The Nation's Favourite ABBA Song

The programme promotion quoted Frida as saying, "Discussing all of our singles was great fun. There are many fond memories - memories about writing the songs, recording and promoting and performing them."  Björn added, "We're all curious and excited to see which songs appear where in the countdown. The British people took us to their hearts, completely... and made us their own, which we are very proud of. It's very nice to come to England because it's like going home."

Contributors for the programme: Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Amanda Holden, Louis Walsh, Pixie Lott, Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), Pierce Brosnan, Robin Gibb, Kate Nash, Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child), Nicole Sherzinger (Pussycat Dolls), Dermot O'Leary, Chris Tarrant, Terry Wogan, Kelly Holmes, Konnie Huq, Neil Sedaka, Martine McCutcheon, Michael Ball, Richard Curtis, Pete Waterman, Joe McElderry, Shane Filan and Nicky Byrne fom Westlife, Judy Craymer, Mollie King (The Saturdays), Adams Hills, Tom Fletcher (McFly) and Ulrika Jonsson.

Contributors from the ABBA Gang: Lasse Hallström, Owe Sandstrom, Janne Schaeffer and Carl Magus Palm

Chris Tarrant recounted how he and a friend sang to "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" when they saw ABBA live in Birmingham - but that was in 1977 and Gimme didn't come out until 1979!

There was no new footage for the programme other than the Frida and Björn contributions although the programme made good use of footage from ABBA in Japan 1978 and 1980 and ABBA - The Movie.

Watch it (UK only I'm guessing) on the ITV Player until 5 January 2011 here (looks like you'll have to suffer a few commercials before the programme starts!)

The countdown:

25. Ring Ring
24. Head Over Heels
23. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
22. Money Money MOney
21. Under Attack
20. Voulez Vous
19. Does Your Mother Know
18. Summer Night City
17. Waterloo
16. Super Trouper
=15. SOS
=15. Lay All Your Love on Me
=13. I Have A Dream
=13. Take a Chance On Me
11. Gimme Gimme Gimme
10. Chiquitita
9. The Name Of The Game
8. One Of Us
7. Fernando
6. Mamma Mia
5. Knowing Me, Knowing You
4. Thank You For the Music
3. The Day Before You Came
2. Dancing Queen
1. The Winner Takes it All

                     Part 1                                          Part 2                                                  Part 3                                           Part 4
        

                    Part 5                                           Part 6                                                    Part 7                                     Part 8