This is a list of British television related events from 2001.

Events

January 1 January – The BBC reality show Castaway 2000 comes to an end as its participants leave the island of Taransay. 4 January – The children's characters Bill and Ben return to television with a brand new stop-motion animated series on BBC One. The series features the voice of comedian and Cold Feet actor John Thomson. 7 January – Blankety Blank makes its debut on ITV, hosted by Lily Savage. 8 January – Debut of GMTV's Inch-Loss Island where volunteers attend a Castaway-style location in an attempt to collectively lose weight. 10 January – Debut of ITV's Popstars which will follow efforts to put together a five-piece band who will then record and release a single. 12 January – The Mole debuts on Channel 5, based on an idea from Belgium, the series sees ten contestants complete a number of tasks as they are whittled down to an eventual winner who will win £200,000. However, one of the contestants is a mole, deliberately planted to work against the team. 12 January – Johnny Vaughan and Denise van Outen end their second stint as presenters of The Big Breakfast, exactly 5 years after former presenter Gaby Roslin left the series. The show will be relaunched with a team of five presenters from 22 January as producers attempt to reverse the programme's falling ratings. 13 January – Debut of the ten-part BBC Two series I Love the '80s which examines the pop culture of the 1980s. The series debuts with I Love 1980 and concludes on 24 March with I Love 1989. 15 January The ITC clears Celador and ITV of allegations that Judith Keppel's win on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? had been rigged to draw audiences away from BBC One. Carlton Television is criticised by the Independent Television Commission after the word "punami", popularised by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen was shown onscreen prior to an item about his alter ego, Ali G on its daytime show Celebrity TV in October 2000. The Commission felt the slang term for a part of the female anatomy would be offensive to the Afro-Caribbean community. A new Jim Henson co-production called The Hoobs debuts on Channel 4 with early-morning repeats until 2014. 17 January Prime Minister Tony Blair rejects calls to take part in US-style televised debates with opposition politicians during the forthcoming election campaign. Vanessa Feltz has been dropped by the BBC following the conclusion of her two-year contract with the corporation, it is reported. 18 January – Channel 4 launches E4, a digital entertainment channel at 8:15pm. 19 January – The ITV Nightly News is shown on ITV for the last time after 2 years. 20 January – BBC Two airs live coverage of the inauguration of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States. 22 January News at Ten returns to ITV, having been axed 2 years earlier. It is once again presented by Trevor McDonald. Footballer turned presenter Ian Wright signs a two-year contract with the BBC where he will front a number of shows, including replacing Ant & Dec as host of the game show Friends Like These. Channel 4's The Big Breakfast is relaunched with Donna Air, Amanda Byram, Paul Tonkinson, Melanie Sykes and Richard Bacon as its main presenters. 26 January – Channel 5 airs the 1000th episode of its soap Family Affairs. 28 January – Carlton and Granada are holding discussions aimed at merging their internet operations to create a single online business for ITV under the brand itv.co.uk or itv.com. The current itv.co.uk is a basic information service, but the broadcasters wish to compete with the BBC.

February 1 February – Launch of the film channel The Studio, a joint venture between NTL and Vivendi Universal. 3 February – Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw and Noel Sullivan are chosen as the winners of Popstars, an ITV series that sought to put together a five-member pop group from members of the public who were invited to audition for the series. 5 February – Four programmes aired on this day by E4, Popworld, North Hollywood High, Shipwrecked and Generation E are recorded as having a zero audience share by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board's overnight viewing figures. 6 February – Mr. Bean: The Animated Series, an animated spinoff from Mr. Bean, is announced and would begin airing in March 2002. 8 February – A 1982 interview given by serial killer Dr. Harold Shipman to ITV's World in Action in which he speaks about the benefits of caring for patients in the community rather than hospitalising them is rebroadcast as part of the Tonight programme. The footage is shown as police continue an investigation to determine the number of people killed by the GP. 12 February – The Independent Television Commission reprimands Channel 4 for airing part of a World Wrestling Federation in October 2000 that featured a wrestler threatening a rival's assistant with a sledgehammer. The ITC deemed the scene was inappropriate when children could be watching. Also, a viewer's complaint of impartiality is upheld against an edition of Fifteen to One in which presenter William G. Stewart made a lengthy argument for returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece, but did not explore the opposing case. 14 February – On Valentine's Day, ITV's This Morning features a gay wedding as two men are "married" live on air. The ceremony, a blessing performed by a cleric from the Society for Independent Christian Ministry, is not recognised under UK law at the time when same-sex marriage is not legal in the UK. The segment results in 117 viewer complaints to the Independent Television Commission, many suggesting it was unsuitable for broadcast at a time when children could have been watching and undermined the religious significance of marriage. In response, Granada Television says that the ceremony was discussed at length at the beginning of the programme, meaning viewers would have been aware it was going to take place. The ITC subsequently rejects the complaints, but notes that due to the show's "drop in" nature offence may have been caused to those who did not see the start of the programme. 16 February – The Midlands-based talk show Central Weekend issues an onscreen apology after a complaint was made to the Independent Television Commission when it emerged that an edition of the show from July 2000 had featured fake guests. A debate on the effects of soap operas on the lives of individuals had featured two patients of a "soap clinic" who it later emerged had been fakes. 20 February – The network television premiere of Paul Verhoeven's 1997 American science-fiction action blockbuster Starship Troopers on Channel 5, starring Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Michael Ironside Jake Busey and Neil Patrick Harris. 24 February – Hear'Say, the band formed by ITV's Popstars make their singing debut on the channel's chart show CD:UK. They had been required to mime during a previous performance recorded for Channel 5's The Pepsi Chart Show because their backing tapes had not been completed.

March 1 March The current foot-and-mouth outbreak has required rural-based soaps and continuing dramas such as Emmerdale and Heartbeat to adjust their filming schedules, it is reported. EastEnders character Phil Mitchell (played by Steve McFadden) is wounded by a mystery gunman on his doorstep in one of the most memorable TV storylines of the year. The episode is watched by 17 million viewers. BBC One airs Sailing through Heaven and Hell, a documentary chronicling Ellen MacArthur's participation in the 2000–2001 Vendée Globe solo round-the-world sailing race. 2 March – The Guardian reports that ITV have signed a deal with Universal Studios to air episodes of Northern Exposure, The Incredible Hulk and Dr. Katz. Northern Exposure which aired on Channel 4 during the 1990s, will begin showing nightly from 5 March, following The Late Show with David Letterman, while Dr. Katz will air on Saturdays. 4 March – A bomb explodes outside BBC Television Centre. The blast is later attributed to dissident Irish Republican terrorists and it is suggested the BBC Panorama programme which named individuals as participants in the Omagh bombing was the motive. 5 March Anne Robinson appears as a guest on an edition of BBC Two's Room 101 in which she nominates Welsh people for inclusion in the fictional Orwellian Room 101, describing them as "irritating and annoying". Her comments provoke fury among Welsh politicians, an invitation to appear before the Welsh Affairs Select Committee as part of their investigation into Wales's overseas image and an investigation into the incident by the BBC Board of Governors. In addition, 427 complaints are received by the Broadcasting Standards Commission and North Wales Police launch an investigation into allegations of racial hatred. The ITV soap Crossroads returns with a new series after an absence of 13 years. Response is initially favourable, but the show is soon criticised for its confusing storylines. 6 March – Shopping channel Ideal World goes off the air temporarily due to a large fire at its facilities in Peterborough. The channel would go back on the air within weeks of the fire, broadcasting from temporary facilities, but its main facilities in Peterborough would not be fully operational until September 2002. 7 March – BBC Two airs a special edition of TOTP2 in which Lionel Richie talks about his life and career and performs some of his hits. 9 March The first series of Celebrity Big Brother sees six celebrities enter the Big Brother 1 house for a week-long series, in aid of Comic Relief. As Comic Relief is shown by the BBC this is a rare collaboration between two rival television networks. While Channel 4 airs daily highlight shows, BBC One also broadcasts 10-minute updates, as well as the final which is part of the Red Nose Day telethon. Zi Khan wins the first series of Channel 5's The Mole. 11 March ITV airs the 5000th episode of Coronation Street. Channel 5 signs a deal with the distributors of Gladiator to give the film its British terrestrial television debut in 2003. 13 March In an interview with the Radio Times, film director Ken Loach launches a scathing attack on the "destruction" of some of UK television's long-established news and current affairs programmes. In particular, he describes ITV's decision to scrap World in Action as "one of the television crimes of the century". London's Chief Fire Officer Brian Robinson criticises the BBC for "grossly irresponsible behaviour" after the day's episode of EastEnders shows a character breaking a smoke alarm with a broom handle after it was activated in a smoke-filled kitchen. 14 March ITV signs a £100 million deal with Luxembourg-based SES, the company that relays BSkyB channels in the United Kingdom to make its service available through the Astra satellite. The deal paves the way for negotiations with Sky to carry ITV as part of its digital satellite service. A deal between the two broadcasters is subsequently agreed on 18 November. Channel 5 airs its first terrestrial television showing of Robert Kurtzman's 1997 American fantasy horror film Wishmaster, starring Tammy Lauren, Andrew Divoff and Ted Raimi, as well as the three slasher icons include A Nightmare on Elm Streets Robert Englund, Friday the 13ths Kane Hodder and Candymans Tony Todd. 16 March Highlights of the 2001 Comic Relief telethon include a prerecorded piece in which David and Victoria Beckham are interviewed by the character Ali G. Comedian Jack Dee is voted the winner of Celebrity Big Brother. 17 March – William Friedkin's controversial 1973 Oscar-winning supernatural horror film The Exorcist is shown on British television for the first time when it is screened by Channel 4.