What happened in the UK in 1994?

Here are the biggest news, sports and entertainment stories of 1994…

The English and Welsh welcomed a change in the law that meant they could go shopping on Sundays. Since 1950 they had not been able to do so due to a law that prohibited the opening of stores on the traditional holy day. Church groups opposed the measure, but both the people and the government agreed that it was an outdated concept.

Britain’s first national lottery was launched to mixed reactions; some felt it was wrong to promote the game and others just loved the chance to win easy money. However, the fact that a considerable amount of money each week would go to charity was enough to sweeten many of the doubters and, having gotten the go-ahead, the first raffle was a huge success; the jackpot reaches more than 7 million British pounds.

Someone who won a personal lottery was the man who would be given a ‘bionic’ heart. The media took great interest in the pioneering operation, led by UK doctors in Cambridgeshire, which implanted the world’s first battery-powered heart.

In the political world, people finally dared to hope for peace in Northern Ireland following ceasefire announcements from both the IRA and loyalists; the conservatives negotiating finally seem to have paid off. Despite that, it wasn’t a great year for John Major and company, although they may not have realized it at the time, as little-known and fresh-faced Tony Blair was hired as the new leader of the Labor Party of the opposition. ; bringing with it conversations about ‘change’ and a modernizing agenda.

As for sports, in 1994 Great Britain missed out on the World Cup fun in the US; the first time since 1938 that no British representative had been at the event. Brazil won that competition, eventually beating Italy in the final on penalties, but much attention was still focused on Argentina’s Diego Maradona, who had been suspended midway through the tournament after being caught taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs. With the home countries’ football matches of no importance, it was an ideal opportunity for the 5 rugby union nations to take center stage. Wales dominated the tournament, but a loss to England in their last match prevented them from sealing a grandslam.

Britain’s television screens lit up in 1994 with two familiar faces in new costumes on BBC 2. Steve Coogan’s creation of the socially inappropriate Alan Partridge was a huge success, with viewers cringing as Partridge humiliated and vilified his guests on the fictional chat program. ‘Knowing me, Knowing you’. The BBC’s second triumph is ‘The Fast Show’; Created by Harry Enfield regular Paul Whitehouse, the show reinvigorated the well-worn sketch show format and launched a variety of catchphrases.

On the big screen, this was the year that Hugh Grant became a household name as a result of his starring role in ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’; the same film is also responsible for promoting the much loved/hated song ‘Love Is All Around’ from ‘Wet Wet Wet’. The hottest movie of 1994 was Quentin Tarrantino’s gangster movie ‘Pulp Fiction’. Telling the intertwined stories of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster’s wife, and a pair of bandits, it was all about violence and redemption.