A Freeview of 2010

28 January 2011

2010 was a great year for TV. There was the World Cup, The Apprentice, The X Factor,   Big Brother, I'm A Celebrity, Strictly Come Dancing and Britain's Got Talent. Take a trip down memory lane as we review last year's top TV highlights and reveal the Top TV moment of 2010 decided by you the viewer.

The Freeview channels were bursting at the seams with a fantastic mix of Entertainment, Drama, Comedy, Sports and Film in 2010. As well as all of the great programming across our standard 50 channels, Freeview HD was launched in March and with the addition of three new HD channels, allowed football fans to watch the World Cup for free in glorious high definition for the first time.

As well as the UK’s most popular soaps, Freeview boxes and TVs around the UK witnessed monumental moments in the history of politics, news, music and TV from around the world. It’s been emotional, and to look forward to the TV that 2011 has to offer, we thought we’d gather the top highlights of 2010 to remind you of what a great year of TV we had.

The last ever Celebrity Big Brother started the year with one almighty bang on Channel 4. Twelve housemates were all thrown into a house and made to live with each other in some kind of unison. Celebrities included I vana Trump and Stephanie Beecham, with Alex Reid, Katie Price’s ex-husband, walking away with the crown after fighting off competition from Vinnie Jones and Dane Bowers.

Doctor Who fans said goodbye to David Tennent and hello to the eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, on BBC One in January. Twelve months on and Matt is still in the leading role recently starring in the Christmas special with special guests Katherine Jenkins and Michael Gambon.

In February, EastEnders marked 25 years on air and celebrated with a live episode on BBC One. Following weeks of speculation, Stacy admitted to killing Archie and the confession was witnessed by almost 17 million viewers.

Chilling storylines to just chilling as the Winter Olympics 2010 got underway in the month of February. Canada topped the table with 14 gold medals followed by Germany and the US. Good old Blighty won Gold in the Skeleton round thanks to Amy Williams.

On March 29th, the first in a series of political broadcasts aired on Channel 4 in the lead up to the UK Election. The financial spokesman for each party discussed the economy in the segments and in April, the three political party leaders took to our TV’s to debate their intended polices in parliament. The shows were broadcast live and ran for 90 minutes without a break, giving the public an insight like never before to the potential parties of power.

In April, it seemed like the time for a spring clean and with that, presenters across the Freeview channels either announced they were leaving or declared they were swapping stations. Adrian Chiles left the BBC and went to ITV, Ben Shepherd quit the GMTV sofa after 5 years and ITV’s Katie Derham moved to the BBC. Scandal.

Football took hold of the UK throughout June and early July as the 2010 FIFA World Cup kicked off. The matches were broadcast from South Africa into homes around the UK, in high definition, for free thanks to Freeview HD.

August saw the beginning of the end of, firstly, summer, and then after 37 years, the end of Last of the Summer Wine. The Bill also came to an end after 26 years and two weeks later, Heartbeat aired for the last time following 18 years on ITV.

In the spirit of goodbyes, GMTV aired its last episode on September 3rd and presenters waved a teary “cheery-ho” to a show that was now a staple part of a morning routine for many following its 17 years on air. GMTV was replaced by a new format, Daybreak, hosted by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley.

After beating off competition from Chantelle Houghton, Nikki Graham and Ulrika Johnson, Brian Dowling was crowned the  Ultimate Big Brother housemate on September 10th after re-entering the house for the show’s final series.

I’m a Celebrity Get Me out of Here returned for a new series in November. Jenny Eclair, Dom Joly and Gillian McKeith all completed famous Bushtucker Trials with Gillian fainting on more than one occasion. Hosted by Ant and Dec, the show’s winner and Queen of the Jungle was X Factor’s Stacey Soloman. November also brought with it the launch of BBC One HD, BBC One’s high definition channel.

In December, Coronation Street celebrated 50 years on ITV, making it the longest running soap of all time. To celebrate, the show aired a live episode featuring a major tragedy that would change the Street forever.

And finally, after weeks of rehearsals, live shows and performances, two of the year’s biggest series came to an almighty climax.  The X Factor was won by painter and decorator  Matt Cardle, and was watched by almost 17 million viewers and Ex-EastEnders actress Kara Tointon won the public and the judges over in BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing, taking first place with her dancing partner Artem Chigvinstev.

We asked you, the viewer, what made 2010 in terms of TV and here are the results:

• The rescue mission involving 33 miners trapped for over two months in Chile was voted the number one TV moment of 2010. The emotional image of the first mine worker emerging from underground beat dramatic soap storylines and reality TV shockers.
• EastEnders was named the top TV series of 2010 followed closely by The X Factor and soap fans chose the EastEnders live anniversary episode the best single programme of the year.
• With Coronation Street and EastEnders both delivering gripping storylines, Coronation Street triumphed, winning best storyline, and the revelation of Stacey being Archie’s killer in EastEnders was hailed the best soap scene of last year.

So here's to 2011! Keep your eye on the Freeview Blog for weekly highlights and news of forthcoming shows that are simply too good to miss.