1996 in British television

January

• 1 January – The James Bond film Never Say Never Again is aired as part of BBC1's New Year's Day schedule.^[1]
• 12 January – Gaby Roslin presents her final edition of The Big Breakfast after three years as co-presenter, weeping live on air.^[2]
• 15 January – Zoë Ball takes over as co-presenter of The Big Breakfast.^[2]
• 15 January–11 March – Our Friends in the North, a nine-part serial spanning the 1960s to the 1990s in the lives of four friends, is shown on BBC2.

February

• 9 February – A brand new Friday entertainment show TFI Friday begins on Channel 4. The show ran for over 4 and a half years with 6 series.
• 18 February – ITV airs the final episode of the long running satirical puppet show Spitting Image.
• 19 February – At the 1996 BRIT Awards, subsequently aired by ITV, Pulp lead singer Jarvis Cocker invades the stage during Michael Jackson's performance of his "Earth Song". Jackson, surrounded by children, was dressed as a Christ-like figure, an image which Cocker found objectionable.^[3][4]

March

• March – Launch of the business and financial news channel CNBC Europe, which is based in London.
• 1 March – The Media Authority of Berlin and Brandenburg (Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg) awards a terrestrial television licence to BBC World, thought to be the first time a country has awarded a television frequency to a foreign broadcaster.
• 2 March – ITV broadcasts the british television premiere of The Marrying Man.
• 8 March – Mersey Television boss and creator of soaps Brookside and Hollyoaks, Phil Redmond predicts that in the future every major soap on television will be aired five nights a week.^[5]
• 16 March –
  • Cable channel L!VE TV stages a live reconstruction of the Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson fight using lookalike boxers as a way of hitting back at pay-per-view television, on which the actual fight is being shown.^[6]
  • Network premiere of A Few Good Men on ITV.
• 19 March – Channel 4 debuts And The Beat Goes On.
• 24 March – ITV airs Coronation Street – The Cruise, something which proves to be controversial as the film had only been released on VHS a few months earlier to celebrate the show's 35th anniversary.
• 26 March – Cadbury becomes the first company to sponsor Coronation Street after signing a deal with Granada Television. The sponsorship will begin in September.^[7]

April

• 1 April –
  • Sir Christopher Bland succeeds Marmaduke Hussey as Chairman of the BBC.
  • All BBC commercial activities, including BBC Publications, is merged into BBC Enterprises Ltd.^[8]
• 2 April – The popular comic strip character from Beano Dennis the Menace is brought to life with a new animated series being show on BBC1 as part of their CBBC lineup.
• 5 April – BBC1 airs Eskimo Day, Jack Rosenthal's poignant comedy about parents letting go of their children when they make their way in the world.^[9]
• 13 April – Channel 4 debuts the first of ten editions of The Gaby Roslin Show, a chat show presented by Gaby Roslin which aims to recapture the atmosphere of 1970s series such as Parkinson.^[10] Ratings for the programme quickly fall from 3 million to less than a million, and it is panned by viewers and critics alike. The Daily Mail quotes a critic who described it as "The Shabby Roslin Show", and a viewer who observed it was like "watching a schoolgirl meeting the stars". The programme is axed in July.^[11]
• 15 April – ITV airs Episode 4000 of Coronation Street.
• 18 April – Marketing Magazine reports that Midland Bank will sponsor ITV Drama Premieres, starting on 1 May with the latest series of Sharpe.^[12]
• 21 April – The BBC Arabic television service closes down when the Saudi backer pulls out following a row over coverage of the execution of a princess accused of adultery.
• 23 April – Debut of Edward on Edward, a documentary produced for ITV by Prince Edward's company Ardent Productions, and presented by him, that tells the story of the Abdication of Edward VIII.^[13]
• 27 April – Granada Television confirms that O. J. Simpson has been booked to appear on the first edition of Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan's new series, Tonight with Richard and Judy, scheduled to air on 13 May. The former football star will be paid a nominal fee of £1 for his first interview since being cleared of murder in 1995, though Granada will also pay his travel expenses.^[14] The interview proves to be controversial, with both Madeley and Finnigan attracting media criticism for what is deemed to be their "candyfloss" questioning of Simpson. Ultimately the show aired for just one series.^[15]

May

• 6 May – BBC1 airs the first of a new series of The Liver Birds, which catches up with Beryl (Polly James) and Sandra (Nerys Hughes) two decades on from the original series.^[16]
• 18 May – Ireland's Eimear Quinn wins the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest with "The Voice".
• 21 May – Bill Treacher makes his final appearance as EastEnders character Arthur Fowler.^[17] Having left the series in December 1995, Treacher briefly returned to the role of Arthur in order to film scenes in which the character is killed off.^[18]
• 25 May – Paul Doody wins the seventh series of Stars in Their Eyes, performing as Marti Pellow. He is the second Grand Final winner to portray the singer.
• 27 May – Doctor Who, an American television movie continuation of the famous British series of the same name, airs on BBC One.^[19] This television movie is regarded as being a part of the same story as the original series and is an unsuccessful pilot for a new, American co-produced series. This marks the end of Sylvester McCoy's era as the Seventh Doctor. Paul McGann stars as the Eighth Doctor. Doctor Who does not return as a full series until 2005.

June

• 1 June – Darren Day succeeds Matthew Kelly as presenter of ITV's You Bet!.
• 7 June – The BBC is restructured by the Director-General, John Birt. In the new structure BBC Broadcast will commission programmes, and BBC Production will make them.
• 8–30 June – The BBC and ITV air coverage of Euro 96, which is held in England.
• 14 June – After 32 years (excluding six months in 1973), Top of the Pops moves from its traditional Thursday evening slot to Fridays.
• 26 June – The BBC and ITV coverage of the England v Germany semi final match of Euro 96 is collectively watched by 26 Million viewers.^[20]
• 30 June – Neil Haidar wins the 1996 series of MasterChef.

July

• 11 July – ITV announces a deal with Doritos sponsoring ITV Movies with the premieres of Demolition Man, Unforgiven, Groundhog Day and Sleepless in Seattle, the sponsorship will debut on 17 August.
• 19 July–4 August – The BBC provides full live coverage of the 1996 Olympic Games. Live coverage runs for 15 hours a day (1.40pm until 4.30am) with highlights at breakfast time and morning-long extended highlights of the previous day's action.^[21] In addition to BBC1's coverage, for the first time, the BBC provides alternative live action during the overnight hours on BBC2.^[22]
• 24 July – Buckingham Palace ends the BBC's monopoly on producing the Royal Christmas Message, which has been the sole responsibility of the broadcaster for 63 years. It is produced by ITV from 1997, before returning to the BBC in 1999, then ITV again from 2001. The two year changeover continues to the present day.
• 26 July – The BBC and Hat Trick Productions are fined £10,000 each in the High Court for contempt of court over comments made on a 1994 edition of Have I Got News for You, in which presenter Angus Deayton referred to Ian and Kevin Maxwell as "two heartless, scheming bastards" ahead of their trial.^[23]

August

• 10 August – BBC1 begins airing Stephen King's The Stand, a miniseries based on the novel of the same name. It is shown in four parts over two weekends, on 10 August,^[24] 11 August,^[25] 17 August,^[26] and 18 August.^[27]
• 16 August –
  • US animated science fiction comedy television series Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys premieres on ITV before airing in its homeland which will be shown the very next month.
  • Sky Sports 3 launches with broadcasting hours of midday to midnight, and Sky Sports Gold closes.
• 22 August – BBC World begins broadcasting to Berlin.
• 30 August – Zoë Ball presents her final edition of The Big Breakfast, having left the series in order to present BBC One's Live & Kicking.^[28]

September

• 1 September –
  • Sky 2 launches in the UK. It is a sister channel to the then-titled Sky 1. It closes a year later, but a channel of almost the same name (Sky Two) would later launch in 2005.
  • The Computer Channel is launched. It was later renamed .tv (pronounced Dot TV).
  • Carlton Food Network launches. It only broadcasts on weekday afternoons and launches exclusively on cable.
  • London's Burning returns to ITV for a new series, its ninth since launching in 1988, and the first to be aired in two halves, with a US-style hiatus over Christmas. Following Episode Eleven on 17 November, the series takes a break until 12 January 1997, when the final four episodes of the series are shown. London's Burning continues to air with this format until the end of the thirteenth series in 2001. The hiatus is shifted to coincide with Easter from the twelfth series when new series are part of ITV's winter schedule rather than its autumn lineup.
• 2 September –
  • Launch of "Daytime on 1", BBC1's new daily schedule that includes six and a half hours of drama, quiz shows, discussion programming, chat shows and cookery shows.
  • The ITV region Tyne Tees Television is rebranded as Channel 3 North East. The rebranding is unsuccessful, and the original name returns two years later.
  • Former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies succeeds Zoë Ball as co-presenter of The Big Breakfast.^[28]
• 5 September – BBC1 premieres a Canadian animated series for pre-schoolers based on the books by Else Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak called Little Bear.
• 10 September – ITV airs the smash Nickelodeon animated series Hey Arnold! a month before its broadcasting debut in the US.
• 12 September –
  • Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends begins its very first television broadcast in the Republic of Ireland on Network 2 (originally called RTÉ2).
  • Children's game show It's a Mystery is transmitted on ITV.
• 15 September – Debut of Rhodes, an eight part BBC1 drama series about the life of the controversial British adventurer and empire-builder Cecil Rhodes.^[29] The series concludes on 3 November.^[30] The series took a decade to make, employed over 10,000 extras, and at a cost of £10m is the most expensive British television project to date. However, despite a high-profile publicity campaign leading up to its launch, Rhodes attracts relatively poor viewing figures, with 7.6 million tuning into the first episode and 4.8 million watching the second, and it is quickly panned by critics. The BBC is also forced to launch an accompanying booklet about Cecil Rhodes as the series assumes a prior knowledge of the figure, and many viewers are unfamiliar with him.^[31]

October

• 1 October –
  • Granada Sky Broadcasting launches.
  • Sky One debuts the Granada Television produced series Springhill, a supernatural soap set in Liverpool which airs for two series of 26 episodes. The series is later shown on Channel 4.
• 5 October – Channel 4 airs The Ghost of Ivy Tilsley, a programme telling the story of singer and actress Lynne Perrie, who played Ivy Tilsley in Coronation Street, and who speaks about her time with the soap, and how she lost her sense of self in her search for fame.^[32][33]
• 11 October – After nearly 14 years, Channel 4 is given a whole new look replacing the original coloured blocks idents with all new circles idents.
• 19 October – Fox Kids launched in the UK (1996–2009)
• 27 October – Lucy Wright wins the 1996 series of Junior MasterChef.

November

• 1 November – Sky Scottish launches.
• 15 November – Sarah Lancashire makes her final appearance in Coronation Street as Raquel Watts.
• 17 November – BBC1 airs Ruby Wax Meets the Duchess of York, a one-off interview with Sarah, Duchess of York conducted by US comedian Ruby Wax.^[34]
• 21 November – Campaign magazine reports that ITV’s decision to stop airing Baywatch midway through the season and replace it with Sabrina the Teenage Witch has raised questions about the vulnerability of sponsorship deals to programme rescheduling. Wella had renewed its sponsorship of Baywatch with ITV earlier in the year, but the programme was pulled from its Saturday evening timeslot after only eight of the scheduled twenty-two episodes were shown, with Sabrina set to air from 23 November. ITV says the decision was taken because it began airing Baywatch earlier than planned after a previously scheduled programme, SeaQuest 2032 did not prove as popular with viewers as anticipated; this led to episodes of Baywatch catching up with their airdates in the United States. ITV says the programme will return in 1997, while Wella will continue its sponsorship.^[35]
• 23 November – The BBC picks up the Terrestrial rights to The Simpsons, which is first shown at 5.30pm on BBC1, with a Sunday lunchtime repeat on BBC2. There's No Disgrace Like Home is the first episode to be shown on BBC1, later being beaten in the ratings by Sabrina.
• 24 November – ITV introduces a fourth weekly episode of Coronation Street, airing on Sundays at 7:30pm.
• 30 November – During the live broadcast of The National Lottery on BBC 1, the draw machine fails to start, causing the draw to be delayed by 50 minutes; Resident psychic Mystic Meg later said that she had been predicting it all day.^[36]

December

• 6 December – The Adam and Joe Show written and hosted by well known British comedy performers Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish begins on Channel 4.
• 18 December – Labour Party leader Tony Blair is a guest on ITV's Des O'Connor Tonight, where he famously admits to trying to run away from school as a teenager by attempting to stow away on a flight to the Bahamas.^[37][38]
• 23 December – ITV airs the pilot of In the Dark with Julian Clary, a gameshow in which couples must complete everyday tasks while in complete darkness. The show is not picked up for a full series by ITV, but a series is recorded for the US, where Julian Clary will be introduced to American viewers. However, it is pulled a few hours before its inaugural transmission. Two series of In the Dark are later produced for Channel 5, starting in 1998, but presented by Junior Simpson.^[39]
• 24 December – Christmas Eve highlights on BBC1 include the network television premieres of Super Mario Brothers, starring Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper, and Cliffhanger, starring Sylvester Stallone.^[40]
• 25 December –
  • BBC1's Christmas Day highlights include the British television premiere of Steven Spielberg's dinosaur adventure Jurassic Park.^[41]
  • Only Fools and Horses returns with a new episode after three years with "Heroes and Villains", the first of a three-part mini-series that Radio Times suggests "may prove to be [its] swansong".^[42] The second part, "Modern Men" airs on 27 December,^[43] followed by the final part, "Time on Our Hands" on 29 December.^[44]
  • Top of the Pops is guest presented by The Spice Girls. Their three performances are introduced by Robbie Williams, Mark Morrison and Gina G.
• 26 December –
  • BBC1 airs the UK terrestrial television premiere of Sommersby, a 1993 period drama starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster.^[45]
  • Ian Kelsey makes his final appearance in Emmerdale when Dave Glover dies in a fire.^[46]
• 27 December – BBC1 airs the British television premiere of The Firm, starring Tom Cruise and Jeanne Tripplehorn.^[47]
• 29 December – Time On Our Hands, the final episode of a Christmas trilogy of the popular sitcom Only Fools and Horses, airs on BBC1. Publicised as the last ever episode, it draws 24.35 million viewers, the largest ever audience for a sitcom in the UK, and discounting Diana, Princess of Wales's funeral the following year, the biggest UK television audience of the 1990s. In the event, however, the show returns for three subsequent specials, one shown each Christmas from 2001.
• 31 December – New Year's Eve highlights on BBC1 include Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Shadowlands.^[48]

BBC1

• 2 January – The Demon Headmaster (1996–1998)
• 3 January – Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars (1996)
• 8 January – / The Genie from Down Under (1996–1998)
• 28 January – A Mug's Game (1996)
• 4 January – The Morph Files (1996)
• 1 February – Ballykissangel (1996–2001)
• 12 February – BBC Newsline (1996–present)
• 15 February – Alien Empire (1996)
• 21 February – Silent Witness (1996–present)
• 16 March – Dalziel and Pascoe (1996–2007)
• 2 April – Dennis the Menace (1996–1998)
• 17 April – Madson (1996)
• 4 September – Changing Rooms (1996–2004)
• 5 September –
  • Little Bear (1995–1999)
  • The Hello Girls (1996–1998)
• 6 September – Muppets Tonight (1996–1998)
• 15 September – Rhodes (1996)
• 24 September – Romuald the Reindeer (1996)
• 4 October – Satellite City (1996–1999)
• 7 October – / Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1995–2000)
• 28 October – Billy Connolly's World Tour of Australia (1996)
• 3 November – Accused (1996)
• 14 November – Crocodile Shoes II (1996)
• 17 November – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996)

BBC2

• 15 January – Our Friends in the North (1996)
• 18 March – This Life (1996–1997)
• 2 May – Airport (1996–2005)
• 27 September – All Rise for Julian Clary (1996–1997)
• 9 October – Two Fat Ladies (1996–1999)
• 12 November – Never Mind the Buzzcocks (1996–2015)
• 29 December – The Moonstone (1996)

ITV

• Unknown –
  • Wake Up in the Wild Room (1996–1998)
• 2 January – Santo Bugito (1995)
• 3 January –
  • Delta Wave (1996)
  • Potamus Park (1996–1998)
• 5 January – Bimble's Bucket (1996–1998)
• 8 January – Call Red (1996)
• 12 January – Carnal Knowledge (1996)
• 26 January – Paul Merton in Galton & Simpson's... (1996–1997)
• 15 February – London Bridge (1996–1999)
• 5 March – Married for Life (1996)
• 4 April – Crazy Cottage (1996–1998)
• 10 April – Bodyguards (1996–1997)
• 15 April – The Big Bang (1996–2004)
• 1 May – The Adventures of Captain Zeelig (1996)
• 3 May – The Treacle People (1996–1997)
• 4 May – Man O Man (1996–1999)
• 8 July – Red Amber Green (1996–1999)
• 27 July – The Big Big Talent Show (1996–1997)
• 5 August – The Alphabet Game (1996–1997)
• 7 August – Chatterhappy Ponies (1996–1998)
• 16 August – Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys (1996–1997)
• 18 August – Cadfael The Devil's Novice (1996 Season 2 Episode 2)
• 25 August – Cadfael A Morbid Taste for Bones (1996)
• 6 September – / Barry Welsh is Coming (1996–2004)
• 7 September – Professor Bubble (1996–1997)
• 10 September – Hey Arnold! (1996–2004)
• 12 September – It's a Mystery (1996–2002)
• 20 September –
  • Oscar and Friends (1996)
  • The Adventures of Dawdle the Donkey (1996–1997)
• 29 October – Zot the Dog (1996–1997)
• 1 November –
  • Snug and Cozi (1996–1997)
  • Staying Alive (1996–1997)
• 24 November – Emma (1996)
• 1 December –
  • Percy the Park Keeper (1996–1999)
  • The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996)
• 10 December – Pinky and the Brain (1995–1998)

Channel 4

• 9 February – TFI Friday (1996–2000)
• 23 February – The Mark Thomas Comedy Product (1996–2003)
• 6 November – The Fragile Heart (1996)
• 6 December – The Adam and Joe Show (1996–2001)
• Unknown – Insektors (1994–1995)

Sky One/1

• 7 January – Murder One (1995–1996)
• 20 January – Sliders (1995–2000)
• 9 June – The Feds (1993–1996)
• 8 September – The Beast (1996)
• 1 October – Springhill (1996–1997)
• 22 December – Millennium (1996–1999)
• Unknown – What-a-Mess (Series 3) (1995–1996)

Sky 2

• 2 September – Water Rats (1996–2001)

Fox Kids UK

• 19 October – // Billy the Cat (1996–2001)

Disney Channel UK

• 21 October – Brand Spankin' New! Doug (1996–1999)
• Unknown – Disney's CyberStar (1996)

Cartoon Network UK

• Unknown –
  • Monchhichis (1983)
  • Dexter's Laboratory (1996–2003)

Nickelodeon UK

• 6 January – CBBC on Nickelodeon (1996–1999)
• Unknown – Bruno the Kid (1996–1997)

New channels

Defunct channels

Rebranded channels

Changes of network affiliation

Shows	Moved from	Moved to
/ Oscar's Orchestra	BBC1	The Children's Channel
Dennis the Menace
Santo Bugito	ITV	Nickelodeon
The Simpsons	Sky1	BBC2
Earthworm Jim	The Children's Channel	Channel 4
/ The Magic School Bus	Nickelodeon
The Ferals

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

• 4 March – The Wombles (1973–1975, 1990–1991 BBC, 1996–1997 ITV)
• 10 April – The Two Ronnies for a 25th Anniversary special (1971–1987, 1991, 1996, 2005)
• 6 May – The Liver Birds (1969–1979, 1996)
• 27 May – Doctor Who (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–present)

1920s

• BBC Wimbledon (1927–present)

1930s

• BBC Cricket (1939–1999, 2020–2024)

1940s

• Come Dancing (1949–1998)

1950s

• Panorama (1953–present)
• Take Your Pick (1955–1968, 1992–1998)
• 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)
• World in Action (1963–1998)
• Top of the Pops (1964–2006)
• Match of the Day (1964–present)
• Mr. and Mrs. (1964–1999)
• Sportsnight (1965–1997)
• Call My Bluff (1965–2005)
• The Money Programme (1966–2010)

1970s

• Emmerdale (1972–present)
• Newsround (1972–present)
• Last of the Summer Wine (1973–2010)
• Wish You Were Here...? (1974–2003)
• Arena (1975–present)
• One Man and His Dog (1976–present)
• Grange Hill (1978–2008)
• Antiques Roadshow (1979–present)
• Question Time (1979–present)

1980s

• Children in Need (1980–present)
• Timewatch (1982–present)
• Brookside (1982–2003)
• Countdown (1982–present)
• Right to Reply (1982–2001)
• The Bill (1984–2010)
• Channel 4 Racing (1984–2016)
• Thomas & Friends (1984–present)
• EastEnders (1985–present)
• The Cook Report (1985–1998)
• Crosswits (1985–1998)
• Telly Addicts (1985–1998)
• Comic Relief (1985–present)
• The Chart Show (1986–1998, 2008–2009)
• Casualty (1986–present)
• Chain Letters (1987–1997)
• ChuckleVision (1987–2009)
• You Bet! (1988–1997)
• Playdays (1988–1997)
• London's Burning (1988–2002)
• On the Record (1988–2002)
• Fifteen to One (1988–2003, 2013–present)
• This Morning (1988–present)
• Birds of a Feather (1989–1998, 2014–present)
• Bodger & Badger (1989–1999)

1990s

• Drop the Dead Donkey (1990–1998)
• Stars in Their Eyes (1990–2006)
• 2point4 Children (1991–1999)
• Big Break (1991–2002)
• The Brittas Empire (1991–1997)
• Soldier Soldier (1991–1997)
• Noel's House Party (1991–1999)
• GamesMaster (1992–1998)
• Heartbeat (1992–2010)
• Men Behaving Badly (1992–1998)
• The Big Breakfast (1992–2002)
• 999 (1992–2003)
• Saturday Disney (1993–1996)
• Mr. Motivator exercise routines (1993–2000)
• Breakfast with Frost (1993–2005)
• Animal Hospital (1994–2004)
• The National Lottery Draws (1994–2017)
• Small Talk (1994–1996)
• Time Team (1994–2013)
• The Vicar of Dibley (1994–2007)
• Wipeout (1994–2002)
• Wycliffe (1994–1998)
• Top of the Pops 2 (1994–present)
• Oh, Doctor Beeching! (1995–1997)
• Father Ted (1995–1998)
• Hollyoaks (1995–present)
• Is It Legal? (1995–1998)