2008

News

• The number of people affected by norovirus stomach bug in the UK reached an estimated 3 million.
• Mohammed Al Fayed told the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales that she and his son Dodi Fayed were both murdered in a conspiracy arranged by the Royal Family, Tony Blair, MI5, MI6 and the British ambassador to France. He claimed that Diana knew that The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Edinburgh were “trying to get rid of her”
• London Heathrow Terminal 5 opened at Heathrow Airport to British Airways with many problems with the IT system, coupled with insufficient testing and staff training, which caused over 500 flights to be cancelled.
• Karen Matthews, the mother of kidnapped 9-year-old girl Shannon Matthews, was arrested for organising her daughter’s kidnap.
• The London mayoral election was held. The Conservative candidate Boris Johnson defeated the incumbent Labour candidate Ken Livingstone.
• Woolworths announced their 807 UK stores will close by 5 January 2009, putting some 27,000 people out of work.

Entertainment

• The Russell Brand Show prank calls row: An episode of The Russell Brand Show aired on BBC radio, featuring a series of prank telephone calls to the actor Andrew Sachs by comedians Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross, leading to large numbers of complaints, chiefly after an article in The Mail on Sunday the following week.
• ITV announces that it will move its Sunday episodes of Emmerdale and Coronation Street. From the week beginning on 12 January, Coronation Street will have an additional Friday episode, while Emmerdale will air for an hour on Tuesdays. Dancing on Ice would move to a Sunday night slot.
• Konnie Huq presents her last episode of Blue Peter after over ten years, having become the longest-running female presenter and third longest-running overall in the shows’ 50-year history.
• After 22 years Neighbours is shown on BBC One for the last time.
• After Britain’s entry in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest comes last, Sir Terry Wogan suggests he may step down as the BBC’s Eurovision commentator because the contest is “no longer a music contest”. Andy Abraham receives 14 points for the United Kingdom with “Even If”, while the contest is won by Russia’s Dima Bilan with “Believe”, which scores 292 points. The result is partially due to the number of former Soviet states giving Russia the maximum 12 points, prompting Wogan to tell viewers that “Russia were going to be the political winners from the beginning” and to suggest “western European participants have to decide whether they want to take part from here on in because their prospects are poor”.

Music

• The 2008 BRIT Awards ceremony is hosted by Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly and Jack Osbourne, at Earls Court in London.
• The Shockwaves NME Awards 2008 ceremony is held at The O2 in London. Winners include The Enemy, The Killers, Klaxons, Manic Street Preachers and Radiohead.
• Girls Aloud begin their Tangled Up Tour in Belfast.
• Alexandra Burke wins the fifth series of The X Factor. JLS are named runner-ups, while Eoghan Quigg and Diana Vickers finish in third and fourth place respectively.

Number #1 Hits of 2008

Artist	Title
Edison Lighthouse	Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
Lee Marvin	Wand’rin Star
Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water
Dana	All Kinds Of Everything
Norman Greenbaum	Spirit In The Sky
England World Cup Squad	Back Home
Christie	Yellow River
Mungo Jerry	In The Summertime
Elvis Presley	The Wonder Of You
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles	Tears Of A Clown
Freda Payne	Band Of Gold
Matthews’ Southern Comfort	Woodstock
Jimi Hendrix Experience	Voodoo Chile
Dave Edmunds	I Hear You Knockin’

Sport

• Manchester United secured their tenth Premier League title in 16 years with a 2–0 win at Wigan Athletic on the final day of the league season. Ryan Giggs, who scored one of United’s goals, became the first player to win 10 English league titles.
• Halifax Town A.F.C., a former Football League side, were expelled from the Conference National with multimillion-pound debts.
• The FA Cup Final took place at Wembley Stadium between Portsmouth and Cardiff City with Portsmouth winning 1–0.
• The first all-English European Cup final saw Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties after a 1–1 draw in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
• Great Britain competed at the Olympics in Beijing. The team won 19 gold, 13 silver and 15 bronze medals and finished fourth in the medal table, the best performance for the Great Britain team in a century.
• Great Britain competed at the Paralympics in Beijing.
• Lewis Hamilton became the youngest ever Formula One World Champion in motor racing.