The Old Grey Whistle Test The Old Grey Whistle Test The Old Grey Whistle Test (usually abbreviated to Whistle Test or OGWT) was a British television music show. It was commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. It took over the BBC2 late night slot from "Disco 2", which ran between September 1970 and July 1971, while continuing to feature non-chart music. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers. The original producer, involved in an executive capacity throughout the show's entire history, was Michael Appleton. According to presenter Bob Harris, the programme derived its name from a Tin
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,