Matthew Bannister

When Matthew Bannister was appointed Controller of BBC Radio 1, his plans to make the station cool again began with the ousting of a number of long-serving DJs. But they would not go quietly, and millions of listeners were lost. Bannister thought he had found a savior in new DJ Chris Evans, but when he also departed he left the managers with only each other to fight.

The story of the British pop charts from their beginnings on the 50s through the heyday of the 70s and 80s to their re-emergence in a digital world.