The Old Grey Whistle Test: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The Old Grey Whistle Test is a variety music show that aired on BBC 2.

The show's focus on "serious" rock music, rather than chart hits covered on BBC1 by Top of the Pops, was emphasised by a lack of showbiz glitter: bands would often perform their songs in front of either the bare studio walls or plain wooden boards (actually the backs of set walls from other programmes filmed in the same studio).

The programme hosted many seminal acts of the era, including the first British TV performance of Bob Marley and the Wailers as well as then little-known acts of whom any early footage is now considered precious, such as Billy Joel, Judas Priest (with a long haired Rob Halford), Wishbone Ash, Judee Sill, Heart, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Whistle Test was also the British television debut of the American glam punk band New York Dolls. Although host Bob Harris derided the group as "mock rock," comparing them unfavourably to The Rolling Stones, their performance influenced the following punk rock scene such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash as well as alternative bands like R.E.M. and The Smiths and the glam metal scene of the 1980s.

Series details

• Title: The Old Grey Whistle Test
• Format: Variety
• Language: English
• Genres: Music
• Premiere date: 1971-09-21
• Final broadcast date listed: 1973-05-29
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC Four
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 45 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 10660
• IMDb ID: tt0259795
• TVDB ID: 74956

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1971-09-21; final listed air date 1972-04-11.
• Season 2: premiered 1972-09-12; final listed air date 1973-05-29.
• Season 2018: episode order: 1.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Old Grey Whistle Test on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.