It's back. Fresh from reminding people my age that the 1970s was a bloody weird decade to be a youngster in, here's a reminder that the 80s (for me at least) was also a very weird decade to be a teen in - particularly a film and TV-obsessed teen.
Messrs Brotherstone and Lawrence. and a whole host of other contributors (including my brother, Simon J Ballard who pops up at the end of the book in the "Reader's Scars" section to talk about the harrowing spectacle that was "Worzel Gummidge Down Under") delve into the decade thaf fashion, good taste and public censorship forgot for an acid trip down memory lane aboard the good ship tellybox.
I think I'm the same age (give or take a couple of years) as the main contributors for this, so once again there are times when it feels like the collective consciousness of everyone who started the 80s aged 12, and finished them aged 22 (a scary thought) has been lovingly described in exquisite detail here and I began to resemble the Churchill nodding bulldog while sitting down for a good old read of this second tome, chuckling to myself like a drain as I remembered (and misremembered) several of the spectacles described in this nice thick book of win.
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| Push off you three legged ponce, you ain't cappin' me! |
The boys have concentrated their efforts more on TV this time than on general reminiscence (I sorely missed some of the non-TV stuff from this second volume and could probably write in fine detail about snacks and sweets from the 80s that are no longer with us) but despite the narrower focus, there are still plenty of lost goodies to delve into. For me, the 80s was a good time to be a science fiction / horror-obsessed nerd, and the sections on "The Tripods" and "Day of the Triffids" feel like I could've written them myself, the effect those programmes had on me was identical to the effect they seemingly had on everyone who watched them at a similar age. It still beggars belief that the Beeb used to make stuff like this, particularly when you take a look at the sci fi they put their name to now, resplendent in all its rather sterile CGI (you can't knock a decent practical effect and even though the Tripods had all the grace of a baby deer when trying to stalk across the landscape, they still put the fear of god into me).
What surprised me the most is how much children's TV I must've watched in the 80s, probably a direct result of having two younger siblings (though I did as good a job as an older brother could possibly do in weaning my younger brother onto stuff like Doctor Who, Hammer Horror etc probably at an entirely inappropriate age - I mean is that not an older brother's duty?) He turned out OK though. Well, sort of!
As ever, the book's strength is in reminding you of stuff you've blotted out for one reason or another (it is called "Scarred for Life" after all). Stuff like The Minipops, which I still can't believe A) anyone thought was a good idea and B) actually existed for a substantial amount of time, even going from success to success in (usually quite conservative) Canada. Lord above.
My own "Scarred" memories from the 80s may well fetch up in the next volume, as I believe the boys have realised there's just such a colossal source of raw material in the 80s that it would be impossible to fit it all in. The threat to bring us a second 80s volume detailing such delights as "Threads" and the "Protect and Survive" leaflets, and the horror of "When the Wind Blows" (which I've still never been able to re-read or re-watch since) means that once again we'll be waiting in anticipation of what these talented folk will cook up next. I swear though, if my brother makes it into the back of the book again and I don't, I'm going to have a right tantrum, so I will!
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