Radio Times Archives: Great moments in broadcast history

The BBC has scanned and digitised over 4,400 copies of the Radio Times and put the listings from these magazines online for all. It is a rich treasure trove of memories, moments in history and the truly forgettable.

The first thing I looked at was what was on BBC One the day I was born. Sadly the only remarkable thing was Alan Bennett reading The Pooh Story Book on Jackanory.

It’s fascinating to see how the Radio Times listed some of the greatest moments in broadcasting history. Sometimes it’s a bit underwhelming.

The most watched TV event in Britain is the 1966 World Cup Final which England won. Magazine deadlines no doubt led to this sparse description of World Cup Grandstand.

If you were alive in 1985 you’ll remember what you were doing when Bob Geldof and every major pop star of the day got together to raise cash for Africa. The BBC obviously weren’t expecting it to be that big. “Live Aid for Africa”, as it was called, was on BBC Two until 10pm when it moved to BBC One.

Here’s the listing for the programme that would show man stepping onto the moon for the first time. It was also the first time that the BBC had broadcast a programme overnight.

As the name suggests the Radio Times started off as a radio listings magazine. Here’s the rather understated listing for the first show on Radio One in 1967

Ah the latest 45s hot from the press (were 45s hot from the press at 7am on a Saturday morning?). By the time Chris Evans took over Radio One’s Breakfast Show the Radio Times had certainly got more descriptive about it.

Back to TV. Here’s the first episode of Doctor Who:

Eastenders launched in February 1985 with a cast of characters that are more recognisable to me today that the ones now.

And when BBC launched the first regular breakfast television programme in 1983 they included a full timetable for the show, just in case you missed Getting Britain Fit, Yours Stars or Breakfast Time Gossip.

Some of the most historic television programmes came up and surprised us. Can you guess what this turned out to be?

It was Princess Diana’s infamous interview with Martin Bashir.

Finally sometimes the archives show the programmes that weren’t broadcast. This is BBC One’s planned schedule for the 6th of September 1997, instead they showed the funeral of Princess Diana.

Find your own moments at the BBC Radio Times Listing Archive.