Scheduling
Twenty-Four Hours originally had a fluid start time somewhere after 10pm. The decision to give it a fixed start time of 9.55pm was taken in 1967 following the establishment of ITN's popular News at Ten programme. However on Wednesdays it would begin at 10.20pm "in order that The Wednesday Play may begin ... and run its full 75 minutes."
Huw Wheldon, then BBC Controller of Programmes said Twenty-Four Hours "has become such a valuable part of our coverage of national and international affairs, that we feel we must give it a regular and predictable placing. David Attenborough ... who wants to put his BBC2 programmes on in such a way as to provide real choice for viewers, is driven mad by Twenty-Four Hours which has had to keep jumping about all over the place. Now we've got Twenty-Four Hours fixed at five-to-ten, we can handle all that!".
Twenty-Four Hours finished its run on 14 July 1972.
Read more about this topic: 24 Hours (TV Series)