1978

1978
The first episode of Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm and The Nation Celebrated broadcast. BBC2's Planets featured The Royal Institution Annual Christmas Lectures to Young People with Carl Sagan. The Otter became a protected species in the UK. Bill Crain's The Kid From Not-So-Big - starring Barry Atwater, Veronica Cartwright, Buck Flower, John F Goff and Missy Gold and Tengiz Magalashvili's Незабываемый день - starring Ana Nijaradze - premiered.
The first episodes of Blake's 7 and Hunter's Gold broadcast. Well-known Scottish comedian Billy Connolly featured on Parkinson. Silver Spoon broadcast on BBC2.
The Sleeping Princess and Supermind broadcast. Alan Bleasdale's Scully's New Years Eve broadcast as part of the Play For Today strand. The Hot House and the first episode of Q7 broadcast on BBC2. The Ramones and The Motors appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Glad Day: A Celebration For William Blake and the fiorst episode of Dave Allen broadcast on Thames.
The first episode of A Traveller In Time broadcast. Forgotten Love Songs broadcast in BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. The first episode of Sounds Of Britain broadcast on Thames.
The first episode of BBC2's World Of Difference featured Noel Edmonds and John Stagge.
The first UK broadcast of The Helen Reddy Show on BBC2. The Sweet's 'Love Is Like Oxygen''Cober Girl', Heatwave's 'The Groove Line'/'Happiness Togetherness', Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers' 'The Morning Of Our Lives'/'Roadrunner (Thrice)', Real Thing's 'Whenever You Want My Love'/'Stanhope Street', Sandy Denny's 'Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor'/'This Train', Lenny Williams' 'Choosing You'/'Trust In Me' and XTC's 'Statue Of Liberty'/'Hang On To The Night' released. The first episode of An Audience With Jasper Carrott broadcast on LWT.
FA Cup Third Round day saw Leeds United fans invade the Elland Road pitch, in an - unsuccessful - attempt to get their match with Manchester City abandoned after the Yorkshire club went two-nil down. City's goalkeeper Joe Corrigan was assaulted by two hoodlums.

The first episodes of All Creatures Great & Small, The Living City and The Countrymen broadcast. The first episode of Credo broadcast on LWT.
The first episodes of The Object Of The Exercise, Ancestral Voices and Télé-Journal broadcast. The second test at Hyderabad ended in a draw. Haroon Rasheed scored his second century of the series whilst Geoff Boycott also hit a century. Leg-spinner Abdul Qadir took six wickets in England's first innings. Be Bop Deluxe's 'Panic In The World'/'Blue As A Jewel' released.
David Hare's Licking Hitler broadcast as part of the Play For Today strand. Peter & The Princess broadcast. The first episode of BBC2's Propaganda With Facts broadcast. Liverpool paid a British record three hundred and fifty two thousand smackers for Middlesbrough midfielder Graeme Souness.
Alan Bennett's A Visit From Miss Protheroe broadcast as part of BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. A North Sea storm surge wrecked four East Coast piers in the UK: Herne Bay, Margate, Hunstanton and Skegness. The first episode of Cloppa Castle broadcast on Thames.
Unemployment: Public Enemy Number One broadcast.
The first episode of Maggie & Her broadcast on LWT. David Bowie's 'Beauty & The Beast'/'Sense Of Doubt', Billy Joel's 'Just The Way You Are'/'Get It Right The First Time', Dan Hill's 'Sometimes When We Touch'/'Still Not Used To', Sammy Hagar's 'You Make Me Crazy'/'Reckless' and The Jacksons' 'Even Though You're Gone'/'Different Kind Of Lady' released.
The Sex Pistols played their final show (until 1996) at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom. ELO's 'Mister Blue Sky'/'One Summer Dream' released. The first episode of The South Bank Show broadcast on LWT.
David Mercer's Flint broadcast as part of the Play Of The Month strand. On Film 78, Barry Norman previewed International Velvet. The first episode of Ski Sunday broadcast on BBC2. One week after his arrival in Tallahassee, the escaped serial killer Ted Bundy entered Florida State University's Chi Omega sorority house. Where he bludgeoned Margaret Bowman, aged twenty one, with a piece of oak firewood as she slept, then garrotted her with a nylon stocking. He then entered the bedroom of twenty-year-old Lisa Levy and beat her unconscious, strangled her, tore one of her nipples, bit deeply into her left buttock and sexually assaulted her with a hair-spray bottle. In an adjoining bedroom he attacked Kathy Kleiner, breaking her jaw and Karen Chandler, who suffered a concussion and broken jaw. Both survived the attack; Kleiner later attributed their survival to car headlights illuminating the interior of their room and frightening away the attacker. Tallahassee detectives later determined that the four attacks took place in less than fifteen minutes, within earshot of more than thirty potential witnesses, all of whom heard nothing. After leaving the sorority house, Bundy broke into a basement apartment eight blocks away and attacked FSU student Cheryl Thomas, dislocating her shoulder and fracturing her jaw and skull in five places. She was left with permanent deafness and equilibrium damage which ended her dance career. On Thomas' bed, police found semen stains and a pantyhose 'mask' containing two hairs which were later linked to Bundy.
The first episode of Desmond Wilcox's Americans broadcast on BBC2. The firefighters strike ended after three months when fire crews accepted an offer of a ten per cent pay rise and reduced working hours. The first episode of Hazell Hazell Play Solomon - broadcast on ITV.
Alan Garner's Red Shift broadcast as part of the Play For Today strand. The first episode of John Fortune and John Wells' In The Looking Glass broadcast on BBC2. The first episode of Wilde Alliance - Question of Research - broadcast on LWT.
The first episode of It's Patently Obvious broadcast on BBC2. Rhys Adrian's Mr & Mrs Bureaucrat broadcast as part of BBC2's Play Of The Week. The European Court of Human Rights found the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
The first episode of BBC2's Men Of Ideas broadcast.
The first of ITV's occasional An Audience With ... ;was broadcast. The opening episode featured Jasper Carrott. XTC's White Music, Bee Gees' 'Stayin Alive'/'If I Can't Have You', Rod Stewart's 'Hot Legs'/'I Was Only Joking', Kate Bush's 'Withering Heights'/'Kite', Buzzcocks' 'What Do I Get?'/'Oh Shit', Magazine's 'Shot By Both Sides'/'My Mind Ain't So Open', Earth, Wind & Fire's 'Fantasy'/'Be Ever Wonderful', Jim Capaldi's 'Daughter Of The Night'/'Game Of Love', John Martyn's 'Dancing'/'Dealer Version', The Adverts' 'No Time To Be Twenty One'/'New Day Dawning', Parliament's 'Bop Gun (Endangered Species)'/'I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)', Deaf School's 'All Queued Up'/'Golden Showers', Richard Digance's 'Earl's A Winger'/'A Swallow Don't Make A Summer' and Gerry Rafferty's City To City released.
The first episode of The Les Dawson Show broadcast. Gentle Giant appeared on Sight & Sound In Concert. The first episode of Enemy At The Door and the first UK broadcast of Logan's Run on LWT.
Do Ya Know Where Jimmy Carter Live? and the Everyman film Where Have All The Flowers Gone? broadcast. The first episode of Dennis Potter's BBC2 adaptation of The Mayor Of Casterbridge broadcast. The first episode of The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie broadcast on LWT.
The third Pakistan/England test at Karachi was drawn. Phil Edmonds took seven for sixty six and Mike Gatting made his test debut.
Jim Allen's The Spongers broadcast as part of the Play For Today strand. The Soviet satellite Kosmos 954 burned up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering debris over Canada's Northwest Territories.
Don Shaw's Foreign Affairs broadcast as part of BBC2's Play Of The Week strand.
Walerian Borowczyk's Immagini Di Un Convento - starring Ligia Branice, Marina Pierro and Gabriella Giacobbe - premiered. Gene Simmons' 'Radioactive'/'When You Wish Upon A Star' released.
In an interview for Granada's World In Action, Leader of the Opposition That Awful Thatcher Woman said: 'People are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture.' Critics - rightly - regarded the comment as a veiled reference to race, pandering to xenophobia and reactionary sentiment. However, Thatcher reportedly received ten thousand letters - from bigots and scum - thanking her for 'raising the subject.' The Conservatives gained a lead over Labour in the opinion polls for the first time in three years. ABBA's 'Take A Chance On Me'/'I'm A Marionette', Snatch's 'All I Want'/'When I'm Bored' and The Stranglers' 'Five Minutes'/'Rok It To The Moon' released.
Come Along Nicely broadcast. Richard Chase, the Vampire of Sacremento, was arrested on six counts of murder.
The first episode of Hawkmoor broadcast.
The first episode of Terror International broadcast. Adam & The Ants debut session on The John Peel Show broadcast ('Deutscher Girls', 'Puerto-Rican', 'It Doesn't Matter', 'Lou').
David Edgar's Destiny broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The Wire's first session on The John Peel Show broadcast. Talking Heads appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test performing 'Don't Worry About The Government' and 'Psycho Killer'. Helen Rytka was murdered in Huddersfield; she was at least the eighth victim of The Yorkshire Ripper.
The Dissolution Of Marcus Fleishman broadcast as part of BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. Twenty eight year old John Toshack became the youngest manager in the Football League when he left Liverpool to become player-manager of Swansea City. Roman Polanski skipped bail in California and fled to France, after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a thirteen-year-old girl. Shaun Costello's Daughters Of Discipline - starring CJ Laing, Sharon Mitchell and Brenda Filbrick - premiered.
A Sacramento couple, Brian Maggiore and his wife, Katie, were walking their dog near where five East Area Rape attacks had occurred. The Maggiores fled after a confrontation with a man, but were chased and shot dead. Investigators suspected they had been murdered by The East Area Rapist because of their proximity to the other attacks' location and a shoelace was found nearby. This was confirmed with the arrest of Joseph DeAngelo in 2018.
Rosie Dixon, Night Nurse - starring Beryl Reid, John Le Mesurier, Arthur Askey, Debbie Ash, Liz Fraser, Lance Percival, John Junkin, Leslie Ash and Bob Todd - premiered. Squeeze's 'Take Me, I'm Yours'/'Night Nurse', Judy Street's 'What?'/'You Turn Me On', Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street'/'Big Change In The Weather', Tina Charles' 'I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me'/'Stop What You're Doing To Me' and Casino Classics: Three Before Eight EP (Tobi Legend 'Time Will Pass You By'/Dean Parrish 'I'm On My Way', Jimmy Radcliffe 'Long After Tonight Is All Over) released.
The Book Programme featured a profile of JG Ballard. The first UK TV showing of The Boston Strangler. In the Five Nations Championship, Wales beat England nine-six at Twickenham. Tom Clegg's Sweeney 2 - starring John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Denholm Elliott, Ken Hutchison, Anna Gaël, Lewis Fiander and Nigel Hawthorne - premiered.

The BBC's coverage of the World Darts Championship began, in the process making commentator Sid Waddell a household name. Blyth Spartans, of the Northern Premier League, defeated Second Division Stoke City three-two at the Victoria Ground to become the first non-league club to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup in twenty nine years. In another surprise result, Newcastle United were thrashed four-one in a replay by Wrexham. Hark Bohm's Moritz, Lieber Moritz - starring Michael Kebschull, Kyra Mladeck, Walter Klosterfelde and Elvira Thom - premiered.
The Adverts became the first punk band to appear on The Old Grey Whistle Test, introduced by Annie Nightingale. They were a last minute replacement for Blood, Sweat & Tears who cancelled after their saxophonist Greg Herbert died from a heroin overdose. 'At last, The 1978 Show!' noted TV Smith as The Adverts ploughed into a furious version of 'Bored Teenagers'. The first episode of Young Musician Of The Year broadcast.
The first episode of Phil Redmond's Grange Hill broadcast. The O'Hooligan File broadcast as part of BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. Deaf School were in session on The John Peel Show. In Jacksonville, Ted Bundy approached fourteen-year-old Leslie Parmenter, the daughter of the Police Department's Chief of Detectives, identifying himself as 'Richard Burton, Fire Department', but retreated when Parmenter's older brother arrived and challenged him. That afternoon, he drove to Lake City. The following morning, twelve-year-old Kimberly Dianne Leach was summoned to her homeroom by a teacher to retrieve a forgotten purse; she never returned to class. Seven weeks later, after an intensive search, her partially mummified remains were found in a pig farrowing shed near Suwannee River State Park. Reading's three-three draw with Torquey United in the Fourth Division saw the club debut of Martin Hicks - the first of six hundred and three games for The Royals in a career that lasted until 1991. In the process he broke Steve Death's appearance record for the club, established in 1982.
Julian Pettifer's Beyond The Great Wall broadcast. Gordon McQueen became Britain's first half-a-million pound footballer in a transfer from Leeds United to Manchester United. Ivan Mauger, clipped the wheel of Ole Olson's bike during the Golden Jubilee World Speedway Final at Wembley causing a spectacular crash. Thankfully, the New Zealander and the Swede were uninjured. Derek Jarman's Jubilee - starring Jenny Runacre, Ian Charleson, Jordan, Nell Campbell, Linda Spurrier, Toyah Willcox, Adam Ant, Richard O'Brien and Wayne County - premiered.
The final - shit weird! - episode of Gangsters broadcast. Petula & Songs Of Love broadcast on BBC2. Tubeway Army's debut 'That's Too Bad'/'Oh! Didn't I Say?', Greengage's 'Rosie'/'River', Queen's 'Spread Your Wings'/'Sheer Heart Attack' and Blondie's 'Denis'/'Contact In Red Square', 'Kung Fu Girls' released.
Tim Aspinall's Horizon episode Not The Cheapest But The Best - featuring Leonard Rossiter as Isambard Kingdom Brunel - broadcast. Gilbert O'Sullivan and Chris De Burgh appeared on a Sight & Sound In Concert which wou;d've been well worth avoiding.
Frankie Howerd appeared on Film 78 in a desperate - but doomed - attempt to justify his appearance in the recently released Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Alan Price's Kelly broadcast as part of BBC2's The Lively Arts strand.
The first episode of James Galway's World Of Music broadcast on BBC2. Anna Ford became the first female newsreader on ITN. An opinion poll conducted for the Daily Scum Mail showed the Conservative opposition eleven points ahead of the Labour government. The turnaround in fortunes for the Tories was widely attributed to That Awful Thatcher Woman's recent - sick racist - comments on immigration. The Hazell episode Hazell Meets The First Eleven broadcast on Thames.
Caryl Churchill's The After-Dinner Joke broadcast. XTC appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test, Andy Partridge told the camera crew to 'pop yer acid-spangle in there, we're gonna do a Rita Coolidge number!' Instead, they played a great version of 'Statue Of Liberty'.
Sean McCarthy's The Turkey Who Lives On The Hill broadcast in BBC2's Play Of The Week. The serial killer Ted Bundy was arrested in Pensicola, Florida by police officer David Lee near the Alabama state line after a check showed the Volkswagen Beetle he was driving was stolen. When told he was under arrest, Bundy kicked Lee's legs from under him and took off running. Lee fired a warning shot, gave chase and tackled Bundy to the ground. In the stolen vehicle were three sets of IDs belonging to female FSU students and numerous stolen credit cards. Lee transported his suspect to jail, unaware that he had just arrested one of the FBI's Most Wanted Fugitives. He later reported that Bundy told him: 'I wish you had killed me.' Hal Ashby's Coming Home premiered. New Zealand won the first of a three test series against England at seventy two runs. In a low-scoring game, England were set a target of one hundred and thirty six in the fourth innings but were dismissed for sixty four (Ian Botham top-scoring with nineteen). Richard Hadlee took six for twenty six and ten wickets in the match.
Muhammad Ali faced Leon Spinks at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. Ali sparred less than two dozen rounds in preparation for the fight, was seriously out of shape and lost his World Heavyweight title on split decision.

The first episode of A Life At Stake broadcast. Inflation fell to under ten per cent, the first time since 1973 that it has been in single figures. Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts, The Clash's 'Clash City Rockers'/'Jail Guitar Doors', Kate Bush's The Kick Inside, Bob Marley & The Wailers' 'Is This Love?'/'Crisis (Version)', Hot Chocolate's 'Every One's A Winner'/'Power Of Love', Culture's 'Jah Pretty Face'/'Natty Dread Taking Over', Deaf School's 'Thunder & Lightning'/'Working Girls', (John) Cameron's 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (Disco Version)'/'Near Miss', Wreckless Eric's 'Reconnez Cherie'/'Rags & Tatters', Devo's 'Jocko Homo'/'Mongoloid', Raffaella Carrà's 'Do It, Do It Again'/'A Far L'Amore Comincia Tu' and Nick Lowe's 'I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass'/'They Call it Rock' released. Captain & Tennille broadcast on BBC2. The body of the final Hillside Strangler victim was discovered in Los Angeles, when a helicopter pilot spotted an orange Datsun abandoned midway down a cliff on the Angeles Crest Highway. Police discovered the naked body of twenty-year-old Cindy Lee Hudspeth in the trunk. Hudspeth's murder had initially been unplanned. Kenneth Bianchi had arrived at his cousin Angelo Buono's upholstery shop at closing time on 16 February to discover Hudspeth in the company of Buono, discussing work she wished him to perform on her car. The two men then opted to make her their tenth known victim. Rory Michael Kinnear born in Hammersmith.
Twenty suspects were arrested in connection with the Provisional Irish Republican Army's La Mon restaurant bombing in County Down which had killed twelve people and injured thirty. Blyth Spartans conceded a last-minute equaliser to Wrexham in a one-all draw at the Racecourse Ground which denied them a place in the FA Cup Quarter Finals.
The first episode of Man & Boy broadcast. The first UK broadcast of the Columbo episode Ransom For A Dead Man on LWT.
Severe blizzards hit the South West of England. Magazine appeared in session on The John Peel Show on Radio 1. Julia Jentsch born in West Berlin. The first episode of A Sharp Intake Of Breath and Warrior Queen broadcast on Thames.
The first episode of BBC2's On The Rocks broadcast. The first episode of Rachel In Danger broadcast in Thames's Armchair Thriller strand.
Don Taylor's Flayed broadcast as part of BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. Ron Greenwood's first match as permanent England manager ended in a two-one defeat to West Germany in München. Stuart Pearson scored for the visitors, MSV Duisburg's Ronnie Worm and Rainer Bonhof of Borussia Mönchengladbach for the hosts. Scotland defeated Bulgaria two-one at Hampden Park with goals from Archie Gemmill and, having his debut, Ian Wallace. The latter's Coventry City team-mate Jim Blyth and Aberdeen's Stuart Kennedy also made their international debuts.
On Top Of the Pops, Legs & Co interpreted Free's 'All Right Now' dressed as naughty schoolgirls, introduced by future convicted sex offender Dave Lee Travis. Wrong on all sorts of levels. The first episode of Living In The Past broadcast on BBC2. Siouxsie & The Banshees were in session on The John Peel Show ('Hong Kong Garden', 'Overground', Carcass', 'Helter Skelter').
The first episode of Going Straight, the sequel to Porridge, broadcast. The TV debut of Kevin Whately in the schools drama Out Of The Past. The hideously-named Blackcurrent featured performances by The Real Thing, Desmond Dekker, Hi Tension and Billy Paul. Alan Plater's The Eddystone Lights broadcast as part of the Horizon strand. Slade's 'Give Us A Goal'/'Daddio', Nottingham Forest With Paper Lace's 'We Got The Whole World In Our Hands'/'The Forest March', Slaughter & The Dogs' 'Quick Joey Small (Run Joey Run)'/'Come On Back', The Vibrators' 'Automatic Lover'/'Destroy', Wild Honey's 'At The Top Of The Stairs (Parts 1 & 2)', Subs' 'Gimme Your Heart'/'Party Clothes', Leon Haywood's 'Baby Reconsider'/'Would I?' and The Jam's 'News Of The World'/'Aunties & Uncles (Impulsive Youths)', 'Innocent Man' released.
The first episode of Hit The Note! broadcast. The first episode of Radio 4's On The Town broadcast.
Wrexham finally ended the FA Cup run of Blyth Spartans beating them two-one in a replay at St James' Park, Newcastle. Blondie's Plastic Letters released. Harry Seacombe's World Of Music broadcast on BBC2. The first global positioning satellite, the Rockwell International-built Navstar 1, was launched.
Kay MacManus's The Portrait broadcast as part of the Playhouse strand. The first episode of Pebble Mill Showcase - introduce by Norman Vaughan - broadcast on BBC2. Eddie & The Hot Rods appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test.
The first episode of The Hong Kong Beat broadcast. She Fell Among Thieves broadcast as part of BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. England won the second test at Christchurch by one hundred and seventy four runs. The game was a personal triumph for Ian Botham who scored his maiden test century, took eight wickets and provided the single funniest moment in test cricket history, running out Geoff Boycott as England chased a declaration in their second innings. England had gained a first innings lead of one hundred and eighty three and fast runs were required on the fourth afternoon. Boycott - captaining the side in place of the injured Mike Brearley - crawled to twenty six off eighty balls. Ewen Chatfield then ran out Derek Randall when the batsman left his crease before the bowler had released the ball. Bob Willis, the vice-captain, furious and frustrated by Boycott's stonewalling, promoted Botham in the batting order with the now famous instruction, 'Run the bugger out.' Botham pushed the ball to short extra cover and called Boycott for an impossible single. Boycott, stunned beyond belief, kept muttering 'What have you done?' Botham went on to hit a quick thirty before Willis blew away the Kiwi batting (four for fourteen). Clive Radley made his test debut. The first episode of Send In The Girls broadcast on Thames. Alain Payet's Les Partouzes De Madame Paule - starring Emmanuelle Parèze, Marie-Thérèse Vanderrieste, Lucie Doll and Dominique Aveline - premiered.
Soyuz Twenty Eight was launched on a rendezvous with Salyut Six, with the first cosmonaut from a country besides the Soviet Union and the United States, Czechoslovak citizen Vladimír Remek. The Patti Smith Group's 'Because The Night'/'God Speed' released. Teenage Dublin four-piece U2 - still, at this stage, known as The Hype - made their first TV appeared in Ireland on the RTE talent show Youngline. Peter Collinson's Tomorrow Never Comes - starring Oliver Reed, Susan George, Raymond Burr, Donald Pleasence and John Osborne - premiered.
The Patti Smith Group's Easter, Suburban Studs' 'I Hate School'/'Young Power', Jambo's 'The Theme From Close Encounters Of The Third Kind'/'Even Closer', Richard Myhill's 'It Takes Two To Tango'/'I Wanna Know Why', Manfred Mann's Earth Band's 'Mighty Quinn'/'Tiny', The MVP's 'Turnin' My Heartbeat Up'/'Every Man For Herself' and Elvis Costello & The Attractions' '(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea'/'You Belong To Me' released. The New York Post published an article on David Rorvik's book The Cloning Of Man, about a supposed cloning of a human being. The first episode of Mixed Blessings broadcast on LWT.
The Tom Robinson Band and Sad Cafe appeared on BBC2's Sight & Sound In Concert.
Edward Bond's The Sea broadcast as part of the Play Of The Month strand. Driving To Win and Return To Sula broadcast. 'Wuthering Heights', by Kate Bush, reached number one, making her the first woman to have a self-written UK chart topper.
Panorama: Who Really Killed Kennedy? broadcast. The King's Singers World Of Music broadcast on BBC2. Buzzcocks' Another Music In A Different Kitchen released.

The first episode of Dennis Potter's Pennies From Heaven broadcast. Blondie appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test.
The Sky At Night looked at the Mars Viking probes. The first episode of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy broadcast on Radio 4. Francis Leroi's Lèche-Moi Partout - starring Jean-Pierre Armand, Richard Bigotini, Karine Gambier, Agnès Lemercier and Dominique Aveline - premiered.
The first episode of Breakaway Girls broadcast.
The first episode of BBC2's Heads & Tails broadcast. The third test at Auckland was drawn. Clive Radley scored one hundred and fifty eight whilst New Zealalnd's captain, Geoff Howarth, hit two centuries in the match. Brian De Palma's The Fury - starring Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes and Amy Irving - premiered. Stiff Little Fingers' 'Suspect Device'/'Wasted Life', Richard Denton & Martin Cook's 'Theme From Hong Kong Beat'/'Chasing The Dragon', The Ramones' 'Do You Wanna Dance?'/'It's A Long Way Back To Germany', 'Cretin Hop', John Otway's 'Geneve'/'It's A Long Long Time Since I Heard Homestead On The Farm', Showaddywaddy's 'I Wonder Why'/'Ever Lovin', Child's 'When You Walk In The Room'/'Stay With Me', Scotland Sons' 'Hey Argentina'/'Flower Of Scotland' and Steamboat Row's 'On To Victory'/'Tartan Tammies' released.
The first episode of Something Else broadcast on BBC2 featuring the Clash performing 'Clash City Rockers' and 'Tommy Gun' in their only televised performance for the BBC. John Miles featured on Sight & Sound In Concert. Roger McGough's Portrait of A City broadcast in Radio 4's On The Town strand. West Bromwich Albion beat Nottingham Forest at The Hawthorns in the FA Cup Sixth Round. Arsenal beat Wrexham three-two and Ipswich Town won six-one at Millwall in a game interrupted by crowd trouble.
Educate, Agitate, Organise! broadcast. The first episode of The Doombolt Chase - Court Of Shame - broadcast on LWT.
The first showing of Sunday Bloody Sunday on TV. Michael Winner's piss-poor adaptation of The Big Sleep - starring Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Richard Boone, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, Edward Fox and James Stewart - premiered.
John Tully's Big Little Pete broadcast as part of the Playhouse strand.
John Fletcher's Stargazy On Zummerdown broadcast as part of BBC2's Play Of The Week strand.
The five hundredth episode of Tomorrow's World broadcast. The Prime Minister criticised teachers for taking protest action after the government had referred their current dispute to arbitration. Many schools were forced to close because of unruly behaviour by pupils left without supervision at lunchtime. In one Warwickshire school, fifty children, including some girls, who barricaded themselves in a classroom were each given the cane. Three schools in Telford were closed for a 'cooling off' period after education officials claimed that 'control over the pupils had been lost.' A Leicester school was closed because its headmaster said the pupils had been 'acting like hooligans.' The former Italian Premier Aldo Moro was kidnapped by Brigate Rosse terrorists; five of his bodyguards were killed.
Gwenlyn Parry's Grand Slam broadcast. Generation X's eponymous debut LP, Chris Rea's 'Fool (If You Think It's Over)'/'Midnight Love', Ruby Winters' 'Come To Me!'/'Treat Me Right', Willie Hutch's 'Love Runs Out'/Bobby Hutton 'Lend A Hand', George Benson's 'On Broadway'/'We As Love', Steely Dan's 'Peg'/'I Got The News', Mud's 'Cut Across Shorty'/'We've Got To Know', Ernie Graham's 'Romeo & The Lonely Girl'/'Only Time Will Tell', Eddie & The Hot Rods' 'Life On The Line'/'Do Anything You Wanna Do' and Elvis Costello & The Attractions' This Year's Model released. The Channel Isles were on alert after the stricken tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground off Brittany spilling fifty thousand tons of crude oil into the sea.
The League Cup final ended in a goalless draw between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Gallagher & Lyle featured on Sight & Sound In Concert. California Jam II was held at the Ontario Motor Speedway. Over three hundred thousand punters paid good money to see Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Santana, Dave Mason, Foreigner, Heart and other long-haired, noisy hippies. Go figure. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the deposed Prime Minister of Pakistan, was sentenced to death for ordering the assassination of a political opponent. Alfredo Sternheim's Mulher Desejada - starring Kleber Afonso, Ivete Bonfá and Tim Carlos - premiered.
The first episode of The Boy From 5B broadcast. The first TV showing of The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins.
Michael Parkinson Meets Bruce Forsyth broadcast. Graham Parker & The Rumour appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Derek Ford's What's Up, Superdoc! - starring Harry H Corbett, Melvyn Hayes, Hughie Green and Bill Pertwee - premiered.
Liza broadcast as part of BBC2's Play of The Week strand. Nottingham Forest beat Liverpool in the League Cup final replay at Old Trafford, thanks to a penalty from John Robertson.
Hartlepool United defender Dave Wiggett was killed in a car crash aged twenty. He was a passenger in a car driven by his teammate Bob Newton who was, later, jailed for nine months for causing death by reckless driving. Bob Marley & The Wailers Kaya released.
The Man Who Talks To Animals broadcast. The first UK TV showing of The Forbin Project. The Rutles' 'I Must Be In Love'/'Cheese & Onions', 'With A Girl Like You', Wings' 'With A Little Luck'/'Backwards Traveller', 'Cuff Link', Rainbow's 'Long Live Rock 'N' Roll'/'Sensitive To Light', Andy Cameron's 'Ally's Tartan Army'/'I Want To Be A Punk Rocker', Subway Sect's 'Nobodys Scared'/'Dontsplitit', Bone Idol's 'The Roar Of The Lion (Ole Ally)'/'I Don't Know What To Do', Rita Wright's 'Love Is All You Need'/'Touch Me Take Me', Maggie Bell's 'Hazell'/'Night Fighting', Keanya Collins' 'Barnabus Collins - Love Bandit'/'I Call You Daddy', Parliament's 'Flash Light'/'Swing Down Sweet Chariot' and Helter Skelter's 'I Need You'/'Goodbye Baby' released. At Royds Hall Secondary School in Huddersfield twenty four pupils were caned for staging a sit-in. Chanting 'No school dinners,' they had barricaded themselves in a classroom during break. Meanwhile, police investigated 'a mass strapping incident' at Blaydon Comprehensive. Eleven-year-old David Powton told the local press: 'I couldn't sit down afterwards.' His mother, Sylvia, added: 'I examined his bottom. It was all black and blue.' Israel's Premier Menachem Begin returned from a summit with President Carter at which he refused to yield to demands for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza. UN troops were sent into South Lebanon as Palestinian guerrillas fought with the occupying Israeli army. Sinn Fein vice-president David O'Connell avoided security checkpoints to speak at a rally in Londonderry. A union dispute halted publication of The Times. Kidnapped industrialist Baron Edouard-Jean Empain was freed after one of his abductors was shot by French police. A court ordered the seizure of four hundred and fifty thousand quid held in the foreign bank accounts of Christine Bott, Henry Todd and Brian Cuthbertson, jailed for the manufacture and supply of LSD after being arrested during Operation Julie. Nina Bowden's sequel to Carrie's War, Rebel On The Rocks was published. Roddy Llewellyn flew into Heathrow from Barbados and stated his intention to 'carry on' dating Princess Margaret. Critics had called for the Princess's thirty five grand Civil List allowance to be cut claiming 'she doesn't earn it.'
Oxford won The Boat Race whilst - for only the fifth time in the race's history - Cambridge sank. Steel Pulse and XTC featured on Sight & Sound In Concert.
The body of Yvonne Pearson, last seen alive on 21 January, was found in Bradford, another victim of The Yorkshire Ripper.
The first UK broadcast of Eric Idle and Neil Innes's The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, a parody of The Beatles story which featured George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Paul Simon and Ronnie Wood. The first UK broadcast of Victory At Entebbe. Michael Bentine appeared on The Sky At Night. BBC2's Open Door featured Ulysses, 'an original rock opera performed by Shelburne Girls' School in North London.'
The George Burns One-Man Show broadcast. The Vet and The Man Alive Report: Girls Behind Bars broadcast on BBC2. The first UK broadcast of the Columbo episode Old Fashioned Murder on LWT.
Max Bygraves - This Is Your Lunch broadcast. David Mercer's For Tea On Sunday broadcast as part of BBC2's Play Of The Week strand.
Choices For Tomorrow broadcast on BBC2. The Conservative Party recruited the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi to revamp their image.
Life At Stake's memorable reconstruction of the Apollo 13 crisis, Houston ... We've Got A Problem broadcast. The first episode of BBC2's Hinge & Bracket broadcast. Wings' London Town, Japan's Adolescent Sex, Nick Lowe's Jesus of Cool, Jim Capaldi's 'Sealed With A Kiss'/'Had A Dream Today', KC & The Sunshine Band's 'Boogie Shoes'/'I Get Lifted', The Pleasers' 'The Kids Are Alright'/'Stay With Me', Bunk Dogger's 'You Know The Sandman'/'As Long As It Lasts', Judy Street's 'What?'/'You Turn Me On', The Boomtown Rats' 'She's So Modern'/'Lying Again', Elton John's 'Ego/'Flinstone Boy' and The Rutles released.
Lucius won The Grand National. Britain's first official naturist beach opened at Fairlight Glen in Covehurst Bay near Hastings.
George Farquhar's The Beaux Stratagem broadcast as part of the Play Of The Month strand.
Permanent radio broadcasts of proceedings in the House of Commons begin. Joy Division's An Ideal For Living EP ('Warsaw', 'No Love Lost'/'Leaders Of Men', 'Failures'), The Only Ones' 'Another Girl, Another Planet'/'As My Wife Says', Co-Co's 'Bad Old Days'/'Get You Out Of My Life', Gemini's 'Falling In Love'/'Dai-Li-Dou', Devo's '(I Cån't Gèt Mé Nö) Såtisfactiön'/'Slöppy (I Såw My Baby Gétting)', Tania Tsanaklidou's 'Charlie Chaplin'/'Greek Version', Seija Simola's 'Give Love A Chance'/'Little Smile', The Rezillos' 'Cold Wars (Have Cooled Me Down)'/'The William Mysterious Overture (Twenty Thousand Rezillos Under The Sea)', Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge's 'I Fought The Law'/'Hoola Hoop' and Springtime's 'Mrs Caroline Robinson'/'Honey Bye Bye' released. The first episode of Rumpole Of The Bailey - Rumpole & The Younger Generation - broadcast on LWT.
The first episodes of Stopwatch and The Standard broadcast. The Patti Smith Group and The Vibrators appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Louis Malle's Pretty Baby - starring Brooke Shields, Keith Carradine and Susan Sarandon - premiered. Frank McLintock was sacked as manager of Leicester City with the club currently bottom of the First Diviison. Assisant Ian MacFarlane took over as caretaker.
The first episode of GF Newman's Law & Order broadcast on BBC2.

A Tale of Three Cities broadcast on BBC2. Jack Gold's The Medusa Touch - starring Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, Lee Remick, Harry Andrews, Derek Jacobi, Gordon Jackson, Jeremy Brett and Michael Hordern and Michael Winner's The Big Sleep - starring Robert Mitchum, Sarah miles and Joan Collins - premiered. The Bee Gees' 'Night Fever'/'Down The Road', Boney M's 'Rivers Of Babylon'/'Brown Girl In The Ring', Jane Aire & The Belvederes' 'Yankee Wheels'/'Nasty Nice', Mickey Jupp With Legend's 'My Typewriter'/'Nature's Radio' and The Jolt's 'What'cha Gonna Do About It?'/'Again & Again' released.
The Back Page broadcast as part of BBC2's Second City Firsts strand. The Byrds Reunion Concert featured on Radio 1's In Concert, with The Gene Clark Band, The Chris Hillman Band and Roger McGuinn's Thunderbyrds. Mabel's 'Boom-Boom'/'FBI On The Nail' and Mickey Jupp With Legend's 'My Typewriter'/'Nature's Radio' released.
Spirit Of Place: Lawrence Durrell's Egypt broadcast on BBC2.
The first episode of Cheggers Plays Pop broadcast.
The Crowded Sky broadcast.
The first episode of The Canal Children and the first series of Think Of A Number broadcast.
The first UK broadcast of Laff-A-Lympics. The first episode of Face Values broadcast. Eloy De La Ingesia's El Sacerdote - starring Simón Andreu - premiered.
The first episode of Potter's Picture Palace, the first UK broadcast of The Feather & Father Gang and It's A Miner's Knockout. Ian Dury & The Blockheads' 'What A Waste'/'Wake Up & Make Love To Me!', Buzzcocks' 'I Don't Mind'/'Autonomy', Five Hand Reel's 'My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose'/'Pinch Of Snuff', The Jook's 'Watch Your Step', 'La La Girl'/'Aggravation Place', 'Everything I Do', XTC's 'This Is Pop?'/'Heatwave', Magazine's 'Touch & Go'/'Goldfinger', T Rex's 'Crimson Moon'/'Jason B Sad', Lenny Williams' 'Look Up With Your Mind'/'Riding The High Wire', The Lovelites' 'Get It Off My Conscience'/'Oh, What A Day?' and The Stranglers' 'Nice 'N' Sleazy'/'Shut Up' released. Michelle Duncan born in Perth.
Mary O'Malley's Shall I See You Now? broadcast as part of BBC2's Second City Firsts strand. Leicester City's relegation from the First Division was confirmed with a four-one defeat at home to Birmingham City.
The first UK broadcast of The Trial Of Lee Harvey Oswald.
The first episode of Pickersgill People and Arena: When Is A Play Not A Play? broadcast. Buzzcocks were in session on The John Peel Show. Newcastle United lost at Aston Villa and were relegated to the Second Division for the first time since 1965.
A goal from Kevin Keegan gave England a one-all draw against Brazil in a friendly international at Wembley.
The first UK broadcast of Petrocelli. The first episode of That's The Way The Money Goes broadcast. Sandy Denny died from a traumatic brain haemorrhage probably caused by a fall down a staircase in Cornwall some weeks earlier. Her former Fairport Convention band-mate Richard Thompson wrote 'Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed?' about her death. The Police's 'Roxanne'/'Peanuts', X-Ray Spex's 'The Day The World Turned Dayglo'/'I Am A Poseur', Johnny Beattie's 'Viva El Ally (Y Viva España)'/'Fitba' Crazy', Bryan Ferry's 'What Goes On?'/'Casanova', The Tony Hatch Orchestra's 'Sweeney II (Theme From The Film)'/'Regan's Key', Jean Vallée's 'Goodbye'/'L'Amour Ca Fait Chanter La Vie', Caline & Olivier Toussaint's 'The Garden Of Monaco'/'Les Jardins De Monaco', Baccara's 'Parlez-Vous Francais?'/'You & Me (Amoureux)', Björn Skifs' 'When The Night Comes'/'Don't Stop Now', Harmony's 'It's OK'/'Bim Bam Bom', Wigans Ovation's 'After Loving You'/'People Of The World' and Joel Prevost's 'Il Y Aura Toujours Des Violons'/'Somewhere Sometime' released.
The Eurovision Song Contest was won by Izhar Cohen & The Alpha-Beta, representing Israel, with 'A-Ba-Ni-Bi'. Britain's entry, a miserably lightweight piece of crap called 'The Bad Old Days' by Co-Co came eleventh, Britain's worst performance at Eurovision since 1966 and the beginning of many long years abject failure to come. The first UK broadcast of The Mickey Mouse Club. The first episode of BBC2's Don't Quote Me broadcast. Tom Hadaway's The Lady Irene broadcast as part of the Second City Firsts strand. The One Love Peace Concert was held in Jamaica, headlined by Bob Marley, making his first concert appearance since December 1976. Nottingham Forest sealed the First Division title and became only the third club in history to do so a year after winning promotion. They got the point they needed to guarantee the championship with four matches left via a goalless draw with Coventry City. Brian Clough became only the second manager in history to lead two different clubs to the title. Thanks to a transfer budget funded by Elton John's record sales, Graham Taylor guided Watford to the Fourth Division title by an eleven-point margin to repeat the promotion success Taylor had achieved at Lincoln City two seasons earlier.
Danton's Death broadcast as part of the Play Of The Month strand. The first episodes of The Game Of The Century and Cross Question broadcast. The first episode of Come Back, Lucy broadcast on LWT.
Ireen Sheer's 'Fire'/'Feuer' released.
Lauren Cecilia Fisher born in Sunderland. Lindisfarne's 'Run For Home'/'Stick Together', Alan Parker's 'Angels (Theme From BBC Series)'/'Santa Monica Bound', Ipswich Town FC's 'Ipswich, Ipswich (Get That Goal)'/'The Ipswich Song', Telephone Bill & The Smooth Operators's 'Cruisin'/'Pinball Wizard', Sham 69's 'Angels With Dirty Faces'/'The Cockney Kids Are Innocent', Jose Velez's 'Bailemos Un Vals (Voulez Vous Danser Avec Moi?)'/'Si Tu Fueras Mia', The Dooleys' 'Don't Take It Lyin' Down'/'Forever', Rufus Lumley's 'I'm Standing'/'Let's Hide Away (Me & You)', Blondie's '(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear'/'Poets Problem', 'Detroit 442' and Elvis Costello & The Attractions' 'Pump It Up'/'Big Tears' released.
The first episode of Scorpion Tales broadcast on LWT.
The first episode of BBC2's The Devil's Crown broadcast. Quentin Masters' adaptation of The Stud - starring Joan Collins, Oliver Tobias and Sue Lloyd - premiered.
The first episode of Little & Large broadcast. Though, tragically, not the last. Peer McDougall's Tarry Dan, Tarry Dan broadcast. The first episode of BBC2's The Much Loved Music Show broadcast. Billy Connolly In Concert broadcast. May Day became an official Bank Holiday in Britain for the first time.
The first episode of A Woman's Place broadcast on BBC2. Subsequently convicted sex offender Dave Lee Travis (and his hairy cornflake) succeeded Noel Edmonds as presenter of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. The London Underground Jubilee line was opened. Lee Kosmin's 'Ain't No Way'/'How Fine I Feel' released. Norman J Warren's Terror - starring John Nolan, Carolyn Courage, James Aubrey, Glynis Barber, William Russell, Michael Craze, Tricia Walsh and Sarah Keller premiered.
Don Taylor's When The Actors Come broadcast as part of the Play Of The Week strand on BBC2.
The Issue Should Be Avoided - Robert Vas's documentary about the 1939 Katyn Forest Massacre - broadcast on BBC2.
Jan Darnley-Smith's A Hitch In Time - starring Michael McVey, Pheona McLellan, Patrick Troughton, Jeff Rawle, Sorcha Cusack and Ronnie Brody - premiered. Izhar Cohen & The Alpha-Beta's 'A-Ba-Ni-Bi'/'Illusions', Tina Charles' 'Fire Down Below'/'With My Head In The Clouds', The Members' 'Solitary Confinement'/'Rat Up A Drainpipe', Colm CT Wilkinson's 'Born To Sing'/'Simple Things In Life', Art Attacks' 'I Am A Dalek'/'Neutron Bomb', Be Bop Deluxe's 'Electrical Language'/'Surreal Estate', Clout's 'Substitute'/'When Will You Be Mine', The Foundations' 'Closer To Loving You'/'Change My Life', Sammy Hagar's 'Turn Up The Music'/'Straight From The Hip Kid', Squeeze's 'Bang Bang'/'All Fed Up' and Carole Vinci's 'Vivre'/'Souffrir Et Sourire' released.
Ipswich Town won the FA Cup for the first time. A Roger Osborne goal gave them victory over Arsenal. Robert Holman's Mucking Out broadcast as part of BBC2's Second City Firsts strand.
The first episode of Grand Prix broadcast.
Taste For Adventure broadcast. Tales Of India broadcast on BBC2. Ian Cullen's Rough Justice broadcast in Radio 4's Afternoon Theatre strand.
In Rome, the corpse of former the Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro was found in a Renault, murdered by the Brigate Rosse.

Liverpool retained the European Cup with a win over Club Brugge KV, the Belgian champions, at Wembley. Bioscope Days broadcast on BBC2.
Lyrics & Music By Irving Berlin broadcast. Israel - A Promised Land broadcast on BBC2. Kate Bush's 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes'/'Moving', Heatwave's 'Mind Blowing Decisions'/'I'll Beat Your Booty', Throbbing Gristle's 'United'/'Zyklon B Zombie', Penetration's 'Firing Squad'/'Never and Kraftwerk's 'The Robots'/'Spacelab' released.
James Kenelm Clark's Let's Get Laid! - starring Robin Askwith, Fiona Richmond and Linda Hayden and Don Dohler's The Alien Factor premiered. Culture's 'Two Sevens Clash'/'I'm Not Ashamed', Blue Öyster Cult's '(Don't Fear) The Reaper'/'RU Ready 2 Rock', The Late Show's 'Drop Dead'/'Ain't Gonna Stamp On His Face', MFSB's 'K-Jee'/'My Mood' and The RAH Band's 'Is Anybody There?'/'Vampire Vamp' released.
Alan Brown's Rotten broadcast in BBC2's Second City Firsts strand. Squeeze and Radio Stars appeared on Radio 1's In Concert. England beat Wales three-one in the Home International championship at Ninian Park. Bob Latchford, Tony Currie and Peter Barnes were on target for the visitors. Scotland and Northern Ireland drew one-all at Hampden Park. Martin O'Neill gave the visitors the lead before Derek Johnstone equalised. O'Neill's Nottingham Forest team-mate John Robertson made his Scotland debut.
Afro-Rock broadcast in BBC2's The World About Us strand. The first episode of Do You Remember? broadcast on LWT.
The first UK broadcast of The Legend of Lizzie Borden broadcast.
The first episode of The Tomorrow People serial The Lost Gods broadcast on Thames.
Singapore - One Man's Dream broadcast. Dire Straits and Chris Rea appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Like punk never happened. The body of Vera Millward was discovered, stabbed, in the grounds of the Manchester Royal Infirmary Hospital; the tenth woman known to have died at the hands of The Yorkshire Ripper. England beat Northern Ireland one-nil in the Home International championship at Wembley. Phil Neal scored whilst Nottingham Forest's Tony Woodcock made his England debut.
Ice Age broadcast in BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. Charlie Chaplin's coffin, exhumed and stolen eleven weeks previously, was found in a field about a mile away from the Chaplin home in Corsier near Lausanne. Scotland and Wales drew one-all in the Home International championship at Hampden Park. Derek Johnstone opened the scoring but Willie Donachie netted a disastrous own-goal past Jim Blyth in the final minute. Scotland also lost Gordon McQueen to a knee injury which would, ultimately, prevent his competing in the forthcoming World Cup. Brian Flynn missed a penalty for Wales late in the game.
Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov was sentenced to seven years hard labour for distributing 'counter-revolutionary material'. The Buddy Holly Story premiered.
The Skids were in session on The John Peel Show. Thank God It's Friday premiered. Steely Dan's 'Deacon Blues'/'Josie', The Real Thing's 'Let's Go Disco'/'Plastic Man' and A Taste Of Honey's 'Boogie Oogie Oogie'/'World Spin' released.
If The Face Fits broadcast in the Scottish Playbill strand. Steve Coppell scored the only goal in England's victory over Scotland at Hampden Park to clinch the Home International championship following a calamitous error by Scottish keeper Alan Rough. Even in the wake of this, Ally MacLeod persisted with his delusional forecast that his Tartan Army could win the forthcoming World Cup. But, they didn't.
Alan Plater and Dave Greenslade's Curriculee Curricula broadcast on BBC2.
The Poison That Heals broadcast. The Jam appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test and woke up Slumbering Bob Harris with performes of 'In The Street Today', 'Billy Hunt' and '"A" Bomb In Wardour Street'. Sharp!
The Copyist broadcast in BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. The skateboarding duck item was broadcast on Nationwide. England beat Hungary four-one in a friendly international at Wembley. Peter Barnes, Phil Neal, Trevor Francis and Tony Currie were on target. Leicester City appointed their third manager in less than a year, fromer Glasgow Rangers head coach Jock Wallace.

Liberal Party leader David Steel announced that the Lib-Lab pact would be dissolved at the end of the current Parliamentary session by mutual consent, leaving Britain with a minority Labour government. King Of the Movies broadcast on BBC2. Islington's 'model' school, Highbury Grove, was accused of 'viciously overstepping the mark' on corporal punishment. It was alleged that the school publicly punished pupils - often with implements forbidden under Inner London Education Authority rules. Headmaster Laurie Norcross dismissed the allegations and claimed that parents complained corporal punishment was not used often enough. Ex-Highbury Grove pupil Toby Holloway, alleged that he had been slippered on average once a term at the school, often in front of classmates. The NUSS claimed that rules were 'blatantly ignored' in twenty ILEA schools, including Highbury Grove, saying that pupils in the schools are 'hit with plimsolls, drumsticks, books, board rubbers and a plastic mallet with a stud on the end.' One metalwork teacher allegedly whipped boys with a two foot length of rubber tube. The Who played their last show with Keith Moon at Shepperton Film Studios for Jeff Stein's The Kid Are Alright. Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine released.
Squeeze's 'Bang Bang'/'All Fed Up', The Rolling Stones' 'Miss You'/'Faraway Eyes', Electric Light Orchestra's 'Wild West Hero'/'Eldorado', The Vibrators' 'Judy Says (Knock You In The Head)'/'Pure Mania', Bob Marley & The Wailers' 'Satisfy My Soul'/'Smile Jamaica', Derek & Ray's 'Interplay'/Mike McDonald 'God Knows', Ed Stewart's 'Lollipop People'/'Double Decker Dunce' and San José Featuring Rodriguez Argentina's 'Argentine Melody (Cancion De Argentina)'/'Strung' released. The first UK broadcast of The Incredible Hulk on LWT.
Eddie & The Hot Rods and Generation X featured on Radio 1's In Concert.
The UK TV debut of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, broadcast as a two-part presentation over two consecutive nights on BBC1. Everyman broadcast the documentary Rastaman.
Noel Edmonds Presents The Multi-Coloured Swap Shop's Rock Garden Party featured the music of Showaddywaddy, Darts and The Goodies. The Best Of Magic broadcast on BBC2.
The City On The Border broadcast. The first episode of Airport broadcast on BBC2. Meat Loaf and UFO appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. So, that would've been worth avoiding, then.
Labour's George Robertson won the Hamilton by-erection, despite a strong challenge from the Scottish National Party's Margo MacDonald.
The World Cup began with its traditional - tedious - goalless draw in the opening game, holders West Germany against Poland. Controversy surrounded the tournament; hosts Argentina had suffered a military coup two years previously. In September 1977, Interior Minister General Albano Harguindeguy, stated that over five thousand six hundred people had recently 'disappeared' under the regime. The infamous Naval Mechanics School held prisoners of The Dirty War and those captives could, reportedly, hear the roars of the crowd during matches held at River Plate's nearby Monumental Stadium. Because of the political turmoil, some countries - most notably The Netherlands - considered whether they should participate. Allegations that Johan Cruyff refused to go to Argentina because of political convictions were, subsequently, denied by him although his team-mate Win Van Hanegem and West Germany's Paul Breitner reportedly did decline to represent their countries because of opposition to the junta. The hosts also had all their games in the First Round kicking off in the evening, giving the Argentines the advantage of knowing where they stood in the group at any given time. Manager César Luis Menotti decided at the last moment not call up seventeen-year-old Diego Maradona to the squad. David Gower made his England cricket team debut in the first test against Pakistan at Edgbaston, classically pulling his first ball for four in a score of fifty eight. Aided by hundreds from Clive Radley and Ian Botham, England won by an innings and fifty seven runs. In Pakistan's first innings Chris Old took four wickets in five balls and ended with seven for fifty.
Wigan Athletic, runners-up of the Northern Premier League, were elected to the Fourth Division at the expense of Southport. Bruce Springsteen's Darkness At The Edge of Town, Thin Lizzy's Live & Dangerous, The Motors' 'Airport'/'Cold Love', Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds Featuring Justin Hayward's 'Forever Autumn'/'The Fighting Machine', Eddie Regan's 'Playin' Hide & Seek'/The Sapphires 'Big Thing (AKA Gona Be A Big Thing)', Humphrey Ocean & The Hardy Annuals' 'Whoops A Daisy'/'Davy Crockett', The Realists' 'I've Got A Heart'/'Living In The City' and South Bank Team's 'Action Argentina (World Cup '78)'/'Nanaskin' released.

Britain's sole representatives at the World Cup, Scotland, lost their opening game three-one to Peru, with Teófilo Cubillas scoring twice. Joe Jordan scored for Scotland whilst Don Masson had a penalty saved. The defeat was a hugely traumatic one for the Scots who had arrived in Argentina on a wave of (completely over-the-top) national euphoria - and cheered on by a number of really wretched pop singles celebrating the expected exploits of Ally's Tarten Army. The defeat was made even worse when Willie Johnston tested positive for illegal steroids after the game. The draw between Brazil and Sweden proved controversial; Welsh and professional misanthrope referee Clive The Whistle Thomas awarded Brazil a last minute corner and Zico headed the resulting set-piece into the net. But, Thomas had (he claimed) already blown for full-time whilst the ball was in the air and the goal was disallowed to Brazilian outrage.
The Irish Way, Your Undoubted Queen and The Other Side Of The Mountain broadcast. Richard Bickerton and Sidney Levin's The Great Brain - starring Jimmy Osmond - premiered.
The first episode of Philip Mackie's An Englishman's Castle broadcast on BBC2. The first episode of Strangers - The Paradise Set and the first episode of The Tomorrow People serial Hitler's Last Stand broadcast on Thames. Walter Krüttner's Das Lustschloß Im Spessart - starring Inge Fock, Renate Kastelik and Gerti Schneider - premiered.
Anthony Spinelli's The First Time - starring Mimi Morgan, Joey Silvera and Suzannah French - premiered.
Scotland's twenty four carat World Cup disaster continued with a one-all draw against unfancied Iran, their goal coming when Andranik Eskandarian put into his own net. After the game, Scotland's soon-to-be-former manager Ally MacLeod gave a memorably rambling - and barely coherent - interview to John Motson.
Naomi James became the first woman to sail around the world single-handedly. The first UK broadcast of Helter Skelter on Thames.
The Rolling Stones' Some Girls - their best LP since Exile On Main Street - Gladys Knight & The Pips' 'Come Back And Finish What You Started'/'It's Up To You (Do What You Do)', The New Seekers' 'Anthem (One Day In Every Week)'/'I´ve Got Your Number', Gloria Gaynor's 'This Love Affair'/'For The First Time In My Life', Child's 'It's Only Make Believe'/'It Might As Well Rain Until September' and The Boomtown Rats' 'Like Clockwork'/'How Do You Do?' released. The first episode of The Pink Medicine Show broadcast on LWT.
The final episode of The Good Life - recorded in front of the Queen and the Duke Of Edinburgh - broadcast. The first episode of Welsh Triple Bill broadcast on BBC2. The Jam appeared on Radio 1's In Concert. The third - and last - occasion at a World Cup where a national team did not wear its own kit. This occurred in the game between France and Hungary. Both teams arrived at the venue with only their white change kits, resulting in a delayed kick-off while officials borrowed shirts of a local team from Mar del Plata, Club Atlético Kimberley; the strips, vertical green and white stripes, were worn by France. With Michel Platini in outstanding form, they won three-one but were still eliminated after previous defeats to Italy and Argentina in The Group Of Death. The match between Italy and Argentina decided who topped the group. A goal from Roberto Bettega secured a win for Italy. This forced Argentina to move out of Buenos Aires and play their second round matches in Rosario although, arguably, they went into the weaker of the two Second Round groups. The Rolling Stones began their twenty five-date US summer tour in Florida.
The sole highlight of Scotland's miserable World Cup campaign, a three-two victory over The Netherlands in their final group game. Which - despite Archie Gemmill's two-goal heroics - was still not enough to prevent elimination for The Scots. Kenny Dalglish also scroed. The media post-mortem subsequently placed much blame on Ally MacLeod's much-criticised not to play Graham Souness in the opening two games.
Serial killer David Berkowitz, 'The Son of Sam,' was extremely sentenced to three hundred and sixty five years in prison. With time off for good behaviour, he could be out in three hundred and fifty.
Yellow Cab and the first episode of Cabaret Showtime - featuring Jimmy Logan, Lena Zavaroni and The New Seekers - broadcast. The first episodes of Life Begins At Forty and Will Shakespeare broadcast on LWT.

People must observe the laws of the country in which they live Foreign Secretary David Owen said concerning the case of two Britons - Nigel Maidment and Brian Cooper - publicly flogged in Saudi Arabia for drinking alcohol. In Italy, Christian Democrat President Giovanni Leone resigned amid allegations of fiscal mismanagement. The first day of a Davis Cup match between Britain and Austria was not, perhaps, a place you'd except to find a political demonstration taking place but that's what happened when the Anti-Nazi League held a protest over the reported right-wing affiliations of Britain's then number one, Buster Mottram. Jaguar announced that it was recalling all post-1975 cars for fuel system checks after faults were discovered in the XJS. Tory Party chairman Lord Thorneycroft was accused of being involved in 'illegal price-fixing' by Labour MP Jeff Rooker who, subsequently, withdrew the comments. Jordan's King Hussein married twenty six-year-old Elizabeth Halaby. Kidnap charges against 'sex-in-chains runaway blonde' Joyce McKinney were to remain on file. With an accomplice, the former Miss Wyoming had imprisoned Mormon missionary Kirk Anderson, with whom she was obsessed, in a London flat. She subsequently fled the country whilst on bail having told the court 'I loved Kirk so much I would have skied down Mount Everest in the nude with a carnation up my nose!' The Scottish World Cup squad - and beleaguered manager, Ally Macleod - returned home after their humiliating elimination. They were probably not surprised to discover their official World Cup single with Rod Stewart, the horrific 'Ole Ola (Mulher Brasileira)', had slipped sixteen places in the charts. Theresa Bennett, aged twelve, won a sexual discrimination case at Newark County Court against the Football Association's decision to ban her from playing for a boys team. She was awarded two hundred and fifty quid damages for 'loss of opportunity and injury to her feelings.'
The first episode of The Songwriters broadcast. Bob Dylan played his first UK gig in eight years before seventeen thousand fans at Earls Court. The Fall's first session - of many - on The John Peel Show broadcast ('Rebellious Juke Box', 'Mother Sister', 'Industrial Estate', 'Futures & Pasts'). Blackpool midfielder Alan Groves died of a heart attack aged twenty nine.
The first UK broadcast of Tabitha. Everyday Maths broadcast. The Clash's '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais'/'The Prisoner', Showaddywaddy's 'A Little Bit Of Soap'/'Maybe, Maybe, Maybe' and Wings' 'I've Had Enough'/'Deliver Your Children' released. John Lennon attempted to sue his former wife, Cynthia, for libel over her book A Twist Of Lennon, currently being serialised in the Scum Of The World. He lost, Lord Denning suggesting: 'I cannot see that either of these two parties have had much regard for the sanctity of marriage. It is plain ... that the relationship of these parties has ceased to be a private affair.' Grease - starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John - Pete Walker's The Comeback - staring Jack Jones and Pamela Stephenson - and Jerzy Skolimowski's The Shout - starring Alan Bates, John Hurt, Susannah York and Jim Broadbent - premiered.
The first episode of Lennie & Jerry broadcast. John Conteh's attempt to regain his the world light-heavyweight boxing championship ended in defeat to Yugoslavia's Mate Parlov on a split decision. Media reports suggested that a General Erection would be held during the autumn as the minority government led by James Callaghan and Labour appeared to be nearing the end of its duration. Callaghan's chances of an erection win were now looking brighter than they were four months ago, as the eleven-point Conservative lead has evaporated. In the event, Callaghan waited until the following May. And lost.
A Hard Road To Heaven broadcast.
Ian Botham became the first man in the history of cricket to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a test match (against Pakistan at Lord's). Despite the first day being washed out, England won by an innings and one hundred and twenty runs. Race To The North broadcast on BBC2. The first episode of The Tomorrow People serial The Thargon Menace broadcast on Thames.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Grace Slick left Jefferson Starship the day after a disastrous concert in Hamburg, in which a heavily intoxicated Slick verbally abused the crowd.
At the World Cup, Arie Haan scored an outrageous winner against Italy as the Netherlands reached their second successive World Cup Final. It was Haan's second long-distance rocket in two games, having previously scored one against West Germany. In the game known as 'The Miracle of Cordoba', the Germans were surprisingly beaten three-two by Austria. Argentina delayed the kick-off of their last match to await the result of the Brazil-Poland encounter. Brazil won three-one, meaning that Argentina had to beat Peru by four clear goals to reach the final. Argentina eventually won six-nil. Subsequent rumours suggested that the Peruvian team (or, even, their government) may have been bribed or threatened into allowing Argentina to win by the necessary margin. Some accusations (which originated in the Brazilian media, to be fair) pointed to the fact that the Peruvian goalkeeper - Ramón Quiroga - had been born in Argentina. (Something of an eccentric character, Quiroga was nicknamed El Loco and, in an earlier game against Poland, had ran all the way into the opposition half and fouled Grzegorz Lato, receiving a yellow card from the referee, Pat Partridge.) There was also an - alleged - deal, reported by the British media which involved the delivery of a large grain shipment to Peru by Argentina and the unfreezing of a Peruvian bank account that was, allegedly, held by the Argentine Central Bank. The first episode of BBC2's Spaceships Of The Mind broadcast.
Charon, the largest satellite of Pluto, was discovered by astronomer James Christy. An outbreak of shooting between Provisional IRA members and the British Army left one civilian and three IRA men dead. The Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Evita opened at the Prince Edward Theatre in London.
Brendan Foster set a British record for the ten thousand metres at Crystal Palace. The Great English Garden Party broadcast on BBC2. Teddy Pendergrass' 'Close The Door'/'Get Up, Get Down, Get Funky, Get Loose', Kris Kristofferson &Rita Coolidge's 'Lover Please'/'Slow Down' and Jigsaw's 'Everytime'/'Afraid Of Love' released.
The first UK broadcast of Sinatra & Friends.
In the World Cup final, Argentina beat the Netherlands three-one. The Dutch accused the Argentines of using stalling tactics to delay the kick-off when the host team questioned the legality of a plaster cast on René van de Kerkhof's wrist which had already been cleared by FIFA. Mario Kempes opened the scoring for the hosts before Dick Nanninga equalised a few minutes from the end. Rob Rensenbrink had a glorious stoppage-time opportunity to win the game for the Dutch but his shot came back off the post. Argentina won after extra time, with goals from Daniel Bertoni and Kempes, who finished as the tournament's top scorer.
The first episode of Colossus broadcast on BBC2.
Sunday With The Children broadcast.
The first episode of The Risk Business broadcast. Sarah broadcast in BBC2's Globe Theatre strand. Andrew McLaglan's adaptation of The Wild Geese - starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, Stewart Granger and Hardy Krüger and Alain Payet's Nathalie Rescapée De L'Enfer - starring Patrizia Gori and Jacqueline Laurent - premiered.
The first episode of We're Going Places broadcast. The Human League's debut single, 'Being Boiled' released. Warren Beatty's Heaven Can Wait premiered.
The Sex Pistols' 'No One Is Innocent (A Punk Prayer By Ronald Biggs)'/'My Way', Steely Dan's 'FM (No Static At All)'/'Reprise', Jona Lewie's 'The Baby, She's On The Street'/'Denny Laine's Valet', Raffaella Carrà's 'California'/'Tanti Auguri' and Chrisma's 'Black Silk Stockings'/'Lola', 'Wanderlust' released.
The first UK broadcast of Wonder Woman. The first episodes of Rockface and Stuart Burrows Sings broadcast.
Radio 4's Today programme was expanded to a two-hour programme. The first episodes of Enid Blyton's Famous Five and The Kenny Everett Video Show broadcast on LWT.
Julian Pettifer's Children Of The Revolution broadcast. The Third World War broadcast on BBC2. The rain-affected third England/Pakistan test at Headingley was drawn.
ABBA's 'Eagle'/'Thank You For The Music', Punishment Of Luxury's 'Puppet Life'/'The Demon' and Lene Lovich's 'I Think We're Alone Now'/'Lucky Number' released.
Eleven people were killed in the Taunton train fire, the worst rail accident in the UK since the Hither Green rail crash in 1967. Willy Roe's The Playbirds - starring Mary Millington, Alan Lake, Glynn Edwards, Suzy Mandel and Kenny Lynch - premiered.
The Solomon Islands became independent from the UK. Quincy Jones's 'Stuff Like That'/'There's A Train Leavin', Tom Catz's 'It's The Fonz'/'Love Walked Out The Door', The Late Show's 'I Like It'/'I Wrote A Book', Jean Carn's 'Happy To Be With You'/'Together Once Again', The Flirtations' 'Little Darling (I Need You)'/Lenny Gamble's 'I'll Do Anything (Anything She Wants Me To Do)' and Buzzcocks' 'Love You More'/'Noise Annoys' released.
BBC2's summer season of Saturday night horror movies, Monster Double Bill, began with Murders In The Rue Morgue and The Man Who Could Cheat Death. The first episode of The Saturday Banana broadcast on LWT.
Ken Russell's William & Dorothy broadcast in the Clouds Of Glory strand on LWT. The first episodes of Blue Peter Flies The World and AJP Taylor's Revolution broadcast. ELO At Wembley broadcast on BBC2. Penetration were in session on The John Peel Show.
The first episode of Hobby Horse broadcast. The first episode of Eight Pairs Of Eyes broadcast.

The first - national - series of Top Gear broadcast on BBC2. Blake Edwards' Revenge Of The Pink Panther - starring Peter Sellers, Burt Kwouk, Tony Beckley and Herbert Lom - premiered. The first episode of Leave It To Charlie broadcast on Thames.
The Who's 'Who Are You?'/'Had Enough', Sham 69's 'If The Kids Are United'/'Sunday Morning Nightmare', Bunk Dogger's 'French Lessons'/'Where Do You Get Your Sweetness?' and X-Ray Spex's 'Identity'/'Let's Submerge' released. Irwin Allen's The Swarm premiered. The first episode of Law Centre broadcast on LWT.
In one of the oddest mixed-bills in rock and/or roll history David Coverdale's Whitesnake and The Only Ones appeared on Radio 1's In Concert.
The British Grand Prix was won by Ferrari's Carlos Reutemann ahead of Niki Lauda and John Watson, both driving Brabham-Alfa Romeos. The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner broadcast in the Cloud Of Glory strand.
The first episode of BBC2's Multi-Racial Britain broadcast.
The first episode of Spearhead broadcast on Thames.
The Dead Kennedys played their first concert at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco.
The last episode of The Black & White Minstrel Show broadcast. With someone at the BBC having, it would appear, finally, realised that white men doing black-face really wasn't a very good idea no matter how many old ladies liked it. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the much-hyped movie starring Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees, opened in the US. The film was savaged by critics and proved to be a box office disappointment. Talking Heads' More Songs About Buildings & Food, The Stranglers' 'Walk On By'/'Old Codger', 'Tanx', Bryan Ferry's 'Sign Of The Times'/'Four Letter Love', Accident's 'Who's Taking You Home?'/'Waking Up', Tubeway Army's 'Bombers'/'Blue Eyes', 'OD Receiver', The Rezillos' 'Top Of The Pops'/'Twenty Thousand Rezillos Under The Sea', The Dooleys' 'A Rose Has To Die'/'Hungry For Love', Snatch's 'Stanley'/'IRT' and 10CC's 'Dreadlock Holiday'/'Nothing Can Move Me' released.
Kent beat Derbyshire by six wickets in the Benson & Hedges Cup final at Lord's.
The first episode of Parables broadcast on LWT.
The first episode of Out - It Must Be The Suit - broadcast on LWT.
The first episodes of Great Britons and On Location broadcast. Louise Brown became the world's first human born from in vitro fertilisation, in Oldham.
The Sky At Night focused on Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Eve Myles born in Ystradgynlais.
Lennon and McCartney were the subject of The Songwriters.
The first episode of Hoe Down - with Lance Percival and Ted Moult - broadcast. John Landis's National Lampoons Animal House - starring John Belushi, Tim Matheson and Donald Sutherland - premiered. Sylvester's 'You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)'/'Was It Something I Said?' and Lorraine Silver's 'Lost Summer Love'/'I Know You'll Be There' released.
The first episode of 3-2-1 - featuring Ted Todgers being out performed by an inaminate plastic bin - and the first UK broadcast of the Columbo episode Make Me A Perfect Murder on LWT.
Thin Lizzy announced that Gary Moore had replaced Brian Robertson on guitar.
The first episode of A Soft Touch and the Out episode Not Just Pennies broadcast on Thames.
The first episode of The Story Behind The Story broadcast. England won the first of a three test series against New Zealand at The Oval by seven wickets. David Gower scored his maiden test century and Graham Gooch recalled to the test side earlier in the summer after three years in the wilderness, hit an undefeated ninety one in England's second innings.
Going For A Gold broadcast.
The opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games broadcast from Edmonton, Canada. AJP Taylor's Fabric Of An Age broadcast on BBC2.
Neil Richardson & His Orchestra's 'Devil's Galop [sic]'/'Snowy White Polka', Real Thing's 'Rainin' Through My Sunshine'/'Lady I Love You All The Time', Crystal Gayle's 'Talking In Your Sleep'/'Paintin' This Old Town Blue', The Police's 'Can't Stand Losing You'/'Dead End Job', Jilted John's 'Jilted John'/'Going Steady', Herbie Hancock's 'I Thought It Was You'/'No Means Yes', Devo's 'Be Stiff'/'Social Fools', Just Water's 'Singin' In The Rain'/'Witness To The Crime' and Blondie's 'Picture This'/'Fade Away & Radiate' released.
Discrimination broadcast on BBC2.
Pope Paul VI died in Castel Gandolfo. The first episode of A Curtain Call For Moliere broadcast on BBC2. Spizzoil were in session on The John Peel Show. The Out episode Maybe He'll Bring Back A Geisha broadcast on Thames. Bredan Foster won ten thousand metres gold at the Commonwealth Games. Mike McLeod took bronze.
The Pioneer Venus Multiprobe landed four spacecraft on the planet, one of which transmitted data for sixty seven minutes before being destroyed by atmospheric pressure. The first episode of Crystal Gayle Sings Country broadcast on BBC2. The first episode of The Bass Player & The Blonde broadcast on Thames.
The first episodes of Hugo Van Lawick's Africa and Loose Change broadcast.
Alan Parker's Midnight Express - starring Brad Davis, Randy Quaid and John Hurt - premiered.
Zebra Crossing's 'We're Going Places'/'Milk 'n' Honey' and Wazmo Nariz's 'Tele-Tele-Telephone'/'Wacker Drive' released.
Wilf Mannion broadcast as part of BBC2's Network strand.
What Every Woman Knows broadcast.
England won the second test at Trent Bridge by an innings and one hundred and nineteen runs. Geoff Boycott scored a century in England's four hundred and twenty nine (Graham Gooch, Clive Radley and Mike Brearley added fifties). Ian Botham took nine wickets in the match and Phil Edmonds six as the Kiwi were boweled out twice in under two days.The Out episode A Little Heart To Heart With Miss Bangor broadcast on Thames.
Chocks Away and Elvis On Tour broadcast. The Human League featured on The John Peel Show. In the Gillette Cup semi-finals, at Taunton Somerset and Essex finished with scores level both making two hundred and eighty. Somerset, largely thanks to a brilliant one hundred and sixteen by Viv Richards, won as they lost fewer wickets. At Hove, Sussex beat Lancashire by one hundred and thirty six runs.

The Blonde Bombshell broadcast. Wolf Pack broadcast on BBC2. The Jam's 'David Watts'/'"A" Bomb In Wardour Street', The Motors' 'Forget About You'/'Picturama', The Pleasers' 'You Don't Know'/'Billy', Siouxsie & The Banshees' 'Hong Kong Garden'/'Voices' and The Cure's 'Killing An Arab'/'10.15 Saturday Night' released.
The First Division season began with newly promoted Tottenham Hotspur holding champions Nottingham Forest to a draw at the City Ground - the visitors' goal scored by one of their two new Argentinean signings, Ricardo Villa.
Czechoslovakia - The Spring & The Fall broadcast on BBC2. Gunmen opened fire on an Israeli El Al airline bus in London. The PLO later claimed responsibility for the attack.
Genesis On The Road broadcast. The Out episode MThe Moment He Opened The Envelope broadcast on Thames.
The Legion Hall Bobming broadcast in the Play For Today strand. Sandinistas seized the Nicaraguan National Palace. Kenya's president, Jomo Kenyatta, died at his home in Mombasa.
Walter Robinson 'walked' across the English Channel in eleven hours, using homemade 'water shoes'. John Cooper Clarke's 'Post-War Glamour Girl'/'Kung Fu International' and The Three Degrees' 'Giving Up, Giving In'/'Long Version' released.
Alberto Luciani became John Paul I succeeding Paul VI. But, not for very long. Wings' 'London Town'/'I'm Carrying' released.
Sixty seven thousand fans attended Soldier Field in Chicago for the first annual Funk Festival, One Nation Under A Groove, featuring A Taste Of Honey, Parlet, Con Funk Shun, The Bar-Kays and George Clinton's Funkadelic. Are We Not Men? We Are Devo! released. Ian Botham took eleven wickets in the match as England beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the third test at Lord's. John Emburey made his test debut. The Tommy Cooper Show and the final Out episode, I Wouldn't Take Your Hand If I Was Drowning broadcast on Thames.
The European Athletics Championship broadcast.
The first episode of The Winged Colt broadcast. The Beatles' 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'-'With A Little Help From My Friends'/'A Day In The Life' released.
Are You Being Properly Served? broadcast on BBC2. Forty Years Of Cricket Broadcasting broadcast on Radio 4. East Germany's Olaf Beyer won the eight hundred metres at the European Athletics Championships, beating Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe who took silver and bronze respectively. Daley Thompson took silver in the Decathlon.
10CC's Bloody Tourists, Dave Edmunds' 'Deborah'/'What Looks Best On You?', Al Hudson & The Soul Partners' 'Dance Get Down (Feel The Groove)'/'How Do You Do?', Tommy Hunt's 'Stop The Bus'/'Susanna Baby', Sammy Hagar's 'I've Done Everything For You'/'Bad Motor Scooter' and Gambler's 'Armed Robbery'/'Bring Back The Morning' released.
The first episode of Doctor Who's Key To Time series broadcast. Sussex beat Somerset by five wickets in the Gillette Cup Final at Lord's despite Ian Botham scoring eighty. Man of the Match Paul Parker scored sixty two not out for Sussex. Liverpool thrashed Tottenham Hotspur seven-nil at Anfield to take their goal tally to sixteen in four League matches at the start of the season.
The first UK broadcast of Holocaust broadcast. Steve Ovett won fifteen hundred metres gold at the European Championships. David Moorcroft took bronze.
The first UK broadcast of Dallas. Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat began the Middle East peace process at Camp David. The first episode of Disraeli broadcast on Thames.
The first episode of The Superteams broadcast. Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War of the Worlds released.
The first UK broadcast of Most Wanted. Keith Moon died in Harry Nilsson's Central London flat after an overdose of prescription drugs prescribed to combat alcoholism at the age of thirty two. The flat had also been the location of Cass Elliot's death four years earlier. On the eve of his death, Moon had been at a screening of The Buddy Holly Story during the Paul McCartney-sponsored Buddy Holly week. Prime Minister James Callaghan announced that he would not be calling a general erection during the autumn and faced accusations from That Awful Thatcher Woman and Liberal leader David Steel of 'running scared', in spite of many opinion polls showing that Labour (currently in a minority government) had a slight lead. Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov, working for the BBC in London, was stabbed in the leg with a poison-tipped umbrella as he walked across Waterloo Bridge, almost certainly on orders of Darzhavna Sigurnost the Bulgarian secret police; he died four days later. The Sweeney episode Messenger Of The Gods and the first episode of TV Eye - To mrs Brown, A Daughter - broadcast on Thames.
Buzzcocks' 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've?)'/'Just Lust', ABBA's 'Summer Night City'/'Medley: Pick A Bale Of Cotton-On Top Of Old Smokey'Midnight Special', Rose Royce's 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore'/'Do It, Do It', Ofanchi's 'That's The Way (How Love Grows)'/'One More Minute', Gerri Granger's 'I Go To Pieces (Everytime)'/Reparata & The Delrons 'Panic', James & Bobby Purify's 'Shake A Tail Feather' and Amigos O'Lane's '(Tribute To) Ardiles & Villa'/'The Yellow Card Song' released.

The first episode of Noel Edmonds' Lucky Number broadcast. The first episode of BBC2's Jack High broadcast. Darts appeared on Radio 1's In Concert. In Rhodesia, Prime Minister Ian Smith imposed martial law leading to the arrest of members of Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU. Ford workers announced their intention to challenge the government's pay policy. The first episode of Saturday Night People broadcast on LWT.
The first episode of Simon Raven's adaptation of Sexton Blake & The Demon God broadcast. The crash which caused the death of Ronnie Peterson took place at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The first episode of The Return Of The Saint - The Judas Game - broadcast on LWT.
The first UK broadcast of CB Bears. The first UK TV showing of High Plains Drifter. Funkadelic's One Nation Under A Groove released. Feet don't fail me now. The first episode of Cooper - Just Like That broadcast on Thames.
The first episodes of The Story Beneath The Sands and Off To Philadelphia In The Morningbroadcast. Lothersdale - An Image Of England, Carl Perkins Sings Country and Spitfire! broadcast on BBC2. Plymouth Argyle's two-one victory at Bury in the Third Division saw the league debut of Kevin Hodges - the first of six hundred and twenty games for The Pilgrims in a career that lasted until 1992. In the process he broke Sammy Black's appearance record for the club, established in 1938.
The first episode of Born & Bred broadcast on Thames.
The Grateful Dead performed the first of three shows in Giza, Egypt.The Sweeney episode Hard Men broadcast on Thames.
German terrorist Astrid Proll was arrested in London. Muhammad Ali regained the WBA heavyweight title for the third time at the age of thirty six, giving Leon Spinks a right hiding on a unanimous decision. Ramones' 'Don't Come Close'/'I Don't Want You', John Otway's 'Baby's In The Club'/'Julie Julie Julie', Peter Tosh's '(You Gotta Walk) Don't Look Back'/'Soon Come', Skids' 'Sweet Suburbia'/'Open Sound', Fischer-Z's 'Wax Dolls'/'Angry Brigade', The Rolling Stones' 'Respectable'/'When The Whip Comes Down' and Doctor Feelgood's 'Down At The Doctors'/'Take A Tip' released. The first UK broadcast of Soap on LWT.
Wilko Johnson featured on Radio 1's In Concert. Filming finally began in Tunisia on the much-delayed Monty Python's Life of Brian. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore appeared on Parkinson. Another guest was the boxer John Conteh, whom Parky asked if it was true that he never had sex before a fight. Whilst Conteh looked embarrassed, Cook told Parky: 'I wouldn't ask you if you have sex before a show. I can see that you have!'
The Inner Game broadcast. On Film 78, Barry Norman reviewed Grease, The Wild Geese and Heaven Can Wait.
The first episode of Tycoon broadcast. Douglas Livingstone's Crest Of A Wave broadcast as part of BBC2's Premiere strand. Stiff Little Fingers were in session on The John Peel Show. The first episode of The Sandbaggers - First Principle - broadcast on Thames.
Scars Of Autumn broadcast. Magazine and The Ramones appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Police launched a massive murder hunt, following the discovery of the body of newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater at a farmhouse near Kingswinford in the West Midlands.
The last episode of Z Cars and the first episode of Touch & Go broadcast. Harold Pinter's adaptation of Langrishe, Go Down broadcast in BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. England started their qualifying campaign for the 1980 European Championships with a four-three victory over Denmark in Copenhagen. Kevin Keegan scored twice with further goals from Bob Latchford and Phil Neal. Scotland lost their opening qualifier three-two in Vienna against Austria. It proved to be Ally MacLeod's final game in charge of the national side. Three-nil down after an hour, Gordon McQueen and Andy Gray scored late consolation goals.
The Sweeney episode Drag Act broadcast on Thames.
The Boomtown Rats featured on the first episode of BBC2's Rock Goes To College from Middlesex Poly. Buzzcocks' Love Bites, UK Subs' 'CID'/'Live In A Car', 'B1C', Yachts' 'Look Back In Love (Not In Anger)'/'I Can't Stay Long', The Rubettes' 'Movin'/'San Andreas', Electric Light Orchestra's 'Sweet Talkin' Woman'/'Bluebird Is Dead' and Earth, Wind & Fire's 'Got To Get You Into My Life'/'I'll Write A Song For You' released. The TV debut of Christopher Ryan in an episode of Target.
Larry Grayson succeeded Bruce Forsyth as presenter of The Generation Game. Shaun Usher's The Big 'H' broadcast on BBC2.
The first episode of A Horseman Riding By broadcast. Julian Pettifer's The World About Us film Albion In The Orient and the first episode of Hugh Leonard's adaptation of Wuthering Heights broadcast on BBC2. The first episodes of Lillie and Bless Me Father broadcast on LWT.
Something's Wrong broadcast as part of BBC2's Premiere strand. The first episode of Word For Word broadcast. The Undertones' 'Teenage Kicks', 'Smarter Than You'/'True Confessions', 'Emergency Cases' released on Good Vibrations Records. Famously, an emotional John Peel played it twice in a row on Radio 1 and declared it to be the greatest record ever made. And, he wasn't too far wide of the mark.
India - One Man's Truth broadcast. Twenty three Ford car plants were closed due to strikes.
Fairies broadcast as part of BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. Nottingham Forest knocked holders Liverpool out of the European Cup after completing a two-nil aggregate win.
Pope John Paul I died after only thirty three days of papacy. Whether or not he was murdered by sinister forces within the Catholic church, perhaps we'll never know. Birmingham City, currently bottom of the First Division were described by one of their best-known supporters, the comedian Jasper Carrott, as 'the only team not to score through the reign of a Pope!' (Inaccurately, as it happens, they had scored three goals in five games.) The Sweeney episode Truat Red broadcast on Thames.
The first UK broadcast of Captain Caveman & The Teen Angels. Richard Marquand's The Legacy - starring Katharine Ross, Sam Elliott and Roger Daltrey - premiered. XTC's 'Are You Receiving Me?'/'Instant Tunes' and Olympic Runners' 'Get It While You Can'/'On Ya' released.

The first episode of Douglas Adams' debut Doctor Who story, The Pirate Planet, broadcast. Blow The Wind Southerly and The Land Of The Living broadcast on BBC2. The first episode of Scotch & Wry broadcast on BBC Scotland. Blondie's Parallel Lines released.
The World About Us film The Year Of The Ladybirds broadcast.
Hanging Around broadcast in BBC2's Premiere strand.
The first episode of Roads Of Conflict broadcast. The first UK TV appearance The Police on The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Andrew Davies' Fearless Frank Or Tit-Bits From The Life Of An Adventurer starring Leonard Rossiter broadcast in BBC2's Play Of The Week strand.
Franklin J Schaffner's The Boys From Brazil - starring Gregory Peck and Laurence Oliver - premiered. The Sweeney episode Nightmare broadcast on Thames.
Hawklords' Twenty Five Years On, The Boomtown Rats' 'Rat Trap'/'So Strange', Blondie's 'Hanging On The Telephone'/'Will Anything Happen?', Stiff Little Fingers' 'Alternative Ulster'/'Seventy Eight RPM', Sham 69's 'Hurry Up Harry'/'No Entry', XTC's Go2, Mickey Jupp's 'Old Rock 'N' Roller'/'SPY' and Boney M's 'Rasputin'/'Never Change Lovers In The Middle Of The Night' released. There was a cat that really was gone. Peter Medak's The Odd Job - starring Graham Chapman and David Jason - premiered.
Real Live Audience broadcast on BBC2. The first episode of Bruce Forsyth's Big Night broadcast on LWT. Joe Armstrong born in London.
Night Voices, Day Voices broadcast as part of the Everyman strand. The first UK TV broadcast of Diary Of A Mad Housewife on BBC2. The first episode of The Clifton House Mystery broadcast on LWT.
The first UK TV broadcast of the movie version of Till Death Us Do Part. Stan Barstow's Travellers broadcast in BBC2's Premiere strand. Jacques Brel died in France aged forty nine. The first episode of The Tomorrow People serial Castle Of Fear broadcast on Thames.
The first UK broadcast of The Space Sentinals. Our Peter broadcast.
The first episode of The Lost Boys, broadcast.
John Peel's The Record Machine broadcast as part of the Omnibus strand. Nancy Spungen, the American girlfriend of Sid Vicious, was found stabbed to death in New York's Chelsea Hotel. Vicious was arrested and charged with her murder. Sir Peter Hayman, a career diplomat and intelligence operative, left a package of paedophilia-related material on a London bus. The police traced the package and discovered that Hayman, under the pseudonym of Peter Henderson, had used an apartment in Bayswater, to 'conduct obscene correspondence.' In the apartment, police found forty five diaries describing six years worth of 'sexual fantasies' concerning children and activities with prostitutes, articles of female clothing and much obscene literature. Hayman was investigated but eventually released without charge after being given a warning not to send obscene material through the post ever again. In November 1980, Private Eye magazine revealed these events and the following year, using parliamentary privilege, Geoffrey Dickens MP asked why Hayman had not been prosecuted for his sick and sordid crimes. In April 1981 Sir Michael Havers, the Attorney General, claimed in parliament that, whilst Hayman was a member of the Paedophile Information Exchange, he was never a member of its executive committee, so was not prosecuted as others were for publishing contact advertisements. In 1984, Hayman was convicted for an act of gross indecency in a public lavatory. The Sweeney episode Money, Money, Money broadcast on Thames.
The first episode of Rings On Their Fingers broadcast. Elton John's 'Part Time Love'/'I Cry At Night', Gang Of Four's 'Damaged Goods'/'Love Like Anthrax', 'Armalite Rifle', Penetration's 'Life's A Gamble'/'VIP', Skids' Wide Open EP ('The Saints Are Coming', 'Of One Skin'/'Night & Day', 'Contusion'), Queen's 'Bicycle Race'/'Fat Bottomed Girls', Hawklords' 'Psi Power'/'Death Trap', Big In Japan's From Y To Z & Never Again EP ('Nothing Special', 'Cindy & The Barbi Dolls'/'Suicide A-Go-Go', 'Taxi'), Slade's 'Rock 'n' Roll Bolero'/'It's Alright Buy Me', Inner City Express' 'Spring Rain'/'Reggae Strings', Wreckless Eric's 'Take The Cash (KASH)'/'Girlfriend' and Public Image Ltd's 'The Public Image'/'The Cowboy Song', the first record featuring John Lydon since his departure from The Sex Pistols, released.
A Lonely Way Back Homes broadcast.
Trevor Preston's One Of These Nights I'm Going To Get An Early Day broadcast as part of BBC2's Premiere strand. The Undertones first John Peel Show session ('Get Over You', 'Top Twenty', 'She Can Only Say No', 'Male Model') broadcast. Karol Józef Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II, resulting in the first 'Year of Three Popes' since 1605. He was the first Polish pope in history and the first non-Italian pope since Pope Adrian VI (1522–1523). Showaddywaddy's 'Pretty Little Angel Eyes'/'I'm Yours' released.

The first episodes of David Essex and James Burke's history of science, Connections broadcast. Jehane Markham's Nina broadcast in the Play For Today strand, directed by Alan Clarke. A cull of grey seals in the Orkney and the Western Islands was ended after a public outcry.
The Jam's 'Down In The Tube Station At Midnight'/'So Sad About Us', 'The Night' released. On BBC2, Arena profiled Vanessa Redgrave. The Daily Mirra featured the hilariously over-the-top front-page headline Gymslip Caning Shocker. The first episode of The Morecambe & Wise Show since Eric and Ernie's return to ITV broadcast on Thames. Peter Cushing appeared, still trying to get the five pounds he was owed for appearing on an episode in 1968!
Martin Rosen's animated adaptation of Watership Down premiered. The Sweeney episode Bait broadcast on Thames.
The Stranglers appeared on BBC2's Rock Goes To College whilst Elkie Brooks was the focus of Sounds Like Friday. George Harrison filmed his cameo appearance in Monty Python's Life Of Brian as Mister Papadopoulos 'the gentleman who's letting us have The Mount on Sunday.' The Police's 'So Lonely'/'No Time This Time', Elvis Costello & The Attractions' 'Radio, Radio'/'Tiny Steps', Fingers' 'Hold On I'm Coming'/'Shakin' In My Shoes', Charlie's 'Watching TV'/'Life So Cruel' and The Goodies' 'A Man's Best Friend Is His Duck'/'Taking My Oyster For Walkies', 'Rastashanty' released.
The first episodes of Working For Safety and Huntingtower broadcast.
The two-part twenty fifth anniversary episodes of Panorama broadcast. Freedom Of The Dig broadcast in BBC2's Premiere strand. Buzzcocks were in session on The John Peel Show. The government announced plans for a single exam to replace O Levels and CSEs. Stephen James Harmison born in Ashington. Death On The Nile - starring Peter Ustinov, Jane Birkin, Lois Chiles, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Jon Finch, Olivia Hussey, George Kennedy, Angela Lansbury, Simon MacCorkindale, David Niven and Maggie Smith - premiered in the UK. The first episode of The Tomorrow People serial Achilles Heel and the first episode of Bernie broadcast on Thames. Sniff 'n' The Tears' 'Driver's Seat'/'Slide Away' released.
Tom Clarke's Victims Of Apatheid broadcast in the Play For Today strand. Keith Richards pleaded very guilty to a charge of possessing heroin in Toronto in 1977. He was given a one-year suspended sentence as well as ordered to play a charity concert for the blind. The Average White Band appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Sidney Lumet's The Wiz premiered. The first episode of The Upchat Connection broadcast on Thames.
The first episode of The Hills Of Heaven broadcast. A service of thanksgiving and dedication marked the completion of Liverpool Cathedral, for which the foundation stone was laid in 1904. England and the Republic of Ireland drew one-all in a European Championship Qualifier in Dublin. Bob Latchford scored England's goal. Jock Stein's first game in his second period in charge of Scotland resulted in a three-two victory over Norway, thanks to a pair from Kenny Dalglish and a late Srchie Gemmill penalty.
The Savage broadcast. Elvis Costello & The Attractions played 'Radio Radio' on Top Of The Pops; reflecting the fact that the host of the episode was Tony Blackburn, who had been critical of the song's anti-radio sentiments - describing Elvis as 'a silly little man' - Costello specifically changed the lyrics to satirise Blackburn himself. The Sweeney episode The Bigger They Are broadcast on Thames.
The Rich Kids appeared on Rock Goes To College and Leo Sayer on Sounds Like Friday. Four people died and four others were wounded in a shooting spree which began in a residential street in West Bromwich and ended at a petrol station in Nuneaton. Barry Williams was subsequently arrested and charged with the murders. Kate Bush's 'Hammer Horror'/'Coffee Homeground', Candlewick Green's 'Who Do You Think You Are?'/'Come With Me', Heatwave's 'Always & Forever'/'Mind Blowing Decisions', X-Ray Spex's 'Germ Free Adolescence'/'Age', Julie Covington's '(I Want To See The) Bright Lights'/'A Little Bit More', Sweet Cream's 'I Don't Know What I'd Do (If You Ever Left Me)'/'Skunk Funk' and The Flying Lizards' 'Summertime Blues'/'All Guitars' released.
Everton beat Liverpool for the first time for nearly seven years when Andy King scored the winning goal at Goodison Park. At the end of the game, just as he was being interviewed by the BBC's Richard Dunkenfield, the pair got pushed off the pitch by an over-officious police officer.
The first episode of BBC2's The Birds Fall Down broadcast.
The first TV broadcast of Spike Milligan's Adolf Hitler - My Part In His Downfall. The first episode of And Now The Good News with that smug boil on the arse Richard Stilgoe broadcast on BBC2. Elvis Costello & The Attractions and The Angelic Upstarts featured in session on The John Peel Show. Michael Tuchner's Summer Of My German Soldier - starring Kristy McNichol, Bruce Davison and Esther Rolle - premiered.
A Touch Of The Tiny Hacketts broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The first episodes of BBC2's The Voyage Of Charles Darwin and Empire Road broadcast. Elton John and Dean Friedman appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Return Fare broadcast in BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. The first issue of Smash Hits launched. The One & Only Phyllis Dixey broadcast on Thames.
The Omnibus film Fear & Loathing On The Road To Hollywood broadcast. The first episode of BBC2's Accident broadcast. The Police's Outlandos d'Amour released. The Sweeney episode Feet Of Clay broadcast on Thames.
Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom. The Jam's All Mod Cons, The Adverts' 'Television's Over'/'Back From The Dead', Cimarons' 'Willin' (Rock Against Racism)'/'Truly', Darts' 'Don't Let It Fade Away'/'Early In The Morning', Rocky Sharpe & The Replays' 'Rama Lama Ding Dong'/'When The Chips Are Down', Tony Middleton's 'Paris Blues'/'Out Of This World', The Adverts' 'Television's Over'/'Back From The Dead' and Bryan Ferry's 'Carrickfergus'/'When She Walks In The Room' released. Martyn Burke's Power Play - starring Peter O'Toole, David Hemmings, Donald Pleasence and Barry Morse - premiered.
Many British bakeries imposed bread rationing after a strike led to panic buying.
The first episode of Crime Writers broadcast. Rioters sacked the British Embassy in Tehran.
The first episodes of The Devil's Music and Jonathan Miller's The Body In Question broadcast. The TV debut of Rowan Atkinson in an episode of And Now The Good News. John Cooper Clarke's first John Peel Show session ('I Married A Monster From Outer Space', 'Readers'Wives', 'Health Fanatic', 'Spilt Beans') broadcast. The first episode of The Tomorrow People serial The Living Skins broadcast on Thames.
Leon Griffiths' Dinner At The Sporting Club broadcast in the Play For Today strand. Siouxsie & The Banshees and John Cooper Clarke appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test.
The first episode of Edward & Mrs Simpson broadcast on Thames.
Armistace & After broadcast. Paul Ferris's Dylan broadcast on BBC2. The Sweeney episode One Of Your Own broadcast on Thames.
The first episodes of Delia Smith's Cookery Course and Butterflies broadcast on BBC2. Bob Marley & The Wailers' Babylon By Bus, X-Ray Spex's Germfree Adolescents, Telex's 'Twist A Saint Tropez'/'Le Fond De L'air' The Clash's Give 'Em Enough Rope, Mankind's 'Doctor Who'/'Time Traveller', Rod Stewart's 'Da 'Ya' Think I'm Sexy?'/'Dirty Weekend', Toto's 'Hold The Line'/'Takin' It Back', The Pleasers' 'A Girl I Know (Precis Of A Friend)'/'Don't Go Breaking My Heart', Child's 'Still The One'/'Honky Tonk Lady', MA 3's 'Bee Gees Mania'/'When Will I See You Again?', Squeeze's 'Goodbye Girl'/'Saints Alive' and Kate Bush's Lionheart released.
The first episode of Now & Then broadcast on BBC2. Don Sharp's adaptation of The Thirty Nine Steps - starring Robert Powell, David Warner, Karen Dotrice, John Mills, Miles Anderson and Timothy West - premiered.
Miro - Theatre Of Dreams broadcast on BBC2. Radio 1's Sunday teatime chart show was extended from a Top Twenty countdown to a Top Forty. Simon Bates was the presenter having taken over as host from Tom Browne earlier in the year. The first episode of The Losers broadcast on LWT.

Siouxsie & The Banshees' The Scream released.
Donal & Sally broadcast in the Play For Today strand. Eddie Money and Buzzcocks appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. The first episode of Fallen Hero broadcast on Thames.
The first episode of The Moon Stallion broadcast. The Jam, on tour in Leeds, got into 'an altercation' with members of the Australian rugby league squad, The Kangaroos, which left Bruce Foxton in hospital with bruised ribs and Paul Weller in the nick charged with glassing one of the Aussies; he was subsequently acquitted and the incident was commemorated on the cover of the band's final LP, Dig The New Breed ('"Paul Weller is innocent" chalked on the steps of the Leeds Court, God bless you girls!') Echo & The Bunnymen (opening act) and The Teardrop Explodes (headliners, much to Julian Cope's pleasure!) made their live debuts at Eric's Club in Liverpool. Cirio H Santiago's Hell Hole - starring Ingrid Greer, Nanette K Martin and Carry Nichols - premiered.
The Cat & The Canary - starring Honor Blackman, Michael Callan, Edward Fox, Wendy Hiller, Olivia Hussey and Wilfred Hyde-White - premiered.
Lindisfarne appeared on Rock Goes To College. The first episode of Radio 1's The Friday Rock Show, presented by Tommy Vance, featured a recording of prog-rock dinosaurs Yes at Wembley. Pass the valium. Pass out. Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers' 'Buzz, Buzz, Buzz'/'Hospital', Yachts' 'Yachting Types'/'Hypnotising Lies', Bee Gees' 'Too Much Heaven'/'Rest Your Love On Me', David Bowie's 'Breaking Glass'/'Art Decade', 'Ziggy Stardust', Hot Chocolate's 'I'll Put You Together Again (From Dear Anyone)'/'West End Of Park Lane', Masterplan's 'Love Crazy'/'Since I've Been Away From My Love', Jock Swon & The Metres' 'New Wave Band'/'Theme From The Film With The Same Name', Luv's 'You're The Greatest Lover'/'Life Is On My Side', Mud's 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love-Book Of Love'/'Run, Don't Walk', Boney M's 'Mary's Boy Child-Oh My Lord'/'Dancing In The Streets', The Two Ronnies' 'But First The News'/'Night Night' and Buzzcocks' 'Promises'/'Lipstick' released. Thomas John Ellis born in Cardiff.
Doctor Feelgood and Chas & Dave featured on Radio 1's In Concert. In Jamestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple cult followers in a mass murder–suicide incident which claimed nine hundred and eighteen lives, the majority from drinking cyanide-laced fruit juice. US Congressman Leo J Ryan was assassinated by members of cult shortly beforehand.
Jim Buckley's Debbie Does Dallas - starring Bambi Woods - premiered.
The first episode of The Fred Kaps Magic Show broadcast on BBC2.
An adaptation of Vaclav Havel's Sorry broadcast in the Play For Today strand.
Susan Boyd's Another Day broadcast in BBC2's Play Of The Week strand.
Susan Sontag's It's Your Stolen Face broadcast in the Omnibus strand. XTC were in session on The John Peel Show. Ian Dury & The Blockheads' 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick'/'There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards' released. All BBC national radio stations changed their medium or long wave transmission wavelength in order to improve national AM reception and to conform with the 1975 Geneva Frequency Plan. The Shipping Forecast transferred from Radio 2 to Radio 4 so that it continued to be broadcast on long wave. Pollyanna's nightclub in Birmingham was forced to lift its outrageous ban on black and Chinese patrons, after a one-year investigation by the Commission for Racial Equality concluded that the nightclub's entry policy was 'inherently racist.' Quite why it took a year to establish that is unknown.The Sweeney episode Hearts & Minds - guest-starring Morecambe and Wise - broadcast on Thames. Wei Lo's Spiritual Kung Fu - starring Jackie Chan - premiered.

Carry On Emmanuelle - starring Kenneth Williams, Suzanne Danielle, Kenneth Connor, Joan Sim, Peter Butterworth, Jack Douglas, Larry Dann and Beryl Reid - premiered. The Clash's 'Tommy Gun'/'One-Two, Crush On You', Magazine's 'Give Me Everything'/'I Love You You Big Dummy', Barry White's 'Just The Way You Are'/'Your Sweetness Is My Weakness', Funkadelic's 'One Nation Under A Groove (Parts 1 & 2)', Wreckless Eric's 'Crying, Waiting, Hoping'/'I Wish It Would Rain', Binky Baker & The Pit Orchestra's 'Toe Knee Black Burn'/'Rainy Day In Brighton', Rachel Sweet's 'B-A-B-Y'/'Suspended Animation' and Ron Grainer Orchestra's 'A Touch Of Velvet - A Sting Of Brass'/'Theme From Joe 90' released.
Sartre's Kean - featuring Anthony Hopkins - broadcast in the Play Of The Month strand. Paul Robeson 1898-1976 broadcast on BBC2.
In San Francisco, Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by former Supervisor Dan White.
Wally K Day's Butterflies Don't Count broadcast in the Play For Today strand. 999 and Devo appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Elton John's 'Song For Guy'/'Lovesick' released.
Robert Holles' The Vanishing Army broadcast in BBC2's Play Of The Week strand. Viv Anderson, of Nottingham Forest, became England's first black international footballer when he appeared in a frinedly against Czechoslovakia at Wembley. England won one-nil thanks to a Steve Coppell goal. Scotland lost one-nil to Portugal in Lisbon.
An industrial dispute closed publication at The Times until November 1979. Donovan Winter's Give Us Tomorrow - starring Sylvia Syms and Derren Nesbitt - premiered. The Sweeney episode Latin Lady broadcast on Thames.
The Ashes series began in Brisbane. England, led by Mike Brearley - and far less affected by the defection of players to Kerry Packer's WSC than Australia - won the first test by seven wickets on 6 December. Derek Randall top-scored in both of England's innings whilst Bob Willis took seven wickets in the match and Ian Botham six. Rodney Hogg making his debut for Australia also took seven wickets. Harmony Blend's 'Blue City (Paloma Blanca)'/'(If You Knew) The Way I Feel', Ace Frehley's 'New York Groove'/'Snow Blind' and Dave Edmunds' 'Television'/'Never Been In Love' released. Xanthe Eleanora Marie Davina Elbrick born in London.
The two hundredth episode of Parkinson broadcast. The Mystery Of Loch Ness broadcast on BBC2. The first episode of By Alan Bennett: Six Plays - Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf - broadcast on LWT.
The first episode of Pinocchio broadcast. The BBC Television Shakespeare began on BBC2 with an adaptation of Romeo & Juliet. The first UK TV broadcast of Slaughterhouse Five.
Anthony Page's Absolution - starring Richard Burton, Dominic Guard, Dai Bradley, Billy Connolly, Brian Glover, Andrew Keir and Preston Lockwood - premiered.
Mike Stott's Soldiers Talking, Clearly broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The first episode of Barry Manilow broadcast on BBC2. Ultravox and X Ray Spex appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Alan Plater's Night People broadcast in BBC2's Play Of The Week strand.
Getting Away With Murder Or The Childhood Of Claude Chabrol broadcast in the Omnibus strand.
Public Image Limited's Public Image: First Edition, Parliament's 'Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)'/'(You're A Fish & I'm A) Water Sign' and The Mekons' 'Where Were You?'/'I'll Have To Dance Then (On My Own)' released. Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter, William Friedkin's The Brink's Job and Guy Hamilton's Force Ten From Navaronne - starring Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford, Barbara Bach, Edward Fox, Franco Nero and Richard Kiel - premiered.
Richard II broadcast in BBC2's The BBC Television Shakespeare strand. Peter Mitchell won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 'for his contribution to the understanding of biological energy transfer through the formulation of the chemiosmotic theory.'
An Evening With Andy Williams broadcast on BBC2. The Cure's first John Peel Show session broadcast. Six men robbed a Lufthansa cargo facility at New York's JFK Airport (as subsequently depicted in the movie Goodfellas).
Andy McSmith's One Bummer News Days broadcast in the Play For Today strand.
Steve Ovett won the Sports Personality Of The Year award. Andrew Davies's dramatisation of Renoir, My Father broadcast in BBC2's Play Of The Week strand.
Labour's minority government survived a vote of confidence in the Commons. Michael Crichton's The First Great Train Robbery - Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Down - premiered. The Sweeney episode Victims broadcast on Thames.
Superman premiered in the US.
The first UK TV broadcast of Peter Bogdanovich's Paper Moon. As You Like It broadcast in BBC2's The BBC Television Shakespeare strand.
Christmas Snowtime Special broadcast. Aswad's first John Peel Show session broadcast.
Jim Hawkins' Thank You, Comrades broadcast. Mr Lollipop, MA broadcast on BBC2.
England won the second Ashes test at Perth by one hundred and sixty six runs largely due to a stunning century by David Gower and the pace of Bob Willis and John Lever. Ignacio F Iquino's Las Que Empiezan A Los Quince Años - starring Sonia Blanca, Patricia Becker and Judith Jamber - premiered.
Ian Dury's No Trouble broadcast on BBC2. Theodore J Flicker's Jacob Two-Two Meets The Hooded Fang - starring Stephen Rosenberg and Alex Karras - premiered.
Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy was arrested for his naughty murdering ways. He was subsequently convicted of the murder of thirty three men and boys committed between 1972 and 1978. The first episode of Late Night Story, read by Tom Baker, broadcast on BBC2. Herbert Ross's California Suite and Gunter Otto's Liebesgrüße Aus Der Lederhose: Die Bruchpiloten Vom Königssee - starring Peter Steiner and Judith Fritsch - premiered.
Bing Crosby - The Christmas Years broadcast. Doug Henning's World Of Magic broadcast on BBC2. Everton lost their first League game of the season - after being unbeaten for nineteen matches - three-two to Coventry City. Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur five-nil at White Hart Lane in the North London derby.
Petticoat Lane broadcast on BBC2. The Old Grey Whistle Test's annual Christmas Eve concert featured 10CC at the Wembley Conference Centre. Andre Previn's Christmas Music Night broadcast. Marie Polednáková's Jak Dostat Tatínka Do Plepšovny - starring Jana Preissová and Tomás Holý - premiered.
John Bowen's The Ice House broadcast as part of the Ghost Story For Christmas strand. The first UK TV broadcast of The Sound Of Music. The British TV premiere of Diamonds Are Forever on ITV. Anne Hughes broadcast on BBC2.
The first UK TV broadcast of The French Connection. It's Today, Verse, Worse & Baby Grand and Don McLean & Friends In Concert broadcast on BBC2. The first part of The John Peel Show's annual Festive Fifty broadcast.
The first UK TV appearance of Kelly Montieth in Val Doonican's Christmas In The Country. Cricket 78 featuring John Arlott interviewing Ian Botham and David Gower broadcast on BBC2.
The first UK TV broadcast of Steptoe & Son Ride Again. Richard Harris's adaptation of Plain Murder broadcast on BBC2. The final episode of The Sweeney - Jack Or Knave - broadcast on Thames.
David Soul broadcast. The first UK TV showings of Dick Emery's Ooh, You Are Awful! and Theatre Of Blood. The Red Deer Of Rhum broadcast in BBC2's Horizon strand. Peaches & Herb's 'Shake Your Groove Thing'/'All Your Love (Give It Here)', Jean Michel Jarre's 'Equinoxe (Parts 5 & 1)' and Whizz!!'s 'Here Comes Superman'/'Do You Hear Me?' released.
The Old Grey Whistle Test: Pick Of The Year broadcast on BBC2. Twenty seven goals were scored in the seven First Division games which survived the weather. Leeds United won four-one at Queens Park Rangers, Ipswich beat Chelsea five-one and, in the game of the day, West Bromwich Albion beat Manchester United five-three at Old Trafford. Stephen Holmes, aged fourteen, was last seen on his way home from a rock concert; Holmes encountered the serial killer and necrophile Dennis Nilsen in the Cricklewood Arms on the evening of 29 December before accepting an offer of alcohol at Nilsen's flat in Melrose Avenue. The following morning, Nilsen strangled Holmes with a necktie until he was unconscious, before drowning him in a bucket of water. His body remained beneath Nilsen's floorboards for over seven months before being disposed of on a bonfire. Investigators announced his identification in November 2006.
That Was The Weather That Was and the first episode of The Mill On The Floss broadcast. At the end of the year, Liverpool led Everton on goal difference at the top of the First Division, with a game in hand. West Bromwich Albion remained in contention, just two points behind. Birmingham City were bottom with eight points. Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers were also in the relegation zone. Jimmy Perry's The Old Boy Network - starring Arthur Askey - broadcast on BBC2.