1981

1981
First UK TV showing of Papillon. James Cagney and Pat O'Brien appeared on Parkinson. The Republic of Palau was proclaimed in the Palau Islands of Micronesia. Under an agreement signed with the United States, the new nation would continue to be administered as a United States trust territory, with the US handling Palau's foreign and military affairs. The first episode of Twenty One At Thirty Three - with Andy Peebles interviewing Elton John - broadcast on Radio 1. The Little Swallow & The Happy Prince - read by Robert Powell - broadcast on Radio 4.
The first UK TV showing of Breakheart Pass. Diane Keen, Patrick Moore and Kenneth Williams were guests on Tomorrow's World. Girl In A Glider broadcast on BBC2. One of the largest - and least competent - investigations by a British police force ended when the serial-killer Peter Sutcliffe, The Yorkshire Ripper, was arrested whilst acting suspiciously in Sheffield. Future convicted sex offender Dave Lee Travis presents his final edition of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show after two-and-a-half years. Heatwave's 'Gangsters Of The Groove'/'Someone Like You' and Coast To Coast's '(Do) The Hucklebuck'/'Telephone Baby' released. Carrott Del Sol broadcast on LWT.

The Tharils appeared in Doctor Who in the first episode of Warriors' Gate. The first UK TV showing of Sophia Loren - Her Own Story. Nigel Finch's Arena documentary Chelsea Hotel broadcast on BBC2. The Kinks featured on Radio 1's In Concert. Princess Alice, the Countess of Athlone, daughter of Prince Leopold and last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria, died at Kensington Palace aged ninety seven. Ipswich Town beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup Third Round. Everton defeat Arsenal two-nil.
All's Well That End's Well broadcast in The BBC Television Shakespeare strand. The first episode of The History Man broadcast on BBC2. Striking British Leyland workers voted to accept a peace formula put forward by management in the ongoing Longbridge dispute. Moonshine ... On Dogs broadcast on Radio 4. Dangerous Davies The Last Detective - starring Bernard Cribbins - broadcast on LWT.
The notoriously awful Triangle, a twice-weekly drama series set aboard a North Sea ferry began. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, the TV adaptation of Douglas Adams' acclaimed radio comedy debuted on BBC2. Adam & The Ants and Linx appeared on Something Else. The first episodes of Michael Strogoff, When The Bough Breaks and Maestro broadcast. Peter Sutcliffe, a thirty four-year-old lorry driver from Bradford, was charged with the murder of thirteen women and attempted murder of seven others across Northern England since 1975. Mike Read succeeded future convicted sex offender Dave Lee Travis as presenter of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Norman St John-Stevas was replaced as Leader of the House of Commons by Francis Pym; Angus Maude and Reg Prentice both left the Cabinet. For the first time since Iraq invaded its territory in September, Iran launched a counterattack, concentrating its armies at Sousangerd. The battle was indecisive and the war would continue until 1988.
The first episode of Seconds Out broadcast. Beyond The Pale broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The first episodes of The Deceivers and Jake Thackery & Songs broadcast on BBC2.
A parcel bomb addressed to the Prime Minister was intercepted at the sorting office. 'The Scottish Socialist Republican League' - all two of them - claimed responsibility in a telephone call to a newspaper. The first episodes of Sixteen Up and The Magic Of Dance broadcast on BBC2. Britain's youngest chess grand master, fifteen year old Nigel Short, appeared on The Master Game. 'A well-known astrologer who predicts the trends for each sign of the zodiac in 1981,' appeared on Radio 1's Mailbag.
A World Of Difference - narrated by John Hurt - broadcast. The first episode of The Little World Of Don Camillo broadcast on BBC2. In what was described as 'perhaps the most completely and carefully documented UFO sighting of all time,' retired contractor Renato Nicolai witnessed what he believed to be French military aircraft on a test flight. After police forwarded his report to GEPAN, an investigative unit of the France's space agency, CNES, found traces of metal throughout the area where the UFO had been observed. A bomb was planted in a barrack block at RAF Uxbridge. The device was discovered and the RAF musicians and airmen living there were evacuated before it exploded. The building was damaged by the blast but no one was injured. Nearly a year after the death of Ian Curtis, the surviving members of Joy Division plus Gillian Gilbert, now under the name New Order, released their debut single, 'Ceremony'. The single and its B-side, 'In A Lonely Place', were both re-recordings of songs originally written and performed with Curtis. The report of the Royal Commission on criminal procedure was published.
The first episode of Think Again broadcast. Fothergill broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. The funeral of Princess Alice took place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, before her burial at Frogmore. David Bowie 'Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)'/'Because You're Young' and Ultravox's pretentious tosh 'Vienna'/'Passionate Reply' released. Fortunately, Minge Urine and chums were kept off number one by Joe Dolce. Which was funny.
The first episode of Nanny broadcast. David Wheatley's Hazell Meets His Makers broadcast in BBC2's Arena strand. The Skids and John Martyn appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Shakin' Stevens featured on Radio 1's In Concert. Aston Villa moved to the top of the First Division after beating Liverpool at Villa Park.
The first episode of Solo broadcast. The first episode of The Much-Loved Music Show broadcast on BBC2. The first episode of Doctor Down Under broadcast on LWT.
The first episode of In The Post broadcast. The third UK TV showing of Billy Wilder's The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes. Q Tips appeared on BBC2's Rock Goes To College. Blondie's 'Rapture'/'Walk Like Me' released.
Alan Bleasdale's The Muscle Market broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The first episode of BBC2's Roads To Conflict broadcast. The prison officers' overtime ban ended. Donna Griffiths, a twelve-year-old from Pershore, Worcestershire, began sneezing and continued to do so repeatedly, for nine hundred and seventy eight consecutive days. Donna would have her first sneeze-free day in September 1983.
On the eve of the MCC party's departure on their tour of the West Indies, Christopher Martin-Jenkins reported from Lord's on the prospects - or, lack of them - for Ian Botham 's team on Sportsnight. The first episode of Trevor Griffiths' BBC2 dramatisation of Sons and Lovers broadcast. The British Nationality Bill was published.

The first episode of The Treachery Game broadcast. Anthony Burgess featured on BBC2's Writers & Places. Pope John Paul II received a delegation led by Solidarność leader Lech Walesa at The Vatican. US police drama Hill Street Blues, described as 'one of the most innovative and critically acclaimed television shows in recent television history' and a programme which 'set an entirely new standard for television drama' made its debut on NBC.
Miss Great Britain 1981 broadcast. The first episode of BBC2's Oxford Road Show broadcast from Manchester. One Hundred & Eighty!!! broadcast in the Playhouse strand. Loyalists shot and seriously wounded Irish nationalist activist and former MP Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and her husband at their home in Northern Ireland. Seventy eight per cent of British Steel Corporation workers voted in favour of the chairman's 'survival' plan. Bernard Lee, the actor who portrayed M in multiple James Bond films died at the age of seventy three. The Clash's 'Hitsville UK'/'Radio One', Madness' 'The Return Of The Los Palmas Seven'/'That's The Way To Do It', The Boomtown Rats' 'The Elephant's Graveyard (Guilty)'/'Real Different', Spandau Ballet's 'The Freeze'/'Version', John Lennon's 'Woman'/'Beauitful Boys' and The Stranglers' 'Thrown Away'/'Top Secret' released. The Cure were in session of The John Peel Show ('Holy Hour', 'Forever', 'Primary', 'All Cats Are Grey').
Michael Parkinson interviewed Muhammad Ali and Freddie Starr. No hamsters were consumed during this programme. Eric Bristow beat John Lowe to retain the Embassey World Darts championship leading to one of Sid Waddell finest moments: 'When Alexander of Macedonia was thirty three, he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer. Eric Bristow is only twenty seven!' There was, of course, only one word for that, 'magic commentary.' The first episode of Radio 1's Walters' Weekly broadcast.
The Purity Of The Gun broadcast in the Everyman strand. The Mysteries Of Hieronymus Bosch broadcast on BBC2. Ten people were killed in the New Cross house fire. Wendy O Williams of The Plasmatics was arrested in Milwaukee for simulating masturbation with a sledgehammer on stage. In a scuffle with the police Williams received a cut face requiring twelve stitches. John Lennon's final radio interview, with Andy Peebles recorded in New York two days before his murder, was broadcast on Radio 1 over five episodes.
A Good Job With Prospects: The Entertainers broadcast. UB40 featured on Rock Goes To College. The first episodes of BBC2's Evans On Newspapers and Tele-Journal broadcast. FA Cup holders West Ham United were beaten in a Third Round second replay by fellow Second Division side Wrexham. Crispy Ambulance were in session on The John Peel Show ('Come On', 'Egypt', 'Drug User Drug Pusher', 'October Thirty First').
A Brush With Mister Porter On The Road To El Dorado broadcast in the Play For Today strand. BBC2 broadcast live coverage of the presidential inauguration of Ronald Reagan. Iran released the fifty two American hostages held for four hundred and forty four days mere minutes after Reagan was sworn in.
The first episode of Open Secret broadcast. The first episodes of BBC2's Travellers In Time and God & The Scientists broadcast. The first DeLorean, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolled off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. Sir Norman Stronge and his son, both former Stormont MPs, were killed by the Provisional IRA. Two divers trapped below the North Sea in the Stena Seaspread diving bell were brought safely to the surface.
Peter Powell introduced Top Of The Pops with performances from The Look, Spandau Ballet, XTC, Adam & The Ants, Bad Manners and Blondie. The pilot episode of Revolting Women broadcast on BBC2. Australian billionaire tyrant Rupert Murdoch agreed to buy The Times provided agreements could be reached with the unions. East German football internationals Gerd Weber, Matthias Müller and Peter Kotte were arrested by The Stasi at Dresden airport as they were preparing to travel with the national team to Argentina and were charged with plotting to defect to West Germany. All three were subsequently banned from the game. Annie Leibovitz's iconic photograph of a nude John Lennon kissing Yoko Ono was first published. The photo appeared on the cover of Rolling Stain magazine's sickeningly sycophantic arse-slurping tribute issue to Lennon.
The first episode of The Walls Of Jericho broadcast. The Kindness Of Mrs Radcliffe broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Elvis Costello & The Attractions' Trust, The Teardrop Explodes' 'Reward'/'Strange House In The Snow', XTC's 'Sergeant Rock (Is Going To Help Me)'/'Living Through Another Cuba', 'Generals & Majors', Slade's 'We'll Bring The House Down'/'Hold On To Your Hats', Landscape's 'Einstein A Go-Go'/'New Religion', The Freshies' 'I'm In Love With The Girl On The Virgin Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk'/'Sing Along Version', The Passions' 'I'm In Love With A German Film Star'/'(Don't Talk To Me) I'm Shy' and Slade's 'We'll Bring The House Down'/'Hold On To Your Hats' released.
Shaft shown in The Saturday Film strand. The first UK TV showing of The Year Of The Hare in BBC2's Film International strand. Roxy Music appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Tragically, so did Mike Oldfield. Generation X featured on Radio 1's In Concert. A Labour Party conference at Wembley voted for future leadership erections to be decided by an electoral college with forty per cent votes for unions, thirty per cent Labour MPs and thirty per cent for constituencies. Manchester City defeated Norwich City six-nil in the FA Cup Fourth Round at Maine Road, just two months after John Bond's move between the two clubs. Everton knocked out Merseyside rivals Liverpool with a two-one victory at Goodison Park and Nottingham Forest beat Manchester United.
The Battle Of The Villa Fiorita shown in The Sunday Film strand. The Restless Eye broadcast on BBC2. In The Limehouse Declaration, centrist Labour MPs Shirley Williams, Roy Jenkins, Bill Rodgers and David Owen (the Gang of Four), announced plans to form a separate political entity - the Social Democratic Party. The following day, nine further Labour MPs declared their support for the new party. Jiang Qing, the widow of former leader Mao Zedong, was sentenced to death in the People's Republic of China. Her sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
The first UK TV showing of The Outside Man. Film 81 featured a location report on the forthcoming Chariots Of Fire. The first episode of BBC2's Grace Kennedy broadcast. Sir Keith Joseph, Secretary of State for Industry, announced further financial support for British Leyland. Kim Wilde's debut 'Kids In America'/'Tuning In Tuning On' released.
Dear Brutus broadcast. Bill Rodgers resigned from the Shadow Cabinet following his defection to the newly formed SDP. He was replaced by arch Communist nutter Tony Benn.
Hostile Witness shown in The Wednesday Film strand. Sir Hugh Fraser was removed as Chairman of the House of Fraser. Fresh damage was caused by prisoners in cells at HM Prison Maze in Northern Ireland. Third Division Exeter City caused one of the shocks of the season by beating Leicester City three-one in an FA Cup Fourth Round replay. The Au Pairs were in session on The John Peel Show ('We're So Cool', 'Armagh', 'The Set Up', 'Headache For Michelle').
The first episode of Partners broadcast. Those People Next Door broadcast in BBC2's Man Alive strand. The government welcomed plans by the Japanese car firm Nissan to build Datsun cars in Britain.
The first UK TV showing of An Eye For An Eye. A Last Visitor For Mister Hugh Peter broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. David Owen told his Plymouth constituency party that he would not stand again as Labour candidate. Brian Setzer and Jona Lewie featured on Radio 1's Roundtable. Talking Heads' 'Once In A Lifetime'/'Seen & Not Seen', Anti-Pasti's 'Let Them Free'/'Another Dead Soldier', 'Hell', The RAH Band's 'Slide'/'Drat That Cat' and Stray Cats' 'Rock This Town'/'Can't Hurry Love' released.
Liverpool's eighty five-match unbeaten home run in all competitions ended with a two-one home defeat to struggling Leicester City in the league. Their last home defeat had been in February 1978. Northumberland beat Gloucestershire in rugby's Thorn County Championship Final. The first UK TV showing of Payment In Kind and BBC2's Film International strand. John Peel and John Walters featured in Today Carshalton Beeches ... Tomorrow Croydon in the Arena strand. Minge Urine and Ultravox appeared on Radio 1's In Concert.

The first episode of Sense & Sensibility broadcast. The Unquiet Spirit broadcast on BBC2. In the third match of cricket's World Series between Australia and New Zealand at Melbourne, Australian bowler Trevor Chappell and his brother, team captain Greg Chappell, became infamous for the shameful and disgraceful way that the match was won. With New Zealand needing six runs to win from the final ball, on instructions from Greg, Trevor bowled underarm to the disgust of New Zealand batsman, Brian McKechnie and the majority of the crowd. Cricket's rules were subsequently changed to ban such unsportsmanlike malarkey. Jirí Menzel's Postřižiny - starring Magda Vásáryová, Jirí Schmitzer and Jaromír Hanzlík - premiered.
The first UK TV showing of The Baby Maker. John Martyn appeared on Rock Goes To College. The report on the December 1980 Brixton prison escape of Gerard Tuite, Jimmy Moody and Stan Thompson was released resulting in the governor being transferred to an administrative post.
The Cause broadcast in the Play For Today strand. New Crystal Palace, odious full-of-his-own-sef-importance owner Ron Noades sacked Malcolm Allison and appointed Wimbledon manager Dario Gradi as Palace's fourth manager of the season. Wimbledon, in turn, appointed coach Dave Bassett as Gradi's replacement.
The Variety Club Awards and Can We Afford A Rolls-Royce? broadcast. That Awful Thatcher Woman announced that the Government would sell half of its shares in British Aerospace. Congressman Jon Hinson of Mississippi was arrested, along with a twenty eight-year-old male employee of the Library of Congress, at a lavatory in a Congressional office building and charged with homosexual sodomy. Hinson resigned his seat a month later.
Simon Bates introduced Top Of The Pops with performances by Fred Wedlock, Joe Dolce, The Stray Cats, The Passions, Rainbow, Blondie, Spandau Ballet, Cliff Richard, Dire Straits, XTC and the late John Lennon. A Guardian Lecture and the first episode of The Mike Harding Show broadcast on BBC2. Lord Olivier, cancer researcher Sir Peter Medawar and humanitarian Leonard Cheshire were admitted into the Order of Merit as announced in the New Year Honours list.
Keith Fielding won The Men's Final for the Ferguson Trophy in Superstars. The Journal Of Bridget Hitler broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. The Liverpool-registered coal ship Nellie M was bombed and sunk by an IRA unit driving a hijacked boat in Lough Foyle. The Government dropped two controversial clauses of the Nationality Bill relating to British Dependent Territory citizens. The Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, warned British MPs against delaying proposed changes in the Canadian constitution. Roxy Music's 'Jealous Guy'/'To Turn You On', Television Personalities' 'I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives'/'Arthur The Gardener', Tom Marshall's 'Film Star'/'Rock 'N' Roll Is Dead', Hot Chocolate's 'Losing You'/'Children Of Spacemen', GC Cameron's 'Live For Love'/'If I Love You' and Grace Jones's 'Demolition Man'/'Warm Leatherette' released. Geoff Murphy's classic road movie Goodbye Pork Pie - starring Tony Barry and Kelly Johnson - premiered. It proved to be the first really financially successful New Zealand film.
Sex & The Single Girl shown in The Saturday Film strand. Carlos Reutemann won the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami. Landscape's From The Tea-rooms Of Mars ... To The Hell-Holes Of Uranus and Brian Eno & David Byrne's My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts released.
Aston Villa's three-one victory at Everton featured on Match Of The Day. The Winter's Tale broadcast in The BBC Television Shakespeare strand. Twenty-one people were killed and fifty four seriously injured at a football match at Piraeus in Greece. Olympiakos had defeated visiting AEK Athens six-nil and fans rushing towards stadium exits were trampled. The Jam's 'That's Entertainment'/'Down In the Tube Station At Midnight' released in Germany. It became the largest selling import single ever in Britain, shifting large enough quantities to make the UK top twenty.
On Film 81, Barry Norman reviewed Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in Nine To Five. Shirley Williams resigned from Labour's national executive committee. Polish Prime Minister Józef Pinkowski was replaced by General Wojciech Jaruzelski. The Comsat Angels were in session of The John Peel Show.
The first episode of Alan Rogers' animation Pigeon Street broadcast. David Leland's Beloved Enemy broadcast in the Play For Today strand. Acclaimed American jugglers Doctor Hot and Neon appeared on Russell Harty . The Psychedelic Furs were in session on The John Peel Show ('Into You Like A Train', 'On & Again', 'All Of This & Nothing'). The first episode of Bognor broadcast on Thames.
Break In The Sun broadcast. The closure of the Talbot car plant in Linwood was announced. BBC Radio London began broadcasting in stereo.
Malice Aforethought broadcast. The purchase of The Times and The Sunday Times from The Thomson Corporation by Rupert Murdoch's News International was confirmed. Murdoch also announced that an agreement with the unions had been reached about manning levels and new technology. Ian Paisley was suspended from the House of Commons for four days after calling the Northern Ireland Secretary a liar. The National Union of Students called off a five-week strike.
Days At The Beach broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. The National Coal Board announced widespread pit closures. Headgirl's St Valentine's Day Massacre EP ('Please Don't Touch'/'Bomber', 'Emergency') and Showaddywaddy's 'Doo Wah Diddy'/'You Are Love' released.
Max Wall appeared on Parkinson. The first UK TV showing of Operation Daybreak. Symphony Of A Thousand broadcast on BBC2. Billy Idol left Generation X to begin a solo career. A fire at the Stardust nightclub in Dublin killed forty eight people and injured over two hundred.
The first episode of I See What You Mean broadcast. Twentieth Century Treasure-Trove broadcast in BBC2's The Lively Arts strand. The Bed Sitting Room shown in the British Movie Night strand. Thefinal episode of Andy Peebles interview with John Lennon broadcast on Radio 1.
Who's Afraid of Rupert Murdoch? brodcast in the Panorama strand. The first UK TV showing of The Man Who Died Twice. Film 81 included reviews of Little Lord Fauntleroy and Raging Bull. BA Robertson appeared on Rock Goes To College. Won't Change Places broadcast of BBC2. IRA terrorists - Eugene McManus and John Bradley - were jailed in connection with the 1973 murder of the German industrialist Thomas Niedermayer. New Order were in session on The John Peel Show ('Truth', 'Senses', 'ICB', 'Dreams Never End').
The first episode of Seapower broadcast. The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The first episode of Maggie broadcast on BBC2. Princess Anne was elected the Chancellor of London University. Dead or Alive were in session on The John Peel Show ('Nowhere To Nowhere', 'Running Wild', 'Flowers', 'Number Eleven').
Exeter City reach the FA Cup Quarter-Finals for only the second time in their history, defeating Newcastle United four-nil in a replay after drawing one-one in the first game. Ashkenazy & Haitink In Concert broadcast on BBC2. West Indies won the first test against England in Trinidad by an innings and seventy nine runs. The government withdrew plans to close twenty three coal mines after negotiations with the National Union of Mineworkers. Harold Evans was appointed editor of The Times. Siouxsie & The Banshees were in session on The John Peel Show ('Halloween', 'Voodoo Dolly', 'But Not Them', 'Into The Light').
The first series of Hi De Hi broadcast. Yoko Ono's 'Walking On Thin Ice'/'It Happened' and China Crisis's 'African & White'/'Be Suspicious' released. Frank Sinatra was cleared of longstanding rumours that he had ties to organised crime, eighteen years after the Nevada Gaming Commission had revoked his licence to operate a casino. In 1963, mobster Sam Giancana had visited Sinatra's Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe and the licence was suspended. A factor in the commission's vote in favour of Sinatra was a statement of support from Ronald Reagan, with an attorney authorised to say that Reagan 'considers him an honorable person - completely honest and loyal.'
The first episode of Finders Keepers broadcast. Cathy Hargreaves (Lyndy Brill) received the cane from Mrs McClusky (Gwyneth Powell) for general naughtiness in Grange Hill. Bobby Wants To Meet Me broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Four more MPs announced their intention to leave the Labour Party and join the SDP. Peter Sutcliffe was charged with the murder of thirteen women. Depeche Mode's 'Dreaming Of Me'/'Ice Machine', Robert Wyatt's 'Stalin Wasn't Stalin'/'Stralingrad', The Jacksons' 'Can You Feel It?'/'Wondering Who' and Pere Ubu's 'Not Happy'/'Lonesome Cowboy Dave' released. Phil Lynott appeared on Radio 1's Roundtable. Eddy DeWitt's The Velvet Edge - starring Jennifer West, Alex Mann and Donna Hart and Jesús Franco's Eugenie (Historia De Una Perversión) - starring Katja Bienert and Mabel Escaño - premiered.

XTC appeared on Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. The first appearance of Anthony Ainley as The Master on Doctor Who. Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark and Modern Ion featured on Radio 1's In Concert. The first UK TV showings of Baby Face, A Message To Garcia and Autumn Marathon on BBC2. Thirty thousand people marched in an unemployment protest in Glasgow. England retained rugby's Calcutta Cup, beating Scotland twenty three-seventeen at Twickenham.
The Power Of The Poor broadcast in the Everyman strand. Jack Lemmon and Ronnie Corbett partnered Lee Trevino and Fuzzy Zoeller on BBC2's International Pro-Celebrity Golf. The first episode of Doctors' Daughters broadcast on LWT.
Film 81 featured a location report on Escape To Victory. The Jail Diary Of Albie Sachs broadcast on BBC2. Joe Massot's Dance Craze - featuring Madness, The Specials, The Selecter, The Bodysnatchers, The Beat and Bad Manners - premiered. Girls At Our Best were in session on The John Peel Show. The Twenty Three-F coup attempt began in Madrid when Spain's Congress of Deputies was taken over by two hundred members of the Guardia Civil. A disgruntled Spanish Army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero Molina led the seizure of the Cortes building and took over three hundred legislators hostage. The Deputies were voting on whether to approve Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo as the new Prime Minister. The attempted coup d'état failed seven hours later after King Juan Carlos refused to cooperate with the conspiring insurgents and then received the support of the rest of the military. The King appeared on television to calm the public and announced the end of the crisis. Tejero, Lieutenant General Jaime Milans del Bosch and the King's aide, General Alfonso Armada, were later arrested and did considerable jail for their conspiring insurgent ways.
The Union broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The engagement of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer was officially announced.
The British Rock & Pop Awards simultcast on BBC1 and Radio 1, presented by future convicted sex offender Dave Lee Travis - and his hairy cornflake - and Sue Lawley. Winners included The Police, David Bowie and The Jam. Madness, Adam & The Ants, Hazel O’Connor and Hot Chocolate performed at the event. The first episode of Muggeridge: Ancient & Modern broadcast on BBC2. That Awful Thatcher Woman arrived in Washington, DC for a four-day state visit. The Observer was taken over by Tiny Rowland, head of Lonrho.
The Best In The Ballroom broadcast. The English cricket team withdrew from the second test after the Guyanese government served a deportation order on Robin Jackman who had previously played and coached in South Africa. That Awful Thatcher Woman and Ronald Reagan met in Washington - the situation in El Salvador dominated the first day of their talks. Sergio Martino's Spaghetti A Mezzanotte - starring Barbara Bouchet, Lino Banfi and Alida Chelli - premiered.
The first episode of Coming Home broadcast. Days broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Three British missionaries released from Iran landed in Athens. Sir Harold Wilson announced his retirement from Parliament at the next erection. The Archbishop of Canterbury advised the church to see homosexuality as 'a handicap not a sin.' In fact, it's neither. The proposed Observer takeover was referred to the Monopolies Commission. Elvis Costello & The Attractions' 'From A Whisper To A Scream'/'Luxembourg', Altered Images' 'Dead Pop Stars'/'Sentimental', The Human League's 'Boys & Girls'/'Tom Baker', The Who's 'You Better You Bet'/'The Quiet One', Steely Dan's 'Babylon Sisters'/'Time Out Of Mind', Fischer-Z's 'Marliese'/'Right Hand Men' and Simple Minds' 'Celebrate'/'Changeling' released.
Showaddywaddy and Status Quo appeared on Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. So, that would have been worth avoiding. The three hundredth episode of Parkinson broadcast. U2 made an early TV appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test performing 'The Ocean', 'Eleven O'Clock Tick Tock' and 'I Will Follow'. The Selecter featured on Radio 1's In Concert.
The first series of Open All Hours since 1976 began. A Valley In The Desert broadcast on BBC2.
Film 81 featured reviews of Ordinary People and The Mirror Crack'd. The Honourable Member's Wife and the first episode of Say It With Baby Grand broadcast on BBC2. Positive Noise were in session on The John Peel Show ('Charm', 'Love Like Property', 'Treachery', '1917 I'm In The Mood').
The first episode of Children Of Fire Mountain broadcast. Homebase opened its first DIY and garden centre superstore at Croydon. Frantic Elevators were in session on The John Peel Show.
In the Quarter-Final of the UEFA Cup, Ipswich Town produced a magnificent performance to win four-win at Saint-Étienne. A last minute goal from Tommy Tynan gained Newport County a two-two draw against East Germany's Carl Zeiss Jena in the European Cup Winners Cup. The first episode of The Life & Times Of David Lloyd George broadcast on BBC2.
Duran Duran, Shakin' Stevens, The Who, Adam & The Ants, Toyah, Headgirl, Joe Dolce, Talking Heads and The Teardrop Explodes appeared on Top Of The Pops. Species & Evolution broadcast on BBC2. The ZX81, a pioneering - if, frankly, a bit rubbish - home computer, was launched by Sinclair Research, going on to sell over one-and-a-half million units worldwide. The Jacksons' 'Can You Feel It?'/'Wondering Who' released.

The first episode of Breakthrough broadcast. Jack Shepherd's Clapperclaw broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Grace Slick and Paul Gambaccini appeared on Radio 1's Roundtable. Dexys Midnight Runners' 'Plan B'/'Soul Finger', Dalek I Love You's 'Heartbeat'/'Astronauts (Have Landed On The Moon)', The Congos' 'Fisherman'/'Can't Come In', The Harry South Orchestra's 'Theme From The Chinese Detective'/'Theme For Ho's Father' and Polecats' 'John I'm Only Dancing'/'Big Green Car' released. Laila Mikkelsen's Liten Ida - starring Sunniva Lindekleiv, Lise Fjeldstad and Arne Lindtner Næss - premiered.
False Witness shown in The Saturday Film strand. The first UK TV showings of Fury At Showdown and Cairo Road on BBC2. The dB's and Rupert Hine appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Exeter City's FA Cup run finally ended when they lost two-nil at Tottenham Hotspur in the Quarter-Finals. At the City Ground, Ipswich Town went two-nil up. Nottingham Forest scored three times to take the lead before Frans Thijssen equalised to send the match to a replay. The Vapours appeared on Radio 1's In Concert.
Mister Herschel's Planet broadcast in The Sky At Night strand. Loot shown in BBC2's British Film Night strand. The first episode of a twenty six part Radio 4 adaptation of The Lord Of The Rings - starring Ian Holm as Frodo, Michael Hordern as Gandalf and a young Bill Nighy - broadcast.
Has the Lady Turned? broadcast in the Panorama strand. The first episode of BBC2's Roots Of England broadcast. Siouxsie & The Banshees appeared on Rock Goes To College. John Lambe, a lorry driver, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of twelve women in less than four years. Thousands of civil servants held a one-day strike over pay. Smokey Robinson's 'Being With You' released. Fire Engines were in session on The John Peel Show ('Untitled', 'Discord', 'Candy Skin', 'We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thing').
The Garland broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The Ruts ('Different View', 'Parasites', 'Fools Lead The Fools', 'Mirror Smashed') and Altered Images ('A Day's Wait', 'Idols', 'Midnight', 'Jeepster') were in session on The John Peel Show. The Conservative government's budget was met with general uproar due to further public spending cuts.
The Moonies broadcast. When Cornishman Was King broadcast on BBC2. The start of an uprising which would lead to the break-up of Yugoslavia and the independence of Kosovo began with student discontent over inefficient food service at the University of Pristina. Tired of being made to wait in line, for hours, for poor quality food, students began demonstrating. Within days, the protests turned into discontent over the treatment of the ethnic Albanian population by the Serbian majority and then to rioting and demands for an independent Kosovar nation.
The first episode of Sorry! broadcast. The first UK broadcast of Brave New World. Sky At Westminster Abbey broadcast on BBC2. Liverpool signed Vancouver Whitecaps and Zimbabwe goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar for two hundred and fifty thousand quid. The Gang Of Four were in session on The John Peel Show.
ABBA In Concert broadcast. The Potsdam Quartet broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Heaven 17's '(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing'/'The Decline Of The West', The Stranglers' 'Just Like Nothing On Earth'/'Mainwhite' and B Movie's 'Remembrance Day'/'Institution Walls' released. John Quested's Loophole - starring Albert Finney, Martin Sheen, Susannah York, Colin Blakely, Jonathan Pryce, Alfred Lynch, James Grout and Bridget Brice - premiered.
The first UK broadcast of Mississippi Days & Southern Nights. Huston's Hobby broadcast in BBC2's Arena strand. Madness featured on Radio 1's In Concert. The League Cup final ended in a one-all draw between Liverpool and West Ham United.
The first episode of Friends (no, not that one) broadcast. The first episode of BBC2's Special Hospital broadcast. Spandau Ballet appeared on Radio 1's Studio B15.
Film 81 reviewed Coal Miner's Daughter. After The Fire featured on Rock Goes To College. The Who's Face Dances released. Ronald Biggs, notorious participant in the Great Train Robbery, had been living freely in Brazil after escaping from The Slammer in 1965 and having a brief spell as lead singer of The Sex Pistols. Biggs was kidnapped by a gang of British ex-soldiers after being lured to a restaurant in Rio de Janeiro on the pretext that he was to be photographed for a book. He was then put on a yacht and taken to Barbados. The kidnappers hoped to collect a reward from the British police; however, like Brazil, Barbados was found to have had no valid extradition treaty with the UK. Biggs was allowed to return to Brazil after six weeks.
The Sin Bin broadcast in the Play For Today strand. Stevie Wonder: Inner Visions broadcast in the Omnibus strand.
The first episode of Say It With Figures broadcast. BBC2's The Getaways broadcast. The West Indies won the third test in Barbados by two hundred and ninety eight runs despite Graham Gooch's battling one hundred and sixteen. Viv Richards scored an unbeaten one hundred and eighty two. Roland Butcher and Robin Jackman made their test debuts.
The Celtic Family Of Nations broadcast. Michael Wood's In Search Of ... Athelstan broadcast on BBC2. Two workers died and four were injured after a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia, becoming the first of sixteen deaths associated with NASA's space shuttle programme. After a test-firing of the engines and the sounding of the 'all clear' klaxon, the group of six Rockwell International technicians had walked into a chamber of the shuttle, unaware that it was filled, primarily, with nitrogen gas. The Richard Skinner Show featured a live set recorded by The Teardrop Explodes at Sheffield University.
Miracles At Lourdes broadcast. John Mortimer's Unity broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. The Cure's 'Primary'/'Descent', The Comsat Angels' 'Eye Of The Lens'/'At Sea' and David Bowie's 'Up The Hill Backwards'/'Crystal Japan' released.

After an unprecedented seven years starring in Doctor Who, Tom Baker made his final appearance as The Doctor in episode four of Logopolis. Peter Davison made his first appearance as his replacement at the conclusion of the story. The first UK TV showings of Dick Lester's Royal Flush and Persecution. Jon, Brian, Kirsti & Jon broadcast on BBC2. Soft Cell's debut 'A Man Can Get Lost'/'Memorabilia' released. Home Secretary William Whitelaw allowed Wolverhampton council to place a fourteen-day ban on political marches in the town, which had a growing problem of militant race riots and was faced with the threat of a National Front march in two days time. Unemployment now stood at two million, four hundred thousand or ten per cent of the workforce. Motorcycle racer Mike Hailwood, fourteen times winner of the Isle of Man TT, was seriously injured in a car crash at Tanworth-in-Arden in Warwickshire; he died of his injuries two days later.
AJP - History Man broadcast. Blow Up shown in BBC2's British Movie Night strand. A minority of Conservative MPs were reported to be planning to challenge the leadership of That Awful Thatcher Woman in an attempt to reverse the party's declining popularity. But, like the rank cowards they were, they didn't.
John Huston's Phobia reviewed on Film 81. BBC2's Newsnight featured a report from Emily MacFarquhar on growing calls for the extension of the equal pay act to cover jobs of equal responsibility or skill. The Government imposed a ban on animal transportation on the Isle of Wight and Southern Hampshire after an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in cattle. Norman J Warren's Inseminoid - starring Robin Clarke, Jennifer Ashley and Stephanie Beacham - premiered.
Robert Marshall's Before Water Lilies broadcast in the Play For Today strand. Barbados police rescued Ronnie Biggs from his kidnapping ordeal.
The first episode of The Bagthorpe Saga broadcast. The New Lord Of The Isles broadcast. The Photograph Is Missing broadcast on BBC2. Spain beat England two-one in a friendly international at Wembley. Glenn Hoddle scored for England.
Richard Skinner introduced Top Of The Pops featuring performances by Graham Bonnet, Hazel O'Connor, Tony Capstick, Gillan, Lene Lovich, Bad Manners, Shakin' Stevens, Linx, Landscape, The Polecats and Kim Wilde. Lester broadcast. In Search Of Eric Bloodaxe broadcast on BBC2. The Social Democratic Party formed.
The first UK TV showing of Old Acquaintance. Sky Lark broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a live, non-vegetarian, dove at a CBS record label gathering in Los Angeles. Apparently, he had planned to release the dove into the air as a sign of peace, but due to being intoxicated and completely off-his-face at the time, he instead grabbed the bird and, after that, it all went a bit pear-shaped. Richard Jobson of The Skids, Pauline Black of The Selecter and Peter Powell joined Mike Read on Radio 1's Roundtable. Bauhaus' 'Kick In The Eye'/'Satori', Adam & The Ants' 'Stand & Deliver'/'Beat My Guest', Public Image Limited's 'Flowers Of Romance'/'Home Is Where The Heart Is', Slade's 'Wheels Ain't Coming Down'/'Not Tonight Josephine', Orange Juice's 'Poor Old Soul (Parts 1 & 2)', XTC's 'Respectable Street'/'Strange Tales, Strange Tails', 'Officer Blue', Quincy Jones's 'Ai No Corrida (I-No-Ko-Ree-Da)'/'There's A Train Leavin', Marc Bolan's Return Of The Electric Warrior EP ('Sing Me A Song'/'Endless Sleep', 'The Lilac Hand Of Menthol Dan') and The Gap Band's 'Humpin'/'No Hiding Place' released.
Squeeze and The Tourists appeared on Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. Parkinson featured Sammy Cahn, Placido Domingo and Cliff Richard. The first UK TV showing of Let's Scare Jessica To Death. The Old Grey Whistle Test broadcast The Who and The Grateful Dead's live sets of German TV's Rockpalast. Despicable racist bigot Enoch Powell, the Ulster Unionist MP, warned of a forthcoming 'racial civil war' in Britain. The Blus Band featured on Radio 1's In Concert.
BBC1 broadcast highlights of the first London Marathon with seven thousand five hundred runners. The race was won jointly by Dick Beardsley of the United States and Inge Simonsen of Norway, who both crossed the finish line together. The Police In The East broadcast on BBC2. The first episode of The Commanding Sea. The first UK TV showings of Lindsay Anderson's O Lucky Man! and The White Bus.
Did Darwin Get It Wrong? broadcast in BBC2's Horizon strand. Chariots of Fire premiered and was reviewed on Film 81. Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest outside a Washington hotel by John Hinckley; two police officers and Press Secretary James Brady were also wounded.
The first episode of What's The Idea! Andrew Davies's Bavarian Night broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The first episode of BBC2's Hooked! broadcast. Ipswich Town lost three-nil away to Leeds United but remained one point ahead of second placed Aston Villa in the First Division. The Fall were in session on The John Peel Show ('Middlemass', 'Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul', 'Hip Priest', 'C 'N' C/Hassle Schmuk').
The first episode of Are We Being Served?. Liverpool won the League Cup for the first time, winning the replay two-one against West Ham United at Villa Park. The fourth test in Antigua was drawn with Peter Willey and Geoff Boycott both scoring centuries for England. The Go-Go's signed to IRS Records. Gérard Kikoïne's Parties Très Spéciales premiered.

The first episode of A Spy At Evening broadcast. In Search Of ... Ethelred The Unready broadcast on BBC2. The effects of the recession continued to claim jobs as Midland Red, the Birmingham-based bus operator, closed its headquarters with the loss of one hundred and seventy jobs. Roy Ward Baker's The Monster Club and Uli Edel's Christiane F: Wir Kinder Vom Bahnhof Zoo - starring Natja Brunckhorst and featuring the music of David Bowie - premiered.
The first UK broadcast of Homer & The Wacky Doughnut Machine. The first episode of Wlliam Trevor's Elizabeth Alone broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Dave Edmunds' appeared on Radio 1's In Concert. Spandau Ballet's 'Muscle Bound'/'Glow', Theatre Of Hate's 'Rebel Without A Brain'/'My Own Invention', Eddie & The Hot Rods' 'Farther On Down The Road (You Will Accompany Me)'/'Fish 'N' Chips Part Two',The Mood Elevators' 'Annapurna'/'Driving By Night' and Marvin, The Paranoid Android's 'Marvin'/'Metal Man' released.
Bucks Fizz won The Eurovision Song Contest with 'Making Your Mind Up' beating Germany's Lena Valaitis and 'Johnny Blue'. Arena profiled Gary Glitter - an episode you're unlikely to see repeated any time soon. Nine Below Zero appeared on Radio 1's In Concert. Susan Brown, a Biology student at Oxford University, became the first female cox in a winning Boat Race crew. Bob Champion, a cancer survivor, was the popular winner of the Grand National with his horse Aldaniti. Crystal Palace were relegated from the First Division with five matches of the season remaining.
Flying At Farnborough broadcast. The first episode of Bread Or Blood broadcast on BBC2. The first episode of Smuggler broadcast on LWT.
Cool Hand Luke shown in The Monday Film strand. Showaddywaddy appeared on BBC2's Marti Caine.
The Good Time Girls broadcast in the For Today strand. Billie Jo Spears broadcast on BBC2. Sunderland sacked manager Ken Knighton and appointed Mick Docherty as caretaker manager for the last five games of the season. The former manager of The Who, Kit Lambert, died after falling down a flight of stairs at his mother's home in London. B-Movie were in session on The John Peel Show.
The Imperial Roman Army broadcast. In Search Of ... William The Conquerorand George Cukor, Film Director brodcast on BBC2. The first confirmed diagnosis of AIDS was made by Doctor John Gullett in San Francisco. Gullett reported his findings to the Centres for Disease Control two weeks later.
The Night They Raided Minsky's shown in The Late Film strand. Bobby Sands, an IRA member currently on hunger strike in the Maze prison, was elected as MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone in a by-erection. Following a disastrous run of form which had turned an initially promising season into a struggle against relegation, Everton announced that manager Gordon Lee woud not be offered a new contract. Blackburn Rovers manager Howard Kendall, a former Everton legend, was considered the overwhelming favourite to succeed Lee. The Cure's Faith, The Clash's 'The Magnificent Seven'/'The Magnificent Dance' and The Beat's 'Drowning'/'All Out To Get You' released. John Boorman's Excalibur - starring Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Cherie Lunghi and Nicol Williamson and Christian Anders' Die Todesgöttin Des Liebescamps - starring Laura Gemser - premiered.
The most geographically inaccurate movie in history, Krakatoa - East of Java, shown in The Saturday Film strand. The first episode of Resolution On Saturn broadcast in BBC2's Horizon strand. More than three hundred people (most of them police officers) were injured in the Brixton riot. Ipswich Town's treble bid ended with an extra-time defeat by Manchester City in the FA Cup Semi-Final at Villa Park. In the final, they would face either Tottenham Hotspur or Wolverhampton Wanderers, who draw two-two in the other Semi-Final at Hillsborough. Public Image Limited's The Flowers of Romance released.
Don Taylor's adaptation of The Crucible broadcast. Fred Trueman and Jimmy Hill featured on BBC2's International Pro-Celebrity Golf. Space Shuttle Columbia with NASA astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen launched on the STS-1 mission, returning to Earth on 14 April. It was the first time a manned reusable spacecraft had returned from orbit.
The first UK broadcast of The Return Of Captain Nemo. The first episode of BBC2's The Easter Experience? broadcast. The Home Secretary announced a public inquiry, to be conducted by Lord Scarman, into the recent 'disturbances' in Brixton. Despicable old racist bigot Enoch Powell was at it again, warning that Britain 'has seen nothing yet' with regard to racial unrest. The Members were in session on The John Peel Show.
Mark Gertler broadcast in the Omnibus strand. The first of two concerts by Gladys Knight & The Pips recorded at The New London Theatre broadcast on BBC2. Ipswich Town return to Villa Park for a crucial match against First Division leaders Aston Villa and won two-one to move within a point of their opponents with a game in hand. Wah! were in session on The John Peel Show ('Cut Out', 'Sleep', 'The Checkmate Syndrome', 'Forget The Down').
Tottenham Hotspur reached the FA Cup Final beating Wolverhampton Wanderers three-nil in the Semi-Final replay at Highbury. The Return Of Lupino Lane broadcast on BBC2. The fifth test in Jamaica was drawn. Graham Gooch scored his second century of the series and David Gower added another. Michael Holding took seven wickets in the match.
Timon Of Athens broadcast in The BBC Television Shakespeare strand. Madness's 'Grey Day'/'Memories', Kraftwerk's 'Pocket Calculator'/'Dentaku', The Undertones' 'It's Going To Happen'/'Fairly In The Money Now', Stiff Little Fingers' 'Just Fade Away'/'Go For It', 'It Doesn't Make It All Right', Stray Cats' 'Stray Cat Strut'/'Drink That Bottle Down', Jigsaw's 'You Bring Out The Best In Me'/'Ripples On The Water' and Aztec Camera's debut 'Just Like Gold'/'We Could Send Letters' released.
Spartakiada broadcast.
The first episode of You Must Be Joking! broadcast. Wilco Johnson appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. And scared the livin' bejesus out of everyone. Toyah and Huang Chung featured on Radio 1's In Concert. Noodling prog rock dinosaurs Yes announced they were breaking up. And, lo, there was dancing in the streets. Aston Villa took a decisive step towards the First Division title beating Nottingham Forest two-nil. Ipswich Town lost by the same score at home to Arsenal.
Passion broadcast in the Everyman strand. See How They Ran broadcast on BBC2.
Dave Allen's latest Bank Holiday special broadcast. Twenty three-year-old Steve Davis won the World Snooker Championship for the first time beating Doug Mountjoy in the final. More than one hundred people were arrested and fifteen police officers were injured in clashes with black youths in the Finsbury Park, Forest Green and Ealing areas of London. The first episode of the radio adaptation of Star Wars broadcast on Radio 1.
Baby Talk broadcast in the Play For Today broadcast. The final episode of When The Boat Comes In broadcast. The first post-Noel Edmonds episode of Top Gear broadcast on BBC2 introduced by Judith Jackson (no, me neither). The county administrative headquarters of Northumberland moved from Newcastle to Morpeth.
Ray Kennedy's goal gave Liverpool a one-all draw and an away goals victory against Fußball-Club Bayern München in the Semi-Final of the European Cup. Terry Butcher scored as Ipswich Town won in Köln to reach the final of the UEFA Cup. Arrival Of The Water Carrier For Mesopotamia broadcast on BBC2.
The God That Rules broadcast. Will The Real Shakespeare? broadcast on BBC2. Unemployment passed the two-and-a-half million mark for the first time in nearly fifty years. Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl released.
Ken Russell's Mahler shown in The Late Film strand. The Man Who Almost Knew Eamonn Andrews broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Sparks' 'Tips For Teens'/'Don't Shoot Me', The Teardrop Explodes' 'Treason (It's Just A Story)'/'Use Me', Vangelis' 'Chariots Of Fire - Titles'/'Eric's Theme', The Human League's 'The Sound Of The Crowd'/'Add Your Voice', Funkadelic's 'The Electric Spanking Of War Babies'/'Instrumental, Psychedelic Furs' 'Dumb Waiters'/'Dash', Japan's 'Life In Tokyo'/'European Son' and The Nightingales' 'Idiot Strength'/'Seconds' released.

The first episode of Rockface broadcast. The first UK TV showing of Lacombe Lucien on BBC2. Stiff Little Fingers and TV21 appeared on Radio 1's In Concert. Paul McCartney announced Wings had broken up. Aston Villa defeated Middlesbrough three-nil, meaning they only needed a draw from their final game of the season to seal their first league title since 1910. Leicester City were relegated.
Daddy King broadcast in the Everyman strand. Hockney At Work broadcast on BBC2.
Shakin' Stevens, The Look and Bad Manners appeared on Cheggers Plays Pop. The Crime Of Captain Colthurst broadcast in BBC2's Chronicle strand. Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach married in London. The Fall's Slates EP released. Killing Joke were in session on The John Peel Show ('The Fall Of Because', 'Tension', 'Butcher'). The Xerox 8010 Star Information System, the first personal computer to include a mouse in the two-button format for right-click and left-click functions, went on sale.
A Turn For The Worse broadcast in the Play For Today strand. Lion broadcast on BBC2. The Birthday Party were in session on The John Peel Show ('Release The Bats', 'Roland Around In That Stuff', 'Sometimes Pleasure Heads Must Burn', 'Loose').
Joggers broadcast. Hope Bourne - Woman Of Exmoor broadcast on BBC2. Peter Sutcliffe admitted to the manslaughter of thirteen women on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but the judge ruled that a jury should decide on Sutcliffe's state of mind before determining whether to accept his plea or find him extremely guilty of murder. England drew nil-nil with Romania in a terminally dull World Cup qualifying game at Wembley. Musical Youth were in session on The John Peel Show ('Johnny Too-Bad', 'Can't Fight It', 'Don't Blame The Youth', 'Culture').
The first episode of The Chinese Detective broadcast. The first UK broadcast of Stepping Out on BBC2. Manchester United sacked Dave Sexton after four trophy-less years as manager. Gary Numan's Living Ornaments 79 and Living Ornaments 80 released.
The first episode of The Nightmare Man broadcast. Universities Challenged broadcast on BBC2. You're All Right - How Am I? broadcast in the Playhouse strand. Peugeot closed the Talbot car plant at Linwood which was opened by the Rootes Group eighteen years earlier as Scotland's only car factory. Talking Heads' 'Houses In Motion'/'Air', Tottenham Hotspur FA Cup Final Squad (With Chas & Dave)'s 'Ossie's Dream (Spurs Are On Their Way To Wembley)'/'Glory, Glory, Tottenham Hotspur', Kirsty MacColl's 'There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis'/'Hard To Believe' and Pigbag's 'Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag'/'The Backside' released. An eight-year-old boy in Spain became the first victim of toxic oil syndrome, dying from acute respiratory failure after eating food prepared in a cooking oil which contained aniline. Before the source was located, over twenty thousand cases would be documented and over three hundred people would die of poisoning.
Diana Ross broadcast. The first UK TV showing of The Man Who Loved Redheads on BBC2. Camel were on Radio 1's In Concert. Aston Villa sealed their first league title for seventy one years despite losing their final game of the season to Arsenal as Ipswich lost at Middlesbrough, their third defeat in four matches. Norwich City were relegated after a three-two home defeat to second-bottom Leicester City. Newly promoted to the First Division were West Ham United after a three-year exile, Notts County after fifty five years away from the top flight and Swansea City for the first time ever. Former Leyton Orient and Millwall goalkeeper Ray Goddard finished his league career in style when he scored a penalty past a young Neville Southall in his last appearance for Wimbledon against Bury. Nevertheless, Bury won four-two. An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to London was hijacked by Laurence James Downey, whose motive was, he claimed, to learn the third of 'The Three Secrets of Fátima.' After threatening to set himself on fire, Downey - a former Trappist monk, expelled from the order for punching  superior in the mush - ordered the jet to fly to Le Touquet and held the one hundred and thirteen people on board hostage, demanding publication of his manifesto. French anti-terrorist police rushed the airliner after eight hours and took Downey into custody. Downey would live to see the Vatican's eventual release of the secret (such as it was) in June 2000.
Gibson & The Red Arrows broadcast. The first episode of Dayan broadcast on BBC2.
The first UK TV showing of The Getaway. The first episode of The Making Of Mankind broadcast on BBC2. Associates were in session on The John Peel Show ('Me Myself & The Tragic Story', 'Nude Spoons', 'A Matter Of Gender', 'It's Better This Way', 'Ulcrajiceptimol').
Three Girls For Europe, The Man Of Destiny and Jailhouse Rodeo broadcast. The second Boom Boom ... Out Go The Lights - featuring Andy De La Tour, Ade Edmonson and Rik Mayall, Pauline Melville, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Alexei Sayle and music from Dexys Midnight Runners - broadcast on BBC2. Convicted IRA terrorist and, latterly, absentee Westminster MP Bobby Sands died in Northern Ireland's Maze Prison after a sixty six-day hunger strike. The trial of Peter Sutcliffe began at the Old Bailey. Whilst in orbit in the Salyut Six space station, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok saw what he described as an unidentified flying object which resembled a transparent barbell. The object kept the same speed as the station and then exploded. Kovalyonok would describe the experience twelve years later.
Shelagh Delany's Find Me First broadcast. The first episode of Private Schulz broadcast on BBC2. Ipswich Town beat AZ Alkmaar three-nil in the first leg of the UEFA Cup final at Portman Road. Francis Leroi's Charlotte, Mouille Ta Culotte - staring Julia Perrin, Marilyn Jess, Cathy Stewart and Sophie Abélaïd - premiered.
Personal View: Ian Dury broadcast in the Scene strand. Jonathan Miller Directs broadcast on BBC2. Ken Livingstone became leader of the GLC after Labour won the local erections.
The first episode of Public School broadcast. Antony & Cleopatra broadcast in BBC2's The BBC Television Shakespeare strand. Altered Images' 'A Day's Wait'/'Who Cares?', Japan's 'The Art Of Parties'/'Life Without Buildings' and Fire Engines' 'Candyskin'/'Meat Whiplash' released.
The first UK TV showing of Pleasure Palace in the Saturday Premiere strand. The one hundredth FA Cup Final ended with a one-all draw between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Tommy Hutchison scored for both teams, first putting City ahead but later scoring a deflected own goal to take the match to a replay. Light Of The World and Level 42 appeared on Radio 1's In Concert. The first UK TV showing of The Lacemaker on BBC2.
Butterfly Post broadcast. Kraftwerk's Computer World released.
Keith Marshall (and his musical anarchy) and The Beat appeared on Cheggers Plays Pop. The first episode of Arthur Negus Enjoys broadcast on BBC2. The first performance of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats took place at the New London Theatre. Bob Marley died in Miami.
Prendiville's Finest Innings and Sir Frank Whittle: Jet Pioneer broadcast. David Leland's Psy-Warriors broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The first episode of Maybury broadcast on BBC2. Francis Hughes became the second IRA hunger striker to die in Northern Ireland. Zico scored the only goal as Brazil beat England at Wembley in a friendly. West Ham United's Alvin Martin and Aston Villa's Peter Withe made their England debuts. The Brazil side included several of the subsequent stars of the 1982 World Cup - Cerezo, Júnior, Sócrates and Éder. A Flock Of Seagulls were in session of The John Peel Show ('Messages From The Rings Of Saturn', 'Talking It's Not Me Talking', 'I Ran', 'Committed'). The first UK TV showing of the Callan movie adaptation on Thames.
We Had Some Happy Hours broadcast. The Electric Revolution broadcast in BBC2's Chronicle strand. An inquest returned an open verdict on the thirteen people who died as a result of their injuries in the New Cross fire. Pope John Paul II was shot by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish gunman, as he entered St Peter's Square to address a general audience. The Revillos' were in session of The John Peel Show.

Tommy Vance introduced Top Of The Pops with performances from Thin Lizzy, Department S, Tenpole Tudor, Sheena Easton, Kim Carnes and Adam & The Ants. The first episode of BBC2's The Pursuit Of Power broadcast. Tottenham Hotspur won the FA Cup for the sixth time with a three-one victory over Manchester City in a replay at Wembley, a game memorable for Ricky Villa's astonishing dribble to score Spurs' second. Two Labour MPs, Jack Straw and George Foulkes, were rebuked for listening to radio commentary of the Cup Final during a Commons debate. Following the deaths of IRA hunger strikers Bobby Sands and Francis Hughes several days of rioting in nationalist areas began. A milkman and his son, Eric and Desmond Guiney, died as a result of injuries sustained when their float crashed after being stoned by rioters. Peter Scott, underwent an operation to be given a second heart linked to his own, ailing one. British Leyland chairman Sir Michael Edwardes announced the company was losing a million quid per day as shop stewards representing strikers at Dagenham stated they would not return to work until the company withdrew a new disciplinary code. During the trial of the Peter Sutcliffe, it was alleged his wife, Sonia, had suffered from mental illness and had, at one time, believed herself to be Jesus Christ. The People's March for Jobs demonstrated in London. Police were reported ot be investigating after several Sikhs in Bristol received letters on House of Commons notepaper ordering them to leave the country within forty eight hours. Squeeze's East Side Story released.
Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three shown in The Late Film strand. Peter Tinniswood's The Day War Broke Out broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. A riot broke out at The Ritz rock club in New York when Public Image Ltd played behind a videoscreen. Lord Scarman's inquiry into the Brixton riots opened. The Queen's second grandchild, Zara, was born to Princess Anne and her husband Mark Phillips. Slade's 'Knuckle Sandwich Nancy'/'I'm Mad' released.
The first UK TV showings of The Jordan Chance and Angi Vera (in BBC2's Film International strand).
The first episode of Sunday Grandstand broadcast on BBC2.
The Thomas Crown Affair shown in the Monday Film strand. The Teardrop Explodes were in session on The Richard Skinner Show ('Pure Joy Wins Out Again', 'Like Leila Khaled Said', 'I'm Not The Loving Kind', 'The Culture Banker'). The first news article about AIDS appeared in the New York Native, a gay newspaper, under the headline Disease Rumors [sic] Largely Unfounded. Larry Mass, a physician and contributor, had been alerted to an increase in reported cases of pneumocystis pneumonia among gay men and broke the news two weeks before it was officially announced in the CDC's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report.
Somewhere More Central broadcast. The first episodes of Images Of War and The Theatre Quiz broadcast on BBC2. Peter Sutcliffe was found very guilty of being The Yorkshire Ripper on thirteen charges of murder and a further seven of attempted murder.
Barry Norman On Broadway broadcast. Ipswich Town won the UEFA Cup five-four on aggregate despite losing four-two to AZ Alkmaar in the second leg of the final. England played a goalless draw with Wales at Wembley in the Home International Championship. Crystal Palace striker Ian Walsh missed two glittering opportunities to win the game for Wales early in the second-half.
The first episode of Chock-A-Block broadcast in the See-Saw strand. People From The Forest broadcast on BBC2. The IRA hunger strike death toll reached four with the deaths of Raymond McCreesh and Patrick O'Hara. Transamerica Corporation was forced to sell United Artists to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for three hundred and eighty million dollars because of the failure of the 1980 film Heaven's Gate.
Cowboy shown in The Late Film strand. Random Moments In A May Garden broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Peter Sutcliffe was sentenced to life imprisonment for his extremely naughty iouxsie & The Banshees' 'Spellbound'/'Follow The Sun', Killing Joke's 'Follow The Leaders'/'Tension', The Vapors' 'Jimmie Jones'/'Daylight Titans', Landscape's 'Norman Bates'/'From The Tea-Rooms Of Mars ... To The Hell-Holes Of Uranus (Part Three, Tango)', The Meteors' 'Radioactive Kid'/'Graveyard Stomp', Simple Minds' 'The American'/'League Of Nation', Fischer-Z's 'Cutter's Lullaby'/'You'll Never Find Brian Here', Coast To Coast's 'Let's Jump The Broomstick'/'Roller Coaster Rock' and Coati Mundi's 'Me No Pop I'/'Que Pasa' released.
The first UK TV showing of Nice Night For A Hanging in the Saturday Premiere strand and The Man Who Loved Women in BBC2's Film International strand. Maurice Hope lost his WBC Light-Middleweight Championship title to Wilfred Benítez in Las Vegas. Touch & Go: The Battle For Crete broadcast on BBC2. England lost one-nil to Scotland in the Home Championship at Wembley, but the tournament remained unfinished after Northern Ireland were unable to complete their fixtures due to The Troubles. A sixty-fifth minute penalty by Nottingham Forest winger John Robertson won this match for The Scotch as England continued their miserable recent form. Chas & Dave and The Hank Wangford Band appeared on Radio 1's In Concert.
The first episode of Generations Talking With Mavis Nicholson broadcast. The first episode of Snowdon On Camera broadcast on BBC2.

Kenny Everett introduced Disney Time. Rod Stewart At The Los Angeles Forum broadcast. The Comet Is Coming! and An Evening With Queen Victoria broadcast on BBC2. Dressed as Spider-Man, professional acrobat Dan Goodwin climbed up the fourteen hundred feet high Sears Tower in Chicago, using hooks and ropes, reaching the top after seven hours. Police unsuccessfully tried stop him by lowering a window-washing scaffold, but Goodwin moved sideways with the aid of suction cups. At the fifty fifth floor, Goodwin and the police negotiated a deal, allowing him to climb to the roof and then surrender to be arrested.
The first UK TV showing of A Short Walk To Daylight. James Mitchell's Anne broadcast in the Goodbye Darling strand. The Clarke/Duke Project appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalyonok and Viktor Savinykh became the last people to leave the Salyut Six space station and returned to Earth after a then-record seventy five days in outer space.
Liverpool won the European Cup for the third time, defeating Real Madrid in the final in Paris. Alan Kennedy scored the only goal. Whose Art Is It, Anyway? broadcast in BBC2's Chronicle strand.
Simon Bates introduced Top Of The Pops, featuring The Polecats, UB40, Hazel O'Connor, Coast To Coast, Adam & The Ants and Kim Carnes.
The Queen At The Jubilee Gala Of English National Opera. Spirits Of An Amber Past broadcast on BBC2. UB40's Present Arms, The Beat's Wha'ppen?, The Jam's 'Funeral Pyre'/'Disguises', Ultravox's 'All Stood Still'/'Alles Klar', The Dead Kennedys' 'Too Drunk To Fuck'/'The Prey' and Odyssey's 'Going Back To My Roots'/'Bawa Awa' released.
The Auk: A Tribute broadcast on BBC2. More than one hundred thousand people marched to Trafalgar Square in the TUC's March For Jobs. A miserable two-one defeat to Switzerland in Basel left England struggling to qualify for the World Cup Finals. Terry McDermott scored England's goal. To add to England's problems, the hooligan element among their support - their minds poisoned by alcohol and sick racist rhetoric - caused more mindless violence both on the terraces and, afterwards, in the streets. Dexys Midnight Runners were on Radio 1's In Concert. Echo & the Bunnymen's Heaven Up Here released.
The first episode of Modern Language Teaching. Ferrari's Gilles Villeneuve won the Monaco Grand Prix. Fun Day At Thore Park broadcast on Radio 1.
Killing Joke's What's THIS For ...! and Keni Burke's 'Let Somebody Love You'/'Instrumental' released. Misty In Roots ('Live Up Jah Life', 'Life Boat', 'Big City Blues', 'Africa') and The Higsons ('I Don't Want To Live With Monkeys', 'Got To Let This Heat Out', 'A Dash To The Shops', 'Surrender') appeared on The John Peel Show. Francis Leroi's Le Secret Des Écolières Sans Culotte -starring Laura Clair - premiered.
Landseer broadcast. Maude broadcast in the Goodbye Darling strand. John Cooper Clarke and The Eurythmics appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Two Hell's Angels were cleared of the attempted murder of PC Philip Olds who was shot during an attempted armed robbery at an off-licence in Hayes but were convicted of wounding. Certified loon Tony Benn rejected Michael Foot's challenge to fight for the Labour leadership. Benefit offices were closed by a strike of civil servants. Riot police in Johannesburg used tear gas and rubber batons to break up a protest march by schoolchildren. Laura Logic was in session on The John Peel Show.
So You Think You Can Drive? broadcast. The Myth Of The Mound Builders broadcast in BBC2's Chronicle strand. The Aga Khan's Shergar, ridden by Walter Swinburn, won The Derby. Vice Squad were in session on The John Peel Show.
England beat Australia by six wickets in the first Prudential Trophy ODI at Lord's. Geoff Humpage and Jim Love made their first international appearances. Throbbing Gristle's 'Discipline'/'Discipline' released.
Going Gently broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. The Centres for Disease Control in the United States reported that five gay men in Los Angeles had contracted a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems, the first recognised cases of AIDS. The Grasshoppers' 'Teardrops Fall Like Rain'/'Teen Queen' and Showaddywaddy's 'Multiplication'/'I Wish I Could Undo All The Bad That I Have Done' released.
Australia won the second ODI at Edgbaston by two runs despite Mike Gatting's ninety six. Bridget Riley broadcast on BBC2. England ended a run of six matches without a win with a three-one victory against Hungary in a World Cup qualifier in Budapest. Trevor Brooking scored twice and Kevin Keegan added a penalty. Siouxsie & the Banshees' Juju and Psychedelic Furs' Talk Talk Talk released.
Harold Pinter's The Caretaker and the first episode of Donald Sinden's hilariously baroque Discovering English Churches broadcast. A Woman Under The Influence shown in the Film Of The Week strand.

Australia won the Prudential Trophy with a seventy one run victory at Headingley. Showaddywaddy, The Dooleys and Tenpole Tudor appeared on Cheggers Plays Pops. The first UK broadcast of The Pirate.
Janet broadcast in the Goodbye Darling. Jack Bruce & Friends featured on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Murderous despot King Khaled of Saudi Arabia arrived in Britain on a state visit. After a month of searching for a new manager, Manchester United appointed Champagne Ron Atkinson from West Bromwich Albion.
Paul McCartney & Wings' Back To The Egg was finally broadcast in the UK two years after the LP came out and shortly after the band had officially split up. Twentieth Century Fox broadcast in the Wildlife On One strand. Lost Kings Of The Desert broadcast in BBC2's Chronicle strand.
The first episode of Oscar, Kina & The Laser and Hanging Fire: The State Of Israel broadcast. The NatWest Tower (later known as Tower Forty Two) was formally opened by the Queen. Britain's first Urban Enterprise Zone was created in the Lower Swansea Valley.
The first episode of Take Hart On Holiday broadcast. Big Blonde broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Where Were You In Seventy Two? broadcast in Radio 1's The Friday Rock Show. Steven Spielberg's Raiders Of The Lost Ark premiered. The most important song of the year, The Specials' 'Ghost Town'/'Why?', 'Friday Night Saturday Morning', The Beat's 'Doors To Your Heart'/'Get A Job', The Freshies' 'I Can't Get "Bouncing Babies" By The Teardrop Explodes'/'Tell Her I"m Ill', Dave Edmunds With The Stray Cats' 'The Race Is On'/'(I'm Gonna Start) Living Again If It Kills Me', Psychedelic Furs' 'Pretty In Pink'/'Mack The Knife', John Martyn's 'Sweet Little Mystery'/'Johnny Too Bad' and Grace Jones's 'Pull Up To The Bumper'/'Feel Up' released.
At the Trooping The Colour ceremony, seventeen-year-old Marcus Sarjeant fired six shots at The Queen, who was riding on horseback. The gun was a cartridge pistol which fired blanks and The Queen was able to bring her startled horse, Burmese, under control. Serjeant was subsequently convicted under the Treason Act 1842 and spent three years in jail. The first UK TV showing of Claude Chabrol's Violette Noziere in BBC2's Film International strand. More than eighty arrests were made during clashes between disgraceful numskull skinhead scum and anti-fascists in Coventry, where the National Front was planning a march on the same day as a concert by The Specials. Depeche Mode's 'New Life' released. UB40 were on Radio 1's In Concert.
Instant Sunshine broadcast. Markova broadcast on BBC2.
The first episode of A Town Like Alice broadcast. Lord Scarman opened his enquiry into the Brixton riots. The State of Oklahoma forgot to execute convicted murderer James William White, who had been sentenced to die by lethal injection, in what would have been the first use in the United States of that particular form of capital punishment. A reporter from the UPI made a phone call to Oklahoma's Court of Criminal Appeals the next day to inquire about White's status. The Court discovered that nobody had filed an appeal required by state law and that the state corrections department had incorrectly listed White's sentence as nine hundred and ninety nine years rather than death. Pink Floyd performed the final date of The Wall tour at Earls Court. David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright would not perform again as a quartet until July 2005. The first episode of Now For Nookie broadcast on Thames.
Brenda broadcast in the Goodbye Darling strand. Causeway's End broadcast on BBC2. The Liberal Party and The SDP formed an electoral pact, the SDP-Liberal Alliance.
The first UK broadcast of Carl Sagan's ground-breaking Cosmos. The first episode of John Keats broadcast on BBC2. The Chameleons' much-admired debut session for The John Peel Show broadcast ('The Fan & The Bellows', 'Here Today', 'Looking Inwardly', 'Things I Wish I'd Said').
The Prince of Wales Award for Industrial Innovation & Production broadcast on Tomorrow's World. Went The Day Well shown in BBC2's Battlefront strand. The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighter made its first flight at Area Fifty One, Groom Lake, Nevada.
The first UK TV showing of Beautiful Stranger in The Late Film strand. France Keeps Left? broadcast on BBC2. Tom Tom Club's 'Wordy Rappinghood'/'(You Don't Stop) Wordy Rappinghood' and Gap Band's 'Yearning For Your Love'/'Oops Upside Your Head' released.
Jim Watt lost his WBC Lightweight Championship title to Alexis Argüello of Nicaragua. British India broadcast on BBC2. Rioting broke out in Peckham. Causing two pounds and eighteen pee's worth of improvements. The third HMS Ark Royal was launched.
The first episode of Operation Auca broadcast. Gilles Villeneuve won the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of Jacques Laffite and John Watson. This would be the last Grand Prix at Jarama, owing to criticism of the track being too narrow for modern Formula One. A fire at Goodge Street tube station killed one person and injured sixteen. Australia won the first Ashes test at Trent Bridge by four wickets. It was Australia's first win at Trent Bridge since 1948. This match holds the record for the highest aggregate (six hundred and twenty one runs) without a fifty partnership. Kate Bush's 'Sat In Your Lap'/'Lord Of The Reedy River' released.
Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr was deposed. Josef K were in session on The John Peel Show. On the opening day of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, John McEnroe, got all stroppy and discombobulated, shocking - and stunning - the crowd with an unprecedented display of temper in his first-round match against Tom Gullikson.
The first episode of Medical Express broadcast. The New Swingle Singers appeared on Rhythm On Two. Unemployment reached two million, six hundred and eighty thousand nine hundred and seventy seven (one in nine of the workforce).
Let The Music Talk broadcast on BBC2. The twelfth James Bond movie – For Your Eyes Only - released in UK cinemas. It was the final Bond film to be solely distributed by United Artists.
A Love Letter To Jack Benny broadcast. Shipbuilders To The World broadcast on BBC2. In a double-bout in Houston, WBC welterweight champion Sugar Ray Leonard defeated Ayub Kalule in the ninth round to win the WBA's Junior Middleweight championship and Thomas Hearns defended his title against challenger Pablo Baez.
Today & Tomorrow: The Global Village broadcast. The Vanishing Countryside broadcast on BBC2. Kraftwerk's 'Computer Love'/'The Model', Darts' 'Jump, Children, Jump'/'Green For Go', Bobby Thurston's 'Very Last Drop'/'Life Is What You Make It', Positive Noise's 'Charm'/'... And Yet Again' and General Saint & Clint Eastwood's 'Another One Bites The Dust'/'Young Lover' released. Oink!
An adaptation of The Long & The Short & The Tall broadcast on BBC2. At The Bislett Games in Oslo, Steve Ovett lost only his second fifteen hundred metres race in four years when pacemaker Tom Byers unexpectedly kept ahead of the chasing group. The E-mu Emulator sampler keyboard with floppy disk operation was unveiled at NAMM international Sound & Music Expo in Chicago. Production Model Serial Number 001 was sold to Stevie Wonder. Motörhead's No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith and Sparks' Whomp That Sucker released.

The first episode of The Editors broadcast. No Country For Old Men broadcast on BBC2. The first Great North Run - a half-marathon between Newcastle and South Shields - was won by Mike McLeod. Karen Goldhawk won the women's race. Twelve thousand runners participated. Fifty members of the Lighthouse Gospel Tract Foundation in Arizona waited in vain for the Rapture, after predicting incorrectly, as it turned out - for the date of the return of Jesus. Perhaps he was busy?
The Angelic Upstarts' were in session on The John Peel Show ('Two Million Voices', 'You're Nicked', 'I Understand Part Three', 'New Values').
Night Of The Humming Bird broadcast. Ain't Many Angels broadcast on BBC2.
The first episodes of The Olympian Way and Three Of A Kind broadcast. The latter, a reminder of that brief - half-remembered - period when Lenny Henry used to be, you know, funny. Ish. Wooden Wonder and Fake? broadcast on BBC2. Four bodies were found in a home on Wonderland Avenue in the hills above Los Angeles, along with a seriously injured woman. All five victims had been bludgeoned with a steel pipe. Pornographic movie actor John Holmes and nightclub owner Eddie Nash were both indicted for the killings; both were subsequently acquitted in 1982.
Four members of an Asian Muslim family were killed by arson at their home in Walthamstow. Desmond Davis's Clash Of The Titans - starring Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Maggie Smith, Siân Phillips, Claire Bloom, Ursula Andress, Laurence Olivier, Pat Roach, Susan Fleetwood and Tim Pigott-Smith - premiered in the UK. A Certain Ratio were in session on The John Peel Show.
Secret Ceremony shown in The Late Film strand. The Politics Of The Bomb broadcast on BBC2. Hundreds of Asians and skinhead scum rioted in Southall following disturbances at a gig by the Oi band The Four Skins at the Hamborough Tavern public house, which was severely damaged by fire. After the riot, police claimed they had 'no evidence' that the white youths involved in the mayhem were members of the National Front. Locals somewhat begged to differ. Over the following weeks Britain's inner city areas became powder kegs of simmering tensions - racial, socio-economic and political - bursting to the surface. The Undertones' 'Julie Ocean'/'Kiss In The Dark' and Dexys Midnight Runners' 'Show Me'/'Soon' released. Chris Evert Lloyd defeated Hana Mandlíková in straight sets, becoming the first woman in fourteen years to win the singles championship at Wimbledon without losing a single set. The New York Times became the first major media organ to report on the existence of AIDS, with a report headlined Rare Cancer Seen In Forty One Homosexuals. Initially referred to as 'Gay Related Immune Disorder', the illness would later be named Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
The first episode of Pop Quiz broadcast. Magic Rays Of Light broadcast on BBC2. The first UK TV showing of Zoltan, Hound Of Dracula in BBC2's Horror Double Bill strand. After losing the first set, six-four, to Björn Borg, John McEnroe won the men's singles championship at Wimbledon with three straight sets.
The Price Of Peace broadcast. Facing Up To Myself broadcast on BBC2. The Toxteth riots broke out in Liverpool and first use was made of CS gas by British police. Less serious - but still serious enough - riots occurred in the Handsworth district of Birmingham as well as Wolverhampton, parts of Coventry, Leicester and Derby and also in the Buckinghamshire town High Wycombe. What, exactly, the latter were protesting about, no one knew. After initial doubts about whether his Likud party had been defeated by the Labour Party of Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Menachem Begin was able to declare victory in the closest election in the history of Israel.
The first UK TV showing of The Power Play. The first episode of BBC2's They're Playing My Tune. Spandau Ballet's 'Chant Number One (I Don't Need This Pressure On)'/'Feel The Chant' released. On trial in Los Angeles accused of being The Hillside Strangler, Kenneth Bianchi took the witness stand. After initially denying his involvement in the slayings of ten young women, Bianchi unexpectedly began a detailed confession.
The first UK TV showing of Goin' Coconuts. Jump Jet broadcast. Daisy broadcast in the Goodbye Darling strand. Taking The Strain broadcast on BBC2. Forty three people were charged with theft and violent disorder following a riot in Wood Green. The second Ashes test at Lord's was drawn. Following the match Ian Botham - who had registered a pair during the test - resigned as England's captain. The Nightingales were in session on The John Peel Show.
The first episodes of BBC2's City and Big Jim & The Figaro Club broadcast. Joe McDonnell became the fifth IRA hunger striker to die. Inner-city rioting continued when violent disorder in Moss Side, Manchester, saw more than a thousand people besiege a local police station. British Leyland ended production of the Austin Maxi after twelve years. Somerset beat Kent by five wicket and Surrey defeated Leicestershire by three runs in the Benson & Hedges Cup Semi-Finals. The Go-Go's Beauty & The Beat released.
The first episode of Bellamy's Backyard Safari broadcast. Rioting broke out in Woolwich.

The first episode of Love Story: A Chance To Sit Down broadcast. Marriage broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Squeeze's 'Tempted'/'Yap, Yap, Yap', Hi-Gloss' 'You'll Never Know'/'I'm Totally Yours' and The Higsons' 'I Don't Want To Live With Monkeys'/'Insect Love' released. Further rioting and geet rive-on with kids gettin' punched and aal sorts broke out in numerous British cities and towns - London, Birmingham, Leeds, Leicester, Ellesmere Port, Luton, Sheffield, Portsmouth, Preston, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Derby, Southampton, Nottingham, High Wycombe, Bedford, Edinburgh, Wolverhampton, Stockport, Blackburn, Huddersfield, Reading, Chester and Aldershot. Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits premiered in the half-a-dozen cinemas that hadn't been burned to the ground. The Israel Defence Forces began a regular bombardment of Palestine Liberation Organisation strongholds in Lebanon.
The first episode of Get Set For Summer broadcast featuring a live performance by The Beat. Rick Wakeman, John Peel and Clem Burke were among the guests on Pop Quiz. Unfortunately, so was that right flaming slappable pain in the dong, Tim Rice. Steve Ovett won The Dream Mile in Oslo beating a world class field. Cat People and Mystery Of The Wax Museum shown on BBC2's Horror Double Bill. The Pencils appeared on Radio 1's In Concert. A further wave of rioting broke out in Bradford.
A Year In Poland broadcast. John Cassavetes' The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie shown in BBC2's Film Of The Week strand. Nine Below Zero appeared on Radio 1's Studio B15.
The first episode of Six Fifty-Five Special broadcast on BBC2. Everton signed twenty two-year-old goalkeeper Neville Southall from Bury for one hundred and fifty grand. Duran Duran's 'Girls On Film'/'Faster Than Light' released. The IRA hunger strike death toll reached six when Martin Hurson died. That Awful Thatcher Woman announced that police would be able to use rubber bullets, water cannons and armoured vehicles against rioters. Labour leader Michael Foot blamed the recent wave of rioting on the Conservative government's economic policies, which had seen unemployment rise by more than seventy per cent in the last two years.
War On Crime broadcast. The Jim Carroll Band and Au Pairs appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Lenny Henry's Fred Dread character appeared for the first time on Three Of A Kind. Miners On The Move broadcast on BBC2. Police clashed with black youths in Brixton again, this time after officers raided properties in search of petrol bombs. None of which were never found.
The third Ashes test began at Headingley. Mike Brearley was reinstated as England's captain replacing Ian Botham whose twelve-test tenure as captain had been winless and whose previously excellent form with both bat and ball had dramatically fallen away. Labour's Doug Hoyle narrowly hung onto the Warrington seat in a by-erection, fighting off a strong challenge from Roy Jenkins for the Social Democratic Party.
The official opening of the Humber Bridge by the Queen broadcast. Soft Cell's 'Tainted Love'/'Where Did Our Love Go?' released. Steve Gordon's Arthur - starring Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli and John Gielgud - premiered.
The Jam performed 'Pretty Green', 'Funeral Pyre' and 'Boy About Town' on Get Set For Summer. At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, John Watson won his first race for five years and McLaren's first since James Hunt's victory at the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix. The race also marked the first victory for a carbon fibre composite monocoque F1 car, the McLaren MP4/1. Watson finished ahead of Carlos Reutemann and Jacques Laffite. Echo & The Bunnymen's 'A Promise'/'Broke My Neck' released.
The Royal Opera Presents Otello broadcast. The first UK TV showing of A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man in BBC2's Film Of The Week strand. Bill Rogers won his only major golf championship, The Open at Royal St George's, four strokes ahead of runner-up Bernhard Langer.

A galvanised Ian Botham took six for ninety in Australia's first innings and scored fifty in the third Ashes test at Headingley, but Australia nonetheless compiled over four hundred (John Dyson scoring a century) in their first innings and then bowled England out for one hundred and seventy four, thus enforcing the follow-on. Despite a stubborn forty six from Geoff Boycott, in the second innings Botham came to the crease on Monday afternoon with England on one hundred and five for five, still requiring over one hundred runs to merely avoid an innings defeat. He played an outstanding, aggressive innings of one hundred and forty nine not out, sharing partnerships of one hundred and seventeen with Graham Dilley, sixty seven with Chris Old and thirty seven with Bob Willis (who scored two), to set Australia a target of one hundred and thirty. Michael Heseltine toured Merseyside to examine the problems in the area, which has been particularly badly hit by the current recession. The honeymooning Prince and Princess of Wales were to spend their first days of marriage life at Broadlands, the home of Lord Romsey. President Reagan halted the shipment of F16 fighters to Israel. The Pope's would-be assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca, threatened to go on hunger strike. The Paris to Strasbourg express crashed killing more than thirty people. British and Spanish air accident investigators disagreed over the cause of the Dan-Air Boeing 727 crash in Tenerife in 1980. Manchester City Council said it would invite Lord Scarman - currently conducting an inquiry into the Brixton riots - to hold a similar inquiriy in their city. Allegations about black youths being beaten by police during rioting in Moss Side were made by a doctor who treated the injured. Liberals fighting the forthcoming Croydon by-erection rejected a proposal that former Labour minister Shriley Williams should be the candidate. A suggestion the Labour Party and trade unions should support positive discrimination in favour of black unemployed youths provoked sharp disagreement from union leader Clive Jenkins and MPs Eric Heffer and Norman Atkinson who were reported as saying unions would not accept a 'black draft' into factories. Atkinson's comments were rebuked by Alan Fisher of the Public Employees union who said, rightly, that Atkinson was 'parroting prejudice.' The first sentence of birching since 1978 was passed in the Isle of Man on a sixteen year old from Glasgow who had glassed another youth on the Ardrossan to Isle of Man ferry. The government announced an indefinite moratorium on commercial whaling. Sammy Maddocks, aged seventeen, returned to court having been sentenced to three months detention the previous Friday when it was discovered Sammy was, actually, Lynn Maddocks.
Rescue Flight broadcast. Bob Willis produced the bowling performance of his life, taking eight for forty three as England skittled Australia for one hundred and eleven to win the third Ashes test by eighteen runs. Australia had reached fifty six for one before Mike Brearley switched Willis to allow him to bowl down the slope. Utter carnage ensued. This was only the second time in test history that a side won a test match after following on. Mo-Dettes were in session on The John Peel Show ('Nasty Children', 'L'Intro', 'White Rabbit', 'Yellow Smile').
The Royal Tournament broadcast. Roses Grow In Byker Now broadcast in BBC2's City strand.
Richard Skinner introduce Top Of The Pops featuring performances from The Vapors, Tight Fit, Gidea Park, Sheena Easton, Visage and The Specials. Shakin' Stevens and Paul Jones appeared on BBC2's Six Fifty-Five Specials.
That's Rich broadcast. The first UK TV showing of The Empress Dowager on BBC2. Siouxsie & The Banshees' 'Arabian Knights'/'Supernatural Thing' and U2's 'Fire'/'J Swallo' released. Richard Marquand's Eye Of The Needle - starring Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan, Ian Bannen and Christopher Cazenove - premiered.
The first UK TV showing of Antonio Mercero's La Cabina in BBC2's Horror Double Bill strand. Somerset won the Benson & Hedges Cup at Lord's beating Surrey by seven wickets with a man of the match performance by Viv Richards (one hundred and thirty two not out). Around one thousand motorcyclists clashed with police in Keswick. Anti-apartheid protestors in Hamilton, New Zealand forced the cancellation of the second game of tour by the South African Springboks rugby union team and host side, Waikato.
Garabandal: After The Visions broadcast. The first UK TV showing of Death In Canaan on BBC2. After six years, the FBI brought Operation Donnie Brasco to an end. Undercover agent Joseph Pistone had infiltrated the Bonanno crime family in 1975, using an alias and gathering evidence for the Bureau. When the family's boss, Dominic Napolitano, asked Pistone to carry out a hit against Bruno Indelicato, his FBI handlers decided that Pistone would be discovered. Only after Pistone's assignment ended did FBI agents inform Napolitano that his trusted aide had been a Copper's Nark. Napolitano would be killed by the Bonanno mob on 17 August for making such an elementary schoolboy error.
The Telecommunications Act separated British Telecom from the Royal Mail with effect from 1 October.
The Royal Fireworks broadcast. Vic Damone Says 'Make Someone Happy' broacast on BBC2. That Awful Thatcher Woman blamed IRA leaders for the recent IRA hunger striker deaths. They blamed That Awful Thatcher Woman. So, a matter of disagreement, it would seem.

The wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer took place at St Paul's Cathedral. More than thirty million viewers watched the coverage on television – the second largest TV audience of all time in Britain. The first UK TV showing of The Reivers on BBC2. Magician and escapologist Trevor Revell was killed while performing at a Royal Wedding celebration in Portsmouth. Revell, buckled into a straitjacket, was hoisted thirty feet into the air on a rope which was then set on fire. Revell escaped from the straitjacket, but the rope burned through before he could be lowered and he fell head-first onto concrete below.
The Music Scene broadcast. Fundamental Frolics - a charity concert for MENCAP featuring performances by Jon Anderson, Rowan Atkinson, Chas & Dave, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Hot Gossip, Neil Innes, Chris Langham, Rik Mayall, Alan Price, Griff Rhys Jones, Alexei Sayle, Mel Smith and Pamela Stephenson - broadcast on BBC2. UB40's 'One In Ten'/'Present Arms In Dub' released. A song about the misery of unemployment. A few months later, UB40 would released 'So Here I Am Standing At A Bus Stop Wishing I Was Somewhere Else', a song about the misery of going to work. Come on, lads, make your minds up.
Kevin Lynch became the seventh IRA hunger striker to die. The issue of Radio Times following the Royal Wedding souvenir edition was not published, due to a printing dispute. The first twenty four-hour video music channel MTV was launched in the United States and broadcast its first selection, 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by The Buggles. Abu Daoud, the PLO terrorist who had overseen the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes was shot while sitting in the coffee shop of the Victoria Hotel in Warsaw.
Within twenty four hours of Kevin Lynch's death, Kieran Doherty becomes the eighth IRA hunger striker to die. Lightning struck twice as England bowled out Australia for one hundred and twenty one to, improbably, win a low-scoring fourth Ashes test at Edgbaston by twenty nine runs. England conceded a sixty nine-run first innings deficit and set Australia a target of only one hundred and fifty one in the fourth innings. Australia reached one hundred and five for four before Ian Botham took five for eleven, including a spell of five wickets for a solitary run. This test holds the record for the highest aggregate (seven hundred and eighty seven) without a player scoring a fifty. The Labour Party accused the BBC of political bias over the appointment of Sir William Rees-Mogg as Vice Chairman. A rift among senior Tory figures over the Government's economic policy was said to be 'deepening' following Sir Geoffrey Howe's assertion that the recession had ended. The National Front were recruiting 'violent rock music' according to the Centre for Contemporary Studies which highlighted the racist following within the skinhead 'Oi' movement.
US Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, who in 1987 would become a central figure in the Iran-Contra Affair, became a staffer on the National Security Council.
The first episode of The Rose Medallion broadcast. The Human League's 'Love Action (I Believe In Love)'/'Hard Times', The Rolling Stones' 'Start Me Up'/'No Use In Crying', Misty In Roots' 'Peace & Love'/'Bail Out', Coast To Coast's 'Coastin'/'Born To Rock 'N' Roll' and Simple Minds' 'Love Song'/'This Earth That You Walk Upon' released. Peter Weir's Gallipoli premiered in Australia.
Duran Duran appeared on Get Set For Summer. As did 'the amazing Su Pollard.' Two very good reasons not to watch it, then. The first episode of Yours Sincerely broadcast on BBC2. The IRA hunger strike claims its ninth hunger striker with the death of Thomas McElwee.
The Surface Of Mars broadcast. Rigoletto broadcast on BBC2. Broadmoor Hospital received heavy criticism after the escape of a second prisoner in three weeks. The latest absconder was thirty two-year-old Alan Reeve, a convicted double murderer.
The Islamic Bomb broadcast in the Panorama strand. Anne Murray & Her Music broadcast on BBC2. Orange Juice were in session on The John Peel Show ('Dying Day', 'Holiday Hymn', 'Three Cheers For Our Side', 'Blokes On Forty Five').
Ready When You Are, Mister DeMille! broadcast. Elvis Lives broadcast on BBC2.
John Martyn featured on A Little Night Music. Stiff Little Fingers and U2 In Concert broadcast on BBC2 having been shown in January on BBC Northern Ireland as part of the Rock Goes To College strand. The IBM PC was introduced at a press conference at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York and with it MS-DOS software owned by Microsoft.
The first episode of The Four Seasons broadcast. Murder Rap broadcast.
Room At The Top shown in The Late Film strand. The Go-Go's 'Our Lips Are Sealed'/'Surfing & Spying', Ultravox's 'The Thin Wall'/'I Never Wanted To Begin', Polecats' 'Jeepster'/'Marie Celeste' and Aztec Camera's 'Mattress Of Wire'/'Lost Outside The Tunnel' released.
The first UK broadcast of Flamingo Road. The Curse Of The Cat People and Eye Of The Cat featured in a feline-themed Horror Double Bill on BBC2. The Pretenders' Pretenders II released.
Star! shown in The Sunday Film strand. Great Britain's men and women athletics teams both finished third in the European Cup held in Zagreb. There were individual victories for Allan Wells, Seb Coe, Dave Moorcroft and Mark Holtam. Mariano Laurenti's Una Vacanza Del Cactus - starring Anna Maria Rizzoli and Enzo Cannavale - premiered.
The first episode of Festival 81 broadcast. An inquiry opened into the Moss Side riots. England retained the Ashes winning the fifth test at Old Trafford by one hundred and three runs. Ian Botham scored another memorable century (one hundred and eighteen from one hundred and two balls, dominating a chalk-and-cheese partnership of one hundred and forty nine with Chris Tavaré, who blocked his way to seventy eight from two hundred and eighty nine balls). Botham's innings included six sixes, which was an Ashes record until Ben Stokes's innings at Headingley in 2019. Second-innings centuries from Allan Border and Graham Yallop could not avert Aussie defeat. Paul Allott made his test debut on his home ground (and scored a fifty). The Teardrop Explodes were in session on The Richard Skinner Show (' ... And The Fighting Takes Over', 'Better Scream'/'Make That Move', 'Bent Out Of Shape', 'Screaming Secrets').
Barry Norman In Chicago broadcast. The first episode of Masters Of Modern Sculpture broadcast on BBC2.
Richard and Linda Thompson appeared on A Little Night Music. The two semi-finals of the Gillette Cup produced low-scoring games and narrow finishes. Northamptonshire beat Lancashire by one wicket, Tim Lamb and Jim Griffiths scrambling a bye off David Lloyd's penultimate ball whilst Derbyshire defeated Essex by losing fewer wickets when their match ended tied. Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi sent two Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets to intercept two US Navy fighters over the Gulf of Sidra. The American jets promptly destroyed the Libyan planes. Seb Coe broke Steve Ovett's mile world record at Weltklasse Zürich.
Ingrid Bergman At The National Film Theatre and the first episodes of Folk and Mourning Becomes Electra broadcast on BBC2. A tenth IRA hunger striker, Michael Devine, died in prison. Minimum Lending Rate ceased to be set by the Bank of England.
Lawrie McMenemy appeared on BBC North East's Heroes. Gaelic Weekend broadcast on BBC2. The Comsat Angels' Sleep No More, Altered Images' 'Happy Birthday'/'So We Go Whispering' and OMD's 'Souvenier'/'Motion & Heart', 'Sacred Heart' released. John Landis's An American Werewolf In London premiered.
Sole Survivor shown in The Saturday Film strand. The Body Snatcher and Theatre Of Blood feature in BBC2's Horror Double Bill strand. Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur draw two-two in the FA Charity Shield at Wembley. Peel's Pleasures broadcast on Radio 1.
On The Rock Face broadcast. Ten For Survival - introduced by Judi Dench - broadcast on BBC2. The first UK TV showing of Sergeant Matlovich Versus The US Air Force in the Film Of The Week strand.
The first episode of Now Get Out Of That and Toyah At The Rainbow broadcast. The first UK broadcast of Cowboy's Flute on BBC2. Mark Chapman was sentenced to twenty years to life in The Joint for murdering John Lennon. The Teardrop Explodes' 'Ha-Ha I'm Drowning'/'Poppies In The Fields' and The Rolling Stones' Tattoo You released. Theatre Of Hate were in session on The John Peel Show ('Conquistador', 'Propaganda', 'Love Is A Ghost', 'Do You Believe In The Westworld?')
Barry Norman's London Season broadcast. Britain's largest Enterprise Zone was launched on deindustrialised land on Tyneside. Voyager 2, launched in 1977, made its closest approach to Saturn, passing within forty thousand kilometres of the planet. Voyager 2 would go on to Uranus (arriving in January 1986) and Neptune (August 1989). Jack Tyree, a stuntman, was killed during the filming of The Sword & The Sorcerer. He missed an airbag after jumping from a one hundred and eighty foot cliff.

The Blues Band appeared on A Little Night Music. General Motors launched the MK2 Vauxhall Cavalier, available for the first time with front-wheel drive and a hatchback.
Moira Stuart was appointed as the BBC's first black newsreader. Roger Corman At The National Film Theatre and the first episode of Fame broadcast on BBC2. NASA planetary scientist Carolyn Porco became the first person to describe the behaviour of the eccentric ringlets and the 'spokes' discovered by Voyager 2 within the rings of Saturn. Subsequently, Porco would formulate the theory by which the outer Uranian rings were being shepherded by the Voyager-discovered moons of Cordelia and Ophelia and to provide an explanation for the shepherding of the rings arcs of Neptune by the moon Galatea. She was also a co-originator of the idea to take a 'portrait of the planets' with the Voyager 1 spacecraft and participated in the planning, design and execution of those images in 1990, including the famous 'Pale Blue Dot' image of Earth.
Arthur Appleton's BBC North East film The Gentleman's Game Played By Cads: A Telling Of Soccer's Story broadcast. To Kill A Mockingbird shown on BBC2. Au Pairs 'Inconvenience'/'Pretty Boys' released. For the third time in nine days, the world mile record was broken. Sebastian Coe had beaten the record of Steve Ovett in Zurich on 19 August. Ovett took the record back on 26 August in Koblenz and Coe then set the mark again in Brussels, with a time of three minutes, 46.32 seconds, a record which would stand until Steve Cram broke it in 1985. Ripon Police received a telephone call from a man described as well-spoken. The caller said: 'Near Scawton Moor House, you will find a decomposed body among the willow herbs.' When the caller was asked for his details, he stated that he could not give this information for 'reasons of national security' and terminated the call. The body of a female - the so-called Nude in the Nettles - was discovered. To date, she and her murderer remain unidentified.
The first UK TV showing of Something Big. The Masque Of The Red Death shown on BBC2. The first Football League games of the season were played. Swansea City begin life as a First Division side on a high note, beating Leeds United five-one. Promoted Notts County won at Villa Park against the defending champions. Howard Kendall began his career as Everton manager guiding them to a three-one win over Birmingham City. Liverpool lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers. The first Rock On The Tyne festival at Gateshead International Stadium featured Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Ian Dury & The Block Heads, a particularly insufferable U2, The Polecats, Doctor Feelgood, Ginger Baker's Nutters and Lindsifarne.
To The Count Of Basie broadcast. The first UK TV showing of Bill Forsyth's That Sinking Feeling on BBC2.
The first episode of Sport Allrounder Of The Year broadcast. The first UK TV showing of Aces High. It Was In Tune When I Bought It broadcast on Radio 1.
The first episode of MacLeod In Japan broadcast. Filling stations started selling fuel by the litre. The sixth Ashes test at The Oval was drawn meaning England won the series three-one. Dennis Lillie took eleven wickets in the match. Paul Parker made his test debut.
Thwe one-off Callan revival, Wet Job, broadcast on Thames.
Amongst the performances on Top Of The Pops was a memorable Teardrop Explodes version of 'Passionate Friend'. According to Julian Cope's biography, Head On, both he and drummer Gary Dwyer were in the middle of acid trips during the recording. Check out those dilated pupils! Peter Ustinov At The National Theatre broadcast on BBC2. Paul Gambaccini broadcast 'an appreciation of Chuck Berry' on Radio 1. Louis Malle's Atlantic City premiered.
Seven Steps To Revolution broadcast. Poland On Release broadcast on BBC2. The Birthday Party's 'Release The Bats'/'Blast Off', Kissing The Pink's 'Don't Hide In The Shadows'/'Hand Held Cameras', Slade's 'Lock Up Your Daughters'/'Sign Of The Times', Hawkwind's 'Motorhead'/'Valium Ten' and Adam & The Ants' 'Prince Charming'/'Christian D'Or' released. The first episode of Nigel Kneale's Kinvig broadcast on LWT.
Geoff Miller and Colin Tunnicliffe ran a single off the final ball of the Gillette Cup final at Lord's to level the scores between Derbyshire and Northampton. Derby won by losing fewer wickets. Northampton's Geoff Cook was man of the match for his one hundred and eleven, despite finishing on the losing side. Prendiville's Finest Innings and Fashanu broadcast on BBC2. The BBC1 mirror globe changed colour from yellow on blue to green on blue. John Barnes made his professional debut aged seventeen, playing for the last fifteen minutes of Watford's game against Oldham Athletic.
Gary Numan - Wembley 81 and the first episode of Blood Money broadcast. The first UK TV showing of Rough Treatment on BBC2.
News After Noon was launched as a thirty-minute lunchtime news programme, replacing the much shorter Midday News. The first UK broadcast of the two-part adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot. Depeche Mode's 'Just Can't Get Enough'/'Any Second Now' and Matt Johnson's Burning Blue Soul released.

The first episode of Only Fools and Horses - starring David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst - broadcast. Monsieur Mitterrand Takes Over broadcast on BBC2. Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was set up to protest at plans to site US cruise missiles there. Sixteen Islington Labour councillors joined the SDP following the defection of Labour MP Michael O'Halloran.
The first episode of Fighter Pilot broadcast. The Last Weekend broadcast in BBC2's Enigma strand. England suffered a shock two-one defeat against Norway in a World Cup qualifier in Oslo. Roger Albertsen and Hallvar Thoresen cancelled out Bryan Robson's early opener. The game passed into legend, in no small part due to the delirious words of Norwegian television commentator Bjørge Lillelien at the final whistle: 'Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me? Maggie Thatcher ... your boys took a Hell of a beating!' Pigbag were in session on The John Peel Show. The first episode of Diamonds broadcast on Thames.
The first episodes of all levels The Day Of The Triffids, Behind The Scenes With ... and The Defence Of The United States broadcast. Another Enterprise Zone was launched, in Wakefield. Picasso's painting Guernica was returned to the Museo del Prado in Madrid after having been kept at New York's Museum of Modern Art since 1939.
The first UK TV showing of The Grissom Gang in The Late Film strand. Town For Sale and the first episode of Romer's Egypt broadcast on BBC2. Pete Shelley's 'Homosapien'/'Keats' Song', Cedric Myton & The Congos' 'Can't Take It Away'/'Where He Leads Me' and Marc Bolan's 'You Scare Me To Death'/'The Perfumed Garden Of Gulliver Smith' released.
Last Night Of The Proms broadcast (introduced by Richard Baker). Simple Minds' Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call released. The Secret Policeman's Other Ball - the fourth of the benefit shows staged by the British Section of Amnesty International - took place at Drury Lane. Most of the musical acts were a right effing disgrace - Sting, Geldof, Minge Urine, Collins et al - but, at least the comedy was pretty good. Particularly Alexei Sayle.
The first episode of Rolf's Here! OK? broadcast. Sexual Encounters Of The Floral Kind broadcast in BBC2's The World About Us strand. Cecil Parkinson was appointed chairman of the Conservative Party.
M appeared on A Little Night Music. The Schneider Trophy broadcast on BBC2.
Ian Botham broadcast. Six More English Town broadcast on BBC2. The Fall were in session on The John Peel Show ('Deer Park', 'Know Look', 'Winter Hostel Maxi', 'Who Makes The Nazis?')

The first episode of Postman Pat broadcast, created by John Cunliffe and narrated by Ken Barrie. Episode eight subsequently introduced a more authentic look to the Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd logos. The Girl Who Wouldn't Talk To Strangers broadcast in BBC2's Enigma strand. World Boxing Council champion Sugar Ray Leonard and World Boxing Association champion Thomas Hearns fought at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas for the unified world welterweight championship. Leonard won with a fourteenth round stoppage. The Liberal Party conference voted for an electoral pact with the new Social Democratic Party.
A team of divers began removing gold ingots worth forty million quid from the wreck of HMS Edinburgh, sunk off the coast of Norway in 1942. Southampton International Boat Show broadcast on BBC2. The Teardrop Explodes' 'Passionate Friend'/'Christ Versus Warhol' released. Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot - starring Jürgen Prochnow - premiered.
The first series of Revolting Women broadcast. David Steel told delegates at the Liberal Party conference to 'go back to your constituencies and prepare for government,' hopes of which had been boosted by opinion polls showing the SDP-Liberal Alliance's popularity above both the Tories and Labour. Madness's 'Shut Up'/'Town With No Name', Sparks' 'Funny Face'/'The Willys', John Martyn's 'Please Fall In Love With Me'/'Don't You Go', The Four Tops' 'When She Was My Girl'/'Something To Remember' and Bad Manners' 'Walking On Sunshine'/'End Of The World' released. The French Lieutenant's Woman premiered. Beat The Carrott broadcast on LWT.
The first Uk broadcast of The Pirate. The first UK TV showing of Cavalcade in BBC2's Saturday Cinema strand. The Tubes featured on Radio 1's In Concert. Simon & Garfunkel performed The Concert in Central Park in front of approximately half-a-million people. Alan Brazil scored twice as Ipswich Town beat Notts County four-one at Meadow Lane to go top of the First Division.
Voyager 2: A Second Opinion Of Saturn broadcast in The Sky At Night strand. Images Pour Orchestre broadcast on BBC2.
The first episodes of Act Unlimited With George Melly and A Kick Up The Eighties broadcast on BBC2. Belize, formerly British Honduras, gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Steve Wright In The Afternoon broadcast on Radio 1 for the first time. Rip, Rig & Panic were in session on The John Peel Show.
The first UK broadcast of Hanging By A Thread. Heaven 17's Penthouse & Pavement released. Altered Images were in session on The John Peel Show ('Yellow And It Might', 'Pinky Blue', 'Little Brown Head').
The first episode of The Secret Of Steel City broadcast. Games People Played broadcast on BBC2. Twenty Three Skidoo were in session on The John Peel Show.
The first episodes of Fanny By Gaslight and BBC2's Roger Doesn't Live Here Anymore broadcast.
Food, Food, Glorious Food broadcast in the Scene strand, featuring Kate Bush talking about vegetarianism . Angelic Upstarts and Tygers of Pan Tang appeared on BBC2's Something Else. Ford announced that its best-selling Cortina would be discontinued and replaced with the Sierra. The Creatures' Wild Things EP, New Order's 'Procession'/'Everything's Gone Green', The Police' 'Invisible Sun'/'Shamelle' and Squeeze's 'Labelled With Love'/'Squabs On Forty Fab' released. The Rolling Stones began their forty-city Tattoo You tour at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.
The first Fifth Avenue Mile was won by Sydney Maree. The first UK TV showing of Bill Douglas's My Childhood in BBC2's The Bill Douglas Trilogy. Hazel O'Connor appeared on Radio 1's In Concert.
Jacques Laffite won the Canadian Grand Prix ahead of John Watson at Circuit Île Notre-Dame, Montreal. Nelson Piquet finished fifth and picked up two points to move within a point of Championship leader Carlos Reutemann with one race remaining. The first episode of BBC2's The New Foresters broadcast. The first UK TV showing of Ken Russell's The Music Lovers.
Film 81 featured a review of Escape From New York and a set-report on The French Lieutenant's Woman. The first episode of Micros In The Classroom broadcast on BBC2. Thames Television broadcast the first episode of Cosgrove Hall's Danger Mouse, with the titular character voiced by David Jason, later that day ITV broadcast the first episode of the appealingly rubbish darts-based game show Bullseye fronted by Jim Bowen.
Pop Goes The Weasel broadcast. Football mourned the legendary former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, who died aged sixty eight after suffering a heart attack.

The month ended with Ipswich Town leading the First Division. Leeds United were already adrift at the bottom of the table following an horrific start to the season, with Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion also in the bottom three. The race for promotion from Division Two was headed by Sheffield Wednesday, Luton Town and Norwich City. In the UEFA Cup, Liverpool beat Finnish league champions Oulun Palloseura seven-nil at Anfield to complete an eight-nil aggregate first leg triumph, with teenage striker Ian Rush scoring his first senior goal for the club. The International Olympic Committee session in Baden-Baden awarded the 1988 Winter Olympics to Calgary and the 1988 Summer Olympics to Seoul. Nat Jackley was profield in BBC2's The Old Boy Network.
The first episodes of BBC2's Forty Minutes: Rough Justice, World's End and Futurama Rock 80broadcast. Bryan Robson became Britain's most expensive footballer in a one-and-a-half million knicker move from West Bromwich Albion to Manchester United. Led by Doctor Paul Schechter, astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory reported the discovery of a 'hole' in the universe, three hundred million light years in diameter. The void, described by Schechter as 'exceedingly hard to understand', was located beyond the constellation Boötes and encompasses one percent of the space in the known universe. Otto Jongerius' Twee Vorstinnen En Een Vorst - starring Eric Clerckx, Linda van Dyck, Kitty Courbois and Huib Broos and David I Frazer and Svetlana Mischoff's Bad Girls - starring Pia Snow, Anna Ventura, Victoria Knoll and Lenora Bruce - premiered.
The latest episode of Something Else was guest-produced by Paul Weller 'and some of his friends' and featured performances by The Questions, Dolly Mixtures and, of course, The Jam ('Man In The Corner Shop' and 'Funeral Pyre'). The first episode of Prisoners Of Conscience and 'I Thought I Was Taller': A Short History of Mel Brooks broadcast on BBC2. Tom Tom Club's 'Genius Of Love', Madness's Seven, Elvis Costello & The Attractions' 'Good Year For The Roses/'Your Angel Steps Out Of Heaven' and The Human League's 'Open Your Heart'/'Non-Stop' released.
David Niven was interviewed on Parkinson. The Producers shown in BBC2's Midnight Movie strand. The hunger strike at Maze Prison was called off after seven months by Sinn Féin. Ten IRA prisoners had died, while another seven had given up fasting. Three days later, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Prior announced that some of the original demands of the prisoners, including the right to not wear prison uniforms, would now be granted.
The first episode of Great Expectations broadcast. Othello broadcast in BBC2's The BBC Television Shakespeare strand. The first episode of All Time Greats, presented by Desmond Carrington, broadcast on Radio 2. The body in Lee Oswald's grave was exhumed at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Fort Worth to determine whether the corpse was, indeed, Oswald's. Michael Eddowes, author of the 1977 book The Oswald File, paid the two hundred and fifty thousand dollar expense for the body removal and its examination at the Baylor University Medical Centre.
The first episode of BBC2's Tales of Twelve Cities broadcast. David Jensen took over the 8pm Radio 1 slot. Depeche Mode's Speak & Spell and U2's 'Gloria' released. The Reverend Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church, was indicted for US income tax evasion. He was convicted and served an eighteen-month prison sentence.
Fighting On broadcast. Egypt's President Anwar Sadat was assassinated at Nasr City while watching the annual Armed Forces Day parade by servicemen who belong to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organisation and were opposed to Sadat's negotiations with Israel. A military vehicle halted in front of the reviewing stand and six men jumped out, firing machine guns. Sadat was hit by two bullets and died in hospital two hours later. Seven others, including two of the gunmen, were killed. The four surviving assassins, ringleader Lieutenant Khaledi Islambouli, Sergeant Hussein Abbas, Air Force officer Atta Hemeida and shop owner Abdel-Hamid Abdel-Aal, as well the plot's as mastermind Mohammed Abdel-Salam Farag, were executed from their crimes in April 1982. Radio 4's Radio Active included the first known use of the Geoffrey Perkins-scripted 'Ringo Starr wasn't the best drummer in the world. He wasn't even the best drummer in The Beatles' joke - said by Phil Pope. A variant was, subsequently, used by Jasper Carrott in a 1987 episode of Carrott's Confidential. Thereafter, the joke became a 'quote' often, completely wrongly, attributed to John Lennon, an urban myth which took over thirty years to debunk.
The Early Music-Hall broadcast on BBC2. British Leyland launched the Triumph Acclaim, a four-door saloon built in collaboration with Japanese giant Honda at the Cowley plant in Oxford. The Comsat Angels were in session on The John Peel Show.
BBC2's Futurama Rock 80 featured performances by Boots for Dancing, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Mirror Boys and Athletico Spizz 80. Joy Division's Still released. For the first and only time in history, three former US presidents flew together on the same aeroplane. Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, were greeted at the White House by their successor Ronald Reagan, before flying by helicopter to Andrews Air Force Base, where they departed for the funeral of Egypt's assassinated president.

The Beat appeared on Something Else. The Jam's 'Absolute Beginners'/'Tales From The Riverbank', Wah!'s 'Somesay'/'Forget The Down (This Time)', The Cure's 'Charlotte Sometimes'/'Splintered In Her Head', Haircut One Hundred's 'Favourite Shirt (Boy Meets Girl)'/'Boat Party' and Laurie Anderson's 'O Superman'/'Walk The Dog' released. Prince, opening for The Rolling Stones during their gig at the Los Angeles Coliseum, was booed off-stage by an impatient crowd full of odious hippies who all needed a damned-good haircut.
The Chipperfield Safari broadcast on BBC2. Chelsea Barracks were bombed by the Provisional IRA, killing two people.
The first episodes of Anglo-Saxon Attitudes, See Hear! and Plat It Safe! broadcast. Heaven's My Destination broadcast in the Everyman strand. The first episode of Grand Slam broadcast on BBC2.
The first UK TV showing of A Man Called Horse. The first episode of BBC2's Television World broadcast. British Leyland announced the closure of three factories – a move which cost nearly three thousand jobs. Brideshead Revisited, a television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel, began on ITV. U2's October released.
Richard Eyre's adaptation of The Cherry Orchard broadcast. Making M*A*S*H broadcast on BBC2. Opinion polls showed That Awful Thatcher Woman was still about as popular as The Black Death due to her anti-inflationary economic measures, which now came under fire from her predecessor, Edward Heath.
Happy Birthday Las Vegas broadcast. The first episode of BBC2's The Borgias broadcast. The Human League's Dare and Associates' Fourth Drawer Down released. The Passage were in session on The John Peel Show. India's prime minister Indira Gandhi ordered the release of Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, three weeks after his arrest for involvement in the murder of publisher Jagat Narain. Bhindranwale would be killed in 1984 during the siege of The Golden Temple at Amritsar and Gandhi would be assassinated later that same year by Sikh members of her bodyguard contingent.
The first UK TV showing of The Stranger In 7A. BBC2's Futurama Rock 80 included performances by Altered Images, Artery, Frantic Elevators, The Soft Boys and Psychedelic Furs. Odious full-of-his-own-importance gobshite Norman Tebbit told fellow Conservative MPs: 'I grew up in the thirties with an unemployed father. He didn't riot. He got on his bike and looked for work and he kept looking until he found it.' What an utter smear.
The first UK broadcast of The New Shmoo. Barry Norman's Thank You PG Wodehouse broadcast on BBC2. OMD's 'Joan Of Arc'/'The Romance Of The Telescope (Unfinished)', ABC's 'Tears Are Not Enough'/'Alphabet Soup', Tom Tom Club's eponymous debut LP, Bauhaus's Mask and Orange Juice's 'L.O.V.E. Love'/'Intuition Told Me' released.
Dame Vera Lynn, Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader, Windsor Davies and Kenneth Williams were guests on Parkinson. Nelson Piquet's fifth place finish in the Caesars Palace Grand Prix was enough to give him the World Championship ahead of Carlos Reutemann who finished eighth despite starting on pole. The race was won by Reutemann's Williams teammate Alan Jones ahead of Alain Prost, Bruno Giacomelli and Nigel Mansell. Wah! and Altered Images featured on Radio 1's In Concert. The first episode of The Stanley Baxter Series broadcast on LWT.
The first episode of Bergerac broadcast. Rock Bottom and The Sky At Night: A Tribute To Sir Bernard Lovell broadcast. The Sidmouth Invasion and Mussolini With Knickers broadcast on BBC2. Stanislaw Kania was forced out as leader of Poland's ruling Communist Party. General Wojciech Jaruzelski was confirmed as the new first secretary.
The first UK TV showing of The Duchess & The Dirtwater Fox. British Telecom announced that the telegram would be discontinued after one hundred and thirty nine years use.
The first episode of Barbara's World Of Horses & Ponies broadcast. Country broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The first UK TV showing of Conversation Piece on BBC2. A group of armed robbers from the Black Liberation Army and the Weather Underground attacked a Brink's armoured car at the Nanuet Mall in Nanuet, New York, killing one of the guards and stealing 1.6 million dollars in cash, then killing two police officers who had given chase. Among those naughty robbers captured on the first day was Kathy Boudin, who had been a fugitive for more than a decade.
The first episode of All Those Hard Luck Stories broadcast.
The first episode of Tenko broadcast. The case of Dudgeon versus United Kingdom was decided by the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that the continued existence of laws in Northern Ireland criminalising consensual gay sex was in contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Dodo Vision and Kirsty MacColl appeared on Something Else. The Liberal-SDP Alliance topped a MORI opinion poll ahead of both Labour and the Conservatives. The last teatime block of Open University programmes were broadcast. From the 1982 season, only a single Open University programme would be broadcast, at 5.10pm ahead of the start of BBC2's evening programmes. The Spider, the first lunar module to be tested in outer space, fell out of orbit and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere. During the Apollo 9 mission, in March 1969, the craft had been operated by Jim McDivitt and Rusty Schweickart, a mission which confirmed that a module could carry out the necessary docking and undocking maneuvers needed for a lunar landing. Hawkwind's 'Angels Of Death'/'Trans-Dimensional Man' released. Noddy Holder appeared on Radio 1's Roundtable.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions' Almost Blue and Scritti Politti's 'The Sweetest Girl'/' Lions After Slumber' breleased.
Harry Secombe appeared on Parkinson. The first UK broadcast of The Shogun Inheritance on BBC2. Byron - A Personal Tour broadcast. The first episode of Radio 1's My Top Twelve broadcast featuring odious balding slappable prog-rock dinosaur Phil Collins. A weekend of anti-nuclear protests began in cities throughout Europe, as two hundred thousand marched in Rome and another one hundred and fifty thousand in London to protest the deployment of American Pershing II missiles at bases in five European nations. On Sunday, two hundred thousand turned out in Brussels for the largest demonstration since World War II and smaller crowds marched in Paris, Berlin and Oslo. John Lade presented Radio 3's Record Review for the final time. His last broadcast was the programme's one thousandth edition. Paul Vaughan took over hosting duties the following week.
The Dark Virgin broadcast. If Winter Comes broadcast on BBC2. The Jam were in session on Radio 1's Studio B15 ('Absolute Beginners', 'Tales From The Riverbank', 'Funeral Pyre', 'Sweet Soul Music').
The first UK TV showing of Shaft's Big Score! 26 Oct Massively over-rated pomp rockers The Queen Group released their Greatest Hits compilation full of tuneless dirges (and, admittedly, one half-way decent song, 'You're My Best Friend'); horrifyingly it becomes the all-time best-selling LP in the United Kingdom. The Slits were in session on The John Peel Show.
London Is Drowning broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The first UK broadcast of Pablo Picasso Painter on BBC2. Notts County and Swansea City were eliminated from the League Cup by lower league opposition: Division Three's Lincoln City dispatched County whilst Swansea were beaten by Barnsley of the Second Division. Linto Kwesi Johnson was in session on The John Peel Show ('Independent Intavenshan', 'Reality Poem', 'Reggae Fi'Peach', 'All Wi' Doin Is Defendin'). In a ruba-dub style(e). The British Phonographic Industry took out newspaper adverts unveiling its new slogan: 'Home Taping Is Killing Music'. Music fans quickly pointed out that, in fact, crap bands were doing far more damage to music than home taping and that if record companies simply stopped employing prog rock dinosaurs and rotten hairy metal combos, the situation would be a whole Hell of a lot better. Kill All Hippies!
Crime & Punishment broadcast in the Scene strand. Lol: A Bona Queen Of Fabularity broadcast in BBC2's Forty Minutes strand. Soft Cell's 'Bedsitter'/'Facility Girls' released.
Mrs Reinhardt broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Nicholas Reed, chief of the Euthanasia charity Exit, was jailed for two-and-a-half years for aiding and abetting suicides. Modern Romance's 'Ay Ay Ay Ay Moosey'/'Tear The Roof Off The Moose', The Queen Group & David Bowie's 'Under Pressure'/'Soul Brother', The Stranglers' 'Let Me Introduce You To The Family'/'Vietnamerica', Tears For Fears' 'Suffer The Children'/'Wino', Simple Minds' 'Sweat In Bullet'/'Twentieth Century Promised Land' and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's 'The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel (Parts 1 & 2)' released. Venera 13 was launched by the Soviet Union, followed five days later by Venera 14. The twin explorers traveled to Venus, with Venera 13 landing first in March 1982 and transmitting the first colour pictures from the surface of the planet.
Sutherland & Pavarotti in Recital broadcast on BBC2. Without permission, treasure hunter Tom Crotser dug through walls at Mount Pisgah in Jordan, where he claimed that he and his team had discovered The Ark Of The Covenant. Though he did not bring the artefact out, he presented photographs. Biblical scholar Siegfried Horn reviewed Crotser's evidence and, in an article in the Biblical Archaeology Review, concluded that the nails and metal covering shown in photographs were 'of recent origin.' Elvis Costello appeared on Radio 1's My Top Twelve.
Carry Me Away broadcast. The first episode of BBC2's Zone Of Occupation broadcast. British Leyland's fifty eight thousand-strong workforce began a strike over pay. Antigua and Barbuda gained independence from the UK. Princess Margaret, appearing on behalf of the Queen, presented the instruments of state to Prime Minister Vere Cornwall Bird.

The first episode of The Biggest Epidemic of Our Times broadcast. Science For The People broadcast in BBC2's Horizon strand. The TV licence increased in price from thirty four quid to forty six knicker for a colour TV, and twelve quid to fifteen knicker for monochrome. The Police's 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic'/'Flexible Strategies' released. At the Polaris nuclear submarine base at the Holy Loch in Scotland, a Poseidon missile slipped from a crane that was transferring the weapon to the submarine tender USS Holland. The missile fell seventeen feet onto concrete without exploding.
A Room For The Winter broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The first episode of BBC2's The Last Song broadcast.
So You Think You're Safe At Home? broadcast. The first episode of The Great Liners broadcast on BBC2. The Higsons were in session on The John Peel Show ('We Will Never Grow Old', 'Conspiracy', 'Where Have All The Club A-Go-Go's Went?', 'Touch Down'). The second launch of the space shuttle Columbia was called off at the last moment. Countdown halted at thirty one seconds when a computer detected an increase of oil pressure in two of the three auxiliary power units. Poland's Communist Party leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski conferred with Solidarnosc union leader Lech Walesa in a meeting arranged by Cardinal Józef Glemp to last-ditch effort to resolve the labour crisis in that nation. Walesa declined to put the independent union under government control and a crackdown would follow a month later.
Peter Powell presented Top Of The Pops with appearances by The Dukes, Jets, ABC, Modern Romance, The Police, Rush, Julio Iglesias, Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin and The Four Tops. The first episode of BBC2's Living On The Land broadcast.
Dartmouth were the joint winners of Jeux Sans Frontières (with Lisbon). Orange Juice and Depeche Mode appeared on Something Else. Last Summer's Child broadcast on BBC2's Playhouse strand. The Fall's 'Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul'/'Fantastic Life', The Pretenders' 'I Go To Sleep'/'The English Roses', Dexys Midnight Runners' 'Liars A To E'/'... And Yes We Must Remain The Wild Hearted Outsider', Marc Bolan's 'Cat Black'/'Jasper C Debussy' and The Dead Kennedys' 'Nazi Punks, Fuck Off'/'Moral Majority' released. It was announced that Diana, Princess of Wales was up the duff and would be having her sprog the following summer. Prince William would be born in June 1982. What was intended as a 'tune-up; bout for WBC heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes almost became an upset when unheralded challenger Renaldo Snipes nearly knocked out Holmes in the seventh round in their fight at Pittsburgh. Holmes eventually stopped Snipes in the eleventh round.
Royal British Legion Festival Of Remembrance broadcast. Troilus & Cressida broadcast in BBC2's The BBC Television Shakespeare. Haircut One Hundred appeared on Radio 1's In Concert strand.
The first episode of Ticket To Ride broadcast. The first UK TV showing of The Tempter on BBC2. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark's Architecture & Morality released.
Alan Plater's Man Made The Slave broadcast in the British Social History strand. Film 81 reviewed An American Werewolf In London. The Race To Ruin broadcast in BBC2's Horizon strand. The Stranglers' La Folie released.
Let Them Know We're Here broadcast in BBC2's Arena strand.
The first episode of Love Story: Wilfred & Eileen broadcast. Villagers broadcast on BBC2. New Order's Movement released.
Behind The Scenes With John Wells broadcast. Rocky Circus broadcast in BBC2's Forty Minutes strand. STS-2, the second Space Shuttle mission conducted by NASA, finally launched, crewed by Joe Engle and Dick Truly. The Church of England General Synod voted to admit women to holy orders. William Holden, the American film actor died, aged sixty three, apparently after drinking heavily, tripping on a throw rug and striking his head on the edge of a nightstand. An Appreciation Of David Bowie broadcast on Radio 1's Paul Gambaccini Show.
The first episode of the Secret Army spin-off, Kessler broadcast. Autumn Sunshine broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Does Television Tell The Truth? broadcast in the Newsweek strand. David Bowie's 'Wild Is The Wind'/'Golden Years', Anti-Nowhere League's 'Streets Of London'/'So What?', Japan's Tin Drum, The Damned's Friday The Thirteenth EP ('Disco Man', 'Limit Club'/'Billy Bad Breaks', 'Citadel'), Showaddywaddy's 'Footsteps'/'Tribute', Vic Blackwell & The Liverpool Fans' 'Liverpool Bill'/'March Of The Champions' and The Teardrop Explodes' 'Colours Fly Away'/'Windows Shopping For A New Crown Of Thorns' released. The Queen opened the final phase of the Telford Shopping Centre, nearly a decade after development began.
Mel Smith appeared on Swap Shop to explain why Not The Nine O'Clock News was 'unsuitable for people of a nervous disposition. And hedgehogs.' William Humble's Rules Of Justice broadcast. A Matter Of Life & Death shown in BBC2's Midnight Movie strand. The Reverend Robert Bradford MP for South Belfast, was assassinated by the IRA. Donovan appeared in Radio 1's In Concert.
Angola: Signals Of Distress broadcast. The first UK TV showing of Hedda on BBC2.
Production of the Vauxhall Astra commenced at the Ellesmere Port plant. The first UK TV showing of So Goes My Love in BBC2's Star Movie strand.
The first UK broadcast of The Drak Pack. No Visible Scar broadcast in the Play For Today strand. Snooker player Steve Davis was a guest on Russell Harty - an almost definitive example of the bland leading the bland. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were profield in Arena: A Pretty British Affair. In a meeting of the National Security Council at the White House, President Reagan made the decision to support the Contras, the force that was fighting the leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua and protect the scummish right-wing government of El Salvador against rebels. The occultation of the star Sigma Sagittarii by the planet Venus permitted astronomers to gather information about the second planet's atmosphere. The last occultation by Venus of a star had been in 1959.
After a horribly underwhelming qualifying competition England beat Hungary one-nil at Wembley to qualify for next summer's World Cup finals in Spain. The only goal was scored by Paul Mariner who, just about, managed to avoid tripping over his own feet when putting the ball in the net. It was the first time England had qualified for a World Cup finals tournament since 1970. Aston Villa's Tony Morley made his international debut. Pulp's debut John Peel Show session ('Turkey Mambo Manor', 'Refuse To Be Blind', 'Wishful Thinking', 'Please Don't Worry') broadcast.
Rick Wakeman At Hammersmith Odeon broadcast. An Appreciation Of Eric Burdon & The Animals broadcast on Radio1's Paul Gambaccini Show. It's Immaterial were in session on The John Peel Show. In Durban, African National Congress member and lawyer Griffiths Mxenge was assassinated by four agents of The Vlakplaas, a sick, thuggishly racist paramilitary unit of the South African Police, directed by Colonel Eugene de Kock and Commander Dirk Coetzee. Mxenge, who was repeatedly stabbed and beaten by four men, was the first of many ANC activists who were killed by the unit during the last decade of apartheid. Donald Fagen's 'IGY'/'Walk Between Raindrops' released.
Tommy Steele - A Handful Of Songs broadcast. Japan and Twentieth Century Coyote (Rik Mayall and Ade Edmundson) appeared on BBC2's Oxford Road Show. The Clash's 'This Is Radio Clash'/'Radio Dub' and The Beat's 'Hit It'/'Which Side of The Bed ...?' released. Reigning champion Anatoly Karpov retained his world chess champion title when challenger Viktor Korchnoi conceded the eighteenth game of the series. Milos Forman's Ragtimepremiered.
Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester United three-one and Wolverhampton Wanderers won three-nil at Birmingham City on Match Of The Day. Malcolm Williamson's Mass Of Christ The King broadcast on BBC2. Shakin Stevens was Andy Peebles guest on Radio 1's My Top Twelve.
Genesis Fights Back broadcast. The Englishwoman & The Horse: A Kind Of Love Story broadcast on BBC2.
The first UK TV showing of Monte Walsh. Mommie Dearest and Shogun were reviewed on Film 81. The first episode of Cliff! broadcast on BBC2. Britain was swept over one hundred tornadoes during the space of five hours. Normally, the UK has no more than thirty tornadoes in an entire year. The twisters formed at random along a cold front sweeping from Anglesey to East Anglia, the largest recorded tornado outbreak in European history. In one of the earliest controversies that would be cited in the 1986 Iran-Contra scandal, President Reagan signed the top-secret NSDD-17, a National Security Directive, authorising the CIA to support Contra rebels in Nicaragua and allotting almost twenty million dollars of funding.
Iris In The Traffic, Ruby In The Rain broadcast in the Play For Today strand. The first episode of BBC2's A Question Of Equality broadcast.

The first episode of BBC2's The Flying Boats broadcast. A report into the Brixton Riots pointed the finger of blame squarely at the social and economic problems which had been plaguing many inner-city areas. A group of mercenary soldiers, led by Mad Mike Hoare, arrived at the airport in Mahé with plans to overthrow the government of The Seychelles. Posing as players of a visiting rugby club, most of the forty five mercenaries had passed through customs, when an inspector discovered that one of them had brought in a prohibited fruit, prompting a search of the other bags. When an assault rifle was discovered, the visitors grabbed their weapons and took control of the terminal, then escaped the country by hijacking an Air India Flight to South Africa, where they were arrested, then released the following day. Madness's 'It Must Be Love'/'Shadow On The House' released.
Altered Images appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Shirley Williams won the Crosby by-election for the SDP, overturning a Conservative majority of nearly twenty thousand votes. Frank Perry's Mommie Dearest - starring Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid and Mara Hobel - premiered.
Ned Kelly shown in The Late Film strand. The Grudge Fight broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Soft Cell's Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, The Human League's 'Don't You Want Me'/'Seconds', The Rolling Stones' 'Waiting On A Friend'/'Little T&A' and Associates' 'White Car In Germany'/'The Associate' released.
Mister Electric 'the magician who beat the Energy Crisis' appeared on The Paul Daniels Magic Show. True To Nature broadcast on BBC2. Randy Crawford appeared on Radio 1's My Top Twelve.
The Devil's Gateway broadcast in the Everyman strand. The first UK TV showing of Out Of Season on BBC2. Natalie Wood, the American film actress, drowned in the ocean near California's Santa Catalina Island after apparently slipping from the motor yacht on which she was dining with her husband, Robert Wagner and the co-star of her current movie, Brainstorm, Christopher Walken.
Bill Forsyth's adaptation of Andrina broadcast. Stephane Grappelli Plays Rhythm On Two broadcast. ABBA's The Visitor released. Danse Society were in session on The John Peel Show.
A translation of Vaclav Havel's Protest broadcast in the Play For Today strand. England's cricket team, with Keith Fletcher as Mike Brearley's replacement as captain, lost the first of a six test series against India in Bombay by one hundred and thirty eight runs.
Ipswich Town came from behind twice to defeat Bradford City after extra time in the League Cup Third Round replay.
Kid Jensen presented Top Of The Pops with appearances from Bad Manners, Soft Cell, Duran Duran, Fun Boy Three, Godley & Creme, The Human League and Julio Iglesias. TV21 featured on The Old Grey Whistle Test. An Appreciation Of The Temptations broadcast in Radio 1's Paul Gambaccini Show.
Sean Connery and Peter Falk were on BBC2's International Pro-Celebrity Golf. Virginia Fly Is Drowning broadcast in the Playhouse strand. Mark Rydell's On Golden Pond and Warren Beatty's Reds premiered. Elvis Costello & The Attractions' 'Sweet Dreams'/'Psycho', ABBA's 'One Of Us'/'Should I Laugh Or Cry?' Hawkwind's Sonic Asssasins EP ('Over The Top', 'Mangu-Angels Of Life'/'Free Fall', 'Death Trap') and Theatre Of Hate's 'Do You Believe In The Westworld?'/'Propaganda' released.
Ken Dodd appeared on Parkinson. Hammer's Captain Clegg shown under its American title, Night Creatures, in BBC2's Midnight Movie strand. Stewart Copeland appeared on Radio 1's My Top Twelve.
What's Wrong With Nuclear Bombs? broadcast. The first UK TV showing of The Heartbreak Kid on BBC2. Interviewed by satellite in Tripoli by the ABC News programme This Week With David Brinkley, Libya's President Muammar Gaddafi denied a US State Department report that he had sent a 'hit squad' to assassinate President Reagan. One or two people even believed him.
The Society Of West End Theatre Awards broadcast. The Sinatras' were in session on The John Peel Show ('Finding Your Own Level', 'That Shape', 'You Make Me Feel Like I'm Wearing New Clothes All The Time', 'The Chameleon Complex').
The first episode of Codename Icarus broadcast. Jim Allen's A United Kingdom broacast in the Play For Today strand. A Tall Story - How Salman Rushdie Pickled All Of India broadcast in BBC2's Arena strand. Severe snow storms hit the UK as temperatures plummeted to the lowest of any December since 1874 and the heaviest snow falls since 1878. The snow storms continued until 27 December. Arthur Scargill became leader of the National Union of Mineworkers.
Sports Review Of 1981 broadcast. Ian Botham, not unexpectedly, won the Sports Personality of The Year award. Edwin Lutyens Master Architect broadcast on BBC2. Michael Heseltine announced a ninety five million knicker aid package for Britain's inner cities.
Eric Sykes: One Of The Great Troupers broadcast on BBC2. The Birthday Party were in session on The John Peel Show ('Big Jesus Trash Can', 'She's Hit', 'Bully Bones', 'Six Inch Gold Blade').

The first UK broadcast of Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara War. Findings On A Late Afternoon broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. A train crash in Seer Green near Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire killed four people and seriously injured five others. The crash was caused by a combination of the severe blizzards and human error. A tragically out-of-shape Muhammad Ali participated in his last professional boxing bout and lost in a unanimous decision to Trevor Berbick, in Nassau. Altered Images' 'I Could Be Happy'/'Insects', Falco's 'Der Kommissar'/'Helden Von Heute', Clint Eastwood & General Saint's 'Talk About Run'/'Healing In The Balmyard', The Sinatras' 'Seeing Comes Before Words'/'That Shape' and Adam & The Ants' 'Ant Rap'/'Friends' released. Herbert Ross's Pennies From Heaven premiered.
New York City Ballet's A Midsummer Night's Dream broadcast on BBC2. The first case of AIDS in the UK was diagnosed. Joan Armatrading was featured on Radio 1's My Top Twelve.
Belief In Britain and the first episode of Women In The Eighties broadcast. A Midsummer Night's Dream broadcast in BBC2's The BBC Television Shakespeare strand. Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland, to prevent the dismantling of the Communist system by Solidarność. Clube de Regatas do Flamengo won the Intercontinental Cup with a three-nil win over Liverpool in Tokyo. Defunkt's 'The Razor's Edge'/'Strangling Me With Your Love (Re-Visited)' released. Temperatures fell to minus 25.2C at Shawbury in Shropshire. This was the lowest recorded temperature in the UK since February 1895. This record would be broken just twenty eight days later.
The Great Art Dictator and The Various Ends Of Mrs F's Friends broadcast on BBC2. Fourteen years after its capture from Syria in the Six-Day War, the Golan Heights was annexed to Israel by a vote of the Knesset. The second India/England test at Bangalore was drawn.
PQ Seventeen broadcast in the Play For Today strand. Brixton To Barbados broadcast in BBC2's Arena strand. Swansea City went to the top of the First Division after beating Aston Villa two-one. Argentina's Chief of Naval Operations, Juan Jose Lombardo, was asked by country's ruling junta leader, Leopoldo Galtieri, to draw up plans to invade the Falkland Islands. Lombardo's proposal was completed in five days. Michelle Suzanne Dockery born in London.
The first episode of Present Laughter broadcast. The Chinese Acrobatic Theatre broadcast on BBC2. Killing Joke were in session on The John Peel Show ('The Hum', 'The Empire Song', 'We Have Joy', 'Chop Chop'). The Football Association banned Chelsea supporters from visiting away grounds for the remainder of the season in response to an incident by travelling fans at Derby County.
Burnin' Red Ivanhoe and Nils Lofgren appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Brigadier General James Dozier, one of the highest ranking US Army officers stationed in Italy was kidnapped from his apartment in Verona by the terrorist group the Red Brigades. Four men posing as plumbers, led by Antonio Savasta, took Dozier hostage and held him for ransom in an apartment in Padua. A special Italian counter-terrorist team rescued Dozier in January 1982. The Teardrop Explodes' Wilder released.
The first UK TV showing of Arabella. Country Dancing broadcast in BBC2's Playhouse strand. Sydney Pollack's Absence Of Malice premiered. Misty In Roots' 'Atomic Energy'/'Set Me Free' and Cook The Books' 'Piggie In The Middle Eight'/'Gone To Black' released.
The first UK TV showing of Warlodrs Of Atlantis. The Bee Gees appeared on Parkinson. An opinion poll showed That Awful Thatcher Woman was now the most unpopular British prime minister since records began and that the SDP-Liberal Alliance was said to have the support of up to fifty per cent of the electorate. But, that didn't last very long. In the Penlee lifeboat disaster, sixteen people died in the worst British sea accident since 1946. Adam Ant featured on Radio 1's My Top Twelve whilst Kool & The Gang appeared on In Concert.
Robert Of Canterbury broadcast. The first UK TV showing of Nic Roag The Man Who Fell To Earth on BBC2. At a cabinet meeting convened by Prime Minister Menahem Begin, Israel's Defence Minister Ariel Sharon first presented the contingency plan for an invasion of Lebanon to drive out the Palestine Liberation Organisation. Many of the ministers were shocked and no vote was taken at that time on whether to approve the plan. The operation was given the go-ahead the following year.
The final episode of Blake's 7 broadcast. Everybody died. Painting By Numbers broadcast in BBC2's Horizon strand. TV Twenty One were in session on The John Peel Show.
Sean Connery Profile broadcast. The Factory broadcast on the Play For Today strand. The first episode of BBC2's The King's Army broadcast. The Teadrop Explodes were in session on The John Peel Show ('Soft Enough for You', 'Sex', 'The Challenger'). Meanwhile, in Liverpool, the band were in the middle of a residency at Club Zoo and were, ahem, having a moment. Did we make it? Goodnight! Neri Parenti's Fracchia La Belva Umana - starring Paolo Villaggio, Lino Banfi and Anna Mazzamauro - premiered.
The first UK TV showing The Savage Bees. John Peel's annual Festive Fifty began. In Nicaragua, soldiers of the Sandinista regime massacred seventy five miners who had been demanding back wages.
The first episode of The Kenny Everett Television Show broadcast. The Old Grey Whistle Test presented Toyah in concert at The Rainbow Theatre (simultcast on BBC2 and Radio 1). George Miller's Mad Max 2 - starring Mel Gibson - premiered in Australia. An Appreciation Of The Beatles broadcast on Radio 1's Paul Gambaccini Show.
The first UK TV showings of Loophole and, on BBC2, The War Between Men & Women. AC/DC appeared on Radio 1's The Friday Rock Show. JB Priestley's When We Are Married broadcast on Radio 4. Rolf's Christmas Walkabout broadcast on Radio 2.
The Curious Cat broadcast. The first UK TV showing of Gone With The Wind. Many Moons broadcast on BBC2. Lenny Hnery appeared on Radio 1's My Top Twelve. When Is A Door Not A Door? broadcast on Radio 4. Ther Kernny Erverertt Slurr [sic] broadcast on Radio 2.
Round Robin With Bernard Cribbins broadcast. The Silent World Of Marcel Marceau broadcast on BBC2. The Virgin broadcast on Radio 1. Australia's Dennis Lillee tied and then broke the record that had been set by Lance Gibbs for most test wickets, getting his three hundred and tenth wicket. In the second test against the West Indies, Lillee set the new record bowling Larry Gomes. Lillee finished his career in 1984 with three hundred and fifty five test wickets, a mark surpassed by Ian Botham in 1986. The first episode of The Goodies on LWT, Snow White 2 broadcast.

The first UK TV showings of The Slipper & The Rose and Battle Of Midway. Doctor Who spin-off K9 & Company broadcast. It was crap. The first episode of From Magna Carta To Microchips broadcast on BBC2. Ry N Simon broadcast on Radio 1. The third India/England test at Delhi was drawn.
John Diamond and David Rudkin's Artemis 81 broadcast. The latter featured three hours of Sting. Enough said. The Best Of Dean Martin broadcast on BBC2. Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu ordered demolition to begin in Bucharest in order to make way for construction of the massive Boulevard of the Victory of Socialism Complex. Doctor Julio Iglesias Pugo, father of singer Julio Iglesias, was kidnapped from his home in Madrid. The senior Iglesias was released after twenty days.
The first UK broadcast of An American Adventure. Skydancer broadcast on BBC2.
The first UK TV showing of Elvis - The Movie. Pick Of 81 and 81 Take Two broadcast. The Old Grey Whistle Test's Pick Of The Year broadcast. The year drew to a close with Manchester City top of the First Division. However, just two points separated the top five places, with Southampton, Swansea City, Manchester United and Ipswich Town in close pursuit. Luton Town remained the runaway leaders of the Second Division, with Oldham Athletic second and Watford third. This was the final day on air for the ITV regional stations ATV, Southern and Westward, soon to be replaced by Central, Television South and Television South West. Adrian Juste's Disco Show broadcast on Radio 1.