In March 1977, Alternative TV were formed by Mark Perry (vocals/guitar) with guitarist, Alex Fergusson. ATV played their first gig at the Nottingham Punk Festival in May 1977. Following various line-up changes, their first album was released in May 1978.

Becoming fed up with the punk scene, Mark took ATV into areas of experimentation in late ’78 and, after playing as The Good Missionaries for a few gigs, the band broke up for the first time in late 1979. They reformed in ’81 split and started again in 1984 and are still currently active.