This is a list of events that took place in 2022 relating to television in the United Kingdom.
Events January Date Event1BBC One airs The Big New Years & Years Eve Party, which sees Olly Alexander of Years & Years joined by Kylie Minogue and the Pet Shop Boys to see out 2021 and welcome in 2022. London's annual fireworks display is also aired at midnight.Among those from the world of film and television to be recognised in the 2022 New Year Honours are Joanna Lumley and Vanessa Redgrave, who are given damehoods, Daniel Craig, who is made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, and soap stars William Roache and June Brown, who become OBEs.3Eamonn Holmes joins GB News to co-present their weekday breakfast programme alongside Isabel Webster.4ITV's Good Morning Britain returns following a Christmas break to protect its staff against the Omicron variant of Coronavirus.6Deborah Turness, a former editor of ITV News and current CEO of ITN, is appointed the BBC's new CEO of news and current affairs, replacing Fran Unsworth.A suggestion by Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell that the BBC should be made to reinstate "God Save the Queen" at the end of daily broadcasts wins the backing of ministers after he raises the matter in the House of Commons. BBC One last played the national anthem at the end of broadcasts in 1997, but stopped doing so upon the launch of the BBC News channel when BBC One instead switched to relaying the news channel through the night.The Apprentice returns to BBC One for its sixteenth series, and for the first time since the Coronavirus pandemic.7Grange Hill creator Sir Phil Redmond announces plans for a film version of the long-running school drama series that will reflect the realities of the modern day classroom. The film is due for release in 2023.8Anne Diamond joins GB News to present their weekend breakfast programme alongside Stephen Dixon.The 1960s adaptation of Georges Simenon's Inspector Jules Maigret stories makes its Talking Pictures TV debut.Danny Dyer quits EastEnders to accept an offer to appear on a Sky original series. His contract with EastEnders had previously not allowed him to appear on rival networks.9Emmerdale actors Isabel Hodgins and Matthew Wolfenden return to filming on the soap following their absence caused by a "race row". The pair were accused of mocking the accent of a mixed-race actress and making an "inappropriate comment".10The media regulator Ofcom says it will not launch an inquiry into the ITV series Lorraine following an incorrect statement regarding Coronavirus made in the episode broadcast on 6 December 2021 by Dr Hilary Jones, who had said 90% of Coronavirus hospital patients were unvaccinated. The figure equates to intensive care patients rather than general hospital patients, and a statement correcting this error was made two days later. A new 60-minute discussion-based programme Context is launched. It broadcasts from Mondays to Thursdays on the BBC News Channel and BBC World News and features two guests discussing the day's news.11BBC Director-General Tim Davie says a "personal error" led to Alan Dershowitz, the former lawyer of Jeffrey Epstein, being interviewed in December 2021 following the conviction of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell for helping Epstein to groom underage girls.The new £86.7m exterior set of EastEnders is officially unveiled by the BBC replacing the original set built in 1984 and intended to be used for two years. Scenes from the new set will first be seen from the spring.12–13David Tag, Andrea Ali and Lysette Anthony leave their roles as Sylver McQueen, Celeste Faroe and Marnie Nightingale from Hollyoaks respectively, following an explosion at Marnie's cafe, killing the three of them.13Emmerdale producers Jane Hudson and Laura Shaw have teased the soap's upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations to air on ITV in October 2022 as "epic", with "mind-blowing stunts" and the possible return of past characters with former cast members reprising their roles.14News UK have hired Sky News Political Correspondent Kate McCann to become Political Editor at talkTV.16Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries says the next announcement about the television licence fee will be the last, and that the time has come to discuss new ways to fund and sell "great British content". The following day she announces that the licence will be frozen at £159 until 2024. At the same time, Dorries also confirms that the Welsh-language TV channel S4C will receive an extra £7.5m per year from the licence fee from April 2022.18At 5.59am, GB News begins a daily broadcast of the national anthem before the start of its live programming.It is revealed that Shama Amin, a contestant on Series 16 of The Apprentice, has quit the show for health reasons, describing taking part in the series as "physically demanding".19Amazon Prime announces the title of its upcoming The Lord of the Rings spin-off series, which is to be called The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.A video produced by the campaign group Led By Donkeys, and purporting to show Prime Minister Boris Johnson being questioned about the Partygate scandal by characters from Line of Duty, has received 5million views since being posted on Twitter the previous day.20 Aardman Animations animator and creator of Wallace & Gromit, Nick Park announces that a new untitled television film is in development. The new short is planned for release at Christmas 2024 for the BBC.24ITV announces plans for a revised weekday evening schedule that will see the ITV Evening News at 6.30pm extended from 30 to 60minutes, with greater focus on stories and events outside London. Emmerdale will move from 7pm to 7.30pm on weeknights, while Coronation Street will move from six 30-minute episodes to three 60-minute episodes airing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm rather than 7.30pm and 8.30pm on those days.26Regional BBC One HD services launch across Virgin Media platforms in England on channel 101 replacing the SD version meaning viewers can now watch regional news in HD for the first time without having to switch over to the now defunct 108 national HD channel.A new regional programme for England launches on BBC One. Called We Are England, the programme chooses a subject and produces six editions tailored for six different pan-regional areas of England. The series replaces Inside Out which ended last year.28Ofcom launches an investigation into the prolonged outage of subtitles on Channel 4 during 2021.31BBC Three controller Fiona Campbell announces plans to launch a new soap opera for the channel.
February