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
The Police BBC's playlist, which the band attributed to the song's depiction of prostitution. A&M consequently promoted the single with posters claiming "Banned by the BBC," though it was never really banned, just not play-listed. Copeland later admitted, "We got a lot of mileage out of it being supposedly banned by the BBC." The Police made their first television appearance a few months later, in October 1978, on BBC2's "The Old Grey Whistle Test" to promote the release of "Outlandos d'Amour". Though "Roxanne" was never banned, the BBC did ban the second single from "Outlandos d'Amour", "Can't Stand Losing You". This was