Do You Remember UK TV From The 1980s? Quiz

Answer: Yes, Minister

February 1980 saw the debut of the fantastic "Yes, Minister", which screened three 7-episode series over four years before being succeeded by "Yes, Prime Minister" when Jim Hacker was promoted. Reputedly a favourite of Margaret Thatcher, the two series combined for 38 episodes and lasted until 1988.

The performances by Paul Eddington CBE as Hacker, Derek Fowlds as Bernard and, particularly, the late Sir Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby rank as the standard against which actors in other sitcoms should be judged.

Of the alternatives, all of which are likely to feature in most people's list of "Top 10 Greatest All-Time Sitcoms", "Only Fools & Horses" ran from 1981-91; "Blackadder" from 1983-89, and "Fawlty Towers" from 1975-79.

Answer: Peter Davison

Born Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett in London in 1951, Peter Davison became the Fifth Doctor at the end of Part 4 of the "Logopolis" storyline on March 21, 1981. At the age of just 29, he was, at the time, the youngest actor to have played the world's most famous Time Lord. (The Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, would break Davison's record when he took over in 2009 aged just 26.)

Davison succeeded Tom Baker, who played The Doctor for seven years, longer than any of the dozen actors who have filled the role before or since. Of the other alternatives, Colin Baker succeeded Davison in 1986, becoming the Sixth Doctor, and Paul McGann was the Eighth Doctor for a single-season in 1996.

Davison's role as The Doctor began in earnest

Answer: Countdown

The first programme shown on Channel 4 when it debuted on November 2, 1982 was "Countdown", with the late Richard Whiteley as the host. Whiteley continued in the role until his death in 2005. He was succeeded first by Des Lynam (2005-06), Des O'Connor (2007-08),Jeff Stelling (2009-11), with former "The Apprentice" assistant Nick Hewer taking over in 2012. Carol Vorderman was the original co-presenter (just 22 years old when she first appeared on the show), and she continued even longer than Whitely, leaving only in 2008 and replaced by Rachel Riley.


Of the alternatives, "Fifteen to One" did not debut on Channel 4 until 1988. Hosted by William G Stewart, it ran until 2003, and was then resurrected with Sandi Toksvig as the host in 2014. "The Crystal Maze" ran on Channel 4 between 1990 and 1995. "Treasure Hunt" debuted on Channel 4 in 1982, but not until December. It ran until 1989 and was revived in 2002-03 on BBC2.

Answer: Frank Bough

Born in the central-England Potteries city of Stoke-on-Trent, Frank Bough hosted the first "Breakfast Time" just two days after celebrating his 50th birthday.

Bough was the commentator at the biggest upset in soccer history, when North Korea defeated mighty Italy 1-0 at the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England. Two years later, he took over from David Coleman as the main presenter of "Grandstand". In January 1983, Bough relinquished the Saturday afternoon chair to Des Lyman in exchange for the early morning shift on BBC1.

The 6-person team on the early "Breakfast Time" programmes were Bough, Nick Ross and Selina Scott as the anchors, with regular contributions from Francis Wilson, Debbie Rix and David Icke.

Answer: Albert Tatlock

John Aubrey Conway "Jack" Howarth MBE was born in 1896 in the market town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester. After a lengthy career in theatre and radio, he landed the part of the 64-year old Albert Tatlock in the new ITV soap "Coronation Street" when it debuted on December 9, 1960. As Albert, Jack Howarth remained in Weatherfield as the archetypal 'grumpy old man' for more than 23 years.

A WWI veteran, Albert was widowed in 1959 and retired in 1960, so he began the series as the Street's first pensioner. In Albert's latter years, his widowed nephew-in-law, Ken Barlow, moved into Number 1 to take care of him.

In January 1984, Albert left the street to visit his daughter, Beattie. Whilst away, he died on a heart attack, reported on an episode in May 1984. In reality, the character was written out because of the death of Jack Howarth six weeks earlier.

The alternatives are three more "Street" originals. Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix), also made her last appearance in January 1984 -- on January 4, she emigrated to Portugal. Phoenix (born Patricia Frederica Manfield in Manchester in 1923) died in 1986. Ena Sharples (played by Violet Carson OBE) last appeared in 1980 and Carson herself died aged 85 on Boxing Day 1983. Annie Walker, longtime landlady of the Rovers Return, was played by Doris Speed MBE (born in Manchester in 1899). Walker made her farewell appearance on the Street in October 1983 and Speed died aged 95 in November 1984.

Answer: The final of the "World Snooker Championships"

BBC2's record viewing figures were recorded on April 28, 1984 when 18.5 million viewers tuned in to see Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor contest the final of the World Snooker Championships. One of the greatest (and closest) matches of all time, with Taylor winning 18-17 on the final ball of the deciding frame. Finishing at 12:19 am, a record for the latest finish (later broken in 2006 and 2007), this was not only the most-watched programme ever on BBC2, but also the largest audience for any post-midnight event on any UK TV channel.

Superbowl XIX, aired on Channel 4 on January 20, 1985, saw the San Francisco 49ers beat the Miami Dolphins 38-16. It was also the precursor for the 1985-86 NFL season, which saw weekly games shown on UK TV and attracted millions of fans to the sport, many of them becoming lifelong Chicago Bears fans as that memorable franchise dominated.

BBC1's flagship prime-time soap and one of the UK's most highly-rated programmes, "Eastenders", aired its 5,200th episode in late 2015. The very first of those was shown on February 19, 1985, when around 17 million tuned in.

ITV's "Emmerdale" (called "Emmerdale Farm" until 1989) has now passed 7,400 episodes since its debut in 1972. It celebrated its 1,000th episode in November 1985 with a special lunch attended by Princess Michael of Kent. The series averaged audiences of 10-11 per episode throughout the 1980s and 1990s with a peak of 18 million for a special on December 30, 1993 when a plane crashed into the village.

Answer: Casualty

Originally filmed and set in Bristol, the action in "Casualty" takes place at the A & E Department of the fictional Holby City Hospital. Filming was moved to Cardiff shortly after the series celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011.

Usually transmitted during prime time on Saturday evenings, "Casualty" was moved to Fridays in 1989 but returned to its customary spot three years later. Nowhere near as prolific as some other UK TV soaps (there have been more than 8,000 episodes of "Coronation Street", for example), "Casualty" entered 2016 looking forward to celebrating only its 1,000th episode.

Answer: Princess Anne

"A Question of Sport" was first broadcast in 1968 with Stuart Hall as the question-master. David Vine presented from 1970-77, David Coleman from 1979-97 (including the famous 1987 episode) and former tennis star Sue Barker has hosted since 1997.

The guest on that 1987 show was equestrian Princess Anne, marking the first time that a member of the Royal Family had ever appeared on a TV quiz show. Curiously, the Princess Royal found herself on the team captained by former Liverpool legend Emlyn Hughes who, just weeks earlier, had misidentified a photograph of the Princess as jockey John Reid.

The programme's tradition of attracting Royal guests continued in 2006, when Princess Anne's daughter, Zara Phillips, another British equestrian Olympian, made two appearances.

"A Question of Sport" celebrated its 1,000th episode in March 2013, when former team captains Bill Beaumont, Ally McCoist, John Parrott and Willie Carson returned as team members to join captains Phil Tufnell and Matt Dawson.

Answer: Red Dwarf

"Red Dwarf" is more of a sitcom than a genuine sci-fi series: it is essentially character-driven with a science fiction backdrop. The early episodes were a modern take on the classic Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau film "The Odd Couple", except that here the two main characters who, of course, hate each other, are trapped together in outer space.

The main characters are Dave Lister (played by Craig Charles), the last living human, and a hologram of his former bunkmate, Arnold Rimmer, played by Chris Barrie. Other stars include Danny John-Jules as "The Cat", and Holly, the ship's onboard computer.

Answer: John Craven

John Craven OBE was born in 1940 in Leeds. First aired on BBC1 on April 4, 1972, "John Craven's Newsround" was the first TV news/magazines show aimed specifically at children broadcast anywhere in the world. By the time Craven signed off for the final time on June 22, 1989, the series had become known for breaking real news even though the show was essentially aimed at children. It was here that news of the 1986 Space Shuttle disaster and the 1981 attempted papal assassination were first reported on UK TV.

Renamed simply "Newsround" shortly before Craven's departure, the series has continued past its 40th anniversary in 2012, although today it is presented by a team of rotating hosts.

Craven himself went on to present "Countryfile" after leaving Newsround, and celebrated his 25th anniversary on that series in 2014. He has also been the host of the BBC2 quiz show "Beat the Brain" since it launched in 2015.