2000 in British television

List of years in British television       (table)
… 1990 .  1991 .  1992 .  1993  . 1994  . 1995  . 1996 … 1997 1998 1999 -2000- 2001 2002 2003 … 2004 .  2005 .  2006 .  2007  . 2008  . 2009  . 2010 …

This is a list of British television related events from 2000.

Events

• 1 January – 2000 Today, the marathon 28-hour live broadcast to celebrate the dawn of the new millennium ends at 13:30.
  • Launch of Castaway 2000 on BBC One, a reality television show billed as a bold experiment for the new millennium. Thirty-six men, women and children from the British public are placed on Taransay, a remote Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides for a year and must build a sustainable self-sufficient community. The programme ends on New Year's Day 2001.
• 3 January – The highest rated UK programme of the year is recorded, an episode of Coronation Street that gets 18.96 million. [1]
• 7 January – The long-running BBC children's programme Blue Peter reunites two former presenting teams to dig up the time capsules they buried for the year 2000 in 1971 and 1984.
• 1 February – Greg Dyke takes over as Director General of the BBC.
• 19 February – EastEnders celebrates its 15th anniversary on BBC One.
• 16 April – The shopping channel Ideal World is launched.
• 1 May – ITV's Day of Promise, a series of special programmes throughout the day hosted by Eammon Holmes, Carol Vorderman and Danielle Nicholls. The day is part of a 12-month campaign in which people around Britain are asked to make a simple pledge to do something positive for the first year of the new millennium. Among the programmes aired today are the first celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
• 1 May – Formal broadcasting of pay-per-view (PPV) service ONrequest begins.
• 4 June – 13-year-old Coronation Street character Sarah Platt gives birth to a baby daughter called Bethany.
• 8 June – After 11 years Home and Away is shown on ITV for the last time. It returns on Channel Five on 16 July 2001.
• 1 July – C-Day in the United Kingdom. From today, most commercial broadcasters begin broadcasting commercials, promotions, and idents in 16:9 widescreen ratio.
• 14 July – The television reality show Big Brother debuts in the UK.
• 1 August – Launch of the ITN News Channel.
• 14 August – The UK version of The Weakest Link begins on BBC Two.
• 17 August – Big Brother contestant Nick Bateman is evicted after attempting to influence voting on the reality show.
• 2 September = Sky One hosts a special weekend deicated to celebrating the 10th Anniversary of The Simpsons in the UK.
• 15 September – The first series of Big Brother is won by Craig Phillips. He announces that he will be giving his £70,000 prize fund to his friend Joanne Harris, who has Down's syndrome, to pay for her heart and lung transplant.
• 15 September-1 October – The 2000 Summer Olympics are held in Sydney, Australia.
• 18 September – Launch of The Community Channel, a free-to-air television channel wholly owned by Media Trust and supported by major broadcasters including the BBC.
• 2 October – Q TV a television music channel based on Q Magazine, is launched.
  • ITV soap Emmerdale begins airing five nights a week.
• 13 October – The flagship BBC One news programme the Nine O'Clock News ends after a run of 30 years after the BBC earlier announced that it was to move the bulletin to 10:00pm. The BBC News at Ten is launched on Monday 16 October. The change attracts criticism from both the National Consumer Council and the Culture Secretary Chris Smith. ITV later announces its intention to reinstate News at Ten from January 2001.
• 16 October – Oxfordshire, once part of the BBC's South East region, becomes part of South Today.
• 23 October – 15-year-old Sonia Jackson, a character in EastEnders, unexpectedly gives birth to a baby girl called Chloe.
• October – Launch of bid-up.tv, later bid.tv.
• 15 November – ITV broadcasts The Remorseful Day, the final episode of the Inspector Morse series.
• 20 November – Judith Keppel becomes the first contestant to win £1million on the UK version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. On the same evening the final episode of One Foot in the Grave is shown on BBC One in the same timeslot. It is later speculated that Keppel's win was fixed so that ITV would draw ratings away from BBC One. However, the ITC clears Celador and ITV of the allegations.
• 8 December – Coronation Street celebrates its fortieth year by broadcasting a live, hour-long, episode. The Prince of Wales makes a cameo in the episode, appearing in a pre-recorded segment as himself in an ITV News bulletin report, presented by Trevor McDonald.
• 18 December – The British Film Institute publishes its list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century. Compiled by a poll of industry professionals, Fawlty Towers tops the list, followed by Cathy Come Home and Doctor Who.

Debuts

BBC One

• 1 January – Castaway 2000 (2000–2001)
• 23 January – Clocking Off (2000–2003).
• 4 February – My Hero (2000–2006)
• 27 February – Monarch of the Glen (2000–2005)
• 26 March – Doctors (2000–present)
• 2 October – BBC Breakfast (2000–present)
• 16 October – BBC News at Ten (2000–present)

BBC Two

• 12 May – Coupling (2000–2004)
• 14 August – The Weakest Link (2000–2012)

BBC News 24

• Unknown – Click Online (2000–Present)

ITV

• 20 January – At Home with the Braithwaites (2000–2003)
• 15 August – The People Versus (2000–2002)

Channel 4

• 14 July – Big Brother (Channel 4 2000–2010, Channel 5 2011–present)

Channel 5

• 11 September – The Wright Stuff (2000–present)

BBC Choice

• 30 May – Liquid News (2000–2004)

Sky1

• 11 September – Time Gentlemen Please (2000–2002)

Television shows

Changes of network affiliation

Shows	Moved from	Moved to
Blockbusters	BBC Two	Sky1

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

• 30 October – Blockbusters debuts on Sky One (1983–93, 1994–95, 1997, 2000–01, 2012–present).

1950s

• Panorama (1953–present)
• What the Papers Say (1956–2008)
• Captain Pugwash (1957–1975, 1997–2002)
• The Sky at Night (1957–present)
• Blue Peter (1958–present)
• Grandstand (1958–2007)

1960s

• Coronation Street (1960–present).
• Songs of Praise (1961–present).
• Top of the Pops (1964–2006).
• Match of the Day (1964–present).
• Call My Bluff (1965–2005).
• The Money Programme (1966–present).

1970s

• Emmerdale (1972–present).
• Newsround (1972–present).
• Last of the Summer Wine (1973–2010).
• Wish You Were Here...? (1974–2003,2008).
• Arena (1975–present).
• Grange Hill (1978–2008).
• Blankety Blank (1979–1990, 1997–2002).
• Antiques Roadshow (1979–present).
• Question Time (1979–present)

1980s

• Timewatch (1982–present)
• Brookside (1982–2003)
• Right to Reply (1982–2001)
• James the Cat (1984–1992, 1998–2003)
• The Bill (1984–2010)
• EastEnders (1985–present).
• Comic Relief (1986–present).
• Casualty (1986–present).
• ChuckleVision (1987–present).
• London's Burning (1988–2002)
• On the Record (1988–2002)
• Fifteen to One (1988–2003)
• This Morning (1988–present).

1990s

• Stars in Their Eyes (1990–2006)
• Heartbeat (1992–2010)
• The Big Breakfast (1992–2002)
• Breakfast with Frost (1993–2005)
• Room 101 (1994–2007, 2012–present)
• Time Team (1994–present)
• Wipeout (1994–1997, 1998–2002)
• Ballykissangel (1996–2001)
• Hollyoaks (1995–present)
• Y Clwb Rygbi, Wales (1997–present)
• Dream Team (1997–2007)
• Family Affairs (1997–2005)
• 100% (1997–2001)
• Teletubbies (1997–2001, 2007–present)
• Robot Wars (1994, 1997–present)
• Midsomer Murders (1997–present)
• Don't Try This at Home (1998–2001
• Tweenies (1998–2003)
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (1998–present).
• Bob The Builder (1998–present).
• Holby City (1999–present)

Ending this year

• Nine O'Clock News (1970–2000)
• Inspector Morse (1987–2000)
• Breakfast News (1989–2000)
• One Foot in the Grave (1990–2000)
• Gladiators (1992–2000, 2008–2009)
• One Foot in the Past (1993–2000)
• Can't Cook, Won't Cook (1995–2000)
• TFI Friday (1996–2000)
• Dinnerladies (1998–2000)
• Heartburn Hotel (1998–2000)
• Sunburn (1999–2000)
• Hope and Glory (1999–2000)
• Queer as Folk (1999–2000)

Deaths

• 20 April – Bill Dean, 78, actor
• 6 August – Sir Robin Day, 74, Political broadcaster and commentator
• 6 September – Desmond Wilcox, 69, documentary maker and television producer
• 9 September – Bill Waddington, 84, music hall performer, comedian and actor
• 17 September – Paula Yates, 41, Television presenter and writer
• 9 November – Eric Morley, 82, Impresario and creator of the Miss World competition

References

Years in television: 2000
Template:TV countries/2000