Pop Idol is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast, one in 2001–2002 and a second in 2003. An immense success when it launched in 2001, Maggie Brown in The Guardian wrote, "the show became a seminal reality/entertainment format once on air that autumn". Series judge Simon Cowell became a major public figure in entertainment, and the show produced instant No. 1 chart hits, including for the first series winner Will Young, whose single "Evergreen" was the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history and the best-selling song of 2002. Pop Idol was subsequently put on an indefinite hiatus after Simon Cowell announced the launch of The X Factor in the UK in April 2004.

The show has become an international TV franchise since, spawning multiple Idol series worldwide. In the meantime, a legal dispute arose with the makers of Popstars, which eventually led to the word "pop" being excluded from the titles of all the spin-offs, such as American Idol, Australian Idol, Arab Idol, Canadian Idol, Indonesian Idol, Indian Idol, New Zealand Idol, Latin American Idol, Idol (Norway), Idol (Poland), Idol (Sweden), Singapore Idol, Idols (South Africa), Pakistan Idol, Bangladeshi Idol and Ídolos (same name for the Portuguese and Brazilian series).

The show's theme music was written by Gingell/Stone and Cathy Dennis.