2004 in British television

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This is a list of British television related events from 2004.

Events

• 3 January – The BBC cancels the appearance of Coca Cola sponsorship credits in the music charts in its BBC One Top of the Pops show, after criticism from politicians and health campaigners that it would be promoting junk food and unhealthy drink products to teenagers.
• 4 January – ITV introduces a sixth weekly episode of Emmerdale airing on Sunday evenings at 7:00 pm. The episode is dropped in 2008 to allow for one hour episodes on Tuesdays.
• 28 January – The Hutton Inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Dr. David Kelly is published. This is taken by most of the press to strongly condemn the BBC's handling of the David Kelly affair and to exonerate the government. The BBC's Director-General, Greg Dyke, chairman of the Board of Governors, Gavyn Davies, and the journalist at the centre of the controversy, Andrew Gilligan, resign. The UK media in general condemns the report as a whitewash.
• 29 January – Mark Byford becomes acting Director General of the BBC following Greg Dyke's resignation.
• 30 January – ITV's News at Ten ends for a second time, with its replacement, the News at 10:30, launching the following Monday.
• 2 February – ITV plc is formed from the merger of Carlton and Granada. The News at 10:30 also debuts, while the ITN News Channel is rebranded as the ITV News Channel.
• 9 February – Kerry McFadden wins the third series of ITV1's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. 14.99 million watch the final, the programme's highest rated episode to this day.
• 16 February – BBC Network news titles are relaunched in the style of BBC News 24, which introduced two months earlier.
• 27 February – Reports emerge of discussions between Channel 4 and Five aimed at a merger between the two channels.
• 8 March – All 'UK' prefix TV channels are rebranded to UKTV. For example UK Bright Ideas is rebranded UKTV Bright Ideas, and UK History becomes UKTV History.
• March – Launch of the Islam Channel.
• 1 April – BBC One airs Pat and Mo, an EastEnders spin-off episode featuring Pat Butcher and Mo Harris during the 1950s.
• 2 April– Christopher Eccleston is announced as the ninth actor to play The Doctor in Doctor Who. The series, which last aired in December 1989, will return in March next year.
• 10 May – ABC1, a channel from Disney, is launched in the UK.
• 17 May – Michael Grade is appointed as new BBC chairman.
• 21 May – Mark Thompson is appointed new Director General of the BBC.
• 4 June – Kitten Pinder is evicted from the Big Brother UK house, shouting against The Queen and the aristocracy on the way out.
• 14 June – Quiz TV launches in the UK, one of the country's first phone-in quiz channels. Many more launched over the next few years, though Quiz TV itself would close down in 2006.
• 17 June – The live feed of Big Brother is taken off air for a few hours as the housemates become aggressive and fight.
• 22 June – Mark Thompson takes over as Director General of the BBC.
• 24 June – The highest rated audience of the year is recorded in the UK as 20.66 million watch England's football match against Portugal in the quarter finals of Euro 2004. Viewing figures for any programme would not reach the 20 million mark again for another eight years, when England faced Italy at Euro 2012. [1]
• 5 July – 50th anniversary of television news broadcasts.
• 15 July – The BBC broadcasts a documentary on the British National Party in which undercover reporter Jason Gwynne infiltrated the BNP by posing as a football hooligan. The programme results in Mark Collett and Nick Griffin, the leader of the party, being charged for inciting racial hatred in April 2005, for comments made in the film.
• 27 July – Tiny Pop launched in the UK (2004–present)
• 13 – 29 August – The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens, Greece.
• 1 October – As part of its response to the Hutton Inquiry the BBC launches Newswatch, a programme providing a viewer and listener right-to-reply on BBC News's reporting and coverage of news events.
• 1 October – BBC Technology, incorporating the BBC's Broadcast Engineering division, is sold to Siemens AG Business Services for approximately £200m, and a £2bn, 10-year outsourcing contract.
• 30 October – The BBC receives "hundreds of complaints" after reporter Barbara Plett describes herself crying when a frail Yasser Arafat was evacuated to France for medical treatment. Ultimately these complaints are partially upheld by the BBC Governors' Programme Complaints Committee.
• 1 November – The digital television station ITV3 is launched at 9:00 pm, replacing Granada Plus.
• 5 November – Re-runs of The Simpsons debut on Channel 4, with episodes A Tale of Two Springfields and Treehouse of Horror XI.
• 17 November – It is reported that merger talks between Channel 4 and Five have been called off after complexities arose between the public broadcaster Channel 4 and its commercial counterpart.
• 18 November – The video for the new charity single Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid 20 airs simultaneously on all five main UK television networks, as well as over twenty satellite and cable stations. This unprecedented broadcast attracts over fourteen million viewers between 5:50 and 6 pm.
• 6 December – Joe Pasquale wins the fourth series of ITV1's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!

Debuts

BBC One

• 2 February – Sea of Souls (2004–2007)
• 24 February – Hustle (2004–2012)
• 15 May – Strictly Come Dancing sequels to take over from Come Dancing (2004–present)
• 6 September – Live At The Apollo (2004-present)
• 9 September – Should I Worry About...? (2004–2005)

BBC Two

• August – Match of the Day 2 (2004–present)
• 12 October – Who Do You Think You Are? (2004–present)

BBC Four

• 15 January – The Alan Clark Diaries (2004)

BBC News 24

• 1 October – NewsWatch (2004 – present)

ITV (Including ITV1, ITV2 and ITV3)

• 4 September – The X Factor (2004–present).

Channel 4

• 13 January – Shameless (2004–2013).
• 7 July – Supernanny (2004–2008, 2010–present).
• 3 September – Green Wing (2004–2007).

Five

• 31 May – Peppa Pig (2004–present)

Sky One

• 17 October – Hex (2004–2006).

Television shows

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

• Postman Pat (1981, 1991, 1994, 1996, 2004–present).
• Pingu (1986–1998, 2004–2006)

Changes of network affiliation

Show	Moved from	Moved to
What Not to Wear	BBC Two	BBC One
The Simpsons (UK Terrestrial Rights)		Channel 4
Tots TV	ITV	CBeebies

Channels

New channels

Date	Channel
8 March	UKTV Documentary
	UKTV Documentary +1
	UKTV People
	UKTV People +1
1 November	ITV3

Defunct channels

Main article: List of former TV channels in the United Kingdom § 2004

Date	Channel
8 March	UK Horizons
	UK Horizons +1

Rebranded channels

Date	Old Name	New Name
8 March	UK Bright Ideas	UKTV Bright Ideas
	UK Drama	UKTV Drama
	UK Food	UKTV Food
	UK Food +1	UKTV Food +1
	UK Gold	UKTV Gold
	UK Gold +1	UKTV Gold +1
	UKG2	UKTV G2
	UK History	UKTV History
	UK History +1	UKTV History +1
	UK Style	UKTV Style
	UK Style +1	UKTV Style +1
27 July	Pop Plus	Tiny Pop

Ongoing since past years or decades

1950s

• Andy Pandy (1950–1970, 2002–2005)
• Panorama (1953–present)
• What the Papers Say (1956–2008)
• 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).
• Superstars (1973–1985, 2003–2005)
• Last of the Summer Wine (1973–2010)
• Arena (1975–present).
• One Man and His Dog (1976–present).
• Top Gear (1977–2001, 2002–present).
• Grange Hill (1978–2008).
• Antiques Roadshow (1979–present).
• Question Time (1979–present)

1980s

• Children in Need (1980–present)
• Timewatch (1982–present)
• Countdown (1982–present)
• The Bill (1984–2010).
• Thomas & Friends (1984–present)
• EastEnders (1985–present).
• Comic Relief (1985–present).
• Casualty (1986–present).
• ChuckleVision (1987–2009).
• This Morning (1988–present).
• The Simpsons (1989–present)

1990s

• Stars in Their Eyes (1990–2006)
• Heartbeat (1992–2010)
• Breakfast with Frost (1993–2005)
• Room 101 (1994–2007, 2012–present)
• Time Team (1994–2013)
• Arthur (1996–present)
• Y Clwb Rygbi, Wales (1997–present)
• Dream Team (1997–2007)
• Family Affairs (1997–2005)
• Midsomer Murders (1997–present)
• South Park (1997–present)
• King of the Hill (1997–2010)
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (1998–2014)
• Bob the Builder (1998–present)
• The Powerpuff Girls (1998–2005)
• Holby City (1999–present)
• Ed, Edd n Eddy (1999–2009)
• Spongebob Squarepants (1999–present)

2000s

• Doctors (2000–present)
• Big Brother (2000–present)
• The Weakest Link (2000–2012)
• Popworld (2001–2007)
• Real Crime (2001–present)
• UK Top 40 (2002–2005)
• Dick and Dom in da Bungalow (2002–2006)
• Harry Hill's TV Burp (2002–2012)
• I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2002–present)
• Spooks (2002–2011)
• Angelina Ballerina (2002–2005)
• Daily Politics (2003–present)
• Peep Show (2003–2014)
• Politics Show (2003–2011)
• QI (2003–present)
• The Royal (2003–2011)
• All Grown Up! (2003–2008)
• This Week (2003–present)

Ending this year

• ITV News at Ten (1967–1999, 2001–2004, 2008–present)
• Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983–1986, 2002–2004)
• Rugrats (1991–2004)
• Animal Hospital (1994–2004)
• Changing Rooms (1996–2004)
• Hey Arnold! (1996–2004)
• Johnny Bravo (1997–2004)
• Liquid News (2000–2004)
• 2DTV (2001–2004)
• As If (2001–2004)
• The Premiership (2001–2004)
• 15 Storeys High (2002–2004)
• Bo' Selecta! (2002–2004)
• The Vault (2002–2004)
• Mr. Bean: the Animated Series (2002–2004)
• Born to Be Different (2003–2004, 2006–2007, 2009, 2011–2013)

Deaths

Date	Name	Age	Cinematic Credibility
27 January	Rikki Fulton	79	Scottish actor and comedian.
28 March	Sir Peter Ustinov	82	British actor.
30 March	Alistair Cooke	95	BBC broadcaster and transatlantic commentator.
30 March	Hubert Gregg	89	BBC broadcaster.
13 April	Caron Keating	41	television presenter
14 May	Shaun Sutton	85	writer, director, producer and longest-serving Head of Drama at BBC Television.
29 May	Jack Rosenthal	72	playwright
13 October	Ivor Wood	72	director (The Magic Roundabout, The Wombles, Paddington Bear and Postman Pat etc.)
6 November	Fred Dibnah	66	presenter and steeplejack