Whats this Channel4 ?

Channel 4 went on air for the first time at 4.45 p.m. on Tuesday 2 November 1982. The first programme on Channel 4 was Countdown. The first face to appear on Channel 4 belonged to the late Richard Whiteley.

The IBA (forerunner of the ITC) demanded a 12 minute cut to The Animal Film. The film featured interviews with animal rights activists and appeared to incite people to take (illegal) direct action.

Channel 4 News- The remit didn't require it, conventional wisdom said it was too long, but ITN provided what was to become the Channel 4 'flagship'.

The Tube brought the first real innovation in pop music programming since TOTP. Presenters Jools Holland, the late Paula Yates and Muriel Gray also rewrote the book on how (or how not) to present.

Minipops, a musical entertainment programme featuring pre-pubescent 'wannabes', was attacked in the broadsheets for its "disturbingly explicit sexuality."

Film on Four started its ground-breaking career. Over the next twenty years it was to have a major impact on the British Film Industry.

Who Dares Wins was to become a hotbed of new 'laddish' comedy talent with Rory McGrath and Jimmy Mulville.

1984 was the year of the miners' strike. Storms occurred in the Channel 4 News studio when Miners leader Arthur Scargill met Ian MacGregor, head of the Coal Board.

From 15 October Channel 4's output increased by 25%; weekday schedules now began at 2.30pm instead of around 5pm, and weekends opened at 1pm rather than 2pm.

Saturday Night Live began, showcasing the talent of the new stand up comedy boom including anti Thatcher ranter Ben Elton.

"15 hours and 20 minutes of degradation redeemed by art." - Time magazine on Berlin Alexanderplatz. Controversially the title sequence of Werner Fassbinder's film contained a brief shot of an erect 'male member'.

My Beautiful Launderette became Film Four's first international hit.

The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross was piloted. The chatshow format was to be reinvented.

1986 was the year that Channel 4 introduced 'the red triangle' for late night films 'for which special discretion may be required'. The first movie shown was Thermroc. Mary Whitehouse complained: "It's not good enough to slap on a warning symbol and then indulge in sadistic madness of this kind."

The Peacock report recommends that Channel 4 be allowed to sell its own airtime instead of being subsidised by ITV.

Groundbreaking 'Yoof-TV' programme, Network 7, reinvented the language of live broadcasting with handheld cameras and a mix of current affairs and entertainment items.

On late night, open ended and live chat show, After Dark, Oliver Reed answered the question "Do Men Have To Be Violent?" by attempting to grope fellow guest, Kate Millet.

Sir Richard Attenborough succeeded Edmund Dell as Channel 4 Chairman.

'Friday Night Live' made Comedian Harry Enfield a star. His character, 'Loadsamoney' came to define the 'Thatcherite 80's.

White actress Amy Irving was 'blacked up' to play an Indian Princess in The Far Pavilions. Understandably criticism followed, notably from Michael Grade.

Michael Grade assumed his role as Chief Executive on January 1. Grade had previously been Director of Programmes for the BBC.

Out on Tuesday openly explored gay and lesbian issues and culture in a weekly magazine programme. Arguably the series began an attitude change both in broadcasting and public opinion.

"Club X ... a cacophonous mishmash of pop world phonies, vacuous presenters and fringe music...the ineptitude of the on-screen personae was insultingly genuine."

Transmission of programmes in NICAM digital stereo began.

Nick Park's Oscar-winning animation, Creature Comforts, was screened.

An episode of The Word which featured a man having a colostomy bag emptied over his his head "caused serious concern" at the ITC.

The 1990 Broadcasting Act preserved Channel 4's public ownership. The Act also set in place a funding formula. This formula meant that Channel 4 would be able to sell its own advertising from 1993 onwards, but with the agreement that ITV would fund Channel 4 if its revenue fell below 14% of the total TV advertising income.

Alan Bleasdale's GBH, starring Robert Lindsay, provided superbly comic political drama, based on real events in Liverpool.

Channel 4's three-week Banned season in April 1991 was investigated by the Obscene Publications Squad and referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. 'Banned' had been conceived as a statement about the censorship of broadcasting in the 1990s, so it was not surprising that it caused so much controversy. Scum, Monty Python's Life of Brian and Sebastiane were all transmitted. Jo Menell's explicit film Dick, which consisted entirely of close up shots of male genitalia, was not.

In October it was announced that Michael Grade had been persuaded to stay at Channel 4 for the next five years by a 'golden hand-cuffs' payment of half a million pounds.

'The Big Breakfast' replaced 'Channel 4 Daily' as Channel 4's new breakfast service. Produced by Bob Geldof and the late Paula Yates, it was an instant hit. Many of the show's presenters, such as Chris Evans, Mark Lamarr, Gaby Roslin and Lisa Tarbuck, became household names.

Jani Allan claimed in Channel 4's first libel trial, that Nick Broomfield's documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife depicted her as a "woman of easy virtue". Channel 4 won the case.

Channel 4 broke an important barrier when it achieved a 10% audience share for the first time. Sir Michael Bishop became new Channel 4 chairman, replacing Sir Richard Attenborough

Dennis Potter's Suez crisis drama Lipstick On Your Collar, began.

Channel 4's Christmas offerings included: Camp Christmas, an all gay party; RuPaul's Christmas Ball; and The Alternative Queen's Speech given by 'Stately Homo', Quentin Crisp.

Channel 4 began to sell its own airtime. Previously this had been the job of the ITV, but now the broadcaster was self-financing.

Time Team began its run. Mark Thompson was later to say that: "The defining archaeology series for Channel 4 (is) not a traditional stiff documentary, but the informal, energised Time Team."

Chris Evans opened an Easter Saturday edition of Don't Forget Your Toothbrush with the words: "It's that time of the year again when we remembered Jesus was crucified - and it's that time of the week when we remember that Spurs probably have been too." The Broadcasting Standards Council upheld a complaint against the show.

Channel 4 moved into a Richard Rogers' designed headquarters at 124 Horseferry Road.

Father Ted also joined the Friday night schedule. Mark Thompson was later to say that: "The defining comedy (of Channel 4) is not a polished piece of Oxbridge humour, but Father Ted."

Brookside's Beth Jordache's (played by Anna Friel) gave the first lesbian kiss to be screened on primetime TV in the UK.

Regular widescreen broadcasts began.

In The Dying Rooms, documentary makers Brian Woods and Kate Blewett had uncovered the systematic neglect of abandoned babies in Chinese state-run orphanages. The documentary, Return to the Dying Rooms, returned to look at the (unimproved) situation one year on.

The ITC issued a warning after Shaun Ryder used the 'F-word' 13 times whilst singing 'Pretty Vacant' on a live edition of 'TFI Friday'.

Channel 4 changed its logo. The multicolored '4' became plain white.

The live debate following coverage of 'The Turner Prize', was enlivened when 'tired and emotional' prize winner Tracey Emin, walked out.

Against Nature, a three part 'Equinox' programme, criticised the 'Green lobby' and consequently attracted a huge volume of complaints from enraged environmentalists.

Michael Grade left his post as Chief Executive on 31 May 1997. Former BBC1 and BBC2 controller Michael Jackson took over.

So Graham Norton became part of the Friday night schedule.

Cutting Edge documentary 'Daddy's Girl' was dropped when it was discovered that one of the father and daughter pairs featured were really boyfriend and girlfriend.

Film Four became the first Channel 4 subsidiary channel. The first night, simulcast on Channel 4 included the premiere of The Usual Suspects.

Molly Dineen's documentary, 'Geri' followed Geri Halliwell in the three months after her departure from the Spice Girls, providing a 'portrait of the predicament of the modern celebrity.'

'Queer As Folk' prompted 160 complaints to the Independent Television Commission. Despite the controversy, the ITC cleared the show of breaching programme codes.

The Channel 4 Interactive division was launched.

Big Brother invited viewers to take part in the new reality TV show, 38 million watched and 10 million voted. The show also made the first full scale successful use of interactive TV.

Private Parts, a series about sexual organs, got the word 'clitoris' into the Radio Times.

Channel 4 News became a 7 days a week service.

Teachers became Channel 4's most successful drama series. Real teachers across the country were gratified when their students began to assume that they secretly led interesting lives.

Brass Eye's 'paedophile episode' generated complaints from politicians including Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. The public made over 7000 complaints. The ITC ruled that the pre-programme warning had been inadequate, though it found the content of the programme to be acceptable. Channel 4 was obliged to broadcast an apology.

Michael Jackson left the channel in November to work for USA networks.

Channel 4's latest high-profile MTV import, 'The Osbournes', started. Mark Thompson described the series as a 'bold, genre-busting commission.'

Big Brother contestant Jade Goody was suspected of performing a sexual act live on E4. She also appeared naked after a drinking game.

The Channel 4 audience share again rose above 10%. Channel 4 also won the highest peak time audience in its history (9.7%). The Channel reported a loss of £28m in 2001, mainly arising from heavy investment in '4Ventures.' Around 200 jobs were cut and the 10 businesses that made up '4Ventures' were 'folded back' into Channel 4.

The end of of Channel 4's original Soap, 'Brookside' was announced. Channel 4 finally ended Brookside in November, a year after the long-running soap was relegated to a daytime slot. Then Chief Executive, Mark Thompson, said that: "Television has changed radically since Brookside's inception and it is no longer an environment in which we believe it can exist and thrive."

The ITC accused Channel 4 of showing a "lack of respect for human dignity" in broadcasting footage of a Chinese artist eating a dead baby. The ITC ruled that the documentary, "Beijing Swings", had broken its guidelines on taste and decency and upheld 42 complaints.

Kevin Lygo moved from C5 to replace Tim Gardam as the director of television. The Channel returned to profitability with programmes such as 'Wife Swap' and 'How clean is your house?' proving to be suprise ratings winners.

'The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off,' a documentary about Jonny Kennedy's battle with Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), captivated nearly 5 million viewers and helped to raise £500,000 for the EB charity DebRA.

C4 risked controversy with 'The Hamburg Cell,' a docudrama following the events leading up to 9/11 from the point of view of the terrorists. In the event the programme recieved almost unanimous praise.

The BBC's director of marketing Andy Duncan was chosen to be the new Chief Executive of Channel 4.

'Jamie's School Dinners' galvanised public opinion and forced a change in Government policy. It was also a critical and commercial hit for Channel 4 and Jamie Oliver.

C4's new digital channel 'More4,' launched on Freeview with 'A Very Social Secretary,' a satirical drama charting the affair between the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, and The Spectator publisher, Kimberly Quinn.

This year saw the launch of FourDocs, a user generated, broadband documentary website that celebrates the documentary genre and enables new film-makers to upload their own documentary shorts.

'The Road to Guantanamo,' a powerful factual drama by Michael Winterbottom was aired on Channel 4 in March.

The choice of Tourette's sufferer, Pete Bennett, as a Big Brother contestant was controversial. However, his winning the contest was hailed by some as 'the best PR job anyone could have done' for the condition.

Channel 4 became the first UK broadcaster to both 'simulcast' its TV output via broadband and also to provide a subscription 'video-on-demand' service on its own broadband web application, '4 on Demand.'

Jade Goody was expelled from 'Celebrity Big Brother' after alleged racist bullying directed against Bollywood star, Shilpa Shetty. Ofcom ruled that C4 had breached the Broadcasting Code by allowing some of this behaviour to be seen by children.

The investigative documentary, 'Diana: The Witnesses in the Tunnel,' was broadcast despite representations from Princes William and Harry that the use of photographs of the injured Princess was a "gross disrespect to their mother's memory."

Channel 4 won a licence from Ofcom to launch three national digital radio stations from July 2008 onwards: E4 Radio, Channel 4 Radio and Pure4.