This is a list of events that took place in 2020 relating to television in the United Kingdom.
Events January Date Event1Part One of "Spyfall", the first episode of Series 12 of Doctor Who, is broadcast on BBC One. The episode sees the return of the Doctor's adversary, the Master, portrayed by Sacha Dhawan, as well as featuring Stephen Fry and Lenny Henry in prominent roles. Overnight viewing figures indicate an audience of 4.88 million viewers, making it the second-highest overnight viewership for the night after Emmerdale with an audience of 5 million.Miranda Hart is reunited with the cast of her eponymous sitcom, Miranda to celebrate its tenth anniversary in a special show recorded at the London Palladium.BBC One airs Craig David Rocks Big Ben Live to welcome in the New Year and also the new decade.Dracula, a new three-part take on the Bram Stoker novel of the same name, begins airing on BBC One.2Figures released by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) indicate the 2019 Christmas special of Gavin & Stacey to be the most viewed scripted television programme of the 2010s, with an audience of 17.1 million. Only sporting events and the 2010 series of The X Factor were seen by more viewers.The actress Amanda Henderson appears as a contestant on Celebrity Mastermind. By the following day a clip of her giving an incorrect answer to a question about the Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg has been watched more than five million times. When asked to name the teenage activist, Henderson replies with "Sharon", a response that prompts Thunberg to change the name on her Twitter account to Sharon in jest, and leads to some online criticism of the actress.4BBC Two airs an evening of programmes dedicated to Clive James, with two editions of Clive James's Postcard from... about Sydney and London, and an edition of Front Row Late featuring James from 2018.The Masked Singer, a reality show based on a South Korean series of the same name, makes its British television debut on ITV. The premiere is watched by an average audience of 5.5 million, peaking at 6.5 million, making the show the highest rated show of the night.5Dancing on Ice returns for a twelfth series, and becomes the first UK competitive reality television show to pair a same-sex partnership, with Ian "H" Watkins teaming up with professional ice skater Matt Evers. 6ITV revamps and extends its breakfast programming. The changes see Good Morning Britain being extended by 30 minutes, running until 9 am, with Lorraine on air for a full hour, from 9 am until 10 am. The change removes the historic 9.25 am demarcation between breakfast and daytime programming that had existed since breakfast television launched on ITV in 1983.8The Advertising Standards Authority upholds a complaint against Love Island contestant Molly Mae Hague over a social media post of her wearing an outfit from an online retailer that was not identifiable as advertising.10Samira Ahmed wins an equal pay case she brought against the BBC over the difference in pay between herself for presenting Newswatch and Jeremy Vine for presenting Points of View.12BBC Two airs Louis Theroux: Selling Sex, a documentary in which Louis Theroux examines the world of online sex workers in the United Kingdom.Love Island returns to ITV2 for its sixth series, with Laura Whitmore as presenter. Overnight viewing figures indicate the launch episode of what is the first series to be aired in winter is seen by an average audience of 2.51 million; the figure is down 800,000 on the launch episode of the previous series aired in summer 2019.13ITV launches Week 3 of its "Creates" Ident package in 2020, designed by Saj Fareed and Asian Women's Resource Centre.14Love Island contestant Ollie Williams voluntarily leaves the show after less than three days as a participant.15BBC Director-General Tony Hall outlines plans that will see at least two-thirds of the BBC's staff based outside London by 2027.16Legislation is drafted before Parliament allowing the use of television cameras during trials at Crown Courts in England and Wales, but only the judges will be filmed.Sandi Toksvig announces she is leaving her presenting role with The Great British Bake Off after three years.Lewis actor Laurence Fox appears as a panelist on Question Time, where he clashes with an audience member who argues the media's treatment of Megan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has been racist.1735 years after it was last on air, Crackerjack returns.BBC Programme Index BCCB 17 January 202020Tony Hall announces his intention to step down as Director-General of the BBC in Summer 2020 following seven years in the role.21Netflix reveals that its drama The Crown has been watched by 73 million households worldwide.22BBC media editor Amol Rajan confirms that The Victoria Derbyshire Show is to come to an end as part of £80m worth of savings being made to the BBC's news service. The programme will end later in the year, with BBC Director of News Fran Unsworth stating that it is "no longer cost-effective" to keep it on air.23The BBC announced that Brexitcast will be renamed Newscast after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union on 31 January.25Fans of The Goodies asked to choose their favourite episode of the 1970s comedy show have selected the sketch "Kung Fu Kapers" to be screened at a festival celebrating the series' 50th anniversary.26In the Doctor Who episode "Fugitive of the Judoon", Jo Martin makes history by becoming the first black actress to portray the role of the Doctor in a previously unseen incarnation of the Time Lord.27A petition to save the BBC Red Button service and signed by more than 100 organisations is handed to the BBC and 10 Downing Street.ITV apologises following the broadcast of the previous weekend's installment of The Masked Singer during which panellist Jonathan Ross suggested one of the singers could be Natalie Cole, who died in 2015.28ITV broadcasts the 25th National Television Awards, with David Walliams as host.Just a Minute and Sale of the Century host Nicholas Parsons dies aged 96 at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.29BBC News announces it will shed 450 posts, including roles from Newsnight and BBC Radio 5 Live, as part of £80m worth of savings being made by the BBC.The BBC suspends its plans to discontinue the red button text service, which was due to close on 30 January.It is announced that ITV News presenter Alastair Stewart had been fired from his role after what ITV News described as "errors of judgment in [his] use of social media", though they would not elaborate on the nature of what happened.Channel 4's First Dates is to move to a new venue, relocating from London to Manchester for the next series.30Brexitcast ends on TV 2 days prior to it ending on the radio.31Brexit Day, the day the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, is marked by all major broadcasters, including a BBC News special covering events, and editions of ITV News at Ten and Channel 4's The Last Leg dedicated to the occasion. There is also a live speech from Prime Minister Boris Johnson scheduled for broadcast at 10.00 pm (an hour before the UK's official exit) in which he attempts to reassure viewers that Brexit is "not an end, but a beginning", but both the BBC and ITV main news bulletins choose not to broadcast the three-minute speech in its entirety.Imelda Staunton will play Queen Elizabeth II in the fifth and final series of the Netflix drama The Crown, it is announced.Harley Bird, the actress who voices Peppa Pig, will step down from the role after more than a decade, it is announced. She was replaced by Amelie Bea Smith, who will make her debut in an episode of the cartoon shown on 14 February.
February Date Event2It is revealed that Caprice Bourret has left Dancing on Ice to "recover and look after herself and her family".4To coincide with the broadcast of Mary Beard's Shock of the Nude on BBC Two, BBC Two announces Life Drawing Live!, a two-hour programme presented by Josie D'Arby in which life drawing experts guide a group of artists in how to create a life drawing while viewers are also encouraged to create their own work.5Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan launches a public consultation about the possible decriminalisation of non-payment of the television licence.7Coronation Street airs its landmark 10,000th episode.ITV announces that The X Factor will not return in 2020, but instead take a twelve-month break before returning in 2021This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield gives an interview to his co-presenter Holly Willoughby in which he speaks openly about his sexuality after releasing a statement on social media in which he comes out as gay.10ITV launches Week 7 of its "Creates" Ident package in 2020, designed by Hermione Allsopp and Hastings Furniture Service.11David Attenborough will present A Perfect Planet, a five-part series showing how natural forces help the world to thrive.ITV axes its dating game show Take Me Out after eleven series.12The government announces plans to extend the remit of the media regulator Ofcom to include internet and social media content in the UK.13Oliver Dowden is appointed as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in a cabinet reshuffle, replacing Nicky Morgan.The BBC announces that after forty-three years on BBC Two, Top Gear will move to BBC One for its twenty-ninth series.Bill Turnbull will stand in for Piers Morgan as co-presenter of Good Morning Britain for three days while Morgan takes a break later in the month.14Fitness coach Joe Wicks becomes the latest celebrity to read a CBeebies Bedtime Story; he reads Love Monster and the Perfect Present by Rachel Bright.15ITV2 pulls the day's edition of Love Island from its schedule following the death (later confirmed as suicide) of the show's former presenter Caroline Flack. The following day's episode is also cancelled.Nicola Roberts wins the first series of The Masked Singer as the "Queen Bee". Overnight figures indicate the show's grand final had an average audience of 6.4 million viewers.17Love Island returns to ITV2 with a tribute to Caroline Flack.18ITV broadcasts the 2020 Brit Awards, presented by Jack Whitehall.19EastEnders celebrates its 35th anniversary.21The BBC announces that its consumer affairs programme Watchdog will be subsumed into The One Show from Spring 2020.June Brown makes her final onscreen appearance in EastEnders as Dot Cotton.22Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway returns to ITV for a new series after a two-year break. The first episode attracts 87 complaints to Ofcom following a raunchy performance by the Pussycat Dolls.23Finn Tapp and Paige Turley win series six of Love Island.26ITV announces a shakeup of its weekend Breakfast schedule that will see the launch of two new programmes. Kate Garraway will present Breakfast at Garraway's on Saturday, while Sundays will see Martin and Roman Kemp presenting Martin & Roman's Sunday Best.27Singer-songwriter James Newman is chosen to represent the United Kingdom at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest with his song "My Last Breath".29The controversial Ken Russell film Dance of the Seven Veils about German composer Richard Strauss, which was last aired in February 1970, is to be screened at the 2020 Keswick Film Festival. The film attracted complaints at the time because of its sex scenes, and prompted Strauss's family to withdraw their permission for the use of his music after he was depicted as a Nazi sympathiser, a move that effectively banned the film from being shown again until the copyright on his work had expired.
March