BBC News and Newsreel
1954 A very early bulletin read by a young Richard Baker, featuring the famous transmitter mast titles.

BBC News
1960s The generic titles used before the advent of colour. The music would continue until late 1981 when it was finally replaced.

BBC Election '70
1970 A bad year for the socialists with the Tories returned to power. Cliff Michelmore fronts the BBC's coverage of the 1970 general election; our clip may be in black and white, but on the night the programme was shown in colour.

BBC News and Campaign Report
1974 Presented by Richard Baker and Peter Woods.
 
Fast forward to the next election, four years later. Richard Whitmore brings the latest from the hustings along with all the day's other news. A more substantial round-up has Richard Baker bringing the latest developments away from the election, while Peter Woods is at the Election Desk.

BBC News
1974 The regular look for BBC bulletins in 1974, which lives on in certain Monty Python editions. A senior Labour politician has defected from the party - Richard Baker has all the details.

BBC News - Richard Baker's last bulletin
31.12.1982 After 28 years Richard leaves the BBC Newsroom on New Year's Eve 1982. A dignified exit with no real fuss made apart from a glass of wine and some streamers. After all, Richard would continue to be on our screens in other guises for a few more years.

News Review
1983 BBC2's Sunday evening round-up of the week's big stories, subtitled for the deaf. The theme music was "Roadwalk" by the legendary bandleader, Syd Dale.

BBC News Report
1984 Straight after "Only Fools And Horses", Nicholas Witchell butts in with news of a fatal train crash. The term "newsflash" went out of vogue in the period between the Iranian embassy siege and this item.

Newsview
1986 By 1986 News Review gave way to NewsView. There were two presenters rather than one, and in-vision subtitles were ditched (possibly due to increased Ceefax take-up). This is the final edition of 1986.

BBC News Report
1987 Just before closedown, Nicholas Witchell has an update on the unfolding Zeebrugge ferry tragedy. The Herald of Free Enterprise has capsized; rescue efforts are continuing.

BBC News Report
1989 Shock horror - Chancellor Nigel Lawson has resigned! And the Government has just identified his replacement; Andrew Harvey reveals who that is.

BBC News Report
1992 Following the unexpected re-election of the Tory government, Martyn Lewis has an update on the cabinet reshuffle.

BBC Afternoon News Summary
1988 A major plank of the BBC's new daytime service in 1986 was the provision of hourly news summaries, including weather and regional headlines. The summaries were shown on BBC1 until lunchtime, after which they moved to BBC2. Sadly, the summaries disintegrated during the 1990s and are now superfluous in this era of BBC News 24.
 
Moira Stewart presents this afternoon summary, with graphics based on the One O'Clock News.

BBC Afternoon News Summary
1992 The headlines, read by Chris Lowe.

BBC Regional News Promo
1992 "The things that matter the most are often those which happen close to home", proclaims Kirsty Wark in this montage of stories from the BBC regions. Apologies for the absence of the very beginning.

1997 GENERAL ELECTION

BBC Election '97
1997 The last and most dramatic election of the century, which was to trounce the Tories from power after 18 years. As always David Dimbleby presented, with Peter Snow presiding over his graphic displays.

2001 GENERAL ELECTION

BBC Vote 2001 - The Verdict
2001 Four years on from their historic victory, Labour secured a second term. This was the first election night to be covered in widescreen. Top politicians dropped in as they awaited their fate.

BBC News Summary
12.09.2001 A day after the horrific events in New York, new developments were continuing to emerge and additional news reports were slotted into the schedules. This update was broadcast ahead of the Lottery draw.

DEATH OF THE QUEEN MOTHER

BBC News Report
30.03.2002 It was the news we'd been waiting a long time to hear - but when the death was announced of the Queen Mother, it was still a major story. Peter Sissons broke the news on both channels, breaking into "Auntie's Bloomers" on BBC1 and leaving BBC2 on hold for five minutes.
 
Peter's choice of a burgundy tie has gone down in broadcasting infamy, and while on air he didn't seem to know whether he was coming or going!

BBC Morning News Summary
2003 A more informal look to the morning summaries on BBC1. Anna Ford stands before a keyed shot of the newsroom, and the weather maps have new "flypast" graphics. Complete bulletin.

2005 GENERAL ELECTION

BBC Election Night
05.05.2005 Presented by David Dimbleby, with Andrew Marr and Jeremy Paxman.
 
The nation decides and BBC News promises its biggest and best election coverage ever. With more than 80 OB units at its disposal, the BBC was true to its word. David Dimbleby anchors as usual, with Andrew Marr providing analysis and Jeremy Paxman interrogating defending MPs as only he can.

This page has been written and presented by Simon Luxton.

The information presented on this page has been researched by me on behalf of TV ARK and is offered in good faith, correct to the best of my knowledge. If any factual errors have appeared here inadvertently, then I would be delighted to hear from anyone wishing to offer corrections. All opinions expressed are my own and no offence is intended. Should they be a cause of concern or distress to any readers, please inform me immediately so that I can remove or amend them accordingly.