Top Of The Pops 'Unlikely To Return'

The BBC is “a long way” from recommissioning Top of the Pops as a weekly programme, the broadcaster's music controller has warned.

The popular music chart show was cancelled in 2006, but has been returned in recent months in the form of one-off specials.

Speaking to the BBC, Andy Parfitt, said that, although the show had a “mythical status” with the public, viewers shouldn't “get hung up” on it.

"We are a long way from [BBC1 controller] Jay Hunt recommissioning Top of the Pops in its old-school form on BBC One," he said.

"The days are gone when we can make a programme and just put it out there.”

There have been widespread calls for Top of the Pops to return on a permanent basis in the absence of a chart programme on terrestrial television.

The recent Christmas, New Year's Eve and Comic Relief specials all attracted over four million viewers each.