Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed.
Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washington, D.C.
David Robert Starkey is an English historian, radio and television presenter, with views that he describes as conservative. The only child of Quaker parents, he attended Kendal Grammar School before reading history at Cambridge on a scholarship. There he specialised in Tudor history, writing a thesis on King Henry VIII's household. From Cambridge, he moved to the London School of Economics, where he was a lecturer in history until 1998. He has written several books on the Tudors.
Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver, rower and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1958 to 1975. Nicknamed "Mr. Monaco", Hill won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and—at the time of his retirement—held the record for most podium finishes (36); he won 14 Grands Prix across 18 seasons. In American open-wheel racing, Hill won the Indianapolis 500 in 1966 with Mecom. Upon winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1972 with Matra, Hill became the first—and to this date, only—driver to complete the Triple Crown of Motorsport.
The National Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.
Eleventh Hour is a four-part British television series developed by Granada Television for ITV, created by writer Stephen Gallagher.
The 1970 South African Grand Prix, formally titled the Fourth AA Grand Prix of South Africa, was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 7 March 1970. It was race 1 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was also the 14th and last Formula One victory for triple world champion Jack Brabham, and at age 43, was the last driver to win a Formula One race over the age of 40 until Nigel Mansell at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix.
Donald Alan Whicker was a British journalist and television presenter and broadcaster. His career spanned almost 60 years, during which time he presented the documentary television programme Whicker's World for over 30 years. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2005 for services to broadcasting.
Planet Earth is a 2006 nature documentary television miniseries produced as a co-production between the BBC Natural History Unit, BBC Worldwide, Discovery Channel and NHK, in association with CBC. Five years in the making, Planet Earth was the most expensive nature documentary series ever commissioned by the BBC and also the first to be filmed in high definition. The series received multiple awards, including four Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, and an award from the Royal Television Society.
The Last Chancers is British television sitcom, originally a one-off show screened under the Comedy Lab banner at 11:40pm on Thursday 21 November 2002. The show was later developed into a five-part series which was broadcast on E4 in December 2002. Currently the Channel 4 website has one series consisting of eight episodes listed.
Land of Giants and The Giant Claw, marketed together as Chased by Dinosaurs in the United States, are two special episodes of the nature documentary television series Walking with Dinosaurs. Created by Impossible Pictures and produced by the BBC Studios Science Unit, the Discovery Channel and ProSieben, The Giant Claw was first broadcast on 30 December 2002, followed by Land of Giants on 1 January 2003. The two episodes stars British wildlife presenter Nigel Marven as a "time-travelling zoologist", interacting with dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, a drastic change in presentation from preceding entries in the Walking with... franchise.
The Most Hated Family in America is a 2007 BBC documentary film written and presented by Louis Theroux about the family at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church. The organization was led by Fred Phelps and located in Topeka, Kansas. Westboro Baptist Church members believe that the United States government is immoral due to its tolerance of homosexuality; in addition, they protest at funerals of U.S. military killed in action with signs that display text such as "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers". With a BBC film crew, Theroux travelled to Kansas to spend time with members of the church and interview its leadership. Theroux interviews church leadership including Fred Phelps and Shirley Phelps-Roper.
Channel 5 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK and Australia division. It was launched in 30 March 1997 to provide a fifth national terrestrial channel in the United Kingdom.
Hancock and Joan is a 2008 British biographical television film based on the affair between the comedian Tony Hancock and Joan Le Mesurier, the third wife of actor John Le Mesurier. It was first transmitted on BBC Four on 26 March 2008 as part of the Curse of Comedy season. It features Ken Stott and Maxine Peake as the title characters, and Alex Jennings as John. Written by Richard Cottan, directed by Richard Laxton and produced by Simon Heath, it was made by World Productions for the BBC.
Twenty Twelve is a BBC television comedy series written and directed by John Morton. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes and Amelia Bullmore, the programme is a spoof on-location mockumentary following the organisation of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. It was first broadcast on UK television station BBC Four in March 2011 to coincide with the 500-day countdown to the opening ceremony.
The Village is a BBC television series written by Peter Moffat. The drama is set in a Derbyshire village in the early 20th century. The first series of what Moffat hoped would become a 42-hour televised drama following an extended family through the 20th century, was broadcast in spring 2013 and covered the years 1914 to 1920. A second series was broadcast in autumn 2014, and continued the story into the 1920s. The programme did not return after the second series.
Boom Town is a structured-reality television and comedy sketch show series produced by independent company Knickerbockerglory for BBC. It first aired on BBC Three in August and September 2013. Directed by Hannah Springham and produced by Jonathan Stadlen, the series features a cast of eccentrics playing their own alter-egos, including their "own catchphrases, eccentricities and larger than life personalities".
Planet Earth is a television and film documentary franchise produced and broadcast by the BBC. The franchise began in 2001 with the success of The Blue Planet. As of 2017, The Blue Planet has spawned 5 series and one feature film.
Three Girls is a three-part British television drama series written by Nicole Taylor and directed by Philippa Lowthorpe. It was broadcast on three consecutive nights between 16 and 18 May 2017 on BBC One. A co-production between BBC Studios and Studio Lambert, the series is a dramatised version of the events surrounding the Rochdale child sex abuse ring, and describes how the authorities failed to investigate allegations of rape because the victims were perceived as unreliable witnesses, and the local authorities didn’t investigate through fear of being accused of racism because of the ethnicity of the perpetrators.
