How BBC Breakfast will mark its next big milestone

BBC One viewers will be transported back in time on Tuesday 17th January, when BBC Breakfast becomes BBC Breakfast Time to mark the 40th anniversary of the launch of breakfast television.

A special segment of the programme from 8.30am will see the original round clock back on screen, with special guests Russell Grant and Debbie Rix joining presenters Jon Kay and Sally Nugent on the sofa.

Jayne McCubbin will be in the capital with Diana Moran (The Green Goddess), who will be recreating her famous morning keep fit routine at London’s Waterloo train station where she will yet again entertain morning commuters in true 1980s style.

Francis Wilson – the first Breakfast Time weather presenter – is back for another Breakfast anniversary. He’ll be joining Carol Kirkwood for what the BBC says will be a “unique” weather report.

Kirkwood is the longest-serving member of the team, having started as production secretary when Frank Bough and Selina Scott started. She later left the BBC before returning in 1998 and has been a regular face on Breakfast for over twenty years.

Before the special segment, at 6.30am, Jon Kay will present a special film revisiting the first programme at the moment it went on air.

BBC Breakfast is no stranger to celebrating anniversaries. In October 2020, the programme marked 20 years under its current title, when separate BBC One and BBC News 24 morning programmes were combined.

Back on the 17th January 2003, the programme celebrated the 20th anniversary of breakfast television with the late Bill Turnbull and Sian Williams introducing a special report featuring Nick Ross, who alongside Selina Scott and Frank Bough served as a presenters on Breakfast Time.

Bill and Sian celebrated again on 17th January 2008, when the 25th anniversary was marked. Chris Hollins and Selina Scott joined in the celebrations, with a recreation of the original set.

Five years later and more tributes, when Susanna Reid, Charlie Stayt, Louise Minchin and Bill Turnbull marked the 30th anniversary of the programme, also including a recreation of the original clock.

This was the first major anniversary to be celebrated in Salford, where BBC Breakfast had moved to in 2012.

History of breakfast

The BBC’s breakfast programme has had three distinct brands in the last 40 years, as the programme varied between a lighter and a more serious agenda.

17th January 1983 – 29th September 1989: BBC Breakfast Time.

2nd October 1989 – 15th September 2000: BBC Breakfast News.

18th September 2000 – 29th September 2000: Breakfast 24 (a temporary programme shown on BBC Two and BBC News 24 while the 2000 Sydney Olympics were on BBC One).

2nd October 2000 – Present: BBC Breakfast.

BBC Breakfast had been shown every morning on BBC One and BBC News 24/News Channel from October 2000 until July 2021.

Then, for the first time, the Tokyo Olympics resulted in BBC One and BBC News going their separate ways, with BBC News simulcasting BBC World News and BBC One showing live Olympic coverage.

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