# 2008 in British television

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
This is a list of events that took place in 2008 related to British television.

## Events
### January

| Date | Event |
| 2 January | ITV announces that it will move its Sunday episodes of Emmerdale and Coronation Street. From the week beginning on 12 January, Coronation Street will have an additional Friday episode, while Emmerdale will air for an hour on Tuesdays. Dancing on Ice would move to a Sunday night slot. |
| 11 January | ITV News at 10.30 is shown for the last time. News at Ten then replaces it from Mondays to Thursdays, and ITV Late News on Fridays. |
| 14 January | News at Ten returns to ITV with Sir Trevor McDonald and Julie Etchingham. The programme will air four nights a week from Mondays to Thursdays, with an 11.00pm bulletin on Fridays. |
| 16 January | Actress Leslie Ash wins a record £5 million out of court settlement from Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust after contracting a hospital acquired bug that left her partially paralysed while undergoing hospital treatment in 2004. |
| 22 January | BBC Three has its identity relaunched, showcasing new shows such as Lily Allen and Friends. |
| 23 January | Konnie Huq presents her last episode of Blue Peter after over ten years, having become the longest-running female presenter and third longest-running overall in the shows' 50-year history. |
| 31 January | "Pretty Baby....", a unique episode of the soap opera EastEnders is broadcast, consisting of just one character (Dot Cotton) with a single monologue in the form of a taped message to her husband. This 'one-hander' is a first in UK soap history. |
| 31 January | All the UKTV network channels such as UKTV Gold switch to widescreen. |

### February

| Date | Event |
| 6 February | The BBC announces that children's drama Grange Hill is to be axed after exactly 30 years on air. |
| 7 February | In an address to the Royal Television Society, the comedian Lenny Henry criticises the lack of ethnic diversity in the media. |
| 7 February | BBC One airs the debut episode of Ashes to Ashes, a spin-off series of Life on Mars. |
| 8 February | After 22 years Neighbours is shown on BBC One for the last time. |
| 11 February | Australian soap opera Neighbours debuts in its new home on Five. |
| 12 February | The BBC Three "Blobs" are played out for the last time at 4 am. A new set of idents debuted the same day, this is the channels first ever rebrand since launching in early 2003. |
| 14 February | The Big Bang Theory debuts on Channel 4. |
| 18 February | Natasha Kaplinsky makes her Five News debut as Britain's highest paid newsreader, on a reported annual salary of £1 million. |
| 18 February | Carrie and David's Popshop debuts on CBeebies. |
| 20 February | It is announced that music video channel The Hits will be replaced by 4Music later in the year. |
| 25 February | BBC One soap EastEnders is reprimanded by Ofcom for the level of violence in an episode aired in November 2007 which saw a gang attack on a pub. The scenes, which showed a sustained level of violence, were deemed to be inappropriate for a pre-watershed audience. |
| 25 February | The Mr. Men Show debuts on Five. |
| 27 February | Launch of the black entertainment channel BET International. |
| 28 February | James Nathan wins the 2008 series of MasterChef. |

### March

| Date | Event |
| 3 March | Christ Church, Oxford wins the 2007–08 series of University Challenge, beating the University of Sheffield 220–170. |
| 7 March | The MS Society criticises a recent The Bill plotline as "grossly irresponsible" after it featured a multiple sclerosis patient being told about a fictional treatment for the condition. |
| 10 March | A blanket ban on filming in and around Stormont Castle is lifted when the restrictions on the presence of cameras in the building are lifted, thus allowing proceedings in the Northern Ireland Assembly to be televised. |
| 10 March | ITV2 signs a deal with social networking site Bebo, allowing some of the channel's content to be aired free online. |
| 12 March | Overnight viewing figures indicate that the debut episode of the US TV series Bionic Woman, which aired on ITV2 on 11 March was watched by 2.2 million viewers, giving the channel its largest audience to date. |
| 15 March | Launch of BBC One's I'd Do Anything, a search for actors to appear in the West End musical Oliver!. Three boys will be chosen to play Oliver Twist and an actress to play the role of Nancy. |
| 16 March | Suzanne Shaw and skating partner Matt Evers win the third series of Dancing on Ice. |
| 19 March | BBC Four attracts its highest ever ratings after broadcasting the one-off drama The Curse of Steptoe, with 1.41 million viewers. |
| 21 March | Dirty Sexy Money makes its debut airing in the UK and proves to be a popular hit for Channel 4. |
| 22 March | ITV1 airs the Network television premiere of the 2005 musical film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. |
| 24 March (Easter Monday) | BBC Four broadcasts a revived, special two-hour-long episode of the 1960s satire The Frost Report. |
| 26 March | American Hit Dramedy, Desperate Housewives finally makes its Fourth season debut. The show was due to start in the first two weeks of January, but this was shelved due to the WGA Strike. |

### April

| Date | Event |
| 1 April | Patsy Palmer returns to EastEnders as Bianca Jackson nine years after leaving the series. |
| 15 April | ITV has decided to drop the second episode of the nine-part US supernatural drama Pushing Daisies because it only has scheduling space to show eight episodes before the start of Euro 2008. The second episode was the only one considered not crucial to the storyline, but it will be shown when the series is repeated. |
| 21 April | BBC News has a major relaunch with BBC News 24 becoming BBC News and BBC World becoming BBC World News. All the news programmes on BBC One and BBC Two have also had new looks including all regional news programmes. |
| 26 April | A report in The Sun suggests seven characters will be axed from Coronation Street over the coming months. Those leaving include five members of the Morton family, who run the street's kebab shop, and Jack Ellis and Matthew Crompton, who play bookies Harry and Dan Mason. |
| 28 April | Five Life is renamed to Fiver. |

### May

| Date | Event |
| 1 May | VH1 takes on a general entertainment focus, matching the American network, though due to the American VH1's programmes being licensed to other networks or broadcasters, it also carries content from Channel 5 and MTV. VH1 completes its transition to a general entertainment format in October 2018, though music programmes continue in non-prime timeslots. |
| 6 May | Freesat officially launches. ITV HD launches its full service. |
| 19 May | Kix! was launched in the UK for the first time. |
| 20 May | In a press release, the BBC announce that Russell T Davies is resigning as head writer and executive producer on Doctor Who following the fourth series, the 2008 Christmas special and a series of four hour-long episodes in 2009, after which he will be replaced by fellow writer Steven Moffat. |
| 22 May | Scotsport airs for the last time on Scottish television. By the time it ended it was recognised as the world's longest running sports television magazine. |
| 24 May | After Britain's entry in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest comes last, Sir Terry Wogan suggests he may step down as the BBC's Eurovision commentator because the contest is "no longer a music contest". Andy Abraham receives 14 points for the United Kingdom with "Even If", while the contest is won by Russia's Dima Bilan with "Believe", which scores 292 points. The result is partially due to the number of former Soviet states giving Russia the maximum 12 points, prompting Wogan to tell viewers that "Russia were going to be the political winners from the beginning" and to suggest "western European participants have to decide whether they want to take part from here on in because their prospects are poor". |
| 29 May | It is announced that What the Papers Say, the second longest running programme on British television after Panorama, is to be axed by the BBC. |
| 30 May | Several newspapers report that George Galloway, MP has issued legal proceedings against The Bill for defamation after a storyline aired in November 2007 that featured a corrupt MP who smuggled antiques out of Iraq before the war, which Galloway alleges was a portrayal of him. |
| 30 May | ITV airs the 5000th episode of Emmerdale. |
| 31 May | Jodie Prenger will play the role of Nancy in the West End musical Oliver! after winning BBC One's I'd Do Anything. |
| 31 May | Break dancer George Sampson wins the second series of Britain's Got Talent, netting a £100,000 prize and a chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance. |

### June

| Date | Event |
| 3 June | All Virgin Media channels including Bravo (also Bravo 2), Living (also Living2), Challenge, Trouble and Virgin 1 switch to widescreen. |
| 4 June | MTV UK and several other MTV Networks Europe channels are fined £255,000 by Ofcom for "widespread and persistent" breaches of the broadcasting code, including breaking the pre-watershed content ban. |
| 5 June | The Big Brother 9 launch night proves to be not as good as Channel 4 had hoped with the loss of around 1 million viewers who had watched the previous year's launch night |
| 6 June | Sharon Osbourne quits as a judge on the ITV series The X Factor shortly before filming is due to begin on a new series. |
| 7–29 June | Euro 2008 are held in Austria and Switzerland. |
| 9 June | Channel 4 apologises after broadcasting an episode of The Simpsons that included the use of the word "wankers" at 6.00 pm on 15 April. The incident, blamed on an administrative error, led to 31 viewers complaining to Ofcom that such language was unacceptable at a time when children would be watching. |
| 10 June | Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole is revealed as Sharon Osbourne's replacement as a judge on The X Factor. |
| 11 June | Lee McQueen wins the fourth series of The Apprentice. |
| 11 June | UKTV announces that, following the successful launch of Dave, it will rebrand all its channels from generic, UKTV-prefixed names to individual and separate brands. |
| 17 June | Comedian Joan Rivers is asked to leave the ITV afternoon talk show Loose Women after swearing live on air. She was removed during the commercial break, and said that she didn't realise the show was going out live and thought her comments would be bleeped. |
| 23 June | An EastEnders storyline involving the live burial of a character that aired over Easter is criticised as "offensive" by Ofcom. The scenes, which saw Tanya Branning getting revenge against her unfaithful husband Max by drugging and burying him, attracted 116 complaints from viewers. Ofcom says the episodes had "a seriously disturbing element to them". |

### July

| Date | Event |
| 5 July | The finale of the fourth series of Doctor Who is watched by 9.4 million viewers, this is the first time since the series' revival in 2005 that Doctor Who has the largest audience share in its timeslot. |
| 7 July | Alex Evans wins Cycle 4 of Britain's Next Top Model. |
| 15 July | ITV Central is fined £25,000 for contempt of court after running a news story about a trial that was about to start, which included details of a defendant's previous conviction for murder. |
| 15 July | More4 begins a season of Stanley Kubrick films. It is preceded by Citizen Kubrick, a documentary about the director by Jon Ronson. By way of promotion for the season, Channel 4 commissioned a 65-second promotion that included recreating the set of The Shining, complete with lookalikes of the cast and crew, the ad showing the set from Kubrick's perspective as he walks through it to take his seat in the director's chair before filming. |
| 22 July | BBC Two Controller Roly Keating is appointed as the BBC's first director of archive content. He will take up the role in the autumn. |
| 23 July | Des O'Connor announces that he will step down as presenter of Countdown. |
| 23 July | Portland Enterprises, owners of Television X: The Fantasy Channel are fined £25,000 by Ofcom for broadcasting "highly explicit sex material" after showing an R18 rated adult film in June 2007, something that broke Ofcom rules on the broadcast of adult content. |
| 23 July | Former Spice Girl Emma Bunton is named as a temporary co-presenter of Richard & Judy, presenting the show alongside Richard Madeley for a few days while his wife, Judy Finnigan recovers from a knee operation. Bunton is succeeded by Myleene Klass, who also takes on Finnegan's role for a few days. |
| 25 July | Carol Vorderman announces that she will quit as host of Countdown, two days after Des O'Connor announced his intention to leave the programme. Vorderman's manager said that she did not think she could go through the process of bonding with another co-presenter. |
| 25 July | Liz McClarnon wins the 2008 series of Celebrity MasterChef. |

### August

| Date | Event |
| 8–24 August | 2008 Summer Olympics are held in China. |
| 15 August | The music video channel The Hits closes and is replaced by 4Music later the same day. |
| 15 August | Griff Rhys Jones announced as the new presenter of It'll Be Alright on the Night for the first time since Denis Norden's retirement from the show in 2006 after almost 30 years. |
| 22 August | After seven years with Channel 4, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan present their last edition of Richard & Judy. They move to new subscription channel Watch in the Autumn. |
| 31 August | Sky One, Sky Two and Sky Three rebrands to Sky1, Sky2 and Sky3 respectively. |
| 31 August | In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live's Simon Mayo, television writer Jimmy McGovern describes the BBC as "one of the most racist institutions in England" because of the lack of ethnic people in prominent positions. The BBC responds by saying it is "actively seeking and nurturing ethnic talents both on and off the air." |

### September

| Date | Event |
| 1 September | Selina Scott is suing Five for age discrimination, it is reported, after she was considered but overlooked as a temporary replacement for Five News presenter Natasha Kaplinsky during her maternity leave. |
| 5 September | Rachel Rice wins series nine of Big Brother. |
| 8 September | A report by the Scottish Broadcasting Commission recommends that up to £75 million of public funds should be used to create a high quality Scottish television channel. |
| 15 September | BBC One airs the final episode of Grange Hill. |
| 18 September | BBC One screens its controversial documentary The Undercover Soldier that alleges instances of bullying in the British Army. The show attracts relatively low ratings and the BBC is criticised by serving soldiers for the way the investigation was conducted. |
| 19 September | BBC Alba, a Scottish Gaelic language digital television channel, is launched through a partnership between the BBC and MG Alba. |
| 19 September | Derek Johnstone wins the first series of MasterChef: The Professionals, and goes on to take a job at London's Le Gavroche restaurant with Michel Roux Jr. |

### October

| Date | Event |
| 1 October | BBC Four Controller Janice Hadlow is appointed Controller of BBC Two, replacing outgoing incumbent Roly Keating from November. |
| 1 October | Scottish Media Group is rebranded STV Group plc. It does this because it wants to highlight its renewed focus on television. |
| 1 October | ITV1 screens the British terrestrial television premiere of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, with overnight viewing figures indicating it to have an audience of 7.2 million viewers (a 29% audience share). |
| 6 October | Five has its first major rebrand since 2002. |
| 6 October | It is reported that an episode of Coronation Street, in which the character Tony Gordon made a jibe about Rangers, was changed following complaints from fans of the football club. |
| 7 October | UKTV launches a new general entertainment channel called Watch and UKTV Gold was relaunched as a comedy channel G.O.L.D. (Go on Laugh Daily) and UKTV Drama was relaunched as a crime drama channel Alibi. |
| 7 October | Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan begin presenting a new show Richard and Judy's New Position on Watch. |
| 10 October | EastEnders begins broadcasting the storyline The Secret Mitchell in which Danielle Jones (Lauren Crace) is revealed to be Ronnie Mitchell's (Samantha Janus) daughter. |
| 16 October | Longest-running children's television programme Blue Peter celebrates its 50th birthday. |
| 23 October | BBC One airs the 1000th edition of Question Time. |
| 29 October | During the live broadcast of the 2008 National Television Awards, David Tennant announces that he is quitting Doctor Who at the end of 2009. |
| 30 October | Following his involvement in The Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row, Jonathan Ross is suspended for 12 weeks without pay from all BBC shows, including his television programmes such as Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. He also decided not to host the 2008 British Comedy Awards, broadcast on ITV. |

### November

| Date | Event |
| 2 November | F1 on ITV airs for the last time, presented by Steve Rider, with commentators Martin Brundle and James Allen. |
| 3 November | Britain's favourite singing pigs Pinky and Perky return to CBBC with a brand new television series known as The Pinky and Perky Show brought to life with CGI animation. The series is updated with various brand new characters and a few old characters which were Morton Frog and Vera Vixen (but this time as the main antagonist) and follows the brothers and their misadventures in a television studio while working as presenters of a children's TV show. |
| 4 November | It is announced that an agreement has been struck for Sky's basic channels – including Sky1, Sky2, Sky3, Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2, Sky Real Lives and Sky Real Lives 2 – to return to Virgin Media from 13 November 2008 until 12 June 2011. In exchange Sky will be provide continued carriage of Virgin Media Television's channels – Living, Living2, Bravo, Bravo +1, Trouble, Challenge and Virgin1 for the same period. However, Trouble closed down in April 2009 and Sky brought Virgin Media Television (later Living TV Group) two years later. Bravo, Bravo 2, Challenge Jackpot and Channel One closed down on 1 January and 1 February 2011 respectively, along with the rebrandings of Living (now Sky Living), Livingit (then Livingit, now Sky Livingit), Living Loves (now Sky Living Loves) and Challenge's new slot on Freeview on 1 February 2011, which finally ended Living TV Group and extended the agreement as a permanent deal. |
| 5 November | A BBC Two Newsnight special on the election of Barack Obama in which presenter Jeremy Paxman famously addresses the rapper Dizzee Rascal as "Mr Rascal". |
| 6 November | The digital switchover continues when the Scottish Borders region's analogue service is switched off. People served by the Selkirk transmitter will be the first substantial area to go fully digital. |
| 12–13 November | ITV airs Proof of Life, a two-part episode of The Bill to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary. The storyline features a crossover with the German police procedural Leipzig Homicide, and is aired on both UK and German television. |
| 13 November | BSkyB's basic channels such as Sky1 and Sky News return to Virgin Media TV. |
| 13 November | Debut of the six-part supernatural drama Apparitions on BBC One is about a Roman Catholic Church priest Father Jacob Myers (Martin Shaw) who examines evidence of miracles to be used in canonisation but also performs exorcisms. As he learns, Jacob's duties run deeper than just sending demons back to Hell; he later must prevent them all from escaping. The series continues on 18 December. |
| 14 November | Children in Need 2008 is broadcast on BBC One, hosted by Terry Wogan, Tess Daly and Fearne Cotton. Raising £20,991,216 by the end of the broadcast. |
| 19 November | Journalist John Sergeant pulls out of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing contest following controversy over his participation in the show. Sergeant has been consistently supported by the public despite receiving the lowest scores from the programme's panel of judges. Announcing his decision, Sergeant says winning would be "a joke too far". The BBC says it will refund anyone who voted for Sergeant while he was taking part. |
| 20 November | Sir Trevor McDonald presents his last News at Ten after only 11 months at helm. Mark Austin takes over as head anchor. |
| 20 November | QI broadcasts its last episode to be originally shown on BBC Two, as part of Children in Need. The series moves to BBC One during Christmas. |
| 21 November | It is announced that Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling and Oxford graduate Rachel Riley will replace Des O'Connor and Carol Vorderman as hosts of the next series of Countdown. Riley beat 1,000 applicants to win the role. |
| 21 November | The BBC Trust criticises another incident involving Jonathan Ross and bad language. The Trust rules that a remark made by Ross on an edition of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross aired in May in which he told the actress Gwyneth Paltrow he "would fuck her" was "gratuitous and unnecessarily offensive". |
| 21 November | STV announces its intention to opt out of ITV programmes they claim are not performing well in their broadcast region. These include series such as Sharpe's Peril, Al Murray's Happy Hour, Moving Wallpaper, Benidorm and The Alan Titchmarsh Show. ITV's coverage of the FA Cup is also dropped. |

### December

| Date | Event |
| 3 December | The new Wallace and Gromit adventure, A Matter of Loaf and Death, premieres in Australia on the ABC before airing in the UK. |
| 5 December | Selina Scott has reached a settlement with Five after suing the channel for age discrimination, it is reported. |
| 5 December | Actor Joe Swash wins the eighth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. |
| 5 December | It is announced that Graham Norton will take over from Terry Wogan as the presenter of the Eurovision Song Contest after Wogan, who has presented the BBC's coverage of the contest for 30 years, decided to relinquish the role. |
| 12 December | Des O'Connor presents his last Countdown episode after over a year of presenting and Carol Vorderman also presents her last Countdown episode after 26 years of co-presenting. |
| 13 December | Alexandra Burke wins the fifth series of The X Factor. |
| 14 December | Cyclist Chris Hoy is named as this year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year. |
| 18 December | Presenter Fiona Phillips leaves GMTV after nearly 16 years with ITV's breakfast broadcaster. |
| 20 December | Tom Chambers and dancing partner Camilla Dallerup win the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing. |
| 25 December | The Royle Family returns for a Christmas Special, attracting an audience of 11 million. The most watched show of the day is a new Wallace and Gromit adventure, A Matter of Loaf and Death, which airs on BBC One, and is seen by 14.4 million viewers. |
| 30 December | Shooting Stars returns with a Christmas special and a clip show, the first new episodes since 2002 and Rab C. Nesbitt returns with a Christmas special, another new episode since 1999. |
| 31 December | ITV airs Elton's New Year's Eve party, a live concert by Elton John from London's O2 Arena. Channel 5 airs an evening of programming dedicated to Bruce Forsyth, including An Audience with Bruce Forsyth. |
| 31 December | The 1968 musical film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is aired on ITV1 again. |

## Debuts
### BBC One

* 1 January – Sense and Sensibility
* 5 January –
** Basil's Swap Shop
** The One and Only
* 8 January – Mistresses
* 10 January – Fairy Tales
* 13 January – Lark Rise to Candleford
* 4 February – Frankenstein's Cat
* 7 February – Ashes to Ashes
* 17 February – The Last Enemy
* 10 March – Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
* 15 March – I'd Do Anything
* 28 March – The Passion
* 12 April – The Kids Are All Right
* 28 April – Out of the Blue
* 1 May – The Invisibles
* 30 June – Criminal Justice
* 5 July – Last Choir Standing
* 8 July – Bonekickers
* 30 July – Lost Land of the Jaguar
* 10 August – Britain From Above
* 26 August – Mutual Friends
* 11 September – The Planners Are Coming
* 14 September – Tess of the D'Urbervilles
* 18 September – The Undercover Soldier
* 20 September –
** Merlin
** Hole in the Wall
* 7 October Sunshine
* 12 October – Stephen Fry in America
* 19 October – Ian Fleming: Where Bond Began
* 24 October – Little Dorrit
* 3 November – The Pinky and Perky Show
* 13 November – Apparitions
* 23 November – Survivors
* 30 November – Wallander
* 25 December – A Matter of Loaf and Death

### BBC Two

| Date | Programme |
| 10 January | Never Better |
| 11 February | Get Squiggling |
| 28 February | Empty |
| 4 March | Mad Men |
| 10 March | 10 Days to War |
| 10 March | White Girl |
| 11 May | Wild China |
| 28 May | Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story |
| 10 July | Lab Rats |
| 19 July | Help! Teach is Coming to Stay |
| 30 July | House of Saddam |
| 12 August | Sesame Tree |
| 29 September | Chuggington |
| 2 October | Beautiful People |
| 10 October | The American Future: A History |
| 22 November | Einstein and Eddington |

### BBC Three

| Date | Programme |
| 12 February | Lily Allen and Friends |
| 12 February | Phoo Action |
| 31 March | Dis/Connected |
| 8 April | The Wall |
| 22 June | MeeBOX |
| 23 June | Snog Marry Avoid? |
| 10 August | Spooks: Code 9 |
| 28 August | The Wrong Door |

### BBC Four

| Date | Programme |
| 31 January | Art of Spain |
| 17 March | The Curse of Steptoe |
| 2 April | Hughie Green, Most Sincerely |
| 12 June | The Long Walk to Finchley |
| 21 August | Fossil Detectives |
| 15 September | Only Connect |

### ITV (1/2/3/4/CITV)

| Date | Programme |
| 9 January | Honest |
| 10 January | Moving Wallpaper |
| 10 January | Echo Beach |
| 12 January | Thank God You're Here |
| 14 January | The Palace |
| 4 March | Bike Squad |
| 5 March | Rock Rivals |
| 12 March | Bionic Woman |
| 14 March | The Passions of Girls Aloud |
| 23 March | He Kills Coppers |
| 28 March | Teenage Kicks |
| 6 April | Headcases |
| 20 April | Beat the Star |
| 8 May | Midnight Man |
| 4 June | Bingo Night Live |
| 28 June | Who Dares, Sings! |
| 1 September | The Children |
| 1 September | My Goldfish Is Evil |
| 3 September | Lost in Austen |
| 18 September | No Heroics |
| 22 September | A Place of Execution |
| 13 October | Wired |
| 26 October | Britannia High |

### Channel 4

| Date | Programme |
| 2 January | The Triple Nipple Club |
| 14 January | City of Vice |
| 18 January | Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live |
| 22 January | Supersize vs Superskinny |
| 1 February | Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong |
| 22 February | New Hero of Comedy |
| 31 March | Poppy Shakespeare |
| 1 June | Tony Robinson's Crime and Punishment |
| 10 July | Dexter |
| 1 August | The Kevin Bishop Show |
| 1 August | Tonightly |
| 24 August | Stacked |
| 25 August | Wogan's Perfect Recall |
| 17 September | The Family |
| 30 September | Jamie's Ministry of Food |
| 30 September | Dawn Porter: Extreme Wife |
| 12 October | Britain's Got the Pop Factor and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice |
| 19 November | The Devil's Whore |
| 24 November | The Ascent of Money |

### Five

| Date | Programme |
| 25 February | The Mr. Men Show |
| 13 August | Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure |
| 5 September | The What in the World? Quiz |
| 8 October | Paul Merton in India |

### E4

| Date | Programme |
| 3 January | Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack |
| 14 February | The Big Bang Theory |
| 1 May | The Inbetweeners |
| 27 October | Dead Set |
| 24 November | Hollyoaks Later |

### Sky1

| Date | Programme |
| 21 January | Ross Kemp in Afghanistan |
| 11 May | Don't Forget the Lyrics! |
| 31 August | Hairspray: The School Musical |

### Watch

| Date | Programme |
| 7 October | Richard and Judy's New Position |

### Dave

| Date | Programme |
| 27 October | Argumental |
| 30 October | Batteries Not Included |

### FX

| Date | Programme |
| 6 May | The Colbert Report |

### Other channels

| Date | Debut | Network |
| 4 February | Phineas and Ferb | Disney Channel |
| 24 March | Chowder | Cartoon Network |
| 3 November | Hi-5 | Cartoonito |

## Channels
### New channels

| Date | Channel |
| 1 February | MTV One +1 |
| 17 March | Sky Sports HD 3 |
| 20 March | Sky Movies Premiere HD |
| 28 April | FX HD |
| 19 May | Kix! |
| 9 July | AAP TV |
| 15 August | 4Music |
| 18 August | Nicktoonsters |
| 7 October | Watch |
| 7 October | Watch +1 |
| 5 November | Crime & Investigation Network HD |
| 1 December | Disney Cinemagic HD |
| 16 December | MTVNHD |

### Defunct channels

| Date | Channel |
| 1 February | MTV Flux |
| 15 August | The Hits |

### Rebranding channels

| Date | Old Name | New Name |
| 21 April | BBC News 24 | BBC News |
| 28 April | Five Life | Fiver |
| 31 August | Sky One | Sky 1 |
| 31 August | Sky Two | Sky 2 |
| 31 August | Sky Three | Sky3 |
| 7 October | UKTV Drama | Alibi |
| 7 October | UKTV Drama +1 | Alibi +1 |
| 7 October | UKTV Gold | G.O.L.D. |
| 7 October | UKTV Gold +1 | G.O.L.D. +1 |

## Television shows
### Changes of network affiliation

| Programme | Moved from | Moved to |
| American Dad! (First run rights) | BBC Three | FOX (2004–2021) |
| Little Miss Jocelyn | BBC Three | BBC Two |
| Gladiators | ITV1 | Sky One |
| Take Your Pick | ITV1 | Challenge |
| Small Talk | BBC One | Challenge |
| Wipeout | BBC One | Challenge |
| FA Cup football and England Internationals | BBC One | ITV1 & Setanta Sports |
| Neighbours | BBC One | Five |
| Fireman Sam | CBeebies | Five |
| Get 100 | BBC Two | BBC One & CBBC |
| The Weakest Link (Daytime version) | BBC Two | BBC One |
| Out of the Blue | BBC Two | BBC One |
| QI | BBC Two | BBC One |
| Gavin & Stacey | BBC Three | BBC One |
| Torchwood | BBC Three | BBC Two |
| Robot Wars | Challenge | Bravo |
| It's Me or the Dog | Channel 4 & More4 | Sky3 & Sky Real Lives |
| Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto! | CITV | CBeebies |
* ^1 It later moved to CITV in early 2009 for a brand newer series and then in late 2012 back to Channel 5.

### Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

| Programme | Date(s) of original removal | Original channel | Date(s) of return | New channel(s) |
| ITV News at Ten | 30 January 2004 | ITV1 | 14 January 2008 | N/A (Same channel as original) |
| Mr. and Mrs. as All Star Mr & Mrs | 2 July 1999 | ITV1 | 12 April 2008 | N/A (Same channel as original) |
| Gladiators | 1 January 2000 | ITV1 | 11 May 2008 | Sky1 |
| Superstars | 2005 | BBC One | July 2008 | Five |
| It'll Be Alright on the Night | 18 March 2006 | ITV1 | 20 September 2008 | N/A (Same channel as original) |
| Going for Gold | 9 July 1996 | BBC One | 13 October 2008 | Five |
| Rab C. Nesbitt | 18 June 1999 | BBC Two | 23 December 2008 | N/A (Same channel as original) |

## Continuing television shows
### 1920s

| Programme | Date |
| BBC Wimbledon | 1927–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–present |

### 1930s

| Programme | Date |
| Trooping the Colour | 1937–1939, 1946–2019, 2023–present |
| The Boat Race | 1938–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–present |

### 1950s

| Programme | Date |
| Panorama | 1953–present |
| The Sky at Night | 1957–present |
| Blue Peter | 1958–present |

### 1960s

| Programme | Date |
| Coronation Street | 1960–present |
| Songs of Praise | 1961–present |
| Doctor Who | 1963–1989, 1996, 2005–present |
| Match of the Day | 1964–present |
| Top of the Pops | 1964–present |
| The Frost Report | 1966–1967, 2008 |
| The Money Programme | 1966–2010 |

### 1970s

| Programme | Date |
| Emmerdale | 1972–present |
| Newsround | 1972–present |
| Last of the Summer Wine | 1973–2010 |
| Arena | 1975–present |
| One Man and His Dog | 1976–present |
| Top Gear | 1977–present |
| Ski Sunday | 1978–present |
| Antiques Roadshow | 1979–present |
| Question Time | 1979–present |

### 1980s

| Programme | Date |
| Children in Need | 1980–present |
| Postman Pat | 1981, 1991, 1994, 1996, 2004–2008 |
| Timewatch | 1982–present |
| The Bill | 1984–2010 |
| Channel 4 Racing | 1984–2016 |
| Thomas & Friends | 1984–present |
| EastEnders | 1985–present |
| Comic Relief | 1985–present |
| Casualty | 1986–present |
| Fireman Sam | 1987–1994, 2005–2013 |
| ChuckleVision | 1987–2009 |
| This Morning | 1988–present |
| Rab C. Nesbitt | 1988–1999, 2008–2014 |
| The Simpsons | 1989–present |

### 1990s

| Programme | Date |
| Have I Got News for You | 1990–present |
| Heartbeat | 1992–2010 |
| A Touch of Frost | 1992–2010 |
| The National Lottery Draws | 1994–2017 |
| Top of the Pops 2 | 1994–2017 |
| Shooting Stars | 1995–2002, 2008–2011 |
| Hollyoaks | 1995–present |
| Never Mind the Buzzcocks | 1996–2015 |
| Silent Witness | 1996–present |
| Artur | 1996–present |
| King of the Hill | 1997–2010 |
| South Park | 1997–present |
| Midsomer Murders | 1997–present |
| Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? | 1998–2014 |
| Bob the Builder | 1998–present |
| Bremner, Bird and Fortune | 1999–2010 |
| British Soap Awards | 1999–2019, 2022–present |
| Family Guy | 1999–2002, 2005–present |
| SpongeBob SquarePants | 1999–present |
| Holby City | 1999–2022 |

### 2000s

| Programme | Date |
| The Weakest Link | 2000–2012, 2017–present |
| Real Crime | 2001–2011 |
| I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! | 2002–present |
| Harry Hill's TV Burp | 2002–2012 |
| Spooks | 2002–2011 |
| Comedy Connections | 2003–2008 |
| New Tricks | 2003–2015 |
| Daily Politics | 2003–2018 |
| Peep Show | 2003–2015 |
| Politics Show | 2003–2011 |
| QI | 2003–present |
| The Royal | 2003–2011 |
| This Week | 2003–2019 |
| Doc Martin | 2004–2022 |
| Shameless | 2004–2013 |
| Strictly Come Dancing | 2004–present |
| The X Factor | 2004–2018 |
| 8 Out of 10 Cats | 2005–present |
| The Apprentice | 2005–present |
| Love Soup | 2005–2008 |
| Mock the Week | 2005–2022 |
| More4 News | 2005–2009 |
| The Jeremy Kyle Show | 2005–2019 |
| The Andrew Marr Show | 2005–2021 |
| Come Dine with Me | 2005-present |
| Deal or No Deal | 2005–2016 |
| It's Me or the Dog | 2005–2012 |
| The Apprentice: You're Fired! | 2006–present |
| Dancing on Ice | 2006–present |
| Hotel Babylon | 2006–2009 |
| Lewis | 2006–2015 |
| Numberjacks | 2006–2009 |
| Robin Hood | 2006–2009 |
| The Slammer | 2006–2015 |
| That Mitchell and Webb Look | 2006–2010 |
| Ugly Betty | 2006–2010 |
| Torchwood | 2006–2011 |
| Waterloo Road | 2006–2015 |
| Star Stories | 2006–2008 |
| The Sarah Jane Adventures | 2007–2011 |
| After You've Gone | 2007–2008 |
| The Alan Titchmarsh Show | 2007–2014 |
| Jamie at Home | 2007–2008 |
| In the Night Garden... | 2007–2009 |
| Golden Balls | 2007–2009 |
| Gavin & Stacey | 2007–2010 |
| The Graham Norton Show | 2007–present |
| Would I Lie to You? | 2007–present |
| M.I. High | 2007–2014 |
| The Tudors | 2007–2010 |
| Trapped | 2007–2010 |
| Skins | 2007–2013 |
| Britain's Got Talent | 2007–present |

## Ending this year

| Date | Programme | Channel(s) | Debut(s) |
| 13 January | Sense and Sensibility | BBC | 2008 |
| 8 February | Jamie at Home | Channel 4 | 2007 |
| 3 March | The Palace | ITV | 2008 |
| 21 March | Echo Beach | ITV | 2008 |
| 4 April | The Passions of Girls Aloud | ITV | 2008 |
| 22 May | Scotsport | STV | 1957 |
| 22 May | What the Papers Say | BBC | 1956 |
| 5 June | HolbyBlue | BBC | 2007 |
| 15 June | Headcases | ITV | 2008 |
| 12 August | Bonekickers | BBC | 2008 |
| 13 August | Lost Land of the Jaguar | BBC | 2008 |
| 17 August | All Grown Up! | Nickelodeon | 2003 |
| 22 August | Richard & Judy | Channel 4 | 2001 |
| 22 August | Tonightly | Channel 4 | 2008 |
| 30 August | Last Choir Standing | BBC | 2008 |
| 15 September | Grange Hill | BBC | 1978 |
| 15 September | The Children | ITV | 2008 |
| 24 September | Lost in Austen | ITV | 2008 |
| 30 September | Mutual Friends | BBC | 2008 |
| 5 October | Tess of the D'Urbervilles | BBC | 2008 |
| 6 October | A Place of Execution | ITV | 2008 |
| 8 October | Supernanny | Channel 4 | 2004 |
| 9 October | Fossil Detectives | BBC | 2008 |
| 20 October | Amazon | BBC | 2008 |
| 21 October | Dawn Porter: Extreme Wife | Channel 4 | 2008 |
| 27 October | Wired | ITV | 2008 |
| 8 November | Comedy Connections | BBC | 2003 |
| 12 November | The Commander | ITV | 2003 |
| 10 December | The Devil's Whore | Channel 4 | 2008 |
| 18 December | Apparitions | BBC | 2008 |
| 20 December | Britannia High | ITV | 2008 |
| 21 December | Northern Lights | ITV | 2004 |
| 21 December | After You've Gone | BBC | 2007 |
| 25 December | Out of the Blue | BBC | 2008 |

## Deaths

| Date | Name | Age | Cinematic Credibility |
| 3 January | Natasha Collins | 31 | Presenter |
| 3 January | Jack Aranson | 83 | Actor |
| 5 January | Rowan Ayers | 85 | Television producer (Late Night Line-Up, Old Grey Whistle Test, Points of View) |
| 17 January | Carole Lynne | 89 | Actress, widow of Baron Delfont |
| 22 January | Diane Chenery-Wickens | 48 | Television make-up artist |
| 22 January | Kevin Stoney | 86 | Actor |
| 26 January | John Ardagh | 79 | Journalist and author |
| 30 January | Jeremy Beadle | 59 | Presenter (Game for a Laugh, Beadle's About, Chain Letters, Beadle's Hotshots, You've Been Framed!) |
| 2 February | Barry Morse | 89 | Actor (The Fugitive, Space: 1999) |
| 2 February | Edward Wilson | 60 | Actor (When the Boat Comes In) director of the National Youth Theatre |
| 19 February | David Watkin | 82 | Cinematographer |
| 19 February | Emily Perry | 100 | Actress |
| 8 March | Carol Barnes | 63 | Former ITN newscaster |
| 16 March | John Hewer | 86 | Actor |
| 19 March | Paul Scofield | 86 | Actor |
| 20 March | Brian Wilde | 80 | Actor (Last of the Summer Wine, Porridge) |
| 25 March | Tony Church | 77 | Actor |
| 27 March | Ronnie Letham | 58 | Actor |
| 2 April | Sir Geoffrey Cox | 97 | Founder of ITN News at Ten |
| 7 April | Mark Speight | 42 | Presenter (SMart, Scratchy & Co.) |
| 10 April | Francis Coleman | 84 | Canadian-born British conductor, television producer and director |
| 11 April | Willoughby Goddard | 81 | Actor |
| 15 April | Hazel Court | 82 | Actress (The Masque of the Red Death, The Raven) |
| 24 April | Tristram Cary | 82 | Film and television composer |
| 25 April | Humphrey Lyttelton | 86 | Jazz musician, radio broadcaster (Host of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue) |
| 1 May | Bernard Archard | 91 | Actor |
| 1 May | Terry Duggan | 76 | Comedian and actor |
| 13 May | Jill Adams | 77 | Actress |
| 14 May | Frith Banbury | 96 | Stage director and actor |
| 16 May | David Mitton | 69 | British TV animator/producer and director (Thunderbirds, Thomas & Friends, Tugs) |
| 17 May | Wilfrid Mellers | 94 | Composer and author |
| 17 May | John Fitzsimmons | 68 | Roman Catholic priest and broadcaster |
| 20 May | Iona Banks | 87 | Actress |
| 20 May | Margot Boyd | 94 | Actress (Marjorie Antrobus on The Archers) |
| 23 May | Alan Brien | 83 | Journalist and critic |
| 24 May | Rob Knox | 18 | Actor |
| 24 May | Alan Towers | 73 | Journalist and television presenter (Midlands Today) |
| 30 May | Chris Morgan | 55 | Journalist |
| 30 May | Mike Scott | 75 | Television producer and presenter (The Time, The Place) |
| 4 June | Jonathan Routh | 80 | Co-star (Candid Camera) |
| 5 June | Angus Calder | 66 | Historian and writer |
| 10 June | David Brierly | 73 | Actor (Voice of K-9 on Doctor Who) |
| 26 June | Tony Melody | 85 | Actor |
| 2 July | Elizabeth Spriggs | 78 | Stage, television and film actress (Sense and Sensibility, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) |
| 3 July | Clive Hornby | 63 | Actor (Emmerdale) aka Jack Sugden |
| 4 July | Charles Wheeler | 85 | Journalist and longest serving BBC foreign correspondent |
| 7 July | Hugh Mendl | 88 | Record producer |
| 14 July | Hugh Lloyd | 85 | Actor (Hancock's Half Hour) |
| 14 July | Bryan Cowgill | 81 | Executive |
| 27 July | Bob Crampsey | 78 | Sportscaster |
| 30 July | Peter Coke | 95 | Actor and playwright (Paul Temple) |
| 30 July | Jon Miller | 87 | Television presenter |
| 6 August | Jennifer Hilary | 65 | Actress |
| 7 August | Simon Gray | 71 | Playwright |
| 10 August | Terence Rigby | 71 | Actor |
| 10 August | John Esmonde | 71 | British scriptwriter (The Good Life) |
| 11 August | Bill Cotton | 80 | BBC Television executive |
| 18 August | Bob Humphrys | 56 | Sports presenter (BBC Cymru Wales), brother of John Humphrys |
| 29 August | Geoffrey Perkins | 55 | Producer |
| 31 August | Ken Campbell | 66 | Actor |
| 8 September | Celia Gregory | 58 | Actress |
| 19 September | David Jones | 74 | Theatre and film director |
| 20 September | William Fox | 97 | Actor |
| 1 October | Ian Collier | 87 | Actor and singer |
| 4 October | Peter Vansittart | 88 | Writer |
| 7 October | Peter Copley | 93 | Actor |
| 8 October | Bob Friend | 70 | Sky News presenter |
| 11 October | Mark Shivas | 70 | Film and television producer |
| 11 October | Russ Hamilton | 76 | Singer |
| 18 October | Peter Gordeno | 69 | Actor, singer and dancer |
| 20 October | John Ringham | 80 | Actor |
| 22 October | David Lloyd Meredith | 74 | Actor |
| 25 October | John Axon | 48 | Actor |
| 31 October | John Daly | 71 | Film producer |
| 11 November | Jack Scott | 85 | BBC Weatherman |
| 16 November | Reg Varney | 92 | Actor (On the Buses, The Rag Trade) |
| 25 November | Dudley Savage | 88 | Radio presenter |
| 8 December | Bob Spiers | 63 | Television director |
| 8 December | Oliver Postgate | 83 | Animator |
| 13 December | Kathy Staff | 80 | Actress (Last of the Summer Wine, Crossroads) |
| 18 December | Jack Douglas | 81 | Actor |

## Top 10 highest viewed programmes

| Rank | Programme | Rating | Channel | Date |
| 1 | Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death | 16.15m | BBC One | 25 December 2008 |
| 2 | The X Factor Results | 14.06m | ITV | 13 December 2008 |
| 3 | Britain's Got Talent: Final Result | 13.88m | ITV | 31 May 2008 |
| 4 | The X Factor | 13.77m | ITV | 13 December 2008 |
| 5 | Doctor Who | 13.10m | BBC One | 25 December 2008 |
| 6 | Coronation Street | 13.02m | ITV | 18 January 2008 |
| 7 | Strictly Come Dancing | 12.97m | BBC One | 20 December 2008 |
| 8 | Dancing on Ice | 12.02m | ITV | 16 March 2008 |
| 9 | Britain's Got Talent | 11.86m | ITV | 30 May 2008 |
| 10 | EastEnders | 11.73m | BBC One | 24 March 2008 |