1979 in Scottish television explained

This is a list of events in Scottish television from 1979.

Events

• 16 March - The American educational series for preschoolers Sesame Street begins airing for the first time on Scottish Television.
• 3 May - Television coverage of the 1979 general election.
• 12 July - Garnock Way concludes after three years on air.^[1] It is axed to make way for Take the High Road,^[2] which would be shown across the ITV network. ITV had rejected Garnock Way because they wanted, in their words, "lots of Scotch Lochs and Hills".^[3] The new soap was a bigger budget affair and more in keeping with the 'tartan' perception of Scotland as it was deliberately set in a more beautiful part of Scotland.^[4]
• Unknown - BBC 1 Scotland airs Can Seo, a 20-part series teaching Scottish Gaelic. Can Seo means "Say This" in Gaelic.
• Unknown - Broadcast of the television film A Sense of Freedom about the Glasgow gangster Jimmy Boyle.

Debuts

BBC

• 13 June - The Omega Factor on BBC 1 (1979)
• Unknown - Can Seo on BBC 1 Scotland (1979)

ITV

• 16 March - Sesame Street on Scottish Television (1969–present)
• Unknown - A Sense of Freedom on Scottish Television (1981)

Television series

• Scotsport (1957–2008)^[5]
• Reporting Scotland (1968–1983; 1984–present)
• Top Club (1971–1998)
• Scotland Today (1972–2009)
• Sportscene (1975–Present)
• The Beechgrove Garden (1978–Present)

Ending this year

• 15 August - The Omega Factor (1979)
• Unknown - Garnock Way (1976–1979)

Births

• 23 January - Dawn Porter, television presenter and writer
• 28 January - Ainslie Henderson, singer-songwriter
• 2 February - David Paisley, actor
• 21 April - James McAvoy, actor

Deaths

• 9 July - Roddy McMillan, 56, actor and playwright
• 24 July - Archie Duncan, 65, actor^[6]

See also

• 1979 in Scotland

Notes and References

1. Web site: Garnock Way . STV Player . 24 May 2022 . en.
2. Web site: TV - the history of Scottish soaps.
3. Web site: Part 04: The Glendhu Factor . Duncan . Haldane . Transdiffusion.org . 4 May 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120302223808/http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/tvheroes/haldaneduncan/glendhu1.php . 2 March 2012 . dmy-all.
4. http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/tvheroes/haldaneduncan/glendhu1.php Historical detail
5. Book: McDevitt . Ronnie . Except for Viewers in Scotland: The Story of Scottish Football on Television . 2012 . Andrews UK Limited . 9781909143616 . 195 . en.
6. Web site: Archie Duncan . https://web.archive.org/web/20170807055405/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba59cbf5b . dead . August 7, 2017 . BFI . 2 June 2018 . en.