Oxford Road Show (also known as ORS, and re-neamed ORS 85, ORS 86) was a weekly music and current affairs magazine, broadcast on Fridays on BBC Two. The name of the show derives from the location of the BBC studios in Oxford Road, Manchester from where the show went out live.
In 1984 and 1985 the show was re-named with the more snappy ORS 84 and ORS 85 respectively. Radio Times also billed ORS 84 as "Channel 2's live electronic magazine".
Episode dates[]
Series 1[]
| Episode | Date | Featuring |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 January 1981 | |
| 2 | 23 January 1981 | |
| 3 | 30 January 1981 | |
| 4 | 06 February 1981 | |
| 5 | 13 February 1981 | |
| 6 | 20 February 1981 | Nash The Slash [1] |
| 7 | 27 February 1981 | |
| 8 | 06 March 1981 | unknown |
| 9 | 13 March 1981 | |
| 10 | 20 March 1981 |
Series 2[]
| Episode | Date | Featuring |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 November 1981 | Japan |
| 2 | 27 November 1981 | |
| 3 | 04 December 1981 | |
| 4 | 11 December 1981 | |
| 5 | 18 December 1981 | |
| 6 | 08 January 1982 | |
| 7 | 15 January 1982 | |
| 8 | 22 January 1982 | Soft Cell |
| 9 | 29 January 1982 | |
| 10 | 05 February 1982 | XTC |
| 11 | 12 February 1982 | Blue Rondo a la Turk |
| 12 | 19 February 1982 |
Series 3[]
| Episode | Date | Featuring |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 November 1982 | Bauhaus |
| 2 | 26 November 1982 | Tears For Fears |
| 3 | 03 December 1982 | Siouxsie & The BansheesSilent Running |
| 4 | 10 December 1982 | UB40
JoBoxers |
| 5 | 17 December 1982 | Wide Boy Awake, Bamboo |
| 6 | 07 January 1983 | Level 42 |
| 7 | 14 January 1983 | Soft Cell, First Priority |
| 8 | 21 January 1983 | Simple Minds, King |
| 9 | 28 January 1983 | Undertones, Kajagoogoo, Vitamin Z |
| 10 | 04 February 1983 | |
| 11 | 11 February 1983 | Blancmange, Set the Tone |
| 12 | 18 February 1983 | Ultravox, Roman Holiday |
| 13 | 25 February 1983 | Spandau Ballet, Spyder |
| 14 | 04 March 1983 | Duran Duran, Thompson Twins |
| 15 | 11 March 1983 | The Cure, Black Roots |
| 16 | 18 March 1983 | The Belle Stars, Orange Juice, China Crisis, Photostat and on film Duran Duran |
Series 4[]
| Episode | Date | Featuring |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (ORS 84) | 06 January 1984 | Howard Jones |
| 2 | 13 January 1984 | The Pookah Makes Three, Simple Minds |
| 3 | 20 January 1984 | |
| 4 | 27 January 1984 | UB40, Spear of Destiny, The Academy |
| 5 | 02 March 1984 | Ultravox, Dead Or Alive, Willie Williams |
| 6 | 09 March 1984 | Nik Kershaw, Billy Bragg, Care, Briar |
| 7 | 16 March 1984 | The Psychedelic Furs |
| 8 | 23 March 1984 | Lost Loved Ones (live), Nick Beggs of Kajagoogoo |
| 9 | 30 March 1984 | Frankie Goes To Hollywood talk about the Relax ban, |
Series 5[]
| Episode | Date | Featuring |
|---|---|---|
| 1
(ORS 85) |
11 January 1985 | Guest presenter: Paul Young. Live: Paul Young and Billy Ocean. Janice Long presents Strawberry Switchblade |
| 2 | 18 January 1985 | Guest presenter: Kim Wilde. Live: Heaven 17, Scary Thieves. Janice Long presents Jazawaki. |
| 3 | 25 January 1985 | Guest presenter: Tony Blackburn. Live: The Armoury Show, Associates, UB40. Janice Long presents Getting the Fear. |
| 4 | 01 February 1985 | Guest presenters: Carl & Suggs from Madness Live: Nick Heyward, Float Up CP, Fink Bros. |
| 5 | 08 February 1985 | Guest presenter: Stuart Adamson. Live: Big Country, Joan Armatrading, Frank Chickens |
| 6 | 15 February 1985 | Nik Kershaw live in Belfast |
| 7 | 22 February 1985 | Guest presenter: Tom Robinson. Live: ??. Janice Long - QAX |
| 8 | 01 March 1985 | Guest presenter Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode. Live: The Farmers Boys and Dark City. JL - Owen Paul |
| 9 | 08 March 1985 | Guest presenter Billy Bragg. Live: The Alarm. John Walters - 3 Mustafas 3. Curt Smith of Tears For Fears in Bath studios. |
| 10 | 15 March 1985 | Peter Powell: Howard Jones live in concert |
| 11 | 22 March 1985 | Guest presenter Paul King. Live: Loose Ends, King. JL - MAxi Priest. Morrisey takes the ORS cameras to his home town of Stretford, and Nick Rowan tries his hand as a reporter for No 1 magazine. |
| 12 | 29 March 1985 | Guest presenters Midge Ure and Chris Cross (last in this series). Live: The Thompson Twins and Bronski Beat. JL - The Loft. |