1980

1980

MCMLXXX


 * UK Prime Minister: Margaret Thatcher (first term)
 * FA Cup Winners: West Ham (beat Arsenal 1-0)
 * Christmas Number One: St Winifred's School Choir - There's No One Quite Like Grandma
 * Eurovision Song Contest: The Hague, 19 April
 * UK Eurovision Entry: Prima Donna - Love Enough For Two (3rd place)
 * Contest Winner: Johnny Logan - What's Another Year? (Eire)
 * Blue Peter Team: Simon Groom, Christopher Wenner (until 23 June) and Tina Heath (until 23 June), succeeded by Sarah Greene (from 19 May) and Peter Duncan (from 11 September).
 * Doctor Who: Tom Baker (S17 until 12 January, then S18 from 30 August)
 * Radio 1 Breakfast Show Jock: Dave Lee Travis
 * Big Christmas Day Film On BBC 1: Airport 75

Main events

 * Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, USA
 * Olympic Games in Moscow (boycotted by USA)
 * Iranian Embassy siege

New shows
(channel and first broadcast date in brackets - full list)
 * Hi-De-Hi (BBC1, 01 January), Pride & Prejudice (BBC2, 13 January), Spy! (13 January, BBC1), Newsnight (BBC2, 28 January), Play Your Cards Right (ITV, 01 February), Yes Minister (BBC1, 25 February), Juliet Bravo (BBC1, 30 August), Metal Mickey (ITV, 06 September), Children in Need (BBC1, 21 November), Sink or Swim (BBC1, 04 December).

Shows ending

 * Magpie (ITV, 06 June), Michael Bentine's Potty Time (ITV, ?)

Other TV events

 * Top of the Pops strike.
 * Match of the Day moved to Sunday afternoons.

Films
UK release


 * Zombies: Dawn of the Dead, Saturn 3,

Music
UK chart debuts: Ultravox, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Jona Lewie


 * Best selling singles: The Police - Don't Stand So Close to Me, Barbra Streisand - Woman in Love, Kelly Marie - Feels Like I'm in Love, ABBA - Super Trouper.
 * Best selling albums: ABBA - Super Trouper, The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta, Rose Royce - Greatest Hits. 
 * Debut albums: John Foxx - Metamatic, The Pretenders - Pretenders, The Buggles - The Age of Plastic, The Sugarhill Gang - Sugarhill Gang, Echo & The Bunnymen - Crocodiles, UB40 - Signing Off, The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro, Bauhaus - In The Flat Field.
 * Eponymous debut albums: Kim Wilde, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Visage

Births

 * Tom Ravenscroft (third child of John Peel, b. 06 February)

Birthdays

 * 20: Bono Vox, Tony Hadley, Vince Clarke, Antonio Banderas, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Richard Jobson
 * 30: Billy Ocean, Malcolm MacDonald, Peter Gabriel, Mark Spitz, Agnetha Fältskog, Billy Currie, Suzi Quatro, Princess Anne, Simon Groom
 * 40: Tom Jones, David Jason, Annie Nightingale, Penelope Keith, Ringo Starr, Cliff Richard, John Lennon
 * 50: Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen

Deaths

 * Ian Curtis, John Lennon, Peter Sellers, Alfred Hitchcock, Steve McQueen (07 November, 50), Hattie Jacques, Yootha Joyce.