MUMBAI: VH1 Classic will expand from a 12-hour to a full 24-hour schedule, with BBC's offerings from 1 May.

The BBC deal includes the legendary anthology series The Old Grey Whistle Test, one of the most influential music shows in Britain in the 1970s.

VH1 Classic will begin premiering select episodes from the series this September, and roll out performances from popular 1970s and 1980s artists such as Tom Petty, The Police and Lynyrd Skynyrd. It will premiere under VH1 Classic's original series umbrella Classic in Concert.

VH1's SVP and GM Eric Sherman said,"VH1 Classic's audience and its appetite for classic music continues to grow, leading us to effectively double our music program offerings each day. We're particularly pleased to deliver rare BBC gems such as The Old Grey Whistle Test which presents performances never seen before on this side of the Atlantic."

The new weekly movie franchise Rock and Roll Picture Show with Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story will be launched on 6 May. Other movies include The Wall, The Song Remains The Same, Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix, Madonna: Truth Or Dare and Imagine: John Lennon.

The Class Of ... stunt becomes a regular monthly offering in June, kicking off with Class of 1984. Other new initiatives include a 27-episode series Classic Albums, with each hour telling the story behind the making of one of rock music's most seminal albums.

Also, the network has licensed Classic Artists, a series of documentaries tracking the twists and turns in a single artist or band's career. The first episode set to premiere in the fall 2006 will feature Cream.