Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Tv

1960

• A TV drama called The Dark Man stars Earl Cameron as a West Indian cab driver. It tries to honestly examine the reactions and prejudices he faces at work. During the 60s there were an increasing number of programmes that explored the black experience in the UK.

1963

• The UK TV show, Tonight has an episode narrated by George Lamming. It's a poetic and impressionistic view of black working class life in Britain.
• In 1963, when most African American women were loath to be seen in public with unstraightened hair, actor Cicely Tyson sported cornrows or a "TWA" ("teeny, weeny afro") in the popular US television series East Side, West Side.

1964

• On Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ1: The Colony, filmed on location in Birmingham was the first TV documentary to give a voice to working class Caribbean settlers. Participants included a railway man from St Kitts, a bus conductor from Jamaica, a family of singers from Trinidad and a nurse from Barbados.
• Z Cars, a very popular drama series had an episode called A Place of Safety in which an African (Johnny Sekka) confronts racism from the police. Also the TV soap, Compact, becomes the first soap to include a regular role for a black actor - Horace James played magazine photographer Jeff Armandez.On radio; a 17-part series called the Negro in America, a drama by African-American Alice Childress launches.

1965

• Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ1 TV: The Wednesday Play, Fable, was a controversial drama by John Hopkins in which apartheid is reversed so that white people find themselves oppressed second-class citizens, with black people in control. With Thomas Baptiste, Barbara Assoon, Bari Jonson, Rudolph Walker (Trinidad), Dan Jackson, Carmen Munroe (Guyana), Trevor Rhone (Jamaica), Frank Singuineau and Charles Hyatt.

1967

• Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ1 TV: Rainbow City, six-part drama series starring Errol John as John Steele, a Jamaican lawyer living and working in a multi-racial community in Birmingham. This was the first drama series to give a leading role to a black actor.

1969

• The Roar of the Crowd on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ 2 - a series in which sports stars talk about themselves features cricketer 'Six sixes in one over-Gary Sobers'. Regarded as one of the finest all-rounders of the modern times, he still holds the unbeatable record of six sixes in an over. His test record of 365 was only beaten decades later by another great from the Caribbean, Brian Lara.
• Star Trek (started in '66) made it to UK TV screens. Nichelle Nichols, playing crew member Uhura, was the first black actress to feature in a major US series. Previously a singer with Duke Ellington, she nearly gave up the role as she felt it lacked significance, but was persuaded to stay by Martin Luther King who said she was a role model for black children.

1972

• Sammy Davis Jr makes a guest appearance on the television show All In The Family.

1973

• Trevor McDonald joins ITN as a reporter from the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service and becomes Britain's first black TV news reporter.

1975

• Lenny Henry makes his television debut winning the New Faces talent competition by doing stand-up comedy impersonations.
• Saturday Night Live premieres on US TV. The legendary long-running comedy show helped launch the careers of comedians Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, and Chris Rock.
• Soul Train premieres on television on 15th February in the United States. The show's first performance is by Gino Vannelli.

1977

• The US TV premiere of Alex Haley's Pulitzer Prize-winning Roots draws an audience of 130 million. The powerful story, tracing Haley's family back to the days of slavery, was the most-watched mini series of all time.
• The Richard Pryor Show airs on US TV however due to his outrageous material, the show is axed after just four episodes.

1978

• Diff'rent Strokes, the popular US sitcom, premiered on television.

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  After 20 years on air the Black and White Minstrel show was cancelled after complaints of it being racist.

1980

• Eddie Murphy made his comic debut on Saturday Night Live.

1981

• Moira Stuart became the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's first black woman newsreader.
• Comedian Richard Pryor won the Grammy for Best Comedy Recording.

1982

• Channel 4 aired for the first time with a radically different structure from the three existing channels. It had a remit to cater for youth and minority groups. The government also gave the go ahead for satellite television.

1983

• The cult series The A Team premiered on TV. The show would only be made for four years but was destined to be re-run for another 20. It featured Mr T playing the part of hard-man B.A. Baracus who knew how to floss the gold chains.
• No Problem! begins on Channel Four. As well as being Channel Four's first UK black sitcom it was also their first British-made sitcom. Its cast were members of the Black Theatre Co-operative which staged plays and included Judith Jacob and Victor Romero Evans.Set in Willesden Green, it was about the grown up Powell children after their parents had returned to Jamaica. The comedy dealt with their lives and ambitions from modelling to running a pirate radio station.

1984

• The Cosby Show debuted on US TV. It is now widely considered the most popular sitcom of the 80s.

1986

• The Oprah Winfrey Show launched. It was the first US chat show to be presented by a black woman. It quickly built into a phenomenon, becoming the highest-rated talk show in US history.

1989

• Channel 4 broadcast Desmond's. This comedy about a black British family appealed to a mainstream audience and was also popular in the Caribbean and US where it was broadcast on Black Entertainment Television.

1990

• Will Smith hits primetime television when the sitcom The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air launches. It stars him as a poor black cousin sent to stay in the rich white Bel-Air neighbourhood.

1991

• The cult youth music programme Dance Energy presented by Normski launches on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ2 as part of the Def II strand.

1996

• TV programme Black Britain was screened on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. It reflected the lives and experiences of the UK's black population and was billed as the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's first programme specifically for black viewers.
• The MOBOs launch and are shown on Channel 4. The awards (for Music of Black Origin) brought a much-needed emphasis to the achievements of black music and artists. In the first year Goldie won two, the Fugees won two and Jazzie B received one for Outstanding Contribution to black music.