This is a list of events that took place in 2017 relating to Television in the United Kingdom.
Events
January Date Event1BBC One launches a new set of idents, replacing the circle idents that have been shown before programmes for a decade. The new idents feature the photography of Martin Parr, who has attempted to capture portraits of modern Britain. EastEnders airs the deaths of characters Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell in a swimming pool freak accident.Sherlock returns to BBC One for a fourth series. Overnight viewing figures indicate the first episode was watched by an average audience of 8.1 million, making it the second most watched programme of the 2016–17 festive period; The New Year's Eve fireworks had a viewership of 11.6 million.ITV Racing returns to ITV for the first time since 1985.3The lunchtime edition of Midlands Today is taken off air after staff are evacuated from The Mailbox complex when a fire alarm is activated. The incident turns out to be a false alarm.4Fawlty Towers is voted the best British sitcom of all time British sitcom in a survey of comedians, comedy writers and actors.5 Channel 4 announce they are to show the Monaco Grand Prix and Singapore Grand Prix live for the first time in five years and the United States Grand Prix live for the first time in a decade on free-to-air TV, as they announce their picks for 2017. As part of the C4F1 coverage, also the British Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as contracted.6The manufacturers of the Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway board game apologise after several of the quiz questions were found to have incorrect answers.7The BBC airs the first Saturday evening National Lottery Draw to be shown via BBC iPlayer only, the Corporation having taken the decision to stop broadcasting the draw live on BBC One after agreeing a new deal with Lottery operator Camelot Group.BBC Two airs the documentary David Bowie: The Last Five Years on the eve of what would have been the singer's 70th birthday.Let It Shine makes its debut on BBC One, while The Voice debuts on ITV. Overnight viewing figures indicate that an average audience of 6.3 million tuned in for Let It Shine, narrowly beating the 5.9 million who watched The Voice.10Former deputy governor of the Bank of England David Clementi is named as BBC chairman, heading the board of directors that will replace the BBC Trust.11BBC Director-General Tony Hall unveils plans to revamp BBC iPlayer in order to make it the premier online television service by 2020.12BBC One announces the launch of The Big Painting Challenge, a boot-camp style series that will see amateur artists compete for the title of Britain's best amateur artist. The prime-time Sunday evening show, which will begin in February, will be presented by will be hosted by Mariella Frostrup and the Rev Richard Coles.BBC Two has commissioned Terry Pratchett: Back in Black, a documentary about the fantasy author Terry Pratchett which takes a humorous look at his life story.13Sky says it has pulled an episode of its series Urban Myths about Michael Jackson following a complaint from his daughter. Paris Jackson had said that she was "incredibly offended" by the portrayal of her father in the programme due to be aired by Sky Arts.Richard Ayoade will present a new series of The Crystal Maze when it returns to Channel 4 later this year, the broadcaster announces. Stephen Merchant presented a one off edition of the game show last year.Channel 5 weather presenter Sian Welby will join Heart Radio to present the weekday evening show from 16 January.14The Russian version of "The Final Problem", the last in the current series of Sherlock, is illegally uploaded to the internet prior to its transmission on 15 January. The BBC launches an investigation into the leak. Overnight viewing figures suggest the show episode was watched by an audience of 5.9 million.15The BBC announce plans to adapt the John le Carré novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold for television.18The BBC Trust rules that a BBC News at Six report from November 2015 discussing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's view on the shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland was impartial and inaccurate.Channel 4 announces that Wife Swap will return for a one-off Brexit special.19It is reported that Bill Emmott, a former board member of Ofcom, is seeking a judicial review into a decision by Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Karen Bradley to dismiss him from his post without compensation after he expressed support for the European Union.ITV announces that it has axed The Xtra Factor from ITV2. Future editions of the programme will appear online only.20BBC One and ITV provide live coverage of the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States; BBC coverage of the event is presented by BBC World's Katty Kay, with ITV's coverage presented by Tom Bradby. Also, BBC News announces that Kay would co-present 100 Days covering Trump's first 100 days, however in the end the programme carries on indfefinley apart from a summer break in August.Angus Deayton is confirmed as the new host of Creme de la Creme, a Great British Bake Off spin-off series that will continue to air on the BBC.24BBC Two announce plans for Geri's Nineties: The Decade That Made Me, a series in which former Spice Girl Geri Horner will look back at the 1990s.25At the 22nd National Television Awards, Ant & Dec are presented with the Television Presenter Award for the sixteenth consecutive year.27BBC Two airs Eurovision: You Decide from London's Hammersmith Apollo, where former X Factor contestant Lucie Jones is chosen to represent the United Kingdom in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Never Give Up on You".30Peter Capaldi announces his intention to leave Doctor Who at the end of the year.31Dermot O'Leary and Emma Willis are chosen to host the 2017 Brit Awards after Michael Bublé pulled out because his son is receiving treatment for cancer.BBC Two airs the 1971 film 10 Rillington Place following the death of Sir John Hurt, who plays the role of Timothy Evans.
February Date Event1It is announced that Nick Jenkins and Sarah Willingham will leave Dragons' Den when the current series ends on 26 February.2Kris Marshall announces he is leaving the role of DI Humphrey Goodman in BBC One's Death in Paradise at the end of the current series. His place will be taken by Ardal O'Hanlon who will appear as a new detective.Construction workers accidentally dig up and damage Blue Peters Millennium Time Capsule while carrying out work at London's O2 Arena. The O2 has said it will work with the Blue Peter team to repair or replace the capsule, buried before the Millennium and due to be opened in 2050.3US human rights campaigner Kenneth Roth apologises to Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis after mistakenly accusing her of running an alleged CIA torture site. Roth had tweeted a picture of Maitlis instead of Gina Haspel, named as CIA deputy director by US president Donald Trump.With The Jump set to return to Channel 4 for a fourth series from 5 February, it is reported that the 2017 series has claimed its first casualty, with model Vogue Williams having to pull out because of a knee injury.EastEnders fans express their disappointment on social media upon learning the evening's episode has been cancelled in favour of the BBC One documentary Spy in the Wild.Coleen Nolan wins the nineteenth series of Celebrity Big Brother.4Sir Bradley Wiggins reveals that he has suffered a foot injury while training for the fourth series of The Jump, becoming the second participant to be injured during training for this year's series. However, Wiggins says he will continue as a contestant.7Debut of The Moorside, a BBC One drama starring Sheridan Smith and telling the story of the Shannon Matthews case. The first episode is received positively by critics.Channel 5 announces that it will air a revamped and updated version of Blind Date.8Rolf Harris is cleared of three sex offence charges at Southwark Crown Court.9BBC Wales pulls a promotional trailer for the Six Nations rugby match between Wales and England to be held on 11 February after criticism that it was anti-English.10BBC Four acquires its first Canadian drama, the six part Cardinal, a detective series based on Giles Blunt's 2002 novel Forty Words for Sorrow. The series will air later in the year.13Sir Bradley Wiggins is forced to quit The Jump after sustaining what is described as a small leg fracture during snowcross training.15It has been announced that Rolf Harris will face a retrial on 15 May over three alleged sex offence charges and one new charge of indecent assault.16Edition of EastEnders in which Bex Fowler (played by Jasmine Armfield) performs the ballad "Boxed Up Broken Heart". The track, written by musician and singer Gwyneth Herbert, is part of a storyline in which the character pens the song after splitting from an onscreen boyfriend.17The BBC confirms that Danny Dyer will take a short break from his EastEnders role following a report in The Sun that bosses were concerned about his health.19The TV adaptation of Len Deighton's novel SS-GB, a series imagining an alternate history in which the United Kingdom is occupied by Nazi Germany, during the Second World War, debuts on BBC One. The first episode attracts a number of complaints from viewers unable to hear the dialogue, which is blamed on actors mumbling. The BBC says it will look at the sound quality before the next episode is transmitted.Piers Morgan announces he will not present the Royal Television Society (RTS) Programme awards following a campaign to remove him. A petition asserting it was "not acceptable" for Morgan to present the awards ceremony attracted some 200 signatures after the RTS confirmed him as host on 16 February.25Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway returns for its fourteenth series.27Sky News relaunches its 10 pm bulletin with a new-look set and a focus on content from the Sky News team of specialists and broadcast from the new glass box studio at the heart of Sky's campus in Osterley, west London. The Nightly Show is broadcast on ITV at 10 pm and runs for eight weeks and ITV News at Ten is moved to a temporary timeslot of 10.30 pm.
March