The Cook Report (1987–1999)
• 2 August – The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987–2002)
• 31 August – Playbox (1987–1992)
• 6 September – Knights of God (1987)
• 7 September –
  • Knightmare (1987–1994)
  • The Time, The Place (1987–1998)
  • DuckTales (1987–1995)
  • Chain Letters (1987–1997)
• 9 September – / The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin (1986–1987)
• 11 September – Wimpole Village (1987)
• 12 September – The Dame Edna Experience (1987–1989)
• 13 September – The New Statesman (1987–1994)
• 12 October – Runway (1987–1993)
• 16 October – The Bretts (1987–1989)
• 18 October – The Charmer (1987)
• 2 November – The Gemini Factor (1987)
• 11 November – Headliners (1987–1989)
• 13 December – The Beiderbecke Tapes (1987)

Channel 4

• 4 March – Tickets for the Titanic (1987–1988)
• 7 April – Lost Belongings (1987)
• 1 May – After Dark (1987–1997, BBC 2003)
• 3 May – Network 7 (1987–1988)
• 21 September – Business Daily (1987–1992)
• 30 October – Dispatches (1987–present)
• 4 November – Damon and Debbie (1987)

The Children's Channel

• Undated – Edward and Friends (1987)

New channels

Defunct channels

Changes of network affiliation

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

• 5 October – Watch with Mother (1946–1973) (1987, 1989, 1993 VHS Only)
• Opportunity Knocks (1956–1978 ITV, 1987–1990 BBC)
• Family Fortunes (1980–1985, 1987–2002)

1920s

• BBC Wimbledon (1927–present)

1930s

• BBC Cricket (1939–1999, 2020–2024)

1940s

• Come Dancing (1949–1998)

1950s

• Panorama (1953–present)
• This Week (1956–1978, 1986–1992)
• 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)
• Doctor Who (1963–1989, 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, 2008–2010, 2012–present)
• Jackanory (1965–1996, 2006–present)
• Sportsnight (1965–1997)
• Call My Bluff (1965–2005)
• The Money Programme (1966–2010)
• The Big Match (1968–2002)

1970s

• Rainbow (1972–1992, 1994–1995)
• Emmerdale (1972–present)
• Newsround (1972–present)
• Weekend World (1972–1988)
• Last of the Summer Wine (1973–2010)
• New Faces (1973–1978, 1986–1988)
• 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)
• 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)
• Bergerac (1981–1991)
• Sorry! (1981–1988)
• 'Allo 'Allo! (1982–1992)
• Wogan (1982–1992)
• Brookside (1982–2003)
• Countdown (1982–present)
• Let's Pretend (TV series) (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)
• Ever Decreasing Circles (1984–1989)
• Bob's Full House (1984–1990)
• Wide Awake Club (1984–1992)
• Aspel & Company (1984–1993)
• Spitting Image (1984–1996)
• The Bill (1984–2010)
• Channel 4 Racing (1984–2016)
• 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)
• Executive Stress (1986–1988)
• Get Fresh (1986–1988)
• Hot Metal (1986–1988)
• Bread (1986–1991)
• Brush Strokes (1986–1991)
• Naked Video (1986–1991)
• Boon (1986–1992, 1995)
• Every Second Counts (1986–1993)
• Lovejoy (1986–1994)
• Beadle's About (1986–1996)
• The Chart Show (1986–1998, 2008–2009)
• Casualty (1986–present)
• Sport on Friday (1987–1997)