Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Road Map - BBC4

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Smashing Hits! Spandau Ballet
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Ultravox's Midge Ure and Kim Appleby, of Mel and Kim, revisit the 1980s to determine why certain UK cities produced their own diverse tunes

Anyone who was around in the 1980s will love this three-part series looking back at the music of the decade, which takes us from post-punk and Two Tone through to the birth of rave.

Midge Ure of Live Aid and Ultravox fame, and Kim Appleby, one half of 1980s pop duo Mel and Kim, tour the nation’s cities meeting those responsible for the decade’s sounds and styles (big hair and shoulder pads, anyone?).

British pop duo Mel and Kim in London in 1987

British pop duo Mel and Kim in London in 1987

This week it’s the turn of Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, Pauline Black from The Selecter and Glenn Gregory from Heaven 17… Let the nostalgia-fest commence.

TV Times rating: ****

Mandy Cooper
Mandy Cooper
TV Times Highlights Editor

As TV Times Highlights Editor I get to hear about all the latest TV shows coming soon. Here at TVT HQ we are in the privileged position of selecting the best programmes from across all the channels and streaming platforms. Our mission is to make it easier for our readers to decide what to watch - and give them lots of choice of genres - all the latest shows, plus some nostalgic choices we call hidden gems, too. My career began with a postgraduate degree in periodical journalism (ahem, yes old school!) in 1991 and I’ve worked in TV media since 2000.