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89-494: Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show Pointless , and is a weekday morning-show presenter on Classic FM . Armstrong is a member of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller . His television credits include Armstrong and Miller , Beast , Life Begins , Hunderby and Danger Mouse . He

178-551: A " floating voter ", stating "I'm not greatly impressed by party politics, but I am by individual people. I'm a centrist , and very suspicious of any tribalism." In August 2014, Armstrong was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue . In 2017, Armstrong urged

267-845: A 26-acre (11 ha) farm in Bledington in Gloucestershire near the Oxfordshire border. In February 2011, Armstrong became President of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne , launching a million-pound appeal at a special gala event. He is a patron of several charities, including Family Links, the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust and Just A Drop. In an interview with The Independent in March 2012, Armstrong spoke of his support for

356-867: A break and split for several years to forge their own solo careers. Armstrong renewed his partnership with Miller for the award-winning The Armstrong and Miller Show in 2007. The Armstrong and Miller Book was released in October 2010. Armstrong appeared in BBC Radio 4 's The Very World of Milton Jones , broadcast between 1998 and 2001. He narrated the animated cartoon series The Big Knights in 1999; it first appeared on BBC1 that Christmas. That same year he also starred as Prince Charming in ITV 's Christmas pantomime, alongside Ben Miller, Samantha Janus , Paul Merton , Harry Hill , Frank Skinner and Ronnie Corbett . Between early 2000 and early 2001, Armstrong starred as

445-725: A career in acting and comedy. While waiting for acting roles, he worked in several north London bars and restaurants. He was eventually introduced to Ben Miller , who had also moved to London, through Jez Butterworth . In 1996, Armstrong and Miller performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and were nominated for the Perrier Award . Armstrong and Miller co-starred in four series of Armstrong and Miller from 1997 to 2001, while also performing sketches in The Sunday Format . The duo decided to take

534-451: A co-presenter on BBC One 's The Great British Weather . In August 2011, he began presenting Epic Win on BBC One. In 2012–2013, Armstrong co-hosted ITV series Prize Island with Emma Willis . On 3 January 2015, Armstrong and Rochelle Humes co-hosted entertainment special Frank Sinatra: Our Way on BBC One. On 1 June 2015, Armstrong presented a documentary, Rome's Invisible City , which used 3D scanning technology to discover

623-450: A complex "dual-standard" 405- and 625-line receiver with both a VHF and a UHF aerial (405-line-only sets became obsolete in 1985 when VHF transmissions ended). BBC1 moved to purpose-built facilities at Television Centre on 20 September 1969. Television News continued to use Alexandra Palace as its base and by early 1968 had even converted one of its studios to colour. In the weeks leading up to 15 November 1969, BBC1 unofficially transmitted

712-567: A decade in television and comedy, Armstrong returned to his musical roots and put together his own cover band , which plays a wide range of music from jazz to rock to pop classics. A classically trained bass baritone , he is the vocalist and is backed up by Harry the Piano on keyboards, Simon Bates on woodwind, Jeff Lardner on drums and Dave Swift on bass. The band's first tour ran from 19 September to 6 November 2013. Armstrong mainly sang at his local parish church services or at weddings, away from

801-574: A high level of image resolution . It was renamed BBC TV in 1960 and used this name until the launch of the second BBC channel, BBC2 , in 1964. The main channel then became known as BBC1. The channel adopted the current spelling of BBC One in 1997. The channel's annual budget for 2012–2013 was £1.14 billion. It is funded by the television licence fee together with the BBC's other domestic television stations and shows uninterrupted programming without commercial advertising. The television channel had

890-625: A lot of help from my friends", with the channel still under criticism, following the start of new programming which Alan introduced a year earlier, and the number of summer repeats. £175 million was spent on 80 hours of original drama produced, enchantment to the arts with an extended 26-week run for Omnibus , and documentaries with The Downing Street Years , new wildlife series and an eight-month look at Sheffield's Children's hospital, while Goodnight Sweetheart , Grace & Favour and The Danny Baker Show were new comedy series. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman included in

979-575: A misanthropic, animal-hating vet in the BBC One sitcom Beast , and he has also been the star of a series of TV commercials for Pimm's . On BBC Radio 4, Armstrong played John Weak in the office sitcom Weak at the Top . He also played Martin Baine-Jones for the Times Online 's Timeghost podcast. Between September and November 2010, Armstrong took The Armstrong and Miller Show on tour in

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1068-531: A number of new home grown programmes, including 'Allo 'Allo! , In Sickness and in Health , and Open All Hours . Further improvement came about when the corporation strengthened its drama output costing £30 million, with eight new series, including Howards' Way , All Creatures Great and Small , Hold the Back Page , and Bluebill , along with the return of Bergerac and Big Deal . The increase in

1157-553: A patriotic song by Noël Coward . He sang in Songs of Praise: The Big Sing , broadcast on 20 September 2015, a special programme from the Royal Albert Hall to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II becoming the world's longest-serving monarch, singing "I Would Be True". On 6 November 2015, Armstrong released his debut solo vocal album, A Year of Songs , on Warner Music Group 's East West Records label. It reached number six on

1246-552: A position vacated by BBC Three , which had been switched to internet-only six weeks earlier. Changes in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland were also scheduled but delayed for 'technical reasons'. On 22 November 2022, the BBC announced that BBC One will finally be regionalised on their HD channels. This move started on Sky Glass, followed by Virgin Cable, and then in the 2023 new year, HD programmes are launched on satellite. With

1335-579: A post she took up on 1 November 2000. She had previously been sounded out about the job in 1997 after Michael Jackson 's departure, but had turned down the opportunity as she felt she was then not yet experienced enough. During Heggessey's five years in charge, BBC One's audience share fell by 19.9%, to 23%, although this was in the context of declining audience figures across all British television channels due to increased competition from multichannel digital television . However, in 2001 BBC One overtook its main rival ITV in terms of annual audience share for

1424-603: A result. His future was deemed uncertain following critical comments from Sir Michael Lyons , Chairman of the BBC Trust , and he resigned on 5 October 2007. In 2009, a report published by the BBC Trust found scheduling changes had led to a decrease in viewers. This was especially noticeable for Blue Peter and Newsround , two of CBBC's flagship programmes; Blue Peter which recorded its lowest viewing numbers since it started in 1958, and Newsround with fewer than 100,000 viewers compared to 225,000 in 2007. As part of

1513-526: A series of British television adverts for the drink Pimm's . With Miller, he has formed a production company called Toff Media . In 2002, Armstrong provided the voice for the character Horse in the English dub of the series A Town Called Panic . In 2009, Armstrong portrayed the British microcomputer innovator Clive Sinclair in the BBC docu-drama Micro Men . Set in the early 1980s, the film focused on

1602-514: A station clock, and perceived lack of a 'serious ident', also put the BBC in an embarrassing situation just one day into the new look with the death of the Queen Mother . One of Heggessey's most notable decisions and last major success at the channel was the recommissioning of the science-fiction drama series Doctor Who , which had been a popular hit in previous decades but ceased production in 1989 . Heggessey and Jane Tranter recommissioned

1691-559: A subject they are passionate about before facing a studio quiz on their new topic. He has been a frequent guest host on the BBC 's satirical Have I Got News for You , having appeared 32 times; he has, to date, made the most appearances of any guest, whether as host or panellist. In 2008, he was the presenter and narrator for When Were We Funniest? and was the only person to feature in all 12 episodes. Armstrong in The Independent

1780-416: A year was spent on narrowing the gap on ITV's ratings lead, since a few months prior to this the channel had been criticised for its Autumn schedule, having tired formats, uninspiring scheduling of new programmes and poor scripts. Wogan was replaced with Eldorado , in early July 1992, but this was itself cancelled a year later. Alan Yentob launched the 1993 Autumn schedule calling it "My first try with

1869-493: Is a comedy sketch television show that aired between 1997 and 2001 featuring Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller , known together as Armstrong and Miller . Following a series on the Paramount Comedy Channel in 1997, a further three were made for Channel 4 . The duo moved to BBC One in 2007 with The Armstrong & Miller Show . Four series were produced by Absolutely Productions . The first series

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1958-846: Is also known as the voice of Mr Smith , Sarah Jane Smith 's alien supercomputer in The Sarah Jane Adventures and the series 4 two-part finale of Doctor Who . Armstrong is a bass-baritone singer and has released three studio albums. Descended from a North East landowning family , a distant ancestral relation William Armstrong was created Baron Armstrong in 1887, and his maternal grandparents were economist Lucius Thompson-McCausland , High Sheriff of Hertfordshire , and Helen Laura McCausland (6 April 1903 – February 2000), granddaughter of Captain Conolly Thomas McCausland (13 May 1828 – 25 June 1902), High Sheriff of County Londonderry , by his wife

2047-595: The BBC Six O'Clock News , a straight news programme in a bid to shore up its failing early evening slot. It was believed the BBC were planning to cut short the evening news and move more light entertainment programming in from the 18:20 slot, but this was dismissed. The Miss Great Britain contest was dropped, being described as verging on the too offensive after the January 1985 contest, with World's Strongest Man and International Superstar also being cancelled. BBC1

2136-506: The Nine O'Clock News had been moved to the later time of 22:00 and Panorama moved from Monday night prime time slot to a later slot on Sunday nights. The moving of Panorama attracted criticism that BBC One was sidelining serious programming in favour of more populist output. Heggessey publicly defended the decision, despite it not being hers, claiming that Panorama 's ratings would have "dwindled" in its previous slot. Heggessey and

2225-619: The UK Albums Chart in its first week and topped the UK Classical Chart , the first time a comedian/actor has reached number 1 in that chart. In January and February 2016 he carried out a 9-date UK tour with his band. In June 2016 he began recording his second album, Upon a Different Shore , which was released on 28 October. It reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart . In December 2017, he narrated Prokofiev 's Peter and The Wolf for children. Armstrong's version

2314-509: The UK Government to do more to support music education and therapy , saying "in the weft and weave of politics I think these sorts of human stories get shoved to one side, but we have to make sure they are right up front and centre. It's not all about Brexit ." Fiction BBC One The channel was launched on 2 November 1936 under the name BBC Television Service , which was the world's first regular television service with

2403-452: The fifth series of The Masked Singer UK as the character "Chicken Caesar". He was eliminated and unmasked in the second episode. In December 2015, Armstrong was awarded an honorary doctorate from Northumbria University . On 27 August 2003, Armstrong married Hannah Bronwen Snow; they have four sons. A daughter of Richard Snow, she is the step-sister of Esther Coren and Floxxie King . In July 2014 they moved, with their four sons, to

2492-442: The "Balloon" idents (and the traditional "Globe" idents the channel had used in a variety of forms since 1963). They were replaced by a new style of on-air identity for the channel, the "Rhythm & Movement" idents . The new idents attracted criticism for going against the traditions of the channel and pandering to " political correctness ", as they featured activities performed by people of various ethnicities. The abandonment of

2581-407: The "great British summer holiday" and his attempts to explore its modern version. On 30 May 2011, Armstrong hosted the pilot for a new panel show, Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask for Dave with Dave Lamb , Katy Brand , Griff Rhys Jones and Robert Webb . After a positive response to the pilot, Dave commissioned the first series, which first aired on 6 February 2012. In July 2011, Armstrong became

2670-471: The 1962 Pilkington Report on the future of broadcasting. Simultaneously, the Pilkington Report decided to award an additional television station to the BBC on the basis that ITV was in comparison lacking in serious programming. BBC Television became BBC1 when BBC2 launched on 20 April 1964, transmitting an incompatible 625-line image on UHF . The only way to receive all channels was to use

2759-514: The BBC announced plans to launch a one-hour time shift of the channel, named BBC One +1. The channel would have replaced BBC Three in 2016. However, on 30 June 2015, the BBC Trust rejected the plans for a BBC One +1 channel as they stated that it would be at the expense of commercial rivals. BBC One HD , a simulcast of BBC One in 1080i high definition (HD), launched on 3 November 2010 at 19:00 with The One Show . The channel simulcasts

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2848-535: The BBC's Controller of Drama Commissioning, Jane Tranter , took advantage of the weekday 21:00 slot opening up by moving the news to commission new popular drama output, such as the successful Waking the Dead (2000–2011) and Spooks (2002–2011). Celebrity dancing show Strictly Come Dancing (2004–present) was also a popular success on Saturday nights, although another Saturday night entertainment series, Fame Academy , faced accusations of being too derivative of

2937-429: The BBC's television output be out-sourced to independent production companies. By 2004, many popular BBC One shows were made for the channel by independents, but the in-house production departments continued to contribute heavily to the schedule. In March 1991, as part of the £63 million programme package for spring and summer line up on BBC1, it was announced an extra £20 million was to be spent on rejuvenating

3026-621: The BBC-developed NICAM system. Widescreen programming was introduced on digital platforms in 1998. For the first 50 years of its existence, with the exception of films and programmes purchased from the United States and elsewhere, almost all the channel's output were produced by the BBC's in-house production departments. This changed following the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990 , which required that 25% of

3115-623: The Delivering Quality First proposals submitted by the BBC in October 2011 and approved by the BBC Trust in May 2012, all children's programming on BBC One and Two would be moved permanently to the CBBC and CBeebies channels following the digital switchover. It was found that the majority of child viewers watched the programmes on these channels already and that only 7% of these children watched CBBC programmes on BBC One and Two only, it

3204-581: The Hon. Laura St John (12 June 1842 – 21 October 1919), daughter of the 15th Baron St John of Bletso . His McCausland ancestors held land at Drenagh in County Londonderry from the 18c. Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong was born in Rothbury , Northumberland , on 2 March 1970, the youngest of three children, to physician Henry Angus Armstrong and Emma Virginia Peronnet (née Thompson-McCausland). He

3293-468: The Mickey Mouse cartoon that they had broadcast in 1939. The BBC held a statutory monopoly on television broadcasting in the United Kingdom until Associated-Rediffusion , the first Independent Television (ITV) station, began to broadcast on 22 September 1955. The competition quickly forced the channel to change its identity and priorities, following a large reduction in its audience, as noted in

3382-521: The Queen which was shown to journalists during a press conference. It apparently showed the Queen storming out of a session with American photographer Annie Leibovitz over a disagreement about what she should wear, but the BBC subsequently admitted that the scenes used in the trailer had been edited out of their correct order, meaning that a false impression was given. Fincham admitted the error, but rejected calls that he should resign from his position as

3471-473: The Saturday night line up to increase variety. Following the public disapproval of filling its schedule with 25% of repeats during the summer months of 1993, BBC1 agreed to broadcast an extra 110 hours worth of original programming over the same period during the summer in 1994, which included giving EastEnders an additional episode per week. Efficiency savings of £25 million were found and redeployed to

3560-719: The Sixteen to record the single " Good King Wenceslas " to raise funds for the charity Crisis . Since September 2014, Armstrong has presented the Saturday afternoon programme on the classical radio station Classic FM . He now also presents the mid-morning show on weekdays between 10 am and 1 pm. Armstrong participated in VE Day 70: A Party to Remember on 9 May 2015, a televised commemorative concert from Horse Guards Parade in London, where he sang "We Must All Stick Together" by Ralph Butler and Raymond Wallace, and " London Pride ",

3649-545: The UK by Coronet , an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton , in October 2012. It was written by Armstrong and his Pointless co-host, Richard Osman . Also, in 2012, Armstrong was the voice of Professor M for the animation breaks for the McLaren F1 team, with the animations called Tooned (also featuring the voices of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button ) broadcast on Sky Sports F1 . In 2013, Armstrong and Miller appeared in

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3738-493: The UK, completing 62 dates. This was the second time The Armstrong and Miller Show had toured, the first tour being in autumn 2001. On 1 September 2006, Armstrong was chairman of the short-lived Channel 4 panel show Best of the Worst which featured team captains David Mitchell and Johnny Vaughan . Armstrong presented the short-lived ITV1 quiz series Don't Call Me Stupid , in which mismatched celebrities taught each other

3827-493: The basement of Broadcasting House , London, on 22 August 1932. The channel officially began regular broadcasts on 2 November 1936 from a converted wing of the Alexandra Palace in London. On 1 September 1939, two days before Britain declared war on Germany, the station was taken off air with little warning, with the last programme to be shown being a Mickey Mouse cartoon (the 1933 short Mickey's Gala Premier );

3916-479: The channel after the BBC's contract to show the programme ended on 8 February 2008, and moved to Channel 5 on 11 February 2008. The Weakest Link was moved from BBC Two to fill the gap, with the afternoon CBBC slot moving 20 minutes earlier. There was further controversy in July 2007 when Fincham was accused of misleading BBC One viewers. The incident involved a clip from forthcoming documentary A Year with

4005-440: The channels drama and comedy output during peak times, to keep the channel in a healthy state once the new Channel 3 licences were awarded. In December 1991 Wogan was to be cancelled, due to falling ratings against a number of ITV shows, in which Wogan only managed six million viewers compared to double that for This Is Your Life , The Krypton Factor and The $ 64,000 Question . Additionally an extra £40 million

4094-568: The commissioning of several successful BBC One programmes including Robin Hood (2006–2009), Jane Eyre (2006) and How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? , which was followed by similar shows Any Dream Will Do and I'd Do Anything because of its success. His first full year in charge of the channel saw a year-on-year growth in the audience share, with a rise from 22.2% in August 2005 to 23.6% in August 2006. Fincham also directly initiated

4183-426: The creation of both The One Show (2006–present), an early evening, current-affairs and lifestyle magazine programme, which now runs all but two weeks of the year, and Davina (2006), a prime time chat show , the latter hosted by Davina McCall , who presented Big Brother . However, Davina was a critical and ratings disaster, which Fincham subsequently admitted was personally his fault, although he defended

4272-462: The dated and inept BBC1 scheduling which was hampering the channel and holding back good programmes. Grade said "When I took over BBC1, I discovered there were wonderful things, it was just a case of where to put them." Wogan had been scheduled for a 10 pm slot, but Grade moved it to a 7 pm slot as he believed the show had potential. From February to August 1985, a high number of American mini-series were broadcast while filming took place of

4361-513: The drama department was achieved by switching the money away from the administrative service over a three-year period, after BBC1 was criticised for failing to match ITV's output in drama. EastEnders was moved to a 19:30 slot, where it managed to soar to 20 million, helping the BBC1 audience share increase to nearly 50% for the first time since 1982. On 27 February 1985, Doctor Who was placed on an 18-month hiatus. The BBC originally planned to axe

4450-454: The first Children's BBC presenter of the current format, was Phillip Schofield . On 23 May 1986, long-running lunchtime magazine show Pebble Mill at One was broadcast for the last time after being on air for 14 years. On 27 October 1986, BBC1 launched its daytime television schedules. In a statement, BBC Daytime head Roger Laughton said: It was the natural extension of the corporation's commitment to public service broadcasting, since half

4539-559: The first edition of Breakfast Time was shown on BBC1, becoming the first UK wide breakfast television service and continued to lead in the ratings until 1984. In 1984, Bill Cotton become managing director of Television at the BBC, and set about overhauling BBC1, which had been slated with poor home grown shows, its heavy reliance on US imports, with Dallas and The Thorn Birds being BBC1's highest rated programmes and ratings being over 20% behind ITV. Cotton recruited Michael Grade to become Controller of BBC1 from 1 September 1984

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4628-531: The first time since the rival channel had launched in 1955, although much of this was down to the success of the channel's daytime television line-up, which had its own Controller: Jane Lush . When Heggessey arrived at the channel in November 2000, she inherited two controversial schedule changes which had been implemented the previous month, at the behest of Director-General of the BBC Greg Dyke ;

4717-402: The first time the corporation had recruited someone outside of the BBC, replacing Alan Hart, who had been criticised for his lack of knowledge in general entertainment, as he was head of BBC Sport prior to 1981. The first major overhaul was to axe the unpopular Sixty Minutes current affairs programme: this was a replacement for the news and magazine show Nationwide . Its replacement was

4806-483: The first variation. A Scottish variation launched on 14 January 2013, followed by a Welsh variation on 29 January 2013. On 16 July 2013, the BBC indicated that it also wants to launch regional variants of BBC One HD across England; however, this would require the approval of the BBC Trust, with a proposal due to be presented within six months. On 18 November 2013, the Northern Irish regional variant of BBC One HD

4895-458: The government was concerned that the VHF transmissions would act as a beacon to enemy aircraft that could bomb London. BBC Television returned on 7 June 1946 at three o'clock in the afternoon. Jasmine Bligh , one of the original announcers, made the first announcement, saying, "Good afternoon everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh?". Twenty minutes later, BBC Television again aired

4984-524: The highest reach share of any broadcaster in the United Kingdom as at 2019, ahead of its traditional rival for ratings leadership ITV . In 2013, a major global study of the BBC by the Populus polling organisation found BBC One to be rated the highest-quality TV channel in the world, with BBC Two coming in third place. BBC One is available via most major television providers in the United Kingdom. The BBC began its own regular television programming from

5073-538: The latter which he dropped in favour of the "much more masculine" oboe . At Cambridge , Armstrong read English, graduating with a third-class degree ( BA ), and sang bass baritone as a choral scholar with the college choir . Armstrong joined the Footlights in his final year as part of the writing team for the 1992 revue and was Spooks creator David Wolstencroft 's comedy partner. After graduating in 1992, Armstrong moved to London with friends to pursue

5162-814: The launch of the HD channels, this also means the closure of the SD channels. SD channels are shut on satellite 24 hours after the launch of the HD channel, and are moved up to the Channel 1/Channel 101 slot on the EPG. Viewers with older standard definition set-top boxes will no longer be able to receive BBC One. All BBC satellite channels in standard definition have closed on 8 January 2024. Armstrong and Miller (TV series) Bert Tyler-Moore George Jeffrie David Mitchell Robert Webb Michael McLeod Armstrong and Miller – later retitled The Armstrong and Miller Show –

5251-552: The lowest common denominator to increase viewership. Reliance on docusoaps and the dropping of the vilified Noel's House Party were chastened by the hoax guests on The Vanessa Show . Alan Yentob said "The spring package is to remind people of what the BBC is here for, range and ambition you won't find anywhere else at peak time". The changes helped the channel distinguish itself from (as one BBC executive said) "its down-market rival and would not compete for viewers on ITV's terms." Lorraine Heggessey became Controller of BBC One,

5340-525: The national version of BBC One in High Definition, with HD versions of programmes including Doctor Who , Holby City , The One Show , Strictly Come Dancing and The Apprentice . EastEnders was also made available in HD from Christmas Day 2010. All programmes still made in standard definition were upscaled on the channel, with the intention that by 2012 the vast majority of the channel's output would be in high definition. On 30 May 2012,

5429-464: The new productions. The savings were seen as a vindication for Producer Choice, the controversial internal market introduced in April 1993. By March 1999, the channel admitted defeat in its ratings war with ITV, with its spring line up emphasising more on serious factual and educational programmes, and drama. This change in strategy came about after continuing complaints that the channel was appealing to

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5518-496: The occasional programme in its new colour system in order to test it. At midnight on 15 November, simultaneously with ITV and two years after BBC2 had done so, BBC1 officially began 625-line PAL colour programming on UHF with a broadcast of a concert by Petula Clark . Colour transmissions could be received in monochrome via monochrome 625-line sets until the end of analogue broadcasting. Between 1973 and 1977, BBC1 achieved an average audience share of 45% under Bryan Cowgill . This

5607-490: The one hand it is inevitable. But it is dismissive of children. There is a certain amount of overlooking of the fact that children's programmes do get a wider audience than people are aware of ... I have frequently had letters from older people who have enjoyed my programmes as much as children do. A lot of the reason older people like to watch children's programming is because it is life-enhancing." Head of BBC Children's, Joe Godwin said: "Our young viewers are our priority and

5696-454: The output of commercial rivals, and during Heggessey's era the channel frequently came under attack for being too populist and not providing enough serious programming. Immediately after her arrival, Heggessey ordered a review of the "Balloon" idents the channel had been using for its between-programme idents since 1997. In her opinion, the balloon was "slow and distant" and so, on 29 March 2002, after much speculation, she decided to abandon

5785-619: The population had access to television during the day mainly the retired, unemployed and housewives. Stereo audio transmissions, using the NICAM digital stereo sound format began on BBC1 in late 1987, to coincide with the sale of the first consumer NICAM-enabled equipment, a year after BBC2, and were gradually phased in across BBC TV output, although it took until 31 August 1991 for the service to begin officially on both channels. During this time, both commercial analogue broadcasters, ITV and Channel 4 had officially begun stereo transmissions using

5874-508: The public eye. Armstrong impersonated Susan Boyle 's Britain's Got Talent rendition of " I Dreamed a Dream " in the show Your Face Sounds Familiar and surprised the judges by singing in falsetto . He sang " Winter Wonderland " during the celebrities Christmas special of Pointless and "No Rhyme for Richard" from Blondel in BBC Two 's Tim Rice : A Life in Song and collaborated with

5963-474: The rights to broadcast the show in the UK for two years. The Voice UK achieved good ratings for the BBC but ratings dropped towards the end of the first series and the second series. In 2013, The Voice UK was rescheduled to avoid a clash, and as a result, ratings have improved. In November 2015, it was announced that The Voice UK would be moving to ITV from 2017, especially because of the ITV plc ownership of franchise owner, Talpa Media . On 8 October 2013,

6052-589: The rural campaigning organisation the Countryside Alliance , saying: "I'd like people to be honest about what they don't like about country sports because if it's actually the people you don't like, then I'd much rather they would actually just say that." He has appeared in their advertisements and magazine to promote countryside shooting. He said that his family had traditionally voted for the Liberal Democrats . Armstrong described himself as

6141-545: The satellite and terrestrial resolution was increased to full HD . BBC One HD at launch did not offer regional variations, and therefore the channel could not broadcast during regional programming slots, most noticeably the local news programmes. The BBC Trust admitted that this was due to technical and financial constraints, but the BBC announced on 6 June 2011 that the national variations of BBC One Northern Ireland, BBC One Scotland and BBC One Wales, would become available from 2012. On 24 October 2012, Northern Ireland received

6230-515: The semi-broken friendship and rivalry between Clive Sinclair and Acorn Computers head Chris Curry when both companies were angling for the lucrative BBC computer literacy deal. Micro Men was directed by Saul Metzstein , and starred Armstrong opposite Martin Freeman as Chris Curry. A book based on Armstrong's show Pointless , titled The 100 Most Pointless Things in the World was published in

6319-559: The series as "a joyful, exuberant reinvention and a fine legacy from Ms Heggessey." Heggessey did later concede in a 2005 interview with The Independent newspaper that arts programming had suffered a cutback under her control of BBC One. However, she did respond to this omission following criticism from the Board of Governors of the BBC by commissioning programmes such as the arts documentary series Imagine... (2003–present) and A Picture of Britain (2005). On 14 February 2005 it

6408-441: The series as they wished to spend its budgets on new programming for the channel, but was forced to back down from public pressure and Doctor Who returned in September 1986. At the time Michael Grade and Jonathan Powell were blamed for the decision (Grade was the target of death threats ) but it was later revealed that the decision was taken due to the series running out of creative inspiration, making it impossible to find anyone (at

6497-412: The series in September 2003, after Heggessey had spent two years persuading the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide , to abandon their attempts to make a feature film version of the programme and allow it to instead return it to BBC One. The new version of Doctor Who (2005–present) debuted on 26 March 2005 and became a critical and popular hit, with Paul Hoggart of The Times newspaper describing

6586-484: The strategy of experimenting with the BBC One schedule. This he continued in January 2007, when he moved the current affairs series Panorama from its Sunday night slot back to the prime time Monday evening slot from which it had been removed in 2000, most likely in response to a demand from the Board of Governors of the BBC for the channel to show more current affairs programming in prime time. Fincham's judgement

6675-736: The television advertising campaign for Spitfire Ale . In 2014, Armstrong provided the narrator's voice for CBeebies animation Hey Duggee . In September 2014, it was announced that Armstrong would succeed David Jason as the voice of Danger Mouse in the 2015 revival of the 1980s animated series . Armstrong has done other voiceover work , including Mr Wolf and Captain Dog in Peppa Pig . In 2019, Armstrong also cameoed in Horrible Histories: The Movie as Procurator Catus Decianus. In January 2024, Armstrong participated in

6764-493: The time) who knew what to do with the series. On 9 September 1985, the long-standing children's programming block was overhauled and rebranded as Children's BBC , which gave it dedicated idents for the first time and had a live in-vision presenter, similar to rival ITV's Children's ITV block which had been running since January 1983. Previously the BBC had broadcast children's programming using BBC1's team of regular duty announcers. The launch presenter for this block, and thus

6853-785: The underground spaces below the city. Subsequently, it was announced he would be making a three-part series exploring the lost and hidden sites of Florence , Naples , and Venice . In 2015, Armstrong presented a three-part factual series for ITV, called Alexander Armstrong in the Land of the Midnight Sun , in which he travelled half-way round the Arctic Circle meeting its inhabitants and exploring their ways of life. In January 2016, he guest-presented Bruce's Hall of Fame on BBC One . In 2017, he presented Don't Ask Me Ask Britain and Teach My Pet to Do That , both on ITV. After over

6942-442: The vast majority of children in the UK already tune in to CBeebies and CBBC to find their favourite BBC children's programmes. Far from being a 'cynical' move, we're just following where our audience has already gone." As part of the review in 2012 other changes were brought in, including: In 2012, the BBC out-bid ITV for the rights to air a British version of Dutch TV talent show The Voice . The BBC paid £22 million for

7031-501: The word "The" and moved into the BBC logo. Each new campaign incorporating the theme retained the same animated sequence. In May 2007, Fincham decided to drop Neighbours , an Australian soap opera, from BBC One after 21 years on the channel, when its producers, FremantleMedia significantly raised the price they wanted the BBC to pay for it in a bidding war. Fincham commented that it was 'a big loss', but that BBC One would not pay 'the best part of £300 million'. Neighbours left

7120-458: The £18 million salary that the BBC paid Jonathan Ross in 2006, although Ross's BBC One work—primarily consisting of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross —formed only part of his overall BBC commitment. The channel was named Channel of the Year at the 2007 Broadcast Awards. Following its rebrand in March 2002, BBC One launched The One to Watch campaign, during which animated blocks created

7209-438: Was again called into question, this time by The Telegraph , for his decision to spend £1.2 million replacing the channel's 'Rhythm and Movement' idents , which had been introduced by his predecessor Lorraine Heggessey several years earlier, with the 'Circle' idents , a set of eight ten-second films, some of which were shot abroad in locations such as Mexico and Croatia. Fincham later found himself having to publicly defend

7298-530: Was announced that Lorraine Heggessey was to leave the BBC to take up the post of Chief Executive at production company Talkback Thames . She left on 15 April. Five months after her departure, BBC One was named "Channel of the Year" at the Edinburgh Television Festival , primarily on the strength of Heggessey's commissions such as Strictly Come Dancing and Doctor Who . Joining the channel as Controller in 2005, Peter Fincham oversaw

7387-522: Was educated at Mowden Hall School in Stocksfield , Northumberland, and St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh , where he was a chorister at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral from the age of 11 to 13. He attended Durham School and Trinity College, Cambridge , on music scholarships. He played the piano – which has been seen in several The Armstrong & Miller Show sketches – and the cello ,

7476-418: Was made clear "Children's programmes are absolutely fundamental to the BBC and that is why we have protected investment in them in the light of cuts elsewhere." Children's programming on BBC One ended on 21 December 2012. The move was criticised by Teletubbies co-creator Anne Wood , who described the changes as "ghettoising children's programmes" and believe it was merely a cost-cutting measure. Wood said "On

7565-654: Was recorded under the Warner Classics label with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra . A third studio album, In a Winter Light , was released in November 2017. In 1997, Armstrong and Ben Miller provided the voices for lead characters for the PC game Wings of Destiny , published by Psygnosis in 2000, as British airmen and Nazi officers covering the two comic-book plots in the game. From 2002 to 2009, Armstrong appeared in

7654-455: Was relaunched on 18 February 1985 with a new look , new programming including Wogan and EastEnders , and a revised schedule to help streamline and maintain viewers throughout the course of the evening. Grade started to gear most programmes to either on the hour or half past the hour, while Panorama and Omnibus were both moved after the Nine O'Clock News . Grade was also determined to end

7743-405: Was reported to not want to be " pigeonholed " as a presenter, preferring to focus on acting and comedy. Armstrong has been the presenter of the BBC One game show Pointless , initially with former Cambridge University friend Richard Osman , since it began in 2009. He also presented a documentary, Alexander Armstrong's Very British Holiday , for the BBC on 8 November 2009 about the history of

7832-621: Was swapped with the SD channel on Sky's EPG for HD subscribers. This was followed by the Welsh and Scottish variants on 10 December. On 24 March 2014, BBC One Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland HD launched on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media outside the regions they were originally seen in. On 31 March 2016, BBC One HD in England moved from channel 141 on the Sky electronic programme guide to channel 115,

7921-490: Was the channel's most successful period in terms of audience share. On 30 December 1980, the BBC announced plans to introduce a new breakfast television service to compete with TV-am . They stated that the new show would be broadcast before TV-am but included the caveat that the new show would not launch until at least November 1981, whereupon new licence fee income could finance the necessary extension of broadcasting hours. On 17 January 1983, one year after originally planned,

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