A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 4, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.
1960s
1967 30 September – BBC Radio 4 launches at 6:35am, replacing the BBC Home Service. The first programme to be broadcast is Farming Today. 22 December – Panel game Just a Minute is first aired with Nicholas Parsons as chairman (initially as a temporary stand-in). He would go on to present the programme until 2019. Your Hundred Best Tunes, Choral Evensong, and Listen with Mother are broadcast on Radio 4 for the first time.
1968 No events.
1969 10 July – The BBC publishes a report called "Broadcasting in the Seventies" proposing the reorganisation of programmes on the national networks and replacing regional broadcasting on BBC Radio 4 with BBC Local Radio.
1970s 1970 28 March – Live sport is broadcast on all Radio 4 frequencies for the final time ahead of the transfer of all sports coverage to Radio 2 from the following week. 1 April – Choral Evensong is broadcast on Radio 4 for the final time, it transfers to Radio 3 from the following week. 3 April – For the first time, both airings of Any Questions are broadcast on Radio 4. Previously, the station had only broadcast the Saturday repeat as the Friday night debut broadcast had been on Radio 2. 5 April – Your Hundred Best Tunes moves from Radio 4 to Radio 2. 6 April The first editions of PM and The World Tonight are broadcast.The World Tonight, 6 April 2020, 50 years after the first broadcast, with references to the anniversary at the start and from 42:57 The first Thought for the Day is broadcast, replacing Ten to Eight. The first edition of Start the Week is broadcast with Richard Baker as presenter. 10 April – The first broadcast of a new news and current affairs programme Analysis. 6 September – Sunday, which looks at topical religious and ethical issues, launches. 5 October – The consumer affairs programme You and Yours makes its debut.
1971 4 November – Radio 4 (and Radio 2) begin broadcasting in stereo in South East England. Stereo was rolled out to the rest of the country over subsequent years.Brown, Ron "Steam radio comes up to date", New Scientist 2 November 1972, p. 264
1972 2 April – The first edition of the comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue airs. 2 September Radio 4 begins transmitting on one of their MW frequencies – 1151, 1052, 908 or 692 kHz (251, 285, 330 to 434 metres). All regional variations begin airing only on VHF, likely due to BBC Local Radio beginning broadcasts on this day on MW.
1973 9 April – The first edition of Kaleidoscope is broadcast. 29 June – Programmes For Schools are broadcast on all Radio 4 frequencies for the final time. From next term, they are aired only on VHF/FM. 2 July Woman's Hour is transferred from Radio 2 to Radio 4 Hourly news bulletins during weekday daytimes are introduced. 23 December – I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again airs its last episode.
1974 28 September – Stop the Week is broadcast for the first time.
1975 9 June – Proceedings in the Parliament of the United Kingdom are broadcast on radio for the first time and Radio 4 broadcasts the first two hours of that day's proceedings.
1976 4 January – First broadcast of the panel game Quote... Unquote. 27 August – First broadcast of the sketch comedy show The Burkiss Way.
1977 30 April – The first edition of Sport on Four is broadcast. 2 May – Radio 4 launches a new breakfast programme Up to the Hour. Consequently, The Today Programme is reduced from a continuous two-hour programme to two 25-minute slots. 1 July – Radio 4 extends the 6pm news on weekdays from 15 to 30 minutes and renames the bulletin to The Six O’Clock News. The weekend 6pm news bulletin remains as a 15-minute broadcast and continues to be listed as News. This is the flagship change to a number of schedule alterations, which include The Archers moving from 6:45pm to 7:05 pm. 22 August – The BBC Radio comedy The Men from the Ministry airs its final episode after fifteen years on air. 2 October – The first edition of Money Box is broadcast.
1978 3 April – Permanent radio broadcasts of proceedings in the House of Commons begin. Radio 4 marks the first day with an afternoon of live coverage. The station goes on to broadcast Prime Minister's Questions for the next year. 3 July – Changes are made to the station's weekday breakfast schedule. After just over a year on air, Up to the Hour is cancelled. Consequently, Today once again becomes a continuous two-hour programme. Also, a new weekday 6am News Briefing is introduced. 23 November Radio 4's AM service moves from medium wave to 1500m (200kHz) long wave as part of a plan to improve national AM reception, and to conform with the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975. However, long wave reception is not universal in some parts of the UK where long wave reception is poor, filler transmitters on MW are used. The shipping forecast transfers from Radio 2 to Radio 4 so that the forecast can continue to be broadcast on long wave. The Radio 4 UK Theme is used for the first time to coincide with the network becoming a fully national service for the first time and to mark this the station is officially known as Radio 4 UK. 22 December – Industrial action at the BBC by the ABS union, which started the previous day, extends to radio when the radio unions join their television counterparts by going on strike, forcing the BBC to merge its four national radio networks into one national radio station from 4pm and called it the BBC All Network Radio Service. The strike is settled shortly before 10pm on that day, with the unions and BBC management reaching an agreement at the British government's industrial disputes arbitration service ACAS.
1979 1 April – The first edition of Feedback is broadcast. 30 September – First broadcast of The Food Programme. 5 October – First broadcast of Poetry Please. 15 November – Radio 4 begins broadcasting on MW in London. Listeners struggle to get buzz-free and crackle-free reception on long wave due to large steel-framed buildings. This issue does not affect MW broadcasts so the transmitter is brought into service to provide a satisfactory signal for the station's long wave output for listeners in central London.
1980s 1980 Summer – Due to the continued expansion of BBC Local Radio, regional opt-out programming ends, apart from in the south west as this is now the only part of England still without any BBC local station.
1981 No events.
1982 10 September – After 32 years on air, Listen with Mother is broadcast for the final time. It is replaced three days later by a shorter five minute lunchtime programme called Listening Corner which is transmitted on FM only whilst long wave listeners receive the lunchtime Shipping Forecast. 31 December – The last regional opt-out programming ends when the final edition of Morning Sou'West is broadcast ahead of the forthcoming launch of BBC Radio Devon and BBC Radio Cornwall.
1983 1 February – In Business is broadcast for the first time.
1984 5 April – Radio 4 begins what is described in Radio Times as "a new three-hour sequence – a six-month broadcast experiment in which you are invited to participate." The programme is called Rollercoaster and is presented by Richard Baker. The "Grand Finale of Radio 4's rollicking rolling experiment" takes place on 27 September and was not repeated. 27 July – David Jacobs chairs Any Questions? for the final time. 14 September – John Timpson chairs Any Questions? for the first time. 29 September The post-midnight Shipping Forecast starts being broadcast 18 minutes later than before, moving to a start time of 00:33. Radio 4 starts broadcasting 30 minutes earlier at the weekend when it launches a 20-minute Prelude, described as “a musical start to your weekend listening”. Consequently, the station is now on air every day from just before 6am until 12:30am. The Radio 4 UK branding is dropped and the station is now officially simply known as Radio 4.
1985 28 June – The final weeknight Study on 4 broadcast takes place. 29 June – Study on 4 is renamed Options and from this date, all of BBC Radio's adult educational programming is now broadcast on weekend afternoons. The programmes continue to be broadcast only on VHF/FM. This means that Radio 4's output on weeknights between 11pm and 11:30pm – i.e. all of The World Tonight and The Financial World Tonight – are now also broadcast on VHF/FM. 25 July–8 August – During the 1985 school Summer holidays, Radio 4 broadcasts an all-morning children's programme called Pirate Radio 4 on Thursday mornings. Three editions of it are aired. It is broadcast on VHF/FM only with the usual Radio 4 schedule continuing on long wave. It would return the following Summer for three more editions.
1986 5 January – Michael Parkinson takes over as host of Desert Island Discs following the death the previous year of Roy Plomley. 24 December – John Timpson presents The Today programme for the final time. 28 December – Apna Hi Ghar Samajhiye (Make Yourself at Home) is broadcast for the final time. The programme, aimed at the Asian community, had been broadcast on Radio 4 and the BBC Home Service every Sunday morning since 1965.
1987 3 January – The Today programme is extended to six days a week when it launches a Saturday edition and John Humphrys joins the programme's presenting team as John Timpson's replacement. 17 July – John Timpson chairs Any Questions? for the final time. 4 September – Jonathan Dimbleby chairs Any Questions? for the first time. 27 October – Radio 4 launches a new twice-weekly soap opera called Citizens.
1988 1 February – Radio 4's long wave frequency is adjusted from to . 27 March – Sue Lawley replaces Michael Parkinson as host of Desert Island Discs.
1989 26 May – Radio 4 airs the 10,000th episode of The Archers.
1990s 1990 23 June – Ahead of the transfer of all of BBC radio's educational programmes to the forthcoming BBC Radio 5, the last edition of Options, the BBC's weekend afternoon strand of adult educational programmes which had been transmitted as a weekend afternoon opt-out from the main schedule on FM, is broadcast. 29 June – Programmes For Schools are broadcast on Radio 4 for the final time. 20 August – The Moral Maze is broadcast for the first time. 24 August – Listening Corner, the weekday lunchtime programme for small children, is broadcast for the final time. 26 August – Open University programmes are broadcast on Radio 4 for the final time until they return to Radio 4 in 1994 when Radio 5 is replaced by BBC Radio 5 Live. 27 August – The launch of Radio 5 sees the full Radio 4 schedule broadcast on FM for the first time.
1991 17 January–2 March – BBC Radio 4 News FM, a rolling BBC Radio news service, is on air during the first Gulf War. It broadcasts on the station's FM frequencies, with Radio 4's regularly scheduled non-news programming continuing on long wave. refers Sheena McDonald, "Scud-FM goes critical—BBC gears up for round-the-clock news service", page 25, The Guardian 17 August 1992 25 July – The final episode of soap opera Citizens is broadcast. 13 September – The Daily Service is broadcast on FM for the final time. 16 September The main Radio 4 service moves from long wave to FM as FM coverage has now been extended to cover almost all of the UK. Radio 4 didn't become available on FM in much of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland until the start of the 1990s. Opt-outs are transferred to long wave. A new 30-minute religious slot at 10am on weekdays is launched, but is broadcast as an opt-out and therefore is only available on long wave. The first fifteen minutes is used to broadcast The Daily Service and this is followed by the launch of a 12-month series featuring readings from The Bible. Woman’s Hour moves from early afternoons to a mid-morning slot.David Hendy Life on Air: A History of Radio Four, 2007, OUP, p. 332.
1992