For more than two decades, the BBC Television Service was the only option for UK viewers. Until 22 September 1955, when a commercial rival, Independent Television, started at 7.15pm with fanfares and speeches from a launch jamboree at London’s Guildhall, continuing with playlets from Oscar Wilde and Noël Coward, then a middleweight boxing bout.
Over the subsequent seven decades, ITV has screened shows that are unforgettable, wrongly and rightly forgotten and, in some cases, now-unforgivable. Here, as a 70th birthday card, are the most significant shows from each year, reflecting the shift from regional franchises to a single ITV Studios with dozens of independent production companies.
