The Old Grey Whistle Test 1973, the show changed to an entirely live format. On 23 February 2018, the BBC broadcast a special programme, hosted by Bob Harris, to mark the 30 years since the legendary series was last broadcast. This live studio show featured music, special guests and rare archive footage. It featured performances from Peter Frampton, Richard Thompson, Albert Lee and others. Bob Harris chatted to Whistle Test alumni, including Dave Stewart, Joan Armatrading, Ian Anderson, Chris Difford and Kiki Dee, as well as fan Danny Baker. The programme hosted many seminal acts of the era, including the first British TV performance of
Big Country at the BBC Footage from "Top of the Pops" (including two separate performances of both "Fields of Fire" and "In a Big Country" from their 1983 chart run), "The Old Grey Whistle Test" and "In Concert" is featured on the DVD. Its centrepiece is Big Country’s Hogmanay performance from Edinburgh Playhouse, originally screened live as part of the BBC’s New Year celebrations in 1984/1985. Billy Sloan, who fronted the broadcast for "Whistle Test", is quoted in the sleeve notes and recalls that, as 1985 arrived, he had nothing stronger than "Scotland’s other national drink" Irn-Bru to toast the band with. Big Country’s Bruce