1952 in British television explained

This is a list of British television related events from 1952.

Events

January

• 16 January – Sooty, Harry Corbett's glove puppet bear, first appears on the BBC Television Service.^[1]

February

• 1 February – The first TV detector van is demonstrated. It is designed to track down users of unlicensed television sets.^[2]
• 15 February – The funeral of King George VI is televised in the UK.

March

• 14 March – The BBC Television Service is launched in Scotland.

April

• No events.

May

• No events.

June

• No events.

July

• 20 July – Arrow to the Heart, the first collaboration between director Rudolph Cartier and scriptwriter Nigel Kneale, is broadcast on the BBC Television Service.

August

• 15 August – The original Wenvoe transmitting station in the Vale of Glamorgan begins transmitting BBC Television to south Wales and the west of England.^{[3] [4]}

September

• No events.

October

• No events.

November

• No events.

December

• 15 December – Children's puppet series Bill and Ben, The Flower Pot Men premieres on the BBC Television Service, de facto start of Watch with Mother (although this is not so named until April 1953).
• 20 December – The Wenvoe transmitting station begins broadcasting on full power.
• 31 December – BBC television ends the day with New Year's Eve Party from St Thomas' Hospital, London, hosted by Richard Dimbleby.^[5]
• December – For the Children comes to an end after 15 years in 2 separate runs.

Debuts

• 19 February – Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School (1952–1961)
• 15 March – The Broken Horseshoe (1952)
• 30 July – My Wife Jacqueline (1952)
• 2 October – The Appleyards (1952–1957)
• 25 October – Operation Diplomat (1952)
• 4 November – Huckleberry Finn (1952)
• 18 December – The Flower Pot Men (1952–1958, 2001–2002)
• 28 December – Markheim (1952)
• 30 December – The Silver Swan (1952-1953)
• Unknown
  • All Your Own (1952–1961)
  • Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? (1952–1959)
  • The Howerd Crowd (1952)

Continuing television shows

1920s

• BBC Wimbledon (1927–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–2024)

1930s

• Trooping the Colour (1937–1939, 1946–2019, 2023–present)
• The Boat Race (1938–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–present)
• BBC Cricket (1939, 1946–1999, 2020–2024)

1940s

• Kaleidoscope (1946–1953)
• Muffin the Mule (1946–1955, 2005–2006)
• Café Continental (1947–1953)
• Television Newsreel (1948–1954)
• The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971)
• Come Dancing (1949–1998)
• How Do You View? (1949–1953)

1950s

• Andy Pandy (1950–1970, 2002–2005)

Ending this year

• Picture Page (1936–1939, 1946–1952)
• For the Children (1937–1939, 1946–1952)

Births

• 29 January – Tim Healy, actor
• 2 March – John Altman, actor
• 4 April – Cherie Lunghi, actress
• 9 May – Patrick Ryecart, actor
• 22 June – Alastair Stewart, ITN journalist and newscaster
• 11 July – John Kettley, weatherman
• 22 September – Gary Holton, actor and musician (died 1985)
• 27 September – Rob Bonnet, BBC sports presenter and journalist
• 30 September – Jack Wild, actor (died 2006)
• 4 October – Kirsten Cooke, actress
• 9 October – Sharon Osbourne, music manager and promoter and television personality and presenter
• 3 December – Mel Smith, comic actor and director (died 2013)
• 10 December – Clive Anderson, comedy writer and radio and television personality
• 20 December – Jenny Agutter, actress

See also

• 1952 in British music
• 1952 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1952

External links

• List of 1952 British television series at IMDb

Notes and References

1. Book: Kynaston, David. David Kynaston

   . David Kynaston. Family Britain, 1951–57. London. Bloomsbury. 2009. 978-0-7475-8385-1. 458.

2. Web site: Test drive for TV detector vans. BBC On This Day. 19 May 2009. 1952-02-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20090510040206/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/1/newsid_2521000/2521357.stm. 10 May 2009 . live.
3. The Glamorgan Advertiser, Maesteg, 22 August 1952, page 9.
4. Book: Pawley, Edward. 1972. BBC Engineering 1922-1972. 374. BBC Publications. 0-563-12127-0.
5. Web site: Graham. McCann. Gang Aft Agley: The Day TV Broke Hogmanay. Comedy Chronicles. British Comedy Guide. 2021-12-30. 2022-01-01.