Best of British is the UK’s premier nostalgia magazine covering every aspect of life from the 1930s to today.

Every issue is packed with features that celebrate classic entertainment, transport, food and drink, and the great British countryside. Our readers are at the heart of what we do. As well as taking their suggestions on board, their voices are heard through our Yesterday Remembered memoir section, along with the Postbag and Question Time pages.

We hope you like reading our magazine as much as we love compiling it. In the meantime here is this month’s letter from our Editor, Simon Stabler

A Whole Lotta Love
If there’s one thing I’ve discovered from the Top of the Pops reruns on BBC Four, it’s that the show witnessed more cheesy or mundane moments than true groundbreaking performances.

But while that meant we had to suffer the likes of Mr Blobby, St Winifred’s School Choir, and Black Lace, not to mention seven, 15 and 16 weeks at No 1 for Meat Loaf, Wet Wet Wet, and Bryan Adams respectively, the show occasionally gave us moments as iconic as David Bowie’s Starman.

I had hoped to see an era-defining performance when I went to a recording of Top of the Pops back in 2001. Kylie Minogue was at the top of the charts with the infectious Can’t Get You Out of My Head, so it was only natural to believe that she might be there. It wasn’t to be, and instead we were entertained by the likes of Steps, Victoria Beckham and David Cassidy who performed a version of Could It Be Forever for companion show TOTP2.

At that time, Top of the Pops was based at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, a facility that witnessed the production of many classic shows such as Hancock’s Half Hour, Quatermass and the Pit, and early Doctor Who. The following year, the show moved to a purpose-built set at BBC Television Centre, it’s future seemingly assured.

However, less than four years later, it was moved to Sundays on BBC Two, and the following year was cancelled altogether with the BBC claiming that the programme simply couldn’t compete against 24-hour music channels and music downloads; conveniently forgetting that in 1996, the programme was moved to Friday nights where it was now up against Coronation Street.

There have been several calls over the years for Top of the Pops to come back as a weekly show and I’d like to add my voice to that. Taken back to its original concept as a chart show, and stripped of later gimmicks such as the Live Lounge and the Star Bar, Top of the Pops in its Thursday evening slot would be a sure-fire hit.