BBC bosses have ruthlessly axed the Top Of The Pops Christmas Day special after 57 years.
The Yuletide edition of iconic show first hit our screens in 1964 and featured performances from music royalty including The Beatles, The Kinks, The Searchers and Cilla Black.
It has since enjoyed a regular slot ever since - even after the regular weekly format of the show was cancelled in 2006 - but ongoing cost-cutting exercises at the Beeb have finally put paid to the tradition.
Only once previously - in 1978 due to industrial action by the broadcaster - has the programme not appeared in the form we know and love, although even then Noel Edmonds managed to host a scaled back version minus an audience.
A TV insider told the Sun : "Beeb bosses felt the cost involved in creating a one-off show like this were too high to justify.
"Creating the studio and bringing together a string of artists to perform for just this programme required a disproportionate amount of resources.
"But it will be seen as the sad end of an era by millions of Brits who saw it as a Christmas Day must-watch along with the Queen's Speech."
Instead, however, Top of the Pops: Review of the Year will air at 10:40pm on Christmas Eve on BBC2 and feature clips of artists performing at various events throughout 2022.
Announcing the end of the regular show in 2007, meanwhile, a BBC spokesman revealed 24-hour music channels and music downloads had made its format too outdated to continue.
He said: "The decision to bring the show to an end after 42 years has not been taken lightly and over the past few years every effort has been made to maintain the quality and distinctiveness of the show.
"However, the BBC's Creative Review Music Strategy has concluded that in a rapidly changing musical landscape, Top of the Pops no longer occupies the central role it once did.
"Over recent years the show has faced ever-increasing competition from multimedia and niche musical outlets which enable viewers to consume music of their choice any time night or day in a way that Top of the Pops simply can't deliver in its current weekly format."
Mirror Online has contacted BBC for comment.
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