BBC Two is to celebrate its 50th anniversary with a raft of new comedy and entertainment programmes, the Corporation has announced.
With programming spanning over five decades, from The Likely Lads to The Wrong Mans, BBC Two has long been the home of comedy and entertainment, and to celebrate will be showing a range of “brilliantly funny new content.”
In a blog post, Adam Barker, acting controller of BBC Two, said: “50 Years Of BBC Two Comedy celebrates the proud heritage the channel has in growing and supporting generations of successful comedy talent and making us laugh.”
The cast of Goodness Gracious Me will be reuniting for a special 30-minute episode, while Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse will take a look at the story of BBC Two in Harry And Paul’s Story Of The Twos, an hour-long tribute to the channel’s most iconic programmes and personalities
BBC Two launched in 1964 and three years later in 1967, with David Attenborough at the helm, became the first channel in Europe to broadcast in colour. It has since been home to programmes including Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones, The Royle Family, Mock the Week, The Office, Shooting Stars and Top Gear.
The channel is also the birthplace of iconic sporting programmes such as Match Of The Day, Ski Sunday and Pot Black. To celebrate, Sue Barker will host 50 Years Of Sport on BBC Two, revealing what makes sport on BBC Two “feel so special”.
As the Corporation undergoes a shift in strategy and looks to save money, BBC One and BBC Two are likely to become recipients of more comedy programming, with its flagship youth and comedy channel, BBC Three, moving wholly online.
The BBC has said that it will be announcing more content in the weeks to come.
A shaky start…
Launched on 20 April 1964, BBC Two’s debut didn’t quite go according to plan. With only a few minutes to go before the channel went to air, a power cut affected the whole of west London and anchor man Gerald Priestland battled on in near darkness and total chaos.
The blackout meant that the first show to be broadcast on the channel in its entirety was Playschool, which went out the following day.
