2016 in British television

This is a list of events that took place in 2016 related to Television in the United Kingdom.

Events

January Date Event1BBC One airs an extended version of its television special, Adele at the BBC, which includes comedy footage of a sketch in which Adele surprises a roomful of lookalikes. The footage had proved popular with viewers of the BBC's YouTube site, following the programme's previous broadcast in November 2015.ITV have signed a £30m four-year deal for the terrestrial broadcasting rights to air horse racing from 2017, ending a three decades long run of the sport on Channel 4. Major events will include the Grand National.2It is announced that British horse racing coverage will move from Channel 4 to ITV from January 2017 after ITV won the broadcasting rights to show free-to-air coverage of the sport the previous day. Events such as the Cheltenham Festival, Grand National, the Derby and Royal Ascot will be part of ITV's coverage, with fixtures airing on ITV and ITV4. Figures indicate that The Abominable Bride, an episode of BBC One's Sherlock that aired on New Year's Day, was the most watched drama over the 2015–16 festive period, with an audience of eight million viewers. The Christmas Day finale of Downton Abbey had the highest viewership of that day, with an audience of 6.6 million. Consolidated figures, which include catch-up viewers, subsequently indicate Downton Abbey to have been the most watched programme of the festive period, with an audience of 10.5 million.3Debut of BBC One's adaptation of War & Peace, which is watched by an average audience of 6.3 million, peaking at 6.7 million.4The BBC confirms 16 February as the date on which BBC Three will begin its transition to an online only channel. A new logo for the channel is introduced.5Launch of the seventeenth series of Celebrity Big Brother. Contestant Winston McKenzie causes controversy after expressing anti-gay sentiment in his entry video when he says that he will "cope with a homosexual in the house [by] standing against a brick wall all the time". The former UK Independence Party member and candidate for the 2016 London Mayoral election is booed by the audience as he enters the Big Brother house, while Ofcom have received 165 complaints about the comments by the following day. The regulator says it will assess the complaints before deciding whether to launch an investigation.6Writer Charlie Higson confirms that ITV have cancelled Jekyll and Hyde after one series.The Guardian newspaper appoints Newsnights investigations correspondent, Nick Hopkins as its head of investigations.The opening episode of the Eighteenth series of Midsomer Murders is unique in that its storyline features no actual murder.UKTV announces that Dave will show its first live sporting event – a boxing match between David Haye and Mark de Mori at the O2 Arena on 16 January. Later in the year Dave broadcasts the 2016 BDO World Trophy darts tournament and cricket's Caribbean Premier League.7Police confirm that three bodies found at a house in London two days earlier are those of missing former EastEnders actress Sian Blake and her two children, who disappeared on 13 December 2015. Her partner, Arthur Simpson-Kent, is subsequently arrested by police in Ghana.8The BBC is forced to defend its decision to allow shadow defence minister Stephen Doughty to resign on an edition of The Daily Politics after the Labour Party's leadership accuses it of pursuing a "particular political narrative". Doughty had resigned on the programme two days earlier, citing his unhappiness over a recent shadow cabinet reshuffle. Sheridan Smith will play the head of a Dewsbury residents group who spearheaded the search for Shannon Matthews in a forthcoming BBC drama about the girl's 2008 kidnapping.Archaeologists have called for Channel 5 to pull the series Battlefield Recovery from the schedule amid allegations of grave robbery. The programme, due to debut on 9 January, shows amateur enthusiasts unearthing war graves in Eastern Europe, and is believed to be a reworking of a 2014 programme titled Nazi War Diggers, which was pulled from the National Geographic schedules after criticism.11Channel 4 have signed David Coulthard to present their Formula One coverage, ending speculation that he would appear in the new series of Top Gear.14Britain's Next Top Model (also known as Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model) returns after a three-year hiatus, airing on Lifetime.15As Barbara Windsor makes her latest occasional return to EastEnders as Peggy Mitchell, the actress reveals that she has decided to quit the series for good and that her character will be killed off. Peggy will die from terminal cancer in scenes to be aired later in the year. It is subsequently announced that Ross Kemp will reprise his role as Peggy's son, Grant as part of her exit storyline.UKTV signs a deal with the BBC to provide a same-day repeat of EastEnders. The deal will also see the return of the weekend omnibus edition.18Peter Fincham announces he will step down as ITV's director of television from February. He will be replaced by Kevin Lygo, the channel's current director of studios.19BBC One controller Charlotte Moore is appointed to the newly created role of controller of BBC TV channels and iPlayer, while Kim Shillinglaw, current controller of BBC Two and BBC Four is to leave the BBC and her position abolished.22Steven Moffat announces that will be quitting as head writer and executive producer of Doctor Who after the tenth series and a Christmas special in 2017, after which he would be replaced in the role by Broadchurch creator and writer Chris Chibnall in 2018.31The death is announced of broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan following a short illness. He was 78.

February