The missing Top of the Pops explained

Anyone watching the repeats of Top of the Pops on BBC4 will find it a somewhat disorienting experience, one edition an act may be at number 1 and the next edition shown sees them down the charts at a swift rate. The fact is that some editions are not shown for an number of reasons, the most rare is the poor sound quality of some shows, then there is those that hosted by the two men who have come to be called the Yewtree 2 Jimmy Savile whose crimes caused the creation of the operation and Dave Lee Travis who was brought to justice because of it, one effect was  that in the run of 1981 episodes The Police's sole week at the top of the charts with Everything She Does is Magic as that week's edition was hosted by Travis. The other is the refusal by the late Mike Smith to allow the editions he present to be shown, this started in the 1990's when he was still alive when he stopped the old UK Gold showing his shows, after his death in 2014 his widow Sarah Greene has carried on with his wishes. The reason for Smith reluctance was an attempt to distance from his television career (I touched on 2 shows he worked in both End of the Road for Noel Edmonds and Rembering Ghostwatch) and as he took up a career in helicopter filming. This week BBC4 will start showing editions from 1983 and at lest 14 will not be shown due to the reasons above. Savile and Travis both presented their final shows in 1984 and Smith carried on until 1988.