This is a list of British television related events from 1949.
Events
January – June
No events.
July
July – BBC Television revives the regular televised weather forecast. July 11–14 – The first film made specifically for British television, A Dinner Date With Death, is shot at Marylebone Studios in London, featuring Roy Plomley. It is broadcast in 1950.
August
No events.
September
29 September – The BBC Television Service first broadcasts Come Dancing, a TV ballroom dancing competition show.
October
26 October – How Do You View?, the first comedy series on British television, starring Terry-Thomas, is first broadcast.
November
No events.
December
17 December – The Sutton Coldfield television transmitter is opened in the Midlands, making it the first part of the UK outside London to receive the BBC Television Service. 31 December – BBC television ends the day with a brief live broadcast of 20 sleeping babies in St Thomas' Hospital, London.
Debuts
25 January – The Time Machine (1949) 10 June – Triple Bill (1949) (trio of plays: Witness For the Prosecution; The Call To Arms; and Box For One) 29 September – Come Dancing (1949–1998) 26 October – How Do You View? (1949–1953) 27 November – By Candlelight (1949) 25 December – Miranda (1949)
Continuing television shows
1920s
BBC Wimbledon (1927–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–2024)
1930s
Picture Page (1936–1939, 1946–1952) For the Children (1937–1939, 1946–1952) The Boat Race (1938–1939, 1946–2019) BBC Cricket (1939, 1946–1999, 2020–2024)
1940s
Kaleidoscope (1946–1953) Muffin the Mule (1946–1955, 2005–2006) Café Continental (1947–1953) Television Newsreel (1948–1954)
Births
13 March – David Neilson, actor
30 March – Sue Cook, broadcaster and author
29 April – Anita Dobson, actress
2 May – Alan Titchmarsh, gardener and television presenter
13 May – Zoë Wanamaker, American-born actress
21 May – Andrew Neil, Scottish journalist and broadcaster
22 May – Cheryl Campbell, film, television and stage actor
5 July – Sue Robbie, television presenter
16 August – John McArdle, actor
25 August – Ross Davidson, actor (died 2006) 2 September – Moira Stuart, broadcast presenter 10 September – Freddy Marks, actor, singer and musician (died 2021) 19 September – Twiggy, model and television presenter 23 September – Floella Benjamin, Trinidad-born children's TV presenter and actress 6 October – Sarah Cullen, television and radio journalist (died 2012) 20 October – Jane Tucker, actress, singer and musician 12 December – Bill Nighy, actor 13 December – Robert Lindsay, actor David Stafford, writer and broadcaster