1981 in British radio

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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.
• 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

• No events.

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
• 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.

November

• 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

See also

• 1981 in British music
• 1981 in British television
• 1981 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1981