1984 in British radio

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Last updated July 11, 2024

This is a list of events in British radio during 1984.

Events

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.

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,^[1] 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.
22 January – Sounds of Jazz moves to BBC Radio 2 from BBC Radio 1.

February

No events.

March

No events.

April

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.^[2] The "Grand Finale of Radio 4's rollicking rolling experiment" takes place on 27 September^[3] 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.^[4]

July

27 July – David Jacobs chairs Any Questions? for the final time.
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.^[5]

August

August – Radio Forth becomes the first Independent Local Radio station to broadcast a part-time split service. It is Festival City Radio, which provides coverage of the 1984 Edinburgh Festival.

September

7 September – Commercial radio returns to Leicester, eleven months after Centre Radio went off air. The new service is provided by Leicester Sound.
14 September – John Timpson chairs Any Questions? for the first time.
23 September – Tony Blackburn – the first voice heard on Radio 1 – presents his final show for the station.^[6]
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"^[7] 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 6 am until 12:45 am.
- Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show is revamped and the children's requests element of the show is dropped.^[8]
30 September – The first edition of The Network Chart Show is broadcast. Aired on almost all of the UK's Independent Local Radio network, the programme is presented from the studios of Capital Radio by David Jensen. On the same day, Richard Skinner takes over from Simon Bates as host of BBC Radio 1's chart show.

October

1 October – Three commercial stations launch, bringing commercial radio to Kent (Invicta Sound), central Norfolk (Radio Broadland) and north Cambridgeshire, south Lincolnshire and west Norfolk (Hereward Radio).
13 October – BBC Radio 3's broadcast hours are extended. The station closes 40 minutes later – at midnight instead of 11:20 pm, and weekend broadcasts begin an hour earlier, at 6:55 am rather than 7:55 am. Consequently, the station is now on air from 6:55 am until midnight seven days a week.

November

No events.

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 has 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.^[9]

Station debuts

17 April – Viking Radio
7 September – Leicester Sound
1 October –
20 October – Radio Mercury

Programme debuts

4 April – Space Force on BBC (1984–1985)
? May – In One Ear on BBC Radio 4 (1984–1986)
3 August – Delve Special on BBC Radio 4 (1984–1987)

Continuing radio programmes

1940s

Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
Down Your Way (1946–1992)
Letter from America (1946–2004)
Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
A Book at Bedtime (1949–Present)

1950s

The Archers (1950–Present)
The Today Programme (1957–Present)
Sing Something Simple (1959–2001)
Your Hundred Best Tunes (1959–2007)

1960s

Farming Today (1960–Present)
In Touch (1961–Present)
The World at One (1965–Present)
The Official Chart (1967–Present)
Just a Minute (1967–Present)
The Living World (1968–Present)
The Organist Entertains (1969–2018)

1970s

PM (1970–Present)
Start the Week (1970–Present)
Week Ending (1970–1998)
You and Yours (1970–Present)
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1972–Present)
Good Morning Scotland (1973–Present)
Kaleidoscope (1973–1998)
Newsbeat (1973–Present)
The News Huddlines (1975–2001)
File on 4 (1977–Present)
Money Box (1977–Present)
The News Quiz (1977–Present)
Breakaway (1979–1998)
Feedback (1979–Present)
The Food Programme (1979–Present)
Science in Action (1979–Present)

1980s

Radio Active (1980–1987)
In Business (1983–Present)
Sounds of the 60s (1983–Present)

Closing this year

Births

21 February – Hannah Fry, mathematician and science broadcaster
9 March – Owain Wyn Evans, Welsh broadcaster
22 May – Clara Amfo, DJ
18 June – Kissy Sell Out, DJ, producer and graphic designer
14 August – Nick Grimshaw, music broadcast presenter
23 December – Dev (Griffin), DJ

Deaths

1 April – René Cutforth, broadcaster (born 1909)
25 June – Reg Dixon, comedian (born 1915)
11 July – Hugh Morton, actor (born 1903)
14 August – J. B. Priestley, novelist, playwright and wartime radio broadcaster (born 1894)
6 November – Seymour de Lotbiniere, pioneer of outside broadcasts (born 1905)

Related Research Articles

The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the long wave frequency which had earlier been used – prior to the outbreak of the Second World War on 1 September 1939 – by the BBC National Programme.

Heart Kent was an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Kent from studios at John Wilson Business Park in Whitstable.

<i>Wake Up to Wogan</i> Former British radio programme (1993–2009)

Wake Up to Wogan (WUTW) was the incarnation of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show that aired each weekday morning from 4 January 1993 to 18 December 2009. It was the most-listened-to radio show in the United Kingdom, and the flagship breakfast programme broadcast on BBC Radio 2. The show was presented by Terry Wogan, who had previously presented the breakfast show between 1972 and 1984, but the title WUTW was only added at the start of his second tenure. Wogan replaced Brian Hayes, who had hosted the breakfast show during 1992.

This is a list of events in British radio during 2009.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1999.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1998.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1997.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1993.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1992.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1991.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1989.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1988.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1986.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1985.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1982.

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 2, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.

The Radio 2 Breakfast Show refers to a range of programming on weekday mornings on BBC Radio 2 since the station's inception on 30 September 1967. The show's longest serving host to date was Sir Terry Wogan, who worked on the programme for over 29 years in 2 separate stints, from 3 April 1972 until 28 December 1984, and again from 4 January 1993 until 18 December 2009. The show's shortest serving host to date was Brian Hayes, who hosted the show from 6 January to 23 December 1992. Since 14 January 2019, the show is now hosted by Zoe Ball.

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 4, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 3, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.

References

↑ "The Glasgow Herald – Google News Archive Search".
↑ BBC Genome Project – BBC Radio 4 listings 5 April 1984
↑ BBC Genome Project – BBC Radio 4 listings 27 September 1984
↑ "Princess Margaret makes a guest appearance on The Archers 22 June 1984, History of the BBC". BBC. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
↑ BBC Genome Project - BBC Radio 2 listings 29 July 1984
↑ "BBC Radio 1 England – 23 September 1984 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
↑ BBC Genome Project – BBC Radio 4 listings 29 September 1984
↑ "Flashbak Digital Collection" . Retrieved 29 December 2014.
↑ "BBC Radio 2 – 28 December 1984 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2017.

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[1] "The Glasgow Herald – Google News Archive Search".

[2] BBC Genome Project – BBC Radio 4 listings 5 April 1984

[3] BBC Genome Project – BBC Radio 4 listings 27 September 1984

[4] "Princess Margaret makes a guest appearance on The Archers 22 June 1984, History of the BBC". BBC. Retrieved 9 September 2017.

[5] BBC Genome Project - BBC Radio 2 listings 29 July 1984

[6] "BBC Radio 1 England – 23 September 1984 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2017.

[7] BBC Genome Project – BBC Radio 4 listings 29 September 1984

[8] "Flashbak Digital Collection" . Retrieved 29 December 2014.

[9] "BBC Radio 2 – 28 December 1984 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2017.

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