The idea of a Top of the Pops revival has been floating around for a while and now it seems that both viewers and BBC bosses think that the time has come for a return – one that is more that the annual Christmas show. What makes the announcement interesting is the idea of a “fresh twist” that will take it away from the weekly formula that the audience is used to and bring in new elements.
The BBC pride themselves on their ability to bring Music to the masses with their coverage of Glastonbury, BBC sessions and the now annual BBC Music Awards so a programme reflecting the best of current releases will surely have a welcome home among them. At one point everyone used to play in the TOTP studios and there is no doubt that with the right marketing and a clean slate all sorts of high profile British bands and international artists could be tempted over.
The problem is that this clean slate is a little overdue.
A new version of the show is probably a good idea for the channel as it will provide them with the chance to give the show a fresh new image – something is badly needs following recent Operation Yew Tree arrests and the stigma attached to the “classic” era of the show.
Not that the company have been doing themselves many favours here. Old episodes of the show from the archives are shown on BBC 4, despite the links to disgraced presenters, and the BBC had admitted that the next run of episodes from 1981, due to be shown in the new year, will have to have a third cut out to remove Dave Lee Travis and Jimmy Savile.
Each generation has their memories of Top of the Pops and the presenters of their era and it makes sense for the corporation to create a whole new show for a new audience rather than rely on sifting through the archives for safe footage of the seventies and eighties. The questions that remain are what exactly is this new twist, who will they get to present it and will it capture the attention of the audience in the same way as the classic format? The BBC have tried to be different in the past with Fame Academy and The Voice but neither were the hits that they were expected to be. Hopefully a TOTP revival will be different.