Steve Williams post_id=38378 time= user_id=1326 Wrote:

XIII post_id=38358 time= user_id=894 Wrote:The TOTP repeats do well for BBC Four but the idea that the BBC will look at those and think 'we need to revive TOTP' is stretching things. Considering music specials barely do well for BBC One and Sounds like Friday Night was a flop, TOTP as occasional specials isn't going to do huge numbers.

Well, there was a time, circa 2012, when I did actually think that we were very close to getting Top of the Pops back on a regular basis. The BBC4 repeats were doing good business, they'd just discovered a load of lost footage like David Bowie doing The Jean Genie which had got in all the papers, the sixtieth anniversary of the chart was coming up and there were various things announced for that and they even announced they were going to do a live stage show under the brand. There was also those "What Next?" promos on the Beeb which featured the Pops logo as an example of a classic BBC brand. So it felt like Pops was enjoying renewed enthusiasm both inside and outside the Beeb again and I genuinely thought it might come back. But unfortunately Savile happened and it became a totally toxic brand and that was the end of it.

I still don't think you can write it off, like you can't write off any genre. Twenty years ago everyone was writing off Saturday night telly saying the old shiny floor show was dead and then Pop Idol and X Factor and Strictly happened and they were the biggest shows on TV again. So you can absolutely have a music show doing good business on TV again, if the time and the format is right. Sounds Like Friday Night probably wasn't it, but that's not to say another show couldn't do it. I wonder how much its lack of success was because people turned their nose up at it because it wasn't Top of the Pops.

The thing is, though, if you want to feature music on TV, what better format than Top of the Pops? It's certainly the simplest and most effective way anyone's found to present pop music on television. Note that this doesn't mean it has to be Top of the Pops exactly as it was in the 70s and 80s, presented by a Radio 1 DJ and including a full chart rundown so you can write it in your exercise book and it must only play records in the charts even if that means it has to go down to number 74. But the basic concept of a load of popular tunes is one that can surely be adapted for a new era. You can look at Pops in 1976, 1986, 1996 and 2006 and you can see four completely different programmes, some more successful than the others. But it's the same format, it's the execution that changes. And so if someone can come up with a way of making Top of the Pops work now, there's no reason why it wouldn't. There's no reason why it has to be like it was.

JAS84 post_id=38367 time= user_id=881 Wrote:Agreed. RSC had it's timeslot moved around constantly due to Boris's regular Coronavirus briefings, not the best way to build an audience.

Maybe, but it was also at the height of the first lockdown when daytime audiences were at their highest for many years, so plenty more people had a chance to sample it than would usually be the case, especially as it got screenings at the weekend as well. Being around the briefings was of obvious benefit as well. I've been working full-time throughout and I saw it plenty of times.

Brekkie post_id=43275 time= user_id=976 Wrote:It does seem odd to go from 3D to 2D. An example of a cartoon being too cartooney.

Usually they'd be a break between a reboot of a kids show but I think Thomas has been running pretty much without a break, but with a couple of reboots, for well over a decade now.

CameronYoung post_id=43284 time= user_id=1509 Wrote:I think this reboot was meant to just be Series 22, but they seem to have decided it's a big enough change (the transition from models to full CGI was rather phased) to warrant it being a separate show.

JAS84 post_id=43302 time= user_id=881 Wrote:They got rid of Henry and Edward (the two most generic of the main six engines) in favour of a couple of female trains

CameronYoung post_id=43311 time= user_id=1509 Wrote:

JAS84 post_id=43302 time= user_id=881 Wrote:They got rid of Henry and Edward (the two most generic of the main six engines) in favour of a couple of female trains

What?! :o

They've completely got rid of them, ie they're not side characters either?

VMPhil post_id=43298 time= user_id=1043 Wrote:As long as the kids like it (who won't remember the previous version) surely that's all that matters.

Always found it a terribly slow and dull show myself, even at that age.

RhysJR post_id=43394 time= user_id=1340 Wrote:To this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V3VuIQ1Ia8

A long, long way from this
https://youtu.be/fkB3F4-NI8A

Brekkie post_id=43410 time= user_id=976 Wrote:

RhysJR post_id=43394 time= user_id=1340 Wrote:To this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V3VuIQ1Ia8

A long, long way from this
https://youtu.be/fkB3F4-NI8A

The new intro is far more watchable if you mute it and play the classic theme instead. Surprising really they got away with ditching the original theme tune - most kids shows still running from our childhood have new versions of the classic theme.

Brekkie post_id=43410 time= user_id=976 Wrote:

RhysJR post_id=43394 time= user_id=1340 Wrote:To this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V3VuIQ1Ia8

A long, long way from this
https://youtu.be/fkB3F4-NI8A

The new intro is far more watchable if you mute it and play the classic theme instead. Surprising really they got away with ditching the original theme tune - most kids shows still running from our childhood have new versions of the classic theme.