It’s the BBC channel that struggled to get approval to launch in the early 2000s, was cut back to an online service in the 2010s and is preparing for a major relaunch in the 2020s.
We take a look a some of the defining moments of BBC Three’s nearly twenty year history.
2002
19th September 2002
Proposals for the new BBC Three channel are approved by the then Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. She rejected the original proposals for the channel in September 2001. The delay meant BBC Four ended up going on-air nearly a year before BBC Three could go live.
2003
9th February 2003
Delayed by a year, BBC Three launches in a live simulcast with BBC Two. The channel takes over the bandwidth previously used by BBC Choice.
27th June 2003
BBC Three’s first coverage of the Glastonbury music festival. BBC Three would later become the main channel for coverage, with the channel abandoning all regular programmes for three days to bring wall-to-wall coverage.
2004
The BBC announces a raft a new parenting shows for the channel, including The Parent Trap and Little Angels, launching the TV career of Dr Tanya Bryon. Later parenting shows would include The House of Tiny Tearaways and Honey, We’re Killing the Kids.
24th January 2004
Live coverage of the 2004 African Cup of Nations and with it, a new era for BBC Three in covering major sports events.
18th March 2004
Celebdaq broadcast for the final time on BBC Three. The celebrity stock exchange game continued on the BBC website until 2010.
12th May 2004
The European Broadcasting Union announced the introduction of semi-finals for the Eurovision Song Contest. In the UK, BBC Three was selected as the home for the midweek extra helpings of Europop in the run-up to BBC One’s usual coverage of the main event the following Saturday. (Ukraine won it that year.)
19th October 2004
Comedy series Little Britain proves a ratings hit for the channel, with nearly 2 million viewers tuning in.
On the subject of comedies, the early days of BBC Three brought us Swiss Toni (2003–2004), Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2003–2011), Grass (2003), Nighty Night (2004), 15 Storeys High (2004), Catterick (2004), Coupling (2004) and between 2004 and 2007, The Mighty Boosh.
2005
27th March 2005
Before iPlayer was a thing, BBC Three becomes the catch-up home of Doctor Who, giving viewers a chance to catch up on Sunday, 24 hours after its premiere on BBC One. With Doctor Who came fanzine Doctor Who Confidential, spilling all the behind-the-scenes gossip and showcasing the tech making it all possible.
2nd December 2005
BBC Three’s nightly news show the 7 o’clock News is broadcast for the final time. The programme is axed following a report into the performance of the channel.
News continues on the channel in the form of short news programme 60 Seconds.
2006
22nd October 2006
Doctor Who spin-off Touchwood debuts.
2007
13th May 2007
The first episode of Gavin and Stacey, created by James Corden and Ruth Jones, is broadcast. The sitcom becomes hugely successful, and transfers across to BBC One for later series. The 2019 special attracts over 17 million viewers within a week of broadcast across BBC One and iPlayer.
1st August 2007
BBC Three starts showing US cult sci-fi series Heroes. Beginning with episode 4 of the first series, the next episode is shown straight after BBC Two has shown the previous one. This was a tactic designed to encourage viewers to switch to digital TV – a similar tactic is used nowadays to encourage take-up of the iPlayer.
8th November 2007
Don’t Tell The Bride makes its debut down the aisle of BBC Three programmes, allowing us to find out what a wedding would look like if the groom-to-be was in control of the budget. After it was jilted by BBC Three’s move online, Sky One then E4 coupled up with the production company to keep the tiaras and tantrums continuing until this day.
2008
12th February 2008
The BBC Three ‘blobs’ were retired as the channel celebrated a belated fifth birthday with a new logo:
18th February 2008
…and a week later drama Being Human makes its first appearance on the channel, becoming a stalwart of BBC Three until 2013.
24th April 2008
Stacey Dooley makes her first appearance on the channel as part of the BAFTA nominated documentary Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts, providing an alarming insight into the production of clothes in South Asia.
2009
22nd October 2009
Russell Howard’s Good News began its first series. It would stay on BBC Three until 2014, when it was moved across to BBC Two ahead of plans to close BBC Three. The show ended in 2015 and Russell Howard later switched across to Sky One.
2010
19th February 2010
EastEnders Live: The Aftermath scores BBC Three’s highest ever ratings, with 4.5 million watching.
The BBC says in November 2010 that BBC Three is the most watched digital TV channel during its broadcast hours.
2011
4th January 2011
BBC Three is famous for its tabloid style factual programme titles. Perhaps the most famous of them all – Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents – launches in January 2011, where parents get to see what their offspring are up to on holiday.
2012
Sitcoms Dead Boss, Bad Education and Cuckoo made their debut on the channel this year.
July/August 2012
BBC Three expands to 24 hour broadcasting for the first time, as the channel becomes the BBC’s second Olympic channel, sharing coverage of the 2012 London games with BBC One. BBC Two and BBC Four are designated Olympic-free channels. Up to 4.2 million viewers tuned into BBC Three’s coverage.
2013
1st October 2013
BBC Three gets a visual refresh, with some new idents…
10th December 2013
BBC Three launched in high definition on all digital TV platforms.
BBC Three: beginning of the end?
2014
26th February 2014
Former BBC Director-General Tony Hall warns that one BBC channel is up for the chop, due to cutbacks at the corporation.
5th March 2014
The BBC announces it’s BBC Three that faces the axe, prompting a campaign to save the channel.
20th July 2014
The first series of “Mockumentary” sitcom People Just Do Nothing starts on BBC Three. Its cast was later recruited to promote BBC Three’s move online.
July/August 2014
For the second time in its history, BBC Three extends to 24 hour broadcasting to bring audiences extended coverage of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
2015
The BBC is accused of running down the channel ahead of any formal decision to close it. BBC Three programmes are tried out on other BBC channels – Russell Howard’s Good News and Family Guy appear on BBC Two. A version of Don’t Tell The Bride featuring older couples is broadcast on BBC One.
The number of new programmes produced by BBC Three is noticeably cut and the schedules contain a greater number of repeats. Sitcoms Josh and Murder in Successville plus drama Tatau make their debut.
26th November 2015
BBC Three’s fate is sealed by the BBC Trust, who ignore pleas to keep the channel on linear TV. They also ignore evidence that BBC Three reaches a more diverse and younger audience than any other BBC channel. CBBC is given the green-light to extend its hours to 9pm, despite the BBC arguing that younger audiences aren’t watching linear TV anymore. Plans to launch a BBC One+1 timeshift channel are rejected.
2016
4th January 2016
BBC II! – the channel gets a makeover to prepare it for its transition online.
16th February 2016
The channel’s last night on linear television. Or is it?
Until the end of March 2016, a ‘barker channel’ replaced BBC Three, advertising the switch online. BBC Three programmes were repeated in a three hour block from 0100-0400. This bizarre arrangement was due to rules for listing on the Sky Electronic Programme Guide – a channel needs to broadcast at least three hours of ‘normal’ programmes to hold on the slot.
At the end of March 2016, BBC Three was wiped off EPGs across all platforms.
BBC Three Online: the first years
2016-2018
Overall, BBC Three commissions fewer programmes. There’s quality over quantity, with Fleabag, This Country and Killing Eve proving popular with audiences and with critics – all become award winners.
The BBC also promises to build BBC Three’s online presence with news, listicles and short-form content for social media.
2019
11th February 2019
The BBC had promised to provide BBC Three with a linear window after its closure in 2016. Although the occasional programme was shown on BBC One or BBC Two, it wasn’t heavily promoted. In 2019, under pressure to attract younger audiences, BBC bosses announced they were reintroducing a strand of BBC Three programmes on BBC One. BBC Three on BBC One would be broadcast on Monday-Wednesday nights after the 10pm news. The news was cut from 45 to 35 minutes as a result.
2020
The BBC hints at a return of BBC Three to linear TV in its annual report. It comes after BBC Three’s Normal People proves a ratings hit – it was given a prime 9pm slot on BBC One.
2021
2nd March 2021
The BBC announces its intention to bring back BBC Three as a linear channel from January 2022, subject to regulatory approval.