TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

From Radio Times "Peter Powell introduces a summer series designed to bring a splash of holiday colour to Saturday evenings."

Someone at BBC1 had made the questionable decision to bring Radio 1's Roadshow to TV on this Saturday evening show. The public would have been familiar with the faces of the DJs from Top Of The Pops, but it didn't necessarily mean that they liked them and wanted to see them again.

Each show would pitch up at a different town, just as Seaside Special did the decade before, but this time it would be Norwich instead of Great Yarmouth and Depeche Mode instead of Sacha Distel.

Each week the musical acts appeared at a local night club, however the travelling stage would be put to use as each host DJ had to compete a challenge, and introduce a surprise band, while the sarcastic and off-putting John Walters had his own section Walters' Weekend hoping that the offledust that made John Peel a TV personality would land on him. Other Radio 1 DJs would appear on the stage alongside the host.

The Kings of 1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood were the stars of the first show, while Nik Kershaw, The Thompson Twins, Spandau Ballet, Ultravox, Level 42 and others made the show feel like Top Of The Pops had gone on holiday.

"Sun, sea, stars and summer sounds-all part of a fast-moving 30 minutes to put you in a holiday mood" claimed the Radio Times but after visiting each town the show wasn't invited back.

ON THE ROAD

BBC1

28th July 1984 - 1st September 1984