1997
Top Selling Singles
- Elton John – Candle in the Wind 1997 / Something About the Way You Look Tonight
- Aqua – Barbie Girl
- Puff Daddy & Faith Evans – I’ll Be Missing You
- Various Artists – Perfect Day
- Teletubbies – Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!
- Will Smith – Men in Black
- No Doubt – Don’t Speak
- Natalie Imbruglia – Torn
- Chumbawamba – Tubthumping
- Spice Girls – Spice Up Your Life
Christmas No.1: Spice Girls – Too Much
Top Selling Albums
- Oasis – Be Here Now
- The Verve – Urban Hymns
- Spice Girls – Spice
- Texa – White on Blonde
- Spice Girls – Spiceworld
- Now That’s What I Call Music! 38
- The Prodigy – The Fat of The Land
- Celine Dion – Let’s Talk About Love
- Various Artists – Diana – Princess of Wales – Tribute
- Now That’s What I Call Music! 37
At the Box Office
- The Full Monty [wav]
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park
- Men In Black
- 101 Dalmatians
- Batman & Robin
- Evita
- Bean
- Ransom
- Star Wars
- Liar Liar
Cost of Living 1997
| Average house price | £48,969 |
| Average salary | £14,367 |
| Average car price | £12,200 |
| Petrol | 60p / litre |
| Pint of beer | £1.84 |
| Packet of 20 Cigarettes | £3.12 |
| Pint of milk | 35p |
In the News
- A landslide general election victory for the Labour Party
- Tony Blair is Prime Minister [wav]
- The handover of Hong Kong, the largest remaining British colony, to China
- The death of Diana, Princess of Wales [wav]
- The underground anti-road protest ends as the last protester, known as Swampy, emerges from the network of tunnels beneath the A30 extension site in Devon.
- Scientists at the Roslin Institute announce the birth of a cloned sheep named Dolly
- At the Brit Awards Geri Halliwell wears her iconic Union Jack dress
- Channel 5, Britain’s fifth terrestrial television channel is launched
- Introduction of the Nursery Education Voucher Scheme
- Katrina and the Waves win the Eurovision Song Contest (held in Dublin) with the song Love Shine a Light
- Construction begins on the Millennium Dome
- Publication of J. K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
- A new style of fifty pence coin is introduced
- Seven die and 139 are injured in the Southall rail crash
- The Royal Yacht Britannia is decommissioned after 44 years in service
- Liam Gallagher married Patsy Kensit. Noel Gallagher married Meg Matthews.
- Oscars went to Jack Nicholson for Best Actor in As Good As it Gets and Best Actress went to Helen Hunt for the same movie. Best Director was James Cameron for Titanic. Best Picture was also Titanic.
- Madonna won a Golden Globe award for her role in Evita.
- Pete Sampras and Martina Hingis won their respective Wimbledon titles.
- At 22, David Beckham was Young Player of the Year
- The Grand National is delayed after a suspected bomb threat. The race is eventually run on 7 April. It was the last of Grand Nationals, to be commentated by Peter O’Sullevan.
- British Airways replaced the Union flag on the tails of its planes with ethnic designs.
- Dolly the sheep was born, the first cloned mammal in the world.
- Diana, Princess of Wales caused controversy by calling for an international ban on land mines.
On the Telly
- Debuts of:
- Teletubbies [wav]
- Children’s animated series Arthur, Kipper and Titch
- Jonathan Creek
- The spoof documentary series Brass Eye on Channel 4
- Vets in Practice
- Where the Heart Is
- Armstrong and Miller
- The Battersby family, described by the media as a “family from hell”, makes its debut in Coronation Street.
- Finally:
- The final episode of Celebrity Squares, presented by Bob Monkhouse, is broadcast on ITV,
- The Simpsons is shown for the last time on BBC1
- The final edition of the game show You Bet!
- After 17 years, Peter Snow presents Newsnight for the last time
- Magnus Magnusson hosts his final episode of Mastermind
- The final episode of Soldier Soldier is broadcast on ITV.
- Blockbusters relaunches on BBC2, presented by Michael Aspel.
- Derek Wilton is killed off in Coronation Street
- MTV launches on all satellite and cable platforms in the UK and Ireland.
Top Selling Christmas Toys
- Tamigotchi, Blue and Pink Model.
- Teletubbies
Gadgets
- – Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) is a high tech platform.
- – WIFI standards is introduced.
- – The PNG standard is introduced.
