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 Old Grey Whistle Test listeners to guess. In 2006, the BBC released three DVDs. The first concentrated on the early and mid-1970s. The second DVD completed the timeline, as it dealt with the late 1970s and 1980s. The third DVD, however, covered the entire history. The DVDs also featured spoken intros by the presenters introducing the songs. Billy Joel included his 1978 performance on the show as part of "The Stranger 30th Anniversary Edition DVD". Out of an original total of 445 episodes, 16 episodes are missing, a further 54 are incomplete and one exists on a format inferior to the original. From 2018,