[DE88]

Year Zero seemed to go by in the blink of an eye, didn't it? (Of course, Adrian Rose/Woolfe didn't allow BBC4 to repeat his episodes - but it probably wouldn't have made much difference if he had.)

It seems, too, that attitudes towards this era - and towards its producer, and the presenters who did allow their eps to be repeated - have mellowed. It's still considered a terrible period for the show, but there doesn't appear to be as much ire as there was.

There certainly isn't as much ire from the folks at TV Cream. When billing last week's repeats, they said: "We have to admit we haven't minded Tony and Mark so much over the past year or so, especially Tony who seems to actually show some interest in music and has been quite a likeable presence on screen, and we hope, and think, that these repeats have done their reputations a bit of good." Of Mark they added: "While he could come across as a bit bland, he was all very slick and agreeable and no worse than many of the DJs who filled the role in previous years." And finally, of Stan Appel: "We think he was involved with Pops longer than anyone in its history... it's a bit of a shame that it'll be for this [two-and-a-half year] spell [as producer] he'll be remembered because while the repeats have proven it may not have been as bad as we thought at the time, it's not been a golden age and it's a shame his legacy was a period when the show's future was in real doubt for the first time."

So on to the next era, arguably the last truly good one for the show. That horrible hard-to-read logo clings on for another year, as does "Now Get Out of That", and there are still pre-chart exclusives and satellite performances - but the miming is back, as are the Radio 1 DJs (before Ric Blaxill goes a little too far with the guest hosts); the chart numbers are in a single (and readable) font again; there are far fewer old acts; and of course, Britpop's coming to the fore (though, unfortunately, there's also Wet Wet Wet's proverbial reign of terror).