No Rock And Roll Fun

IT'S NOT FRIDAY. IT'S NOT SEVEN O'CLOCK. AND IT'S NOT NUMBER ONE ANY LONGER: Well, at least it's not shunting down as far as BBC Three, but Top of the Pops is being kicked off BBC ONE to Sunday nights on BBC Two from springtime.

It could be a good move for the show, really: no longer having to fight against Coronation Street for attention (unless Roly Keating decides to bury it at 7.30) and no more having to have its not-that-bad three million audience compared with EastEnders - although it's perhaps fair to point out that the Enders can only manage about six million when it's up against Emmerdale, so pulling three million against the most popular programme in Britain is actually a really good performance.

On the other hand: there's a threat of more pissing about with the format, and however well it does, there's going to be a sense of demotion about the show. Roly says he wants to make the programme "bigger and better" - and a lot of his work at BBC Four has shown he can handle programmes with pedigrees with a certain amount of respect, but we'd like to see some firm proposals. And, of course, the programmes.