What's the story?
The story is 1992. Or rather, Top of the Pops: the Story of 1992
Isn’t that a bit random?
It’s the belated tie-in show for BBC Four’s cult Friday night repeats of old episodes of Top of the Pops.
Cult, you say?
Yes, haven’t you wondered why Jimmy Nail and Betty Boo have been trending on Twitter of late? It’s because all of us old codgers are reliving our youth by moaning about how terrible TOTP was back in the day (Betty apart, obvs).
But we’re not talking about the TOTP repeats in this case, are we?
No, Top of the Pops: the Story of 1992 is a new documentary that looks back on the show in the year when Whitney Houston was number one for most of it (OK, for 10 weeks) and dance outfits such as The Orb and Aberdeen’s The Shamen broke through. It was a tradition on BBC Four that each new year of TOTP repeats is previewed by a documentary about the show and its stars in those 12 months. But the pandemic rather messed things up and now the documentaries have shifted to BBC Two.
What can we expect?
Lots of chat about the decision by TOTP to make everyone perform live instead of mime that year (turned out not everyone could). Oh, and the first appearance of Take That. Yes, they were around 30 years ago. And yes, that makes me feel very old too.
When can I watch?
Top of the Pops: the Story of 1992 is on tonight on BBC Two at 8.45pm. TOTP: 1992 Biggest Hits is on straight after. A chance to prove that you know all the words to Achy Breaky Heart. Bonus points if you throw a bit of line dancing in, too.
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