30th Birthday of COW and the BBC one overhaul

Today at 7pm on the 18th February 1985 BBC One was given a brand new computer look: COW, to co-inside with a revised and overhauled schedule. IE D-Day.

The problems all were around to see, BBC1 top rated programmes were two US imports, Alan Hart had been criticised for his “lack of knowledge in general entertainment” He was head of BBC Sport prior taken the post as controller of BBC1.

Micheal Grade was recruited to become Controller of BBC One, the first time the Corporation had recruited someone out with the BBC in 1984, and got to work quickly.

Some changes were delt with rather fast. In Sept 84 Sixty minutes was dropped and replaced by the Six O’clock news. Also Miss Great Britian contest was also to be dropped.

Some of the main points were:
• Streamline the schedule, into 30 mins blocks. Ie On the hour and half past.
• Panorama and Omnibus were both moved to after the Nine O'Clock News
• Increase in new UK programmes. Which included Wogan, Eastenders,
• £30 million was used to create 8 new series, and in 1986 even more new series appeared.
• All this help BBC1 improved its audience share to 50%.
• This was also the time when Doctor who was given that 18 months hiatus.

Not bad for an outsider.

Is it fair to say Michael Grade was the most influential of BBC One controllers, then. His changes definitely formed the basis for the modern day channel at the least. Got to have respect for anyone who has the gall to call time on Doctor Who.

First evening clip.

Although the schedules were a bit more streamlined under Grade - with the regional news running to 7pm instead of, bizarrely, 6.55, it certainly wasn't all in half hour chunks, with Wogan running until 7.35 or 7.40 most nights, and still plenty of fifty minute programmes before the watershed.

As well as the aforementioned changes, there was also the ending of the afternoon Play School and the five replacement programmes, starting from April. Further changes came in September 1985 with the introduction of the Broom Cupboard and Children's BBC ( or BBC Children's as the logo originally said )

Although it seems to back to running until 6:55 again in recent years, although you'd never know that looking at the published schedules. I'm glad the BBC don't run rail services

Yeah, if you set your Sky+ (or other recorder) for The One Show, I can guarantee that you'll miss the first two or three minutes, it always starts early!

I remember hearing that it's to get a head start over Emmerdale on ITV, but is it really that much of a hassle to amend the TV listings?

Its more to do with the fact of the 2min new update at 19.57.

Although they could easily have shaved off time from The One Show to accomodate that.

Courtesy of TV Live listings from that day:
http://www.tv-live.org.uk/wp/index.php/plusone/tv-listings/bbc-2/bbc-one/bbc-one-18th-february-1985/

Also BBC2 from the same night - did they revamp their schedule at all?
http://www.tv-live.org.uk/wp/index.php/plusone/tv-listings/bbc-2/bbc-two/bbc-two-18th-february-1985/


The Change in the Weather programme - so good they showed it three times it seems:

Here is the actully clip from 7pm. I dont know what happened early.

What I found most surprising is that there was a new series of Are You Being Served debuting in 1985 - I always associated it with the 70s.

Possibly the last appearance of the Mirror Globe was during Midlands Today, courtesy of regional continuity announcer/newsreader David Stevens