During the first half of 1984, the BBC conducts five trials of community stations in Greater Manchester. Each trial, which covers a specific area of Greater Manchester, lasts for a few weeks, broadcasts only on MW and operates for a few hours each day, opting out of BBC Radio Manchester.[1]
January
8 January – Simon Bates begins his second stint as host of BBC Radio 1's Sunday teatime Top 40 programme.
20 January – BBC Radio 2 makes changes to its schedule and following the decision not to renew the contract of long standing presenter Ed Stewart,[2] the year-long revival of Music While You Work ends. Gloria Hunniford takes over Ed's slot the following week and Steve Jones replaces Hunniford on the lunchtime show.
21 January – On Radio 2:
Overnight changes see the return of Nightride and the launch of A Little Night Music which, rather than have a named presenter, is instead hosted by that night's duty announcer. Both programmes replace You and the Night and the Music which had aired between 2am and 5am.
Ken Bruce joins the station as a regular presenter when he takes over as the new host of the Saturday late show.
5 April – BBC Radio 4 begins what is described in the Radio Times as "a new three-hour sequence – a six-month broadcast experiment in which you are invited to participate." The programme is called Rollercoaster and is presented by Richard Baker.[3] The "Grand Finale of Radio 4's rollicking rolling experiment" takes place on 27 September[4] and is not repeated.
May
No events.
June
22 June – Princess Margaret makes a guest appearance as herself in an episode of BBC Radio 4's The Archers, becoming the first member of the Royal Family to do so. The storyline involves her making a surprise guest appearance at a charity fashion show.[5]
29 July–11 August – BBC Radio 2 provides full coverage of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. In addition to hourly sports desks, each night the station broadcasts The Terry Wogan Olympics Show. The programme begins at 11pm and runs into the early hours.[6]
23 September – Tony Blackburn – the first voice heard on Radio 1 – presents his final show for the station.[7]
29 September –
The Radio 4 UK branding is dropped and the station is now officially simply known as Radio 4 and the station expands its broadcast day with the 6am start-time seven days a week - the 6.10am slot filled by Prelude, described as "musical start to your weekend listening"[8] and the post-midnight Shipping Forecast starts being broadcast 18 minutes later than before, moving to a start-time of 12.33am. Consequently, the station is now on air every day from just before 6am until 12:45am.
13 October – BBC Radio 3's broadcast hours are extended. The station closes 40 minutes later – at midnight instead of 11:20pm, and weekend broadcasts begin an hour earlier, at 6:55am rather than 7:55am. Consequently, the station is now on air from 6:55am until midnight seven days a week.
November
November–December – Son of Cliché, 2nd series, on BBC Radio 4, includes a recurring sketch stream "Dave Hollins: Space Cadet" which forms the basis for the television show Red Dwarf.[10]
December
4 December – Pennine Radio's broadcast area is expanded when the Bradford-based station starts broadcasting to Huddersfield and Halifax. The larger broadcast area comes shortly after the station had begun 24-hour broadcasting.
28 December – Terry Wogan ends his first run as presenter of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show. He will return to present the show between January 1993 and December 2009.[11]
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