Editing Actually (section)

==Release and promotion==
''Actually'' was released on 7 September 1987, debuting at number two on the [[UK Albums Chart]] behind [[Michael Jackson]]'s ''[[Bad (album)|Bad]]''. It was in the top 40 for 42 consecutive weeks, with 15 weeks in the top 10.<ref name="UKcharts">{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/pet-shop-boys-actually/|title=Actually by Pet Shop Boys|website=Official Charts|access-date=4 January 2025}}</ref> It is the only Pet Shop Boys album to be certified triple platinum by [[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/305-2148-2 |title=Brit Certified: Pet Shop Boys - Actually|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=29 April 1988|website=BPI|access-date=4 January 2025}}</ref> 
''Actually'' was also certified platinum in seven other countries, including Germany where sales exceeded 500,000 (see [[#Certifications and sales|Certifications and sales]]). In the United States, ''Actually'' peaked at number 25 and spent 45 weeks on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/pet-shop-boys/chart-history/tlp/|title=Pet Shop Boys: Chart History: Billboard 200|website=Billboard|access-date=4 January 2025}}</ref> selling over 750,000 copies with a gold certification.<ref name="USsales"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=pet+shop+boys#search_section|title=Gold & Platinum: Pet Shop Boys|website=RIAA|access-date=4 January 2025}}</ref>

''Actually'' produced four UK top 10 singles: the number-one single "[[It's a Sin]]", "[[Rent (song)|Rent]]", "[[What Have I Done to Deserve This? (song)|What Have I Done to Deserve This?]]"—which peaked at number two in both the UK and US and led to a resurgence of interest in Dusty Springfield's earlier work—and another UK number one in April 1988 with a remixed version of the song "[[Heart (Pet Shop Boys song)|Heart]]".<ref name=Levine>{{cite news |last1=Levine |first1=Nick |title=25 Reasons To Love Pet Shop Boys' Actually' |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/25-reasons-to-love-pet-shop-boys-actually-763693 |access-date=12 August 2018 |work=nme.com |date=2 February 2012}}</ref>

In television commercials for the release, Lowe and Tennant were shown in black tie, blank-faced against a white background. The former seems unimpressed by a radio DJ-style [[Alan Freeman|Alan 'Fluff' Freeman]] voiceover listing their previous hits and new singles from ''Actually'', while the latter eventually "gets bored" and yawns, with the image then freezing to create, roughly, the album's cover shot.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

During this period Pet Shop Boys also completed a full-length motion picture called ''[[It Couldn't Happen Here]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/saucy-seaside-postcard-gone-mad-pet-shop-boys-it-couldnt-happen-here|title=A saucy seaside postcard gone mad: the Pet Shop Boys and It Couldn't Happen Here |last=Dalton|first=Stephen|date=24 June 2020|website=BFI|access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref> Featuring songs by the duo, it was most famous for containing the video for "[[Always on My Mind]]" (starring [[Joss Ackland]] as a blind priest), which—while not on ''Actually''—was released as a single during this period.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://superdeluxeedition.com/reviews/pet-shop-boys-it-couldnt-happen-here/ |title=Pet Shop Boys / It Couldn't Happen Here|last=Wade|first=Ian|date=15 June 2020|website=Super Deluxe Edition|access-date=4 January 2025}}</ref>

''Actually'' was re-released in 2001 as ''Actually: Further Listening 1987–1988''. The new version was digitally [[remaster]]ed and came with a second disc of [[A-side and B-side|B-side]]s and previously unreleased material from around the time of the album's original release.<ref name="rhino">{{cite web |url=https://media.rhino.com/press-release/pet-shop-boys-catalogue-1985-2012-series-continues-third-batch-releases-available|title=Pet Shop Boys Catalogue 1985-2012 Series Continues With Third Batch Of Releases Available March 2|date=2 March 2018|website=Rhino|access-date=1 January 2025|quote=}}</ref> A remastered single-disc edition of ''Actually'', containing only the 10 original tracks, was released in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/1655528-Pet-Shop-Boys-Actually|title=Pet Shop Boys - Actually (5099926829029) |website=Discogs |access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref> In 2018, a newly remastered edition of ''Actually: Further Listening 1987–1988'' was released, with the same contents as the 2001 edition.<ref name="rhino"/>