1984 in British radio

List of years in British radio (table)
… 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 …
In British television 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 In British music 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 In British film 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987
Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Philosophy Science +...

This is a list of events in British radio during 1984.

Events

• During the first half of 1984, the BBC conducts five trials of community stations in Greater Manchester. Each trial, which covers a specific area of Greater Manchester, lasts for a few weeks, broadcasts only on MW and operated for a few hours each day, opting out of BBC Radio Manchester.

January

• 8 January – Simon Bates begins his second stint as host of BBC Radio 1's Sunday teatime Top 40 programme.
• 20 January – BBC Radio 2 makes changes to its schedule and following the decision not to renew the contract of long standing presenter Ed Stewart, the year-long revival of Music While You Work ends with Gloria Hunniford takes over Ed's slot the following week. Steve Jones replaces Hunniford on the lunchtime show. Other changes see a new overnight programme, Nightride, replacing You and the Night and the Music. Pete Murray leaves and is replaced on his Saturday late show by Ken Bruce, who joins the station and gains his first regular slot, and Sounds of Jazz moves to BBC Radio 2 from BBC Radio 1.
• 21 January As part of the schedule changes, nighttime programming is revamped with https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio2/1984-01-20

February

• No events.

March

• No events.

April

• 5 April – BBC Radio 4 begins what is described in the Radio Times as "a new three-hour sequence – a six-month broadcast experiment in which you are invited to participate." The programme is called Rollercoaster and is presented by Richard Baker. The "Grand Finale of Radio 4's rollicking rolling experiment" takes place on 27 September and was not repeated.

May

• No events.

June

• 22 June – Princess Margaret makes a guest appearance as herself in an episode of BBC Radio 4's The Archers, becoming the first member of the Royal Family to do so. The storyline involves her making a surprise guest appearance at a charity fashion show.

July

• 27 July – David Jacobs chairs Any Questions? for the final time.
• 29 July-11 August – BBC Radio 2 provides full coverage of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. In addition to hourly sports desks, each night the station broadcasts The Terry Wogan Olympics Show. The programme begins at 11pm and runs into the early hours.

August

• August – Radio Forth becomes the first Independent Local Radio station to broadcast a part-time split service. It is Festival City Radio, which provides coverage of the 1984 Edinburgh Festival.

September

• 7 September – Commercial radio returns to Leicester, eleven months after Centre Radio went off air. The new service is provided by Leicester Sound.
• 14 September – John Timpson chairs Any Questions? for the first time.
• 23 September – Tony Blackburn – the first voice heard on Radio 1 – presents his final show for the station.
• 29 September –
  • The Radio 4 UK branding is dropped and the station is now officially simply known as Radio 4 and the station starts broadcasting 30 minutes earlier at the weekend when it launches a 20-minute Prelude, described as “musical start to your weekend listening”. Consequently, the station is now on air every day from just before 6 am until 12:30 am.
  • Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show is revamped and the children's requests element of the show is dropped.
• 30 September – The first edition of The Network Chart Show is broadcast. Aired on almost all of the UK's Independent Local Radio network, the programme is presented from the studios of Capital Radio by David Jensen. On the same day, Richard Skinner takes over from Simon Bates as host of BBC Radio 1's chart show.

October

• 13 October – BBC Radio 3’s broadcast hours are extended. The station closes 40 minutes later – at midnight instead of 11:20 pm, and weekend broadcasts begin an hour earlier, at 6:55 am rather than 7:55 am. Consequently, the station is now on air from 6:55 am until midnight seven days a week.

November

• No events.

December

• 4 December – Pennine Radio's broadcast area is expanded when the Bradford-based station starts broadcasting to Huddersfield and Halifax.
• 28 December – Terry Wogan ends his first run as presenter of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show. He will return to present the show between January 1993 and December 2009.

Station debuts

• 17 April – Viking Radio
• 7 September – Leicester Sound
• 1 October –
  • Invicta Sound
  • Radio Broadland
  • Hereward Radio
• 20 October – Radio Mercury

Programme debuts

• 3 August – Delve Special on BBC Radio 4 (1984–1987)

Continuing radio programmes

1940s

• Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
• Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
• Down Your Way (1946–1992)
• Letter from America (1946–2004)
• Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
• A Book at Bedtime (1949–Present)

1950s

• The Archers (1950–Present)
• The Today Programme (1957–Present)
• Sing Something Simple (1959–2001)
• Your Hundred Best Tunes (1959–2007)

1960s

• Farming Today (1960–Present)
• The World at One (1965–Present)
• The Official Chart (1967–Present)
• Just a Minute (1967–Present)
• The Living World (1968–Present)
• The Organist Entertains (1969–2018)

1970s

• PM (1970–Present)
• Start the Week (1970–Present)
• Week Ending (1970–1998)
• You and Yours (1970–Present)
• I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1972–Present)
• Good Morning Scotland (1973–Present)
• Kaleidoscope (1973–1998)
• Newsbeat (1973–Present)
• The News Huddlines (1975–2001)
• File on 4 (1977–Present)
• Money Box (1977–Present)
• The News Quiz (1977–Present)
• Breakaway (1979–1998)
• Feedback (1979–Present)
• The Food Programme (1979–Present)
• Science in Action (1979–Present)

1980s

• Radio Active (1980–1987)
• In Business (1983–Present)
• Sounds of the 60s (1983–Present)

Births

• 22 May – Clara Amfo, DJ
• 18 June – Kissy Sell Out, DJ, producer and graphic designer
• 14 August – Nick Grimshaw, music broadcast presenter
• 23 December – Dev (Griffin), DJ

Deaths

• 1 April – René Cutforth, broadcaster (born 1909)
• 11 July – Hugh Morton, actor (born 1903)
• 14 August – J. B. Priestley, novelist, playwright and wartime radio broadcaster (born 1894)

See also

• 1984 in British music
• 1984 in British television
• 1984 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1984