Editing Timeline of the BBC (section)

== 1950s ==
[[File:BBC logo (50s-60s).svg|right|200px|BBC logo between 1958 and 1963]]
* '''1950'''
** 29 May – [[The Archers]] is launched, initially as a six-episode trial, and only broadcast in the Midlands.
** 21 May – [[Lime Grove Studios|Lime Grove]] television studios open.
** 27 August – First live television from the European continent, using BBC outside broadcast equipment.
** October – Democracy on TV first started, but was never shown in public. The first real broadcast wasn't until 1989.

* '''1951'''
** 12 October – Television extends to the north of England following the switching on of the [[Holme Moss transmitting station]].

* '''1952'''
** 14 March – Television becomes available in [[Scotland]] for the first time following the switching on of the [[Kirk o' Shotts transmitting station]].
** 15 August – Television becomes available in [[Wales]] for the first time following the switching on of the [[Wenvoe transmitting station]].

* '''1953'''
** 1 May – Television becomes available in [[Northern Ireland]] for the first time although initially from a temporary transmitter, brought into service in time for the Queen's Coronation. A permanent mast at [[Divis transmitting station|Divis]] is brought into service in 1955.
** 2 June – The coronation of [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]] in [[Westminster Abbey]] is televised by the BBC and watched live by an estimated audience of 20 million people in the United Kingdom.
** 11 November – The first edition of ''[[Panorama (TV series)|Panorama]]'' is presented by ''[[Daily Mail]]'' reporter Pat Murphy. ''Panorama'' is the world's longest-running current affairs programme and retains a peak-time slot to this day.
** ''[[Watch with Mother]]'', the pre-schoolers strand, debuts. It was replaced with the ''See Saw'' branding in 1975.

* '''1954'''
** The BBC purchases [[Dickenson Road Studios]], a converted church in Manchester, which becomes the BBC's first regional television studio.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Jeffrey |title=Films and British National Identity: From Dickens to Dad's Army |date=15 September 1997 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-4743-5 |page=267 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bck6oHB6_AwC&pg=PA267 |access-date=28 May 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
** 11 January – The very first in-vision weather forecast is broadcast, presented by [[George Cowling]]. Previously, weather forecasts had been read by an off-screen announcer with a weather map filling the entire screen.
** 5 July – BBC newsreader [[Richard Baker (broadcaster)|Richard Baker]] reads the first televised BBC News bulletin.
** 30 December – The first [[BBC Sports Personality of the Year]] award takes place.

* '''1955'''
** 2 May – The BBC begins broadcasting its radio service on [[Very high frequency|VHF]] ([[FM broadcasting|FM]]), using the [[Wrotham transmitting station|Wrotham]] transmitter.
** September – [[Kenneth Kendall]] becomes the BBC's first in-vision newsreader, followed by Richard Baker and [[Robert Dougall]].
** 10 October – Alexandra Palace begins test transmissions of a 405-line colour television service.

* '''1956'''
** 28 March – Television transmissions begin from the new [[Crystal Palace transmitting station|Crystal Palace]] site in south London.
** The BBC broadcasts a [[trade test colour film]] for the first time.

* '''1957'''
** 16 February – ''[[Six-Five Special]]'' first [[Rock and Roll]] programme first broadcast (16 February 1957 – 27 December 1958)
** The first broadcast of ''[[Test Match Special]]'' takes place, providing listeners with ball-by-ball [[cricket]] commentary for the first time. 
** 24 April – ''[[The Sky at Night]]'', a monthly astronomy programme presented by [[Sir Patrick Moore]], is first broadcast.
** 24 September– The first programmes for schools are broadcast.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/nov/23/tv-schools-televison-bbc-1955 |title =Schools TV on its way – archive, 1955|work = [[The Guardian]]|date = 23 November 2017}}</ref>
** September – The first broadcasts of regional news bulletins took place.
** 30 September – Launch of [[Network Three]], a strand of adult-education broadcasts transmitted on the frequencies of the Third Programme in the early part of weekday evenings.
** 25 December – First TV broadcast of the Queen's Christmas Day message.

* '''1958'''
** The BBC introduces a new 3 box system logo. The logo featured slanted lettering within upright boxes.
** The [[BBC Radiophonic Workshop]] is established to create sound effects for BBC programmes.
** 14 April – The newly magnetic videotape machine [[Vision Electronic Recording Apparatus]] or VERA for short, was given a live demonstration on-air in ''[[Panorama (TV programme)|Panorama]]'' where [[Richard Dimbleby]] seated by a clock, talked for a couple of minutes about the new method of vision recording with an instant playback, and then the tape was wound back and replayed.<ref>[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbctv/1958-04-14 BBC Genome Project – BBC Television 14 April 1958]</ref>
** 5 May – First experimental transmissions of a 625-line television service.
** 10 October – First broadcast of the United Kingdom's multi-sport television show ''[[Grandstand (TV series)|Grandstand]]''.
** 16 October – First broadcast of the United Kingdom's longest-running children's television show ''[[Blue Peter]]''.

* '''1959'''
** The [[BBC North East and Cumbria]] region is created with localised bulletins from [[Newcastle-upon-Tyne]] aired for the first time. Previously, the area was part of a pan-Northern region based in [[Manchester]].