The BBC website broadcast dates confirm that this is the first full repeat of Toyah’s legendary Old Grey Whistle Test Christmas Eve concert from the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, since December 1981…
Toyah: Old Grey Whistle Test: BBC Four: Saturday 8th July: 00.35am
Annie Nightingale presents a Christmas Eve performance by the punk princess at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, with a band including acclaimed drummer Simon Phillips. Songs include the hits It’s a Mystery and I Want to Be Free.
A reminder the Second City Firsts episode “Glitter” airs tonight on BBC Four. Starring Toyah in the lead and in her first professional screen role. It is being repeated, for the first time since originally airing in November 1976, alongside two other Second City Firsts‘ episodes.
Second City Firsts: BBC Four: Wednesday 20th July: 10.35pm
Glitter. Series 1, episode 2. Drama from 1976 about Sue, a teenage singer whose dream is to perform on Top of the Pops. Toyah Willcox stars in her first professional role, with Phil Daniels and Noel Edmonds. Director: Tony Bicat. Also features: Doremy Vernon and Bilbo Baggins.
This is exciting! Glitter, a television drama made as part of the BBC’s 1970’s Second City Firsts series, is being repeated later this month for the FIRST TIME since it originally aired in 1976! Significantly, Glitter was Toyah’s first professional onscreen acting role (and music performances)!
Second City Firsts: BBC Four: Wednesday 20th July: 10.35pm
Glitter. Series 1, episode 2. Drama from 1976 about Sue, a teenage singer whose dream is to perform on Top of the Pops. Toyah Willcox stars in her first professional role, with Phil Daniels and Noel Edmonds. Director: Tony Bicat. Also features: Doremy Vernon and Bilbo Baggins.
Toyah is currently voicing continuity on BBC Four’s Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland. The final part of the three-episode series airs this Friday at 10pm, with a repeat late night Saturday. The first two episodes are currently available at BBC iPlayer.
Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland: BBC4: Fri 20th July: 10pm
Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland: BBC4: Sun 22nd July: 0.00am
Two 80s icons explore the distinct sounds that came out of different parts of Britain and Ireland in one of pop’s golden decades. Midge Ure, lead singer of Ultravox and one of the men behind Band Aid, and Kim Appleby, who had a string of hits with her sister Mel in the Stock, Aitken and Waterman-produced band Mel and Kim, go on a journey back in time to the 80s to figure out why certain cities produced their own diverse tunes.
• Further info/Watch the episodes at BBC iPlayer.
The video for Toyah’s power-pop 1983 hit Rebel Run airs on a retro edition of Top Of The Pops later this month… You’ve got to get away…
Top Of The Pops: BBC4: Friday 21st April: 7.30pm
22.09.1983. Simon Bates and Mike Read present the pop chart programme, first broadcast in September 1983. Featuring Toyah Willcox, David Bowie, Nick Heyward, The Alarm, Howard Jones and Hot Chocolate.
Toyah’s amazing very first appearance on Top Of The Pops, from February 1981, re-airs 35 years “almost” to the day it was first broadcast on BBC4 early next month…
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC4:
Thu 4th Feb: 7.30/11.30pm|Sun 7th Feb: 1.45am
Mike Read introduces the pop programme, featuring Duran Duran, Shakin Stevens, Phil Collins, the Who, Adam and the Ants, Toyah, Motorhead and Girlschool, Joe Dolce, Talking Heads and the Teardrop Explodes, and a dance performance from Legs and Co.
• Look out for further retro Toyah on Top Of The Pops appearances this year on BBC4 – In 1981 Toyah guested in the Top Of The Pops studio six times, performing ‘It’s A Mystery’ (three times), ‘I Want To Be Free’, ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ and ‘Good Morning Universe’.
It’s Slade: BBC Four: Friday 26th July: 9.10pm
It’s Slade: BBC Four: Saturday 27th July: 00.30am
It’s Slade: BBC Four: Sunday 28th July: 11.35pm
Top pop documentary, narrated by Radio One’s Mark Radcliffe, about one of Britain’s greatest and best-loved bands. Slade scored six number ones in the 70s, a feat rivalled only by Abba. Apart from Noddy and his bandmates – Dave Hill, Jim Lea and Don Powell – the cast here also includes Noel Gallagher of Oasis (who covered Cum On Feel the Noize), Status Quo, Toyah Willcox, Suzi Quatro and Ozzy Osbourne.
The episode of the BBC series Love and Marriage in which Toyah and Robert Fripp featured is to air on Australian television on Friday (14th June).
The Sydney Morning Herald: Critic’s Choice: Love & Marriage: Friday, 8.35pm, SBS One
Subtitled A 20th Century Romance, this fascinating British documentary has traced the history of marriage over the past 100 years. In tonight’s concluding episode, it picks up the tale in the 1980s. As with the past two instalments, while a crisp narration provides important context, the real enlightenment comes from the frank, simple interviews with assorted spouses. I especially like the fact that everyone speaks as an individual, relating their own experiences. Not until the final frames do we see the people as couples – if indeed they still are. And we get that same wonderfully eclectic assortment of humanity. Fans of 1980s music may be particularly interested to see Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox talk about their 25-year marriage – its ups and downs, and how they managed to keep it together.
• Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald.
It’s Slade: BBC Four: Saturday 23rd March: 11.55pm
Top pop documentary, narrated by Radio One’s Mark Radcliffe, about one of Britain’s greatest and best-loved bands. Slade scored six number ones in the 70s, a feat rivalled only by Abba. Apart from Noddy and his bandmates – Dave Hill, Jim Lea and Don Powell – the cast here also includes Noel Gallagher of Oasis (who covered Cum On Feel the Noize), Status Quo, Toyah Willcox, Suzi Quatro and Ozzy Osbourne.
It’s Slade: BBC Four: Friday 21st December: 9.00pm
It’s Slade: BBC Four: Saturday 22nd December: 00.20am
It’s Slade: BBC Four: Christmas Eve: 1.50am
Top pop documentary, narrated by Radio One’s Mark Radcliffe, about one of Britain’s greatest and best-loved bands. Slade scored six number ones in the 70s, a feat rivalled only by Abba. Apart from Noddy and his bandmates – Dave Hill, Jim Lea and Don Powell – the cast here also includes Noel Gallagher of Oasis (who covered Cum On Feel the Noize), Status Quo, Toyah Willcox, Suzi Quatro and Ozzy Osbourne. Altogether now “Are you hanging up your stocking on the wall……….?”.
The BBC have released the official synopsis for episode three of Love and Marriage.
To Have and to Hold (Episode 3 of 3)
The effects of the sexual revolution, the empowerment of women and the growth of a global consumer society based on individual choice were only fully played out in the last decades of the 20th century, when the divorce rate increased to an all-time high of one in three marriages.
This final episode explores how marriage has adapted to these pressures by looking at the ups and downs of five couples whose relationships personify modern marriage. It looks at the mixed-race marriage of Mo and Ann Chaudry and their rags-to-riches journey which resulted in a millionaire lifestyle and a happy family. Kate and Harry Benson had a glamorous Lady Di-style wedding but their marriage almost followed suit, nearly ending in divorce. They both became marriage guidance counsellors and Harry now heads up the new Marriage Foundation.
Rock stars Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp reveal their romantic love story, their ups and downs and how they have kept their 25-year marriage strong.
• Continue reading at bbc.co.uk.
The Love and Marriage series that Toyah and Robert Fripp participate in begins airing on ‘BBC Four’ next Tuesday.
This three part series follows the ups and downs of marriage in Britain from the 1900s to the present day using the deeply moving personal stories of couples, and their children, from all walks of life. This first film looks at the period between the 1900s and the late 1950s, an era when the ideal of romantic love in marriage had to withstand the harsh realities of a world very different to today.
Love and Marriage: A 20th Century Romance: BBC Four: Tue 18th September: 9.00pm
Three part series. This first episode considers the strengths and weaknesses of the Victorian marriage ideal. Despite mass unemployment and the tragedy of two world wars, most marriages not only survived, some became even stronger. Denise Robertson, Hetty Bower, Diana Athill and others tell their stories.
