# 1981 in British radio

This is a list of events in British radio during 1981.

## Events
### January

* 2 January – Dave Lee Travis presents his final edition of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show after two and a half years at the helm.
* 5 January – Mike Read succeeds Dave Lee Travis as presenter of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show.

### February

* 11 February – BBC Radio London begins broadcasting in stereo, and begins carrying BBC Radio 1 during its mid-evening downtime on weekdays between 20.00 and 22.00. It reverts to BBC Radio 2 when Radio 1 begins its nightly 'borrow' of Radio 2's VHF frequency.
* 19 February–9 April – BBC Radio 3 makes the unusual move of broadcasting a sitcom when it airs campus comedy serial Patterson.

### March

* March – Garry Richardson first presents sports news on BBC Radio 4's Today programme; he will continue in this role until 2024.

### April

* No events.

### May

* No events.

### June

* 6 June – BBC Radio 1 broadcasts a live sporting event as a one-off occurrence. The kick-off time was during Radio 1's 'borrow' of Radio 2's VHF frequencies. Radio 1 would normally be off the air on Saturday evenings, and simulcasting Radio 2, so by broadcasting the game on Radio 1's frequencies, Radio 2 was able to broadcast both the sporting event and its usual 19.00 programme.

### July

* 4 July – BBC Radio Blackburn expands to cover all of Lancashire and is renamed accordingly.
* 27 July – Northsound Radio launched in Aberdeen from studios at 45 King's Gate.
* July – The Home Secretary approves proposals for the creation of Independent Local Radio services in 25 more areas.

### August

* No events.

### September

* 21 September – Steve Wright in the Afternoon is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 for the first time.
* 24 September – John Lade presents BBC Radio 3's Record Review for the final time. His last broadcast is the programme's 1,000th edition. Paul Vaughan takes over the programme the following week.

### October

* October – BBC Radio Deeside is expanded to cover all of north east Wales and is renamed BBC Radio Clwyd
* 3 October – Kenny Everett rejoins the BBC to present a Saturday morning programme.
* 4 October – The first edition of All Time Greats, presented by Desmond Carrington, is broadcast on BBC Radio 2. The programme, broadcast on Sunday lunchtimes, remains on air until the late 2000s.
* 6-31 October – For four weeks, Radio 2’s overnight show, You and the Night and the Music, is replaced by 2’s Company with features a blend of music, drama, talks and documentaries from all the radio networks.

### November

* 2 November – CB radio in the United Kingdom becomes legal (for licence holders).
* 23 November – BBC Radio Birmingham expands to cover the West Midlands, South Staffordshire, north Worcestershire and north Warwickshire and is relaunched as BBC WM.

### December

* Three months after launching, Essex Radio expands into mid-Essex when it starts broadcasting from transmitters located near Chelmsford.

## Station debuts

* 27 July – Northsound Radio
* 1 September – Radio Aire
* 7 September – Centre Radio
* 12 September – Essex Radio
* 15 October – Chiltern Radio
* 27 October – Radio West
* 4 December – West Sound Radio

## Programme debuts

* 19 February – Patterson, BBC Radio 3 (1981)
* 8 March – The Lord of the Rings (radio series), BBC Radio 4 (1981)
* 21 September – Steve Wright in the Afternoon, originally billed as Steve Wright, BBC Radio 1 (1981–1993, 1999–2022)

## 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)
* In Touch (1961 – 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)

## Births

* 25 May – Huw Stephens, Welsh radio presenter
* 1 July – Clemency Burton-Hill, classical music presenter
* 3 September – Fearne Cotton, broadcast presenter

## Deaths

* 7 January – Alvar Liddell, 72, BBC Radio announcer and newsreader
* 10 February – Leonard Plugge, 91, commercial radio promoter and politician
* 15 March – Derek Roy, 58, comedian
* 13 April – Gwyn Thomas, 67, Welsh writer and broadcaster
* 23 September – Sam Costa, 71, crooner, voice actor and disc jockey
* 30 November – Val Gielgud, 81, pioneer director of broadcast drama