No Christmas TOTP, BBC announces

Last year's special was watched by an average audience of 3.24 million

The Top of the Pops Christmas Special - a traditional fixture of the festive viewing calendar - will not be shown this year, the BBC has announced.

Instead the broadcaster will screen eight special episodes of the programme's archive spin-off, TOTP2.

Top of the Pops was decommissioned in 2006 after 42 years on the air.

"We said at that time the Christmas Special would continue but would have to earn its place every year," said a BBC spokesman.

"This year it was felt that pop music would be better represented over Christmas by an eight-part series of TOTP2 that will reflect some of the year's key hits and possibly the Christmas Number One."

Seasonal

Last year's Top of the Pops seasonal special featured such acts as Girls Aloud, the Proclaimers and singer Kate Nash.

It also saw X Factor winner Leon Jackson perform When You Believe, 2007's Christmas number one.

Earlier this month rising pop act the Ting Tings said they would be happy to see Top of the Pops return.

Kaiser Chiefs and 1980s icon Adam Ant have also called for the show to be resurrected.

Last year's Christmas Day special was watched by an average audience of 3.24 million.

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