Radio and Television
*** 3C ..... the FIRST 24 hour country music station in the history of British terrestrial radio to feature " Country music like you've never heard it before". Can be found on 87.7 FM
*** B
Barenboim - Daniel ..... FIRST conductor ever to be chosen to give The Reith Lectures on BBC radio and for the FIRST time also the talks are going out in the morning and will be available as podcasts
Baritz - Moses .. Britain's FIRST disc jockey who presented a series of programmes on local BBC radio station 2ZY in Manchester in 1917
Beaton - Norman ..... born 31st October 1934 ..... one of the FIRST black actors to achieve success in British television comedy. In 1978 he became the FIRST black actor to win the Variety Club Best Film Actor Award
Bennett Derek ..... directed the FIRST episodes of Coronation Street and Upstairs, Downstairs (from Sunil Hiranandani)
Bentine - Michael ..... born 26th January 1922 ..... who could lay claim to be the FIRST Goon, since Picture Post published a feature on him in 1948, when he was appearing at the Hippodrome under the heading What Is A Goon. The Goon Show was first broadcast in 1951
Blackburn - Tony .. played the FIRST record on Radio One - Flowers in the Rain by The Move
Bookbinder - Alan ..... BBC’s FIRST non-religious head of religion when appointed in 2001
Brinkley - J.R - Dr ..... banned from advertising his dodgy gonad implants on radio in Arkansas he built the world's most powerful radio station in Mexico and therefore became the FIRST pirate broadcaster. He was the most influential quack of the 1930s
Bronowski - Dr Jacob ..... television's FIRST popular science guru when his pioneering 13-part series, The Ascent of Man, began
Brookside ..... Channel 4 soap opera which screened the FIRST soap rape in 1986. In 1995 the show broke new ground when it showed the FIRST lesbian kiss
Burrows - Arthur ..... FIRST BBC newsreader when he gave his bulletins on the Marconi Company’s London Wireless Telephony Station in Spring 1922. He also read the FIRST children’s story on air –Teddy Tail of the Daily Mail
*** C
Carrington - Winston ..... played the FIRST black Anglican vicar in a television production
Cashman - Michael ..... the FIRST major gay actor in a British soap when he appeared in Eastenders and his character was the FIRST male to kiss another man in a UK soap opera
Ceefax .. the world's FIRST Teletext system which went live on television screens in September 1974 with just thirty pages. In 2004 there were 3,000 pages and it is used by 20 million people who look at news, weather, travel and lottery details every week
Cole - Nat 'King' ..... FIRST African-American to have his own television show
Coleman - Jack ..... played the part of Stephen Carrington in the hit soap Dynasty, the FIRST gay character to be written into a primetime television series in America
Coronation Street ..... Chinas FIRST soap opera. Its name was changed to Joy Luck Street. In 1998 the soap introduced the FIRST transsexual character when Hayley Patterson, played by Julie Hesmondhalgh, joined the cast. In December 2004 it made television history when it became the FIRST soap to be nominated for a South Bank show award when nominated in the TV Drama Category
Crouches - The ..... BBC1's FIRST black family sitcom
*** D
Dallas ..... when the story line of 'Who shot JR' ran, for the FIRST time money was placed on bets at a bookmakers
Dolan - A ..... Irish/American comedian who was the FIRST professional entertainer to appear on television when he was paid by AT & T to appear in an experimental transmission in April 1927 - the FIRST public demonstration of television in the U.S.A
Dougall - Robert ..... died 1999 ..... BBC newsreader and the FIRST president of the Association of Retired Persons Over 50
*** E
Eastenders ..... BBC1 soap opera which featured the FIRST gay character in 1987
*** F
Fairman - Austin ….. born November 15th 1924 ….. known as 'Mike Raven' in his work as a disc jockey. He was one of the FIRST broadcasters of Britain's pirate radio boom in the 1960s - Radio Caroline - the FIRST off-shore pirate radio station
Fessenden - Reginald Aubrey ..... born 1866 died 1932 ..... Canadian physicist who worked in America, first for Thomas Edison and then for Westinghouse. In 1900 he FIRST broadcast voice by radio when he devised a method of making audio-frequency speech ( or music) signals modulate the amplitude if a transmitted radio-frequency carrier wave - the basis of AM radio broadcasting
*** G
Gander - Leonard Marsland ….. the world's FIRST newspaper television correspondent in 1935
Gardener's Question Time ..... which began on April 9th 1947 by the BBC, became the FIRST radio show to be honoured with a 'blue' plaque in June 2000. The plaque was unveiled by Stefan Buczacki, who chaired the panel for 12 years
Gardner - Andrew ..... born 25th September 1932 died 1999 ….. broadcaster who,with Alastair Burnett , presented the FIRST News At Ten bulletin in 1967. He was also on the broadcast of the FIRST transatlantic satellite transmission and in 1986 co-hosted the FIRST television charity 'telethon'
Gough - Darren ..... England fast bowler who became the FIRST male winner of BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing in December 2005
*** H
Hall - Henry .. as Director of the BBC Dance Orchestra in 1932 he made the FIRST transmission from the new HQ - Broadcasting House in Portland Square
Hartnell - William ….. FIRST Dr Who
Harris - George .. in 1981 he played Britain's FIRST black television detective when he starred in the ITV mini-series Wolcott
Hay - Will ….. FIRST star comedian on the air
Hobley - MacDonald ….. BBC television's FIRST male announcer
Hollingdale Paul ..... FIRST presenter on Radio 2 ( from Sunil Hiranandani)
Hylton - Jack ..... born 1892 died 29th January 1965 ..... in 1931his band was the FIRST British dance band to broadcast to America
*** J
Jackson - Michael ..... the FIRST black person to appear on MTV in America
Jessel - David ..... FIRST newsreader on commercial radio in Britain ( from Sunil Hiranandani)
Johnston - Brian ..... died 5th January 1994 ..... in 1963 he became the BBC's FIRST cricket correspondent
*** K
King - Nick ..... man who devised the famous doors in the ever popular television show Stars In Their Eyes, he became the FIRST designer to win three Royal Television Society awards. His first was for How To Be Cool, second for Stars In Their Eyes and third was for an ITV children's show Jungle Run
*** L
Leicester University ..... FIRST team to win University Challenge on television in 1962 when they played against Somerville College, Oxford. The team retained the title in 1963
Lewis - Cecil .. produced and compered the FIRST children's programmes on the radio. He was also the FIRST-ever "Uncle" - Uncle Caractacus
Life Begins At Sixty .. the FIRST show for OAPs was scripted by and starred C Denier Warren, Graham Payn, Bobbie Comber, Wynne Ajello and other residents of 60 Acacia Drive
Love Thy Neighbour ..... FIRST British television show to feature a major black character. Rudolph Walker took the part
*** M
Macintosh - Alec ….. provided the "voice-over" for the FIRST television advertisement to be seen on British screens when on September 22nd 1955 ITV transmitted its FIRST commercial, which was for Gibbs SR toothpaste
Madden - Cecil ..... the world's FIRST television producer
Manchester United ..... 2005 - launched the FIRST satellite television advert for football hospitality in England in a bid to woo fans to the larger Old Trafford stadium which can now hold 76,000
Maxwell - Charles ….. born 1st September 1910 died 1998 ….. producer of Take It From Here, one of the most popular radio shows of all time. He was one of the FIRST radio disc jockey's at Radio Luxembourg. In 1939 he joined Radio Normandy, a company broadcasting to British troops in Normandy
McDonald - Trevor - Sir ..... ITN's FIRST black journalist when he joined them as a reporter from the BBC World Service in 1973
Meyers - Elman B - Dr .. U.S.A ..... in 1911 he was the FIRST true disc jockey when he began broadcasting a regular eighteen hour programme from New York
Miles - Michael ….. British television's FIRST quiz-show host
Mills - Bertram ….. born 11th August 1873 ….. British circus proprietor whose shows were the FIRST to be televised - 1938
Monkhouse Bob ..... FIRST presenter of the television show Celebrity Squares
Murrow - Egbert Roscoe ..... born 1908 ..... CBS broadcaster who gave the FIRST live war broadcast on March 13th 1938, when he delivered a vivid radio report describing the arrival of young Nazi storm-troopers on the streets of Vienna. In 1944 he changed his name legally to Edward
*** N
News Map ..... broadcast in 1938 by the BBC as televisions' FIRST current affairs programme
Newton - Andrew ..... the FIRST comedy hypnotist to appear on British television
*** O
Office - The ..... in January 2004 it became the FIRST British comedy series to win a Golden Globe Award and creator Ricky Gervais took the best actor award
Old Man Of Hoy - The ..... when Chris Bonnington and his team climbed to the top in 1967 it was the BBC's FIRST live programme of its time
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Peyton Place ..... in 1964 it was the FIRST primetime U.S soap and was set in small town America in the 1940s
Piccadilly Radio ….. the North of England's very FIRST commercial station - Manchester, - 1974
Potter - Dennis ….. born 17th May 1935 ….. Britain's most innovative television scriptwriter and the FIRST to be honoured with a retrospective at the National Film Theatre
*** Q
Quatermass Experiment - The ..... the BBC's FIRST sci-fi series - 1953
Quizzes .. the FIRST wireless quiz was in 1926 - The Query Programme. The FIRST regular series was Puzzle Corner in 1937. The FIRST spelling Bee Series was in 1938 with Freddie Grisewood as spelling master and the FIRST money prizes were on The Double or Quits Cash Show. Quiz Team was the FIRST of a new post-war quiz series which began on December 14th 1945
*** R
Radio Normandie .. one of Europe's FIRST independent stations. It was broadcast from northern France and was also the FIRST commercial radio station to transmit to England during the 1930s
Ray - Robin .. born 1935 died 1998 .. FIRST chairman of Call My Bluff in 1965
Reith - John Charles Walsham, 1st Baron Reith of Stonehaven .. born 20th July 1889 died 1971 .. Scottish engineer and pioneer of broadcasting, born in Stonehaven who became the FIRST general manager of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1922 and was its FIRST director-general from 1927 to 1938. The BBC Reith Lectures on radio were instituted in 1948 in honour of his influence on broadcasting
*** S
Saxon Eric ..... from Levenshulme, Manchester, England, he became the FIRST ordained religious broadcaster for BBC North. For 31 years he was rector of St Ann's and was chaplain to 13 Lord Mayors, the St John's Ambulance Brigade for 45 years and for 17 years to Queen Elizabeth 11
Schofield - Philip .. FIRST ventriloquist to broadcast in the northern Childrens Hour from Manchester and the FIRST ventriloquist to televise from the Lime Grove Studios when they were opened
Sixpenny Corner ..... the FIRST soap opera on commercial television and was broadcast daily in 1955. One of its stars was Olive Milbourne
Soft Lights and Sweet Music .. made radio history when it became the FIRST programme to switch from the BBC to Luxembourg where it was presented by Pepsodent Toothpaste in 1937
*** T
Talbot - Godfrey Walker .. born 8th October 1908 died 2000 .. the BBCs FIRST court correspondent. In his 21 years in the post he travelled more than a Όmillion miles on royal tours and state visits
Television Station .. the FIRST high-definition television station in the world was at Lille in France and opened in 1950 with 819 lines
The Avengers .. the FIRST ever British television programme to be sold to the United States
The Fosters ..... Britain's FIRST black situation comedy when shown on ITV
Third Division .. FIRST and virtually only comedy series ever mounted on the Third Programme began in January 1949
Thomas - Terry .. born 14th July 1911 died 8th January 1990 .. born Thomas Terry Hoar-Stevens, he was the FIRST comedian to star in his own regular television series To Town With Terry 1949 BBC
Top Twenty .. Britain's FIRST radio chart show
Tusa - John .. Newsnight's FIRST presenter - 1979. Born In Czechoslovakia he moved to England in 1939, fleeing from the Nazis.
Tynan - Kenneth .. born 1927 died 1980 ..... English theatre critic and the FIRST man to utter a four letter swear word on television with his revue of Oh, Calcutta in 1969.
*** W
Williams - John Grenfell ..... South African lawyer who was the FIRST head of the BBC's service for Africa
Wilson - Flip .. FIRST black host of an American variety television show
*** Z
Z Cars .. British televisions FIRST police procedural show was on BBC1 and ran from 1962 to 1978