Channel 5 look at Top of the Pops’ secrets and scandals

For decades it was the biggest music show on TV…

In January 1964 the BBC launched a new music chart show that aired live from Manchester, over the years Top of the Pops played host to the biggest music stars of the time and made household names of its presenters.

The show moved to London in the late 1960s and while at TV Centre it became home to legendary on-screen performances and off-screen controversy.

This documentary features contributions from former presenters Pete Murray, ‘Diddy’ David Hamilton and Tony Dortie, Pan’s People dancer Dee Dee Wilde, Arthur Brown, Cheryl Baker from Bucks Fizz and backstage crew from across the decades.

TOTP: Secrets & Scandals reveals an astonishing story about one presenter being drugged before the programme recording, the bands and artists who admitted to being drunk on-air, and the diva demands from some of the world’s best-known pop stars.

The programme also reveals the extraordinary and ruthless tactics that bands and their promoters used to appear on the show, the behind-the-scenes chaos when a diva’s costumes couldn’t be found, and the secrets behind some infamous on-air blunders.

The documentary also uncovers how bands would try to get around ever-changing BBC rules on how they had to perform, and the controversies around the show’s dance troupes. There’s also a surprising story about the popular rock band that ended up donning costumes to moonlight as a famous novelty act, without the audience ever realising.

Channel 5 also reveal the secrets behind the cancellation of the show in the 2000s and how the show’s legacy was tarnished as shocking revelations about original host Jimmy Savile came to light following the programme’s demise.

TOTP: Secrets & Scandals, Channel 5, 9 pm