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1980 |
30 January | The first broadcast of Newsnight, BBC2's long-running serious news discussion programme. | |
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25 February |  Whitehall satire Yes Minister (BBC), reportedly Margaret Thatcher's favourite programme, begins.
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9 April | Death of a Princess (Thames), a dramatised documentary on the execution for adultery of a Saudi princess and her lover, leads to diplomatic tensions with Saudi Arabia. | |
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1 June | Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour news television channel, is launched by American media mogul Ted Turner. | |
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21 November |  First Children In Need appeal is broadcast (BBC)
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| Philips introduces the Video 2000 system, an intriguing double-sided videotape format that came too late and offered too little to be a serious competitor to VHS and Betamax. | |
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1981 |
1 January | The BBC broadcasts the first episode of The History Man, a four-part dramatisation by Christopher Hampton of Malcolm Bradbury's novel about priapic history lecturer Howard Kirk, a tour-de-force performance by Antony Sher. Though its relatively graphic sex scenes proved controversial, it is also a massive critical success. | |
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13 January | Wolcott - the first police drama to feature a black officer | |
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10 April | Brixton uprisings - one of a number of inner city riots (others included Toxteth in Liverpool, Moss Side in Manchester and Southall in Birmingham), associated with urban poverty and unemployment as well as race. | |
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1 June | Broadcasting Complaints Commission established under the 1980 Broadcasting Act, with remit to investigate complaints of misrepresentation and unfair treatment in broadcasts | |
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21 July | Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) is set up | |
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29 July | Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, broadcast on BBC and ITV and watched by more than 28 million viewers in UK alone | |
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8 September |  Only Fools and Horses (BBC), the most successful sitcom of the 1980s and 90s, begins a 15-year run.
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12 October | Brideshead Revisited (ITV) - sumptuous 11-part adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel is a critical and ratings smash, making stars of Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews and causing a shortlived boom in teddy bear sales. | |
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14 October | The BBC broadcasts the first episode of The Borgias, a ten-part historical drama series about the notorious Renaissance family. The series becomes equally notorious, as much for its casting (lead actor Adolfo Celi certainly looked the part, but barely spoke English - and it showed) as for its gratuitous sex and violence. | |
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23 October | The National Broadcasting Council for Northern Ireland inaugurated | |
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|  Jeremy Isaacs appointed the first Chief Executive of Channel 4, after a distinguished career as producer (The World at War) and Director of Programmes at Thames Television. He is responsible for both starting the channel and creating its highly distinctive blend of innovative and minority-interest programmes.
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