I understand your frustration Servalan - and it's not often I do this - but I don't agree with you here.

I don't think we have any entitlement to know why Mike's family requested that the editions are not shown. The reason is clearly personal and I believe that we should respect this request.

However I do agree with you regarding your request for a compilation of missed performances.

I agree with this, if it is indeed the case, and it's currently the most plausible explanation I can think of, though we still don't know for sure whether all of his episodes will be missed or if this is a one-off, and probably won't know until the schedules for the new year come out.

Since 2011, BBC Four have shown 243 episodes from April 1976 to September 1982 - that's every episode, with the exception of those missing from the archives, those that feature the Yewtree two from autumn 1977 onwards, and the 7th May 1981 episode with mute links. They even showed David Hamilton's home video recording from 1977, and went to the bother of restoring the mute link episodes from 1982 when they didn't have to. So I don't think they'd miss out any episodes without a very good reason, and in this case I'm not sure that reason will be forthcoming from the BBC.

Well I disagree. I know we don't know all the facts about why Mike Smith & his family may not want the programmes to be seen, but surely if a presenter has signed up to allow his work to be broadcast, then surely you can't just break that agreement if you're not happy, unless of course there's a very serious reason to do so.
From what I've heard (& it's not a lot at this stage), there seems no valid reason to not show his episodes, so I feel they should go ahead as normal.

sorry Ursula and Servalan, but I agree with Ramraider and Robert.
If these episodes with Mike Smith are not being shown, then they're not being shown. Simple as. We need to get over it, if this is the case. It doesn't matter what the reason is, and it is nobody's business, and we have no right to know why..
Jumping up and down with an indignant sense of entitlement, demanding to see the episodes, and insisting we must be told why the BBC won't show them is not very good As I said, we are not entitled to be told anything.

I'm not insisting we are told the reason why - that was Servalan! - I just wondered how they can suddenly go back on their decision to allow something be broadcast one minute (back in the 80s) - but not now!

Agreed - There cannot be "exceptions" for deceased presenters.

BBC4 exists for the viewers,no individual should ever be able to stop a repeat of anything,unless it is written into a contract.
If (and I say If) a TV show can be blocked because it makes someone feel sad,then that's a very bad precedent.

Yep. That's what I was thinking.

If it was a rubbish episode I wouldn't care so much, but it's not just Wham. There's Living on the Ceiling as you say and the only performance of Maneater by Hall and Oates!!

***Loud Groan***

It was me - *waves* - and I could accept it more if we were actually being told that Smith's family had requested that his editions should not be shown for personal reasons. If indeed that's what it is. It's the fact that we're not being told anything at all that is strange. At the end of the day, we, as Licence Fee payers, funded TOTP - therefore I think we're allowed at least some kind of explanation as to why Smith-hosted editions can't be shown. It would at least end the speculation taking place on here!

That's not about intruding on the family's grief or anything like that - just about being transparent. There isn't a legal feud at the heart of this (in the way there was with Rock Follies, for instance), nor is there a Yewtree-esque scandal … so the silence makes it all the weirder.

It's also odd - the BBC routinely broadcasts archive material that features performers no longer with us (Dad's Army being the obvious example). I'm sure the families of those artists are happy for their work to be seen again and also discovered by new audiences.

A Kate Bush update. Sadly, having been No.1 on the first update, it looks like she'll be battling Elvis for No.3 come Friday. A few Buzzjack posters predicted this.

1 Little Mix - Glory Days (41.7k)
2 Michael Ball & Alfie Boe - Together (38.1k)
3 Kate Bush - Before the Dawn (35.6k) *
4 Elvis Presley - The Wonder of You (32.7k)
5 The Weeknd - Starboy (25.9k) *

Source:OCC/Buzzjack.

As regards the Mike Smith Top of the Pops - I had a look at Popscene and a poster has listed all of the UK Gold repeats from the 90's and a few of Mike's were listed as being shown from the '85, '86 and '87 period.
Unfortunately, the November 4th 1982 edition was never repeated at that time.
If it turns out that it's a family thing, and they requested his shows not to be broadcast, then I can totally understand that. It will be a shame though. We won't get one of my fave Ultravox singles 'Hymn' which featured on a DLT show at the end of '82 and once again on a Mike show at the beginning of '83. In fact, the January 6th 1983 edition with Mike Smith and Tommy Vance has a pretty great lineup!

Personally I think it would have been a great tribute to Mike Smith to have shown his Top of the Pops episodes, so I'm very disappointed by this decision.

They've just shown David Christie performing Saddle Up on TOTP despite the fact that he died in very tragic circumstances in 1997.

Announcement on the future of TOTP on BBC4 - http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2191824

Do we even know for sure that they won't be showing Mike Smith's editions, or are people just hypothesising and getting carried away in true DS fashion (where a couple of unsubstantiated posts somehow become "fact")? Maybe there's some other reason behind that episode not being shown?

Thanks for that Highlander - I've never heard of Buzzjack - where do you find the current album sales?

I cannot believe Little Mix are No 1, thanks to our Great British record buying public. Have they ever come out with a decent tune yet?! - Girls Aloud & The Spice Girls weren't the best - but at least they're songs were memorable.

Hopefully, we're just panicking in usual DS fashion, although a lot of the forumites can be spot on about things!

We don't actually know anything, and I freely admit that I am in the dark and responding to posts from FMs who I'm assuming are speculating themselves.

There may well be some other reason for that episode not being shown - but given the implications for the TOTP repeats if it is a Mike Smith-related issue, it would be nice to know. I realise that it's only a TV programme at the end of the day - but it's one we've all derived pleasure from and spend time on here discussing. I'm in agreement with Andy_JS - it would be nice to see Smith remembered, rather than forgotten (or wiped from TV history).

Exactly.

Plus I have only good memories if Mike Smith, he makes a nice addition to the current TOTP line up of presenters.

Another Irishism from me, and sorry for the delay in picking this up. - I think that it is unlikely that Eamonn Holmes would have been in London, never mind the Top of the Pops studio in 82 / 83, as at the time, he was one of the main link people of Ulster TV's Good Evening Ulster.

Here is my evidence m'lud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e8hvc-Q7JA

And just in case you did not know, Ulster is in the North of Ireland, not in London, otherwise it would be called Kilburn

No probs Ursula. Yep, Little Mix don't do too much for me - bring back Bananarama that's what I say!

Buzzjack's a good site for keeping up with the current chart. They have 'Friday chart predictions' thread which update the midweek chart 2 or 3 times during the week.
http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/Chart-Chat-f2.html

We only really know for certain that Mike's November 4th 1982 edition isn't being shown. We'll have to wait and see if his co-presented January 6th 1983 editon goes ahead or not.
I'm guessing it has something to do with Mike Smith as I don't see any other reason for the November 4th show to be skipped....Unless 'Zambezi' is regarded as too offensive to the ears to be broadcast!

I believe the Jocky Wilson episode isn't being shown- that is more gutting for me than any episode not being made available for the presenter was

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/lat...p-quiz-returns