ABBA were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's name is an acronym of the first letters of their first names arranged as a palindrome. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the best-selling music acts in the history of popular music.
Have I Got News for You (HIGNFY) is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990. The programme focuses on two teams, one usually captained by Ian Hislop and one by Paul Merton, each plus a guest panelist, answering questions on various news stories on the week prior to an episode's broadcast. However, the programme's format focuses more on the topical discussions on the subject of the news stories related to questions, and the satirical humour derived from these by the teams. This style of presentation had a profound impact on panel shows in British TV comedy, making it one of the genre's key standard-bearers.
Blue Peter is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958 It was broadcast primarily from BBC Television Centre in London until September 2011, when the programme moved to dock10 studios at MediaCityUK in Salford, Greater Manchester. It is currently shown live on the CBBC television channel on Fridays at 5 pm. The show is also repeated on Saturdays at 11:30 am, Sundays at 9:00 am and a BSL version is shown on Tuesdays at 2:00 pm.
Shooting Stars is a British television comedy panel game broadcast on BBC Two as a pilot in 1993, then as three full series from 1995 to 1997, then on BBC Choice from January to December 2002 with two series before returning to BBC Two for another three series from 2008 until its cancellation in 2011. Created and hosted by double-act Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, it uses the panel show format but with the comedians' often slapstick, surreal and anarchic humour that does not rely on rules in order to function, with the pair apparently ignoring existing rules or inventing new ones as and when the mood takes them.
Top of the Pops 2 is a British television music show broadcast on BBC Two showing archive footage from the long-running Top of the Pops show, some dating back to the 1960s when the programme first aired on British television, as well as other surviving BBC programmes.
The Now Show is a British radio comedy programme on BBC Radio 4, which satirises the weekly news from 1998 to 2024. The show is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. It features regular appearances by Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin, a monologue by Marcus Brigstocke, and music by Mitch Benn, Pippa Evans or Adam Kay. Later series feature a wider range of contributors.
BBC World Service Television, often abbreviated to WSTV, was the name of two BBC international satellite television channels between 1991 and 1995. It was the BBC's first foray into worldwide television broadcasting. In Europe, it was the successor to BBC TV Europe, which it replaced on 11 March 1991. The service was also launched in Asia as a 24-hour news and information service with minor differences, a precursor to BBC World News, launched on 14 October 1991.
Disney Time is a television series that ran in the UK on the BBC, and also ITV at one point between 1961 and 1998. It was a regular holiday schedule filler. Clips of Disney films were introduced by celebrity hosts, which over the years included Paul and Linda McCartney, Noel Edmonds, Sarah Greene, Doctor Who's Tom Baker, The Goodies and Phillip Schofield.
Several portions of the long-running British science-fiction television programme Doctor Who are no longer held by the BBC. Between 1967 and 1978, the BBC routinely deleted archive programmes for various practical reasons—lack of space, scarcity of materials, and a lack of rebroadcast rights. As a result, 97 of 253 episodes from the programme's first six years are currently missing, primarily from seasons 3, 4 and 5, leaving 26 serials incomplete. Many more were considered lost until recovered from various sources, mostly overseas broadcasters.
The BBC Learning Zone was an educational strand run by the BBC as an overnight service on BBC Two. It broadcast programming aimed at students in Primary, Secondary and Higher Education as well as to adult learners. Viewers are encouraged to watch programmes after the original broadcast via the use of, originally VHS, then later DVD. In 2015, the BBC confirmed that due to budget cuts, the service would no longer be running.
"Chiquitita" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in January 1979 as the first single from Voulez-Vous (1979), the group's sixth album. Agnetha Fältskog performs the lead vocals. Originally, the track "If It Wasn't for the Nights" was going to be the album's lead single, but after "Chiquitita" was completed these plans were abandoned, and it remained an album track.
Harry Hill's TV Burp is a British television comedy series produced by Avalon Television, and written and hosted by comedian Harry Hill. The show ran for 11 series between 2001 and 2012 on ITV1. Each episode sees the host take a humorous look back at the previous week of programming on British television from a range of shows aired on terrestrial and digital channels.
The Late, Late Breakfast Show was a British variety show broadcast live on Saturday evenings from 4 September 1982 to 8 November 1986 on BBC1. It was presented by Noel Edmonds, initially with co-host Leni Harper, and also featured Mike Smith and John Peel. The "Give It a Whirl" segments featured dangerous stunts. Multiple serious injuries resulted from these stunts, including the death of Michael Lush in 1986. The show was cancelled in the aftermath of his death.
Saturday Kitchen is a "weekend food show" typically broadcast on Saturday mornings between 10:00 and 11:30 on BBC One.
TV Hell was a BBC2 theme night broadcast on 31 August 1992, showing a whole evening of archive television clips widely regarded by critics and the public alike as among the worst ever produced in Britain. It followed an unrelated series of archive theme nights called "TV Heaven", shown on Channel 4 earlier that same year.
Sounds of the 70s is the name of BBC radio programme, currently broadcast on Sundays on BBC Radio 2, with the Sounds of the Seventies name also having been used by BBC Television for a number of themed music compilations, now repeated on BBC Four.
The Eurovision Song Contest Previews are annually broadcast TV shows showcasing the entries into the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest. They were inaugurated in 1971 for the contest in Dublin, Ireland, and have been provided by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to all participating countries ever since.
Doctor Who: Thirty Years in the TARDIS is a special 50-minute television documentary celebrating the 30th anniversary of the science-fiction series Doctor Who. It was originally broadcast on Monday, 29 November 1993, on BBC1. The programme was the first BBC-produced, in-depth documentary chronicling Doctor Who since Whose Doctor Who was broadcast in April 1977, and it followed a 30-minute, categorized compilation of archive clips broadcast in 1992 on BBC2 entitled Resistance is Useless. The show featured many clips from the show's episodes, and interviews with the cast and crew. Several iconic scenes from the show were recreated, with young actor Josh Maguire playing the part of a child imagining himself involved in the settings.
Songs of Europe is a concert television programme commemorating the Eurovision Song Contest's twenty-fifth anniversary. The event was held in Mysen, Norway in 1981, featuring all but eight of the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest from its first edition in 1956 to 1981, and broadcast to more than 100 million viewers all over Europe.
