1998

1998

MCMXCVIII
 * FA Cup Winners: Arsenal (beat Newcastle Utd. 2-0)
 * Christmas Number One: Spice Girls - Goodbye (third consecutive Christmas no.1)
 * Eurovision Song Contest: Birmingham, UK, 09 May
 * Contest Winner: Dana International - Diva (Israel)
 * UK Eurovision Entry: Imaana - Where Are You (2nd place)


 * Blue Peter Team: Stuart Miles, Katy Hill, Konnie Huq, Romana D'Annunzio (until 20 February), Richard Bacon (until 16 October - dismissed)
 * Doctor Who: -
 * Radio 1 Breakfast Show DJ: Zoe Ball
 * Big Christmas Day Film On BBC1: Miracle On Fourth Street (TV premiere), Babe. (C4 broadcast The Omen)

Main events

 * February: Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan
 * April: Good Friday Agreement, an agreement between the UK and Irish governments, and the main political parties in Northern Ireland is signed; the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire are re-established, 24 years after they merged to form Hereford and Worcester (1974)
 * June: First general-circulation issue of a two pound coin, DVD format is released onto the UK market, FIFA World Cup in France.
 * December: Great Boxing Day Storm



TV
(channel and first broadcast date in brackets)

New shows



 * Robot Wars, Bob the Builder, So Graham Norton, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Goodness Gracious Me (full list)

Shows ending



 * Come Dancing, World In Action, Sale of the Century, Alias Smith & Jones, Telly Addicts, The Chart Show, Drop the Dead Donkey, Men Behaving Badly, Father Ted, Sooty & Co., Game On (full list)

Other TV events

 * World Cup coverage shared between BBC and ITV, Parkinson returns, Brookside 2,000th episode, BBC America launched, ESC hosted by Terry Wogan and Ulrika Jonsson, ITV2 launched, Neighbours 3,000th episode, Sky Digital and Sky Sports News launch, BBC switch on digital signal and BBC Choice is launched, 40 years of Blue Peter, FilmFour channel launched, Jonathan Creek Series Two and Christmas special.



Radio

 * Feb: Pop Master quiz first broadcast on Ken Bruce's Radio 2 show (until 2023)
 * Sep.: Kevin Greening leaves the Radio 1 breakfast show, leaving Zoë Ball as sole presenter.
 * Oct: John Dunn leaves Radio 2 drive time show after 22 years. Johnnie Walker takes over Mon-Thu with Des Lynam on Fri. On R1 Chris Moyles moves to afternoon show, Scott Mills takes over early breakfast show.
 * Sept./Oct: Long-running shows The Now Show and In Our Time series begins on BBC Radio 4



Music

 * Biggest selling singles: Cher - Believe, Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On, Run DMC - It's Like That, Boyzone - No Matter What (see Official Top 40 best-selling singles of 1998)


 * Biggest selling albums: The Corrs - Talk On Corners, George Michael - Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael, Boyzone - Where We Belong, Robbie Williams - I've Been Expecting You  (full list)
 * Compilation albums: OMD - The OMD Singles, U2 - The Best of 1980–1990, Phil Collins - Hits, James - The Best Of
 * Debut albums: Air - Moon Safari, Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (full list)
 * Eponymous debuts - B*Witched, Destiny's Child,
 * Alternative/independent: Fatboy Slim - You've Come a Long Way, Baby, The Beautiful South - Quench, Manic Street Preachers. - This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours

Films
UK release


 * The Boxer, Great Expectations, The Man In The Iron Mask, Sliding Doors, Waking Ned, Mrs Dalloway, The Big Lebowski, Lost In Space, City of Angels, Species II, Les Misérables, The Horse Whisperer, The Truman Show, Mulan, Armageddon, There's Something About Mary, the Mask of Zorro, Saving Private Ryan, The Avengers, Ronin, Antz, The Lion King II, Elizabeth, Velvet Goldmine, Babe: Pig in the City,



Births

 * Dave (rapper) (05 June), Declan McKenna (24 December )

Birthdays

 * 20: Lauren Laverne,
 * 30: Patsy Kensit, Matt & Luke Goss,
 * 40: Jools Holland, David Sylvian, Nik Kershaw, Gary Numan, Toyah Willcox, Kate Bush, Paul Weller, Simon Mayo, Simon Le Bon, Limahl.
 * 50: Jean-Michel Jarre, Olivia Newton-John, Prince Charles
 * 60: Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Terry Wogan, Derek Jacobi, Mickie Most, Paul Daniels
 * 70: Bruce Forsyth, Bernard Cribbins
 * 80: Spike Milligan
 * 90: John Mills

Deaths

 * Frank Muir (02 January), Enoch Powell (08 February), Linda McCartney (17 April), Justin Fashanu (02 May), Lew Grade (13 December), Patricia Hayes (19 September)