1978

**1978**

**MCMLXXVIII**

* UK PM: James Callaghan (Labour)
* FA Cup Winners: Ipswich (beat Arsenal 1-0)
* Christmas Number One: Boney M - Mary's Boy Child
* Eurovision Song Contest: Paris, 22 April
	+ Winning entry: Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta - A-Ba-Ni-Bi (Israel)
	+ UK entry: Coco - The Bad Old Days (11th pos.)
* Blue Peter Team: John Noakes, Peter Purves and Lesley Judd then Lesley, Simon Groom (replacing Peter from 05 May 1978) and Christopher Wenner (replacing John from 14 September)
* Doctor Who: Tom Baker (S 15/16)
* Radio 1 Breakfast Show DJ: Noel Edmonds then DLT from May
* Big Christmas Day Film On BBC1: *The Sound of Music* (TV premiere, afternoon) *True Grit - A Further Adventure* (TV film) [1]

## Main events

* Nottingham Forest win the Football League First Division title for the first time in their history.
* Liverpool F.C. retain the European Cup.
* Lib-Lab pact dissolved leaving minority government.
* 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina.
* 23 Ford car plants are closed across Britain due to strikes.
* Viv Anderson is England's first black international footballer (29 November)
* Unemployment is at a postwar high of 1,500,000

TV
--

*(source: wikipedia)*

### New shows

* Blake's 7 (BBC1, 02 January), *All Creatures Great and Small* (BBC1, 08 January) *The South Bank Show* (ITV, 14 January), *Hazell* (ITV, 16 January) (*Grange Hill* (BBC1, 08 February), *Going Straight* (BBC1, 24 February), *Cheggers Plays Pop* (BBC1, 10 April), *3-2-1* (ITV, 29 July), *Return of The Saint* (ITV, 10 September), Connections (BBC1, 17 October), *Edward & Mrs. Simpson* ITV, 06 November), *Butterflies* (BBC2, 10 November), *Vegas* (ITV, 17 November), *BBC Television Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet* (BBC2, 03 December).

### New seasons

* *A Handful of Songs* (ITV, 17 November), *The Muppet Show* (ITV, 17 November)

### Shows ending

* *Opportunity Knocks* (ITV), *Rising Damp* (ITV), *The Good Life* (BBC1), *The Black and White Minstrel Show* (BBC), *Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em* (BBC1, Christmas Day), *The Sweeney* (ITV).

### Other TV events

* Anna Ford becomes the first female newscaster on *News at Ten* (13 February)
* Larry Grayson takes over The Generation Game (23 September)
* Doctor Who 15th anniversary and S16 (from 02 September)
* BBC strikes affect programming (21–22 December)
* Christmas Day *Top of the Pops* host: Noel Edmonds [2]

## Radio

* *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* first broadcast on R4
* Radio 1 expands schedule (from 11 November)
	+ Mike Read begins Saturday evening show
	+ R1 Sunday Chart Show covers the Top 40 (from 12 November)
	+ DLT takes over the R1 Breakfast Show from Noel Edmonds
	+ Tommy Vance's *The Friday Rock Show* replaces John Peel on R1 late evening slot
* BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Scotland both begin broadcasting

## Music

* Biggest selling singles:
	+ Boney M - Rivers of Babylon / Brown Girl in the Ring, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John - You're the One That I Want & Summer Nights, Bee Gees - Night Fever, The Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap, ABBA - Take a Chance On Me, Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights (debut). (*full list*)

* Chart debuts: Public Image Limited, Buzzcocks, John Travolta (both solo and with Olivia Newton-John), Sham 69, Blondie
* One-hit wonders: Jilted John

* Biggest selling albums:
	+ VV AA - *Saturday Night Fever OST*, VVAA - *Grease OST,* ABBA - *The Album,* Kate Bush *-* *The Kick Inside* (*full list*)
* Debut albums: Kate Bush - *The Kick Inside*, Japan - *Adolescent Sex*, The Police - *Outlandos D'Amour*, Siouxsie & The Banshees - *The Scream*, Buzzcocks - *Another Music in a Different Kitchen*
	+ Eponymous debut albums: Tubeway Army, Squeeze,
* Musical *Evita* opens (June)

## Films

* *Star Wars* (UK release), *Saturday Night Fever, ABBA: the Movie,* *Death on the Nile, Midnight Express, The Stud*, *Watership Down, The Wild Geese, Grease, Heaven Can Wait, Superman*

## Births

* Duncan James (07 April), Lauren Laverne (28 April), Frank Lampard (20 June)

## Birthdays

* **30**: Prince Charles, Jean-Michel Jarre, Olivia Newton-John,
* **40**: Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Terry Wogan, Derek Jacobi, Mickie Most, Paul Daniels,
* **50**:
* **60**:
* **70**:

## Deaths

* Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, Keith Moon, Nancy Spungen, David Nixon