The year 1965 was one of cultural firsts, societal changes and major milestones that propelled Britain further into the transformative ‘Swinging Sixties’. Coming off the breakthrough developments of 1964, the pace of progress continued accelerating rapidly across music, film, television, politics and civic life. Young people were now firmly at the centre of driving this change, with new boundary-breaking artists, filmmakers, programs and leaders reflecting and feeding their energy.
In music, groups like The Who and The Kinks emerged to expand the British Invasion, while The Beatles broke new ground by playing Shea Stadium and releasing the game-changing Rubber Soul album. On television, Doctor Who premiered to become the longest-running sci-fi series ever, captivating imaginations. Forward-looking policies took root under Harold Wilson like the abolition of the death penalty, while protests supporting women’s rights, gay rights and nuclear disarmament highlighted growing liberal attitudes.
From the rise of model Jean Shrimpton to Mary Quant’s miniskirt, youth fashion went mini. And sporting innovations like motocross took off in popularity. Across the board, 1965 saw old norms challenged as new ideas and voices gained prominence, from the pirate radio boom to Patrick McGoohan’s rule-breaking in The Prisoner. The foundations of 1960s British counterculture solidified dramatically. Let’s look closer at key events in this milestone year that pushed boundaries and accelerated change.
Music
Tom Jones Achieves Breakthrough
In 1965, Welsh crooner Tom Jones rocketed to stardom with his chart-topping single “It’s Not Unusual,” establishing him as a pioneering force in British pop music. With his powerful voice and dynamic performing style, Jones ushered in a new era of pop defined by charismatic solo artists and expanded artistic freedom.
At age 24, Jones was still an unknown club singer when the song was released in January 1965. Penned by hitmaking songwriter Les Reed, “It’s Not Unusual” showcased Jones’ soulful vocal range and contemporary pop sound. The infectious track shot to number one in the UK and cracked the American top ten later that year.
Propelled by this smash hit, Jones secured a residency on television music variety show Ready Steady Go!, gaining him mass exposure. Fans were drawn to his raw, sexy and emotive singing that injected pop with an exciting new vibrancy in the mid-1960s.
With his good looks, growling vocals and commanding stage presence, Jones embodied the spirit of a more liberated younger generation. He brought showmanship and swagger to pop music while blurring racial boundaries. Tom Jones’ star-making 1965 hit announced him as a trailblazing pop icon and cemented his place in British pop culture. For over 50 years since, he has remained a beloved fixture of British pop culture.
1965 was the year Britain democratised education, it was the year pop culture began to be taken as seriously as high art, the time when comedians and television shows imported the methods of modernism into their work.
It was when communications across the Atlantic became instantaneous, the year when, for the first time in a century, British artists took American gallery-goers by storm. In 1965 the Beatles proved that rock and roll could be art, it was when we went car crazy, and craziness was held to be the only sane reaction to an insane society.
The Walker Brothers Top Charts
American pop trio The Walker Brothers made a huge splash on both sides of the Atlantic with their melodramatic ballads “Make It Easy on Yourself” and “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” With their sweeping orchestrations and Scott Walker’s mournful baritone lead vocals, the group became 1960s pop sensations especially in Britain.
Though Los Angeles natives, the Walker Brothers based themselves in London to tap into the UK pop scene. Their formula of Scott Walker’s dramatic crooning backed by bass John Walker and guitarist Gary Walker struck a chord. “Make It Easy on Yourself” hit #1 in the UK in 1965 and #16 in the US, establishing them as breakout stars.
They followed it up in 1966 with “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore,” their signature song. Another Scott Walker ballad filled with lovelorn yearning, it topped the UK charts while reaching #13 in America. British fans especially connected with the group’s emotiveness and Walker’s melancholic vibrato.
With superstar status, the Walkers rode the wave of the British Invasion and represented the diversity of sounds within 1960s pop. Though their popularity faded by the late 60s, the band made an indelible mark in just a few short years at the height of the era’s musical creativity.
The Seekers Hit #1 with “The Carnival is Over”
Also in 1965, the Australian folk-influenced pop group The Seekers achieved a #1 hit in the UK with “The Carnival is Over,” one of the year’s top-selling singles. With its lush orchestration and Judith Durham’s soaring vocals, the melancholy breakup ballad exemplified the global popularity of folk-pop in the mid-1960s.
Formed in Melbourne in 1962, The Seekers honed a radio-friendly folk sound not unlike contemporaries like The Kingston Trio. After relocating to the UK, the quartet broke through in 1965 with “I’ll Never Find Another You.” That set the stage for “The Carnival is Over,” penned by American songwriter Tom Springfield.
The elegiac waltz ballad−detailing the end of a relationship against the metaphor of a carnival packing up−tugged at heartstrings. Propelled by Durham’s operatic soprano, it topped the UK charts for three weeks at the end of 1965. It later reached #1 in Australia and #4 in the US.
The Seekers’ melodic blend of pop and folk established them at the forefront of the era’s obsession with folk-rock crossover. Though brief, their heyday burnished their legacy as global stars who helped redefine pop’s boundaries. “The Carnival is Over” endures as a poignant folk-pop classic.
Entertainment
ITV Launches Crossroads Soap Opera
The longstanding British soap opera Crossroads first aired on ITV in 1964, premiering in colour a year later. Centred on a fictional motel, the low-budget serial drama became a surprise hit by offering daytime audiences an addictive look into the intimate lives of everyday people.
Created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling, Crossroads was set in the village of King’s Oak and focused on the motel’s owners and staff. With its quotidian storylines about small town scandal, romance and domestic troubles, the show struck a chord with housewives and pensioners.
While lacking the prestige of nighttime soaps, Crossroads won a loyal following that stuck with the show through multiple revamps across a 24 year run. At its peak in the 1970s, Crossroads drew up to 18 million viewers daily and even inspired a spoof by comedian Benny Hill.
Though pilloried by critics for cheap production values, Crossroads became an iconic British TV institution by eschewing glamor to provide companionship and entertainment to typical households. Its simple format launched the UK’s long love affair with open-ended working class soaps.
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Thunderball Releases as 4th James Bond Film
The fourth film in the massively popular James Bond franchise, Thunderball, was released in 1965 featuring Sean Connery in his fourth time playing the dashing MI6 agent 007. Thunderball impressed with its exotic tropical locations, expanded action set pieces, and pioneering underwater sequences.
Based on the 1961 Ian Fleming novel, Thunderball followed Bond as he battled the global crime syndicate SPECTRE and its leader Emilio Largo. This time the stakes were higher, with SPECTRE threatening worldwide nuclear attacks if not paid a hefty ransom. Filming took Bond to new heights with intricate underwater fight scenes showcasing state-of-the-art technology at the time.
With a $9 million budget, Thunderball pushed the boundaries as the most expensive Bond film yet. It broke box office records with $141 million in global ticket sales, cementing 007 as a full-fledged blockbuster franchise under producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman.
For Connery’s suave super spy who jets from one exotic locale to the next, Thunderball provided a riveting story mixed with thrilling new elements like no Bond film before. Its success proved the enduring appeal of the profitable series, with Connery returning as the definitive big screen Bond.
My Lover, My Son airs on ITV
The provocative ITV drama series My Lover, My Son caused controversy in 1965 for its suggestive themes of incest and adultery. At a time of loosening social mores, its risqué storyline about a married woman who has an affair with a man who may be her son pushed boundaries and challenged audiences.
Starring Frances Cuka, Derren Nesbitt and Dennis Waterman, My Lover, My Son centered on a lonely housewife named Rena who embarks on an affair with Jack, a charismatic younger man. The trysts take a taboo turn when it is implied Jack may in fact be the son Rena gave up for adoption years ago.
Airing at 10pm, the show’s overt Oedipal undertones stirred heated debates about censorship and artistic freedom on television. Many criticised ITV for airing such salacious content accessible to a wide evening audience. Supporters viewed the show as reflecting the real-world complexities of mature relationships.
While only running for one series, My Lover, My Son’s provocative subject matter tested the limits of acceptability. Its bold confrontation of topics like incest demonstrated television’s potential for more nuanced adult storytelling. The controversies surrounding the show revealed tensions between tradition and permissiveness as British society rapidly changed in the 1960s.
Sir Winston Churchill remains a British hero, lauded for his oratorical skill. He wrote histories, biographies, memoirs, and even a novel, while his journalism, speeches and broadcasts run to millions of words.
From 1940 he inspired and united the British people and guided their war effort. Behind the public figure, however, was a man of vast humanity and enormous wit. His most famous speeches and sayings have passed into history but many of his aphorisms, puns and jokes are less well-known. This enchanting collection brings together hundreds of his wittiest remarks as a record of all that was best about this endearing, conceited, talented and wildly funny Englishman.
Culture
Winston Churchill Dies
The death of beloved wartime British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill on January 24, 1965 at age 90 marked the end of an era for both Britain and the Western world. As Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945, Churchill’s steady leadership guided the nation through its darkest days of World War II, making him a revered icon of 20th century British history. His passing was mourned around the globe as the loss of one of history’s most triumphant leaders.
Churchill’s life spanned decades of profound change in Britain. Born in 1874 to an aristocratic family, he entered politics as a Conservative MP in 1900. He held numerous government positions including Home Secretary, First Lord of the Admiralty, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister in the ensuing decades. An eloquent orator, Churchill shifted between political parties before settling back as a Conservative in the 1920s.
However, it was Churchill’s defiant stewardship of Britain as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 that cemented his legacy. With Nazi Germany threatening to invade Britain, Churchill refused to surrender or negotiate. His powerful speeches fortified British courage and resilience during the Blitz and through the devastating early years of World War II when Britain stood alone against Hitler’s advance.
Churchill’s bulldog resolve and stirring oratory skills unified and heartened the British people. His famous speech declaring “we shall fight on the beaches” embodied British defiance. Their steadfastness under his leadership turned the tide of the war at pivotal moments like the Battle of Britain.
On May 8, 1945 Churchill addressed the nation to announce Germany’s surrender, bringing a hard-won Allied victory in Europe. He was lauded as a national hero who helped navigate Britain through its gravest trial. Though he lost the 1945 election, Churchill remained a Member of Parliament until 1964 and published his monumental six-volume history of WWII before his death in 1965.
Churchill’s death marked the passing of a legendary figure viewed both in Britain and globally as one of history’s most exemplary leaders. Churchill was an emblem of British identity, courage, resilience and moral clarity through World War II and its aftermath. Queen Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral – one of the largest gatherings of world leaders and statesmen in history at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Over three hundred thousand people lined the streets to say farewell, with millions more watching worldwide on television. The dockers’ dips, the ringing of the bells of St Paul’s, the railway lines silenced in tribute – all testified to the depth of grief felt by a nation mourning its greatest hero. Though frail in his later years, Churchill’s death still marked a profound loss – not just for Britain, but for the world.
Churchill’s death came just as 1960s Britain was shedding its old Victorian traditions and institutions to embrace youth-driven change and modernisation. And yet Churchill remained a powerful symbol of British identity and fortitude through its finest hours, lending moral clarity through the darkest moments of 20th-century history. The passing of the great wartime leader marked a turning point, as the nation looked back one last time to honour his monumental legacy before moving decisively forward into a new era.
Surrey University Founded
The University of Surrey received its Royal Charter in 1965, making it one of Britain’s first of the so-called ‘new universities’ established to meet the needs of a growing student population in the 1960s. Prior to gaining university status, Surrey existed as Battersea Polytechnic dating back to 1891. Its transformation reflected the major expansion of higher education opportunities in post-war Britain.
As the Robbins Report of 1963 recommended creating new universities to increase access, Surrey Polytechnic was selected as a suitable site given its history and location near London. After acquiring a new 100-acre campus at Guildford, Surrey gained its Royal Charter on 9 September 1965.
Queen Elizabeth II formally granted the charter in person later that year, conferring university status. Surrey admitted its first students as a university in 1966, launching with a focus on science and engineering teaching and research.
As one of the first polytechnics upgraded to university status, Surrey paved the way for many similar institutions to broaden their academics. Its growth reflected the rapid development of Britain’s university system in the 1960s as student enrolment swelled following new government policies emphasising expanded higher education. Surrey emerged as a pioneering model of the high-quality teaching and research possible at Britain’s new universities.
Queen Of Our Times is the definitive biography of Queen Elizabeth II by one of Britain’s leading royal authorities, Robert Hardman. This commemorative edition includes an epilogue reflecting upon Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee, her passing and her funeral.
With fascinating revelations from those who knew her best and special access to unseen royal papers granted by Elizabeth II herself, author and royal expert Robert Hardman explores the full, astonishing life of our longest reigning monarch in this authoritative yet intimate biography.
Politics
Abolition of Death Penalty
In 1965, the British Parliament took the historic step of effectively abolishing the death penalty by voting to suspend and end capital punishment as a sentencing option. The legislation marked a major human rights milestone for the nation.
The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 suspended use of the death penalty for murder cases over a 5-year trial period. A free vote garnered bipartisan support, passing by 200 votes to 98 in the House of Commons. Home Secretary Sir Frank Soskice argued “society had moved on” since the last execution in 1964.
While controversial, abolishing the death penalty reflected evolving social attitudes emphasising rehabilitation over solely punitive justice. Other liberal reforms by Harold Wilson’s Labour government like legalising homosexuality and easing divorce also passed, signalling greater social permissiveness. However, some MPs warned suspending capital punishment could increase violent crimes.
The Act’s success ensured the death penalty’s permanent abolition in 1969, with Parliament voting to make its suspension permanent. The UK thus became one of the first countries worldwide to completely end the usage of capital punishment in peacetime. Only cases of treason held the possibility of the death sentence afterwards.
Abolishing the death penalty stood as a hallmark development in the UK’s legal humanisation. It enabled further progressive criminal justice reforms in the late 20th century based on principles of human rights and dignity.
Rhodesia Declares Independence
In November 1965, the British colony of Rhodesia sparked a constitutional crisis by unilaterally declaring its independence from Britain when talks on allowing majority African rule broke down. The white-minority government of Rhodesia severed colonial ties rather than move toward dismantling racial discrimination and injustice.
Led by Prime Minister Ian Smith, Rhodesia’s white authorities refused British pressure to extend democratic rights before independence. Britain refused independence without guarantees that Rhodesia’s black population would gain civil rights and freedom from segregation. Smith’s government declared independence anyway to maintain white rule.
Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was denounced by Britain and much of the international community as an unlawful coup to preserve white supremacy rule. Britain refused diplomatic recognition and imposed economic sanctions on the breakaway colony. However, its diplomatic isolation did little to dislodge Rhodesia’s regime.
Rhodesia existed as an unrecognised state for 15 years before transitioning in 1980 to recognise independence as Zimbabwe under native African leadership. However the 1965 crisis highlighted the fragility of Britain’s relations with colonies seeking self-rule and the ongoing struggle against racial discrimination.
Harold Wilson is the only post-war leader of any party to serve as Britain's Prime Minister on two separate occasions. In total he won four General Elections, spending nearly eight years in Downing Street. Half a century later, he is still unbeaten, Labour's greatest ever election winner. How did he do it - and at what cost?
Controversy Over Harold Wilson
In 1965, a controversial 30-minute documentary titled ‘The Prime Minister’ aired on BBC-1, levying criticisms and personal attacks against sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The program sparked outrage and accusations of bias, fueling paranoia around Wilson’s leadership amid changing cultural tides.
Narrated by Woodrow Wyatt, a dissident Labour MP, the documentary cast Wilson as an inept opportunist who rose to power through manipulation and deceit. Using interpolated footage and quotes, it conveyed Wyatt’s scathing perspective on Wilson’s character and methods in a biased fashion that maligned the Prime Minister.
The program provoked fury from Labour supporters and wider concerns about smearing political figures through media attacks veiled as impartial programming. However, it also highlighted growing establishment distrust toward Wilson and his liberal reforms loosening class divides, empowering youth, and reducing union restrictions.
The furore underscored escalating tensions as Wilson’s progressive policies and rhetoric around a new Britain challenged the entrenched elite. While the BBC apologised, the documentary amplified suspicions that Wilson was threatening the old order amidst Britain’s rapid cultural changes in the 1960s. It demonstrated emerging media influence in shaping perceptions.
The broadcast sparked paranoia about campaigns to undermine Wilson’s leadership, which later manifest in conspiracy theories around plots against the Prime Minister. But it revealed more broadly the polarising environment facing leaders during a transformational decade.
Sports
BBC Launches Grandstand Sports Show
In 1965, BBC launched Grandstand, a revolutionary weekly sports program that televised live coverage of football matches, horse races, and other sporting events all within a single 4-hour broadcast each Saturday afternoon. Grandstand broke new ground for multi-sport coverage and set the template for modern sports broadcasting in Britain.
Up until Grandstand, most televised sport followed a single event start-to-finish. Grandstand pioneered a fast-paced, lively format hopping between venues and sports using split-screen views and expert commentary teams. Viewers could catch highlights from several Football League matches, top horse racing meets, golf tournaments and more every week.
Hosted initially by David Coleman from a London studio, Grandstand brought a new energy and diversity to sports broadcasting. Combining live footage, graphics, analysis and interviews, it presented sports in an entertaining, information-rich package tailored for armchair fans. The eclectic approach mirrored the rise of commercial television in widening sport’s audience.
Grandstand quickly became an iconic British TV fixture watched in millions of homes. Its enduring Saturday afternoon slot provided weekly routines for families gathered around the television. Through technical innovation and imaginative coverage, Grandstand revolutionised sports broadcasting and made television the prime destination for live sports spectacle.
Ann Packer Sets 800m Record
At an athletics meeting in Avignon, France in July 1965, British middle-distance runner Ann Packer cemented her status as the world’s top female 800m sprinter by breaking the event’s long-standing world record. Clocking a time of 2:01.1, Packer shattered the previous mark by over 2 seconds to establish a new benchmark for the women’s two-lap race.
Packer’s record-breaking run came shortly after she won gold in the 800m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, where she became the first British track and field athlete to take Olympic gold since 1936. Still only 22 years old in 1965, her stunning world record affirmed Packer’s dominance at the peak of her career.
Shy and unassuming out of competition, Packer revealed a fierce competitive drive on the track that propelled her into the record books. Her groundbreaking 800m time represented a watershed moment for British women athletes excelling on the global stage through dedication and determination.
Packer’s unprecedented record stood for nearly 8 years until topped by Nadezhda Ilyina of the Soviet Union. But her legacy paved the way for British women’s middle distance running excellence, inspiring generations of female athletes to conquer more records in the decades to come.
When billions poured into the neglected east London borough hosting the 2012 Olympics, a turf war broke out between crime families for control of a now valuable strip of land.
Using violence, guile and corruption, one gangster, the Long Fella, emerged as a true untouchable. A team of local detectives made it their business to take him on until Scotland Yard threw them under the bus and the business of putting on 'the greatest show on earth' won the day.
Award-winning journalist Michael Gillard took up where they left off to expose the tangled web of chief executives, big banks, politicians and dirty money where innocent lives are destroyed and the guilty flourish. Gillard’s efforts culminated in a landmark court case, which finally put a spotlight on the Long Fella and his friends and exposed London’s real Olympic legacy.
Martin Hynes Wins Criterium Cycling Race
In March 1965, British cyclist Martin Hynes emerged victorious at the renowned one-day Criterium International cycling race in France. Hynes became the first Briton to win the grueling multi-stage race, demonstrating his world-class cycling prowess.
The taxing Criterium International combined three different races into a single day – a morning road race stage, afternoon timed hill climb, and evening criterium circuit through the streets of the host city. Hynes battled exhausting Alpine mountain routes during the 78-mile opening leg, before surviving the hill climb and then tactically outpacing rivals in the final stage to clinch the overall title.
Riding for the British Mercian Cycling Team, the Manchester native delivered a breakout performance, seizing control during the final fast-paced criterium phase. Hynes’ victory underscored Britain’s cycling resurgence, powered by new stars like Hynes breaking onto the continental European scene traditionally dominated by the French and Italians.
His triumphs helped inspire a new generation of British cyclists to achieve Grand Tour glory and dominance in the coming decades. Hynes’ gritty 1965 Criterium victory marked him as one of Britain’s foremost new talents in competitive road cycling.
It's time to embrace the slower pace!
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The year 1965 proved momentous for the United Kingdom as the nation underwent rapid societal change and upheaval amidst the revolutionary spirit of the 1960s. Major cultural milestones, political firsts, and legislative reforms defined the year, reflecting and fueling the massive transformations which would culminate in the latter half of the decade.
In popular culture, groundbreaking works like John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s albums marked the creative zenith of British rock music’s global dominance. The BBC launched pioneering programmes like Grandstand which revolutionised sports broadcasting. Controversial comedies like Till Death Us Do Part confronted taboos on racism and class divisions in plainspoken language.
Politically, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson expanded the welfare state and social freedoms while facing paranoia and distrust from conservatives. The abolition of capital punishment and decriminalisation of homosexuality broke with long legal traditions. But Rhodesia’s unilateral declaration of independence exposed ongoing struggles of dismantling colonialism.
Youth-oriented trends surged from fashion to film, with subversive films like Darling starring Julie Christie embodying the new image of liberated Swinging London. Tragedies like Winston Churchill’s death closed the chapter on Britain’s wartime past even as the country pivoted towards an iconoclastic future.
Across every facet of life, the events of 1965 reflected a nation in flux, testing old boundaries and forging new frontiers. Though gradual, the changes secretly laid vital groundwork for the coming explosion of cultural and political rebellion. 1965’s restless, experimental spirit generated crucial momentum for the far-reaching metamorphosis Britain would soon undergo.
