A Brief History of BBC Two

BBC Two launched on the 20 April 1964. However, its 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.

The channel recovered from this rather shaky start and won both critical and audience success with a wide range of ground-breaking comedy and drama series, including The Likely Lads and The Forsyte Saga.

Shows such as Match Of The Day and the flagship science programme Horizon were broadcast in the early days and are still mainstays in the schedules to this day.

In 1967, with David Attenborough at the helm, BBC Two was the first channel in Europe to broadcast in colour.

Freed from the confines of black and white, ground-breaking factual programmes were produced, including Civilisation and The Ascent Of Man.

The seventies saw the launch of classics such as Fawlty Towers, I Claudius, Moll Flanders, Madame Bovary, current affairs show Newsnight and snooker show Pot Black, made possible by the launch of colour television.

The eighties on BBC Two brought viewers Life On Earth; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Yes, Minister; The Boys From The Blackstuff; Edge Of Darkness; Not The Nine O’Clock News; and The Young Ones.

As the channel moved through the nineties, much-loved series like Top Gear and Gardeners' World were joined by highly acclaimed drama such as This Life and Our Friends In The North. Big Train, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Gormenghast, The Royle Family, The Fast Show, Shooting The Past and The League Of Gentlemen all made their mark during this time.

The channel continued to support new comedy, most notably with award-winning shows Dead Ringers, Double Take, Marion And Geoff, The Office, The Kumars At No 42, and the BBC Three co-commission Little Britain.

Recently, BBC Two has seen a resurgence in specialist factual, comedy and drama, with highlights including The Fall and The Wrong Mans, both rating as the channel’s biggest drama and comedy launches in eight years.

The channel has also made its mark with event television, with live events like Lambing Live, Stargazing Live and Airport Live, as well as growing new talent on the channel, including Mary Beard, Amanda Vickery, Alice Roberts, Mary Berry, Lorraine Pascale and Brian Cox.