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)

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

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