Top of the Pops 2

In 2004, the controller of BBC Two, Roly Keating, announced that the programme was to be "rested". The move was part of a format change for the main Top of the Pops programme, which saw it being moved from its BBC One Friday night primetime slot to a new slot on Sunday nights on BBC Two. The new format merged the Top of the Pops format of new chart performances with the TOTP2 format of archival footage. This format ran until TOTP's cancellation in July 2006. The last showing of TOTP2 before it was rested was the TOTP2 Christmas Special shown on 24 December 2005 on BBC Two.

Repeats of edited episodes of TOTP2 have been shown on a number of UKTV channels from 2004 onwards, including Dave, and Yesterday.

After the cancellation of Top of the Pops, TOTP2 returned to BBC Two on 30 September 2006. The new show format was similar to the earlier TOTP2, but also included live/original BBC performances. These episodes were produced and broadcast in the 4:3 aspect ratio like the majority of its archive material, except for the first two episodes, which were shown in the 16:9 aspect ratio to accommodate new performances. The first 50-minute special included Nelly Furtado, Jamelia and Razorlight, before it reverted to a 30-minute weekly format at 20:00.[1]

The BBC planned to replace the main Top of the Pops special on Christmas Day 2008 with a special edition of TOTP2, that would have included some live performances and archive footage as well as the 2008 Christmas number one UK single; these plans were later scrapped due to complaints by viewers. This led to Simon Cowell asking the BBC to buy the rights to the Top of the Pops brand so he could produce a version of it for ITV1.[2] The BBC later refused Cowell's offer and announced that they would show TOTP on Christmas Day on BBC One as well as the TOTP2 specials on BBC Two.

Since 2008, new sporadic TOTP2 specials have aired, alongside repeats of episodes originally broadcast between 1997 and 2012.

On 27 June 2009, TOTP2 returned unexpectedly to celebrate the life of Michael Jackson, who had died two days earlier. This later turned out to be the last episode to be narrated by Steve Wright.

In December 2009, Mark Radcliffe took over as presenter of TOTP2.

On 10 May 2010, a TOTP2 80s Special aired on BBC Two. This marked the 500th edition of TOTP2.

In May 2012 it was presumed that TOTP2 would make a return, when a new series of TOTP2 aired in a daily 18:00 slot on BBC Two for a week. However, no new series have aired on BBC Two since.

December 2013 saw the introduction of a new Top of the Pops logo, and a presentation refresh for TOTP2. It also saw the return of the CCS "Whole Lotta Love" theme tune.[3]

In recent years, BBC Four has aired vintage editions of Top of the Pops – originally 35 years to the week of the original broadcast, starting with 1977 repeats shown in 2012 – with the renewed interest in the original shows earning ratings of up to a million viewers, prompting the channel to repeat editions of TOTP2, such as in the aftermath of the Christmas Day 2016 death of George Michael.

In addition, various performances from TOTP and other programmes have been repackaged as music specials by the TOTP2 team, such as "Disco at the BBC", "Country at the BBC" and "Abba at the BBC". Music documentaries fronted by the likes of Nile Rodgers and Gregory Porter have also featured alongside, under the slogan "Friday night is Music Night".

The traditional TOTP2 Christmas special has been skipped numerous times since 2015. The 2017 'Xmas special' is the most recent episode ofTOTP2.