BACK IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS, BBC2, 9pm
THE Robshaw family return for a festive special where they’ll be forced to relive the Christmas traditions of the 70s and 80s.
It sounds like an episode of the Twilight Zone.
They also look at Christmas in the 1990s but that decade is still too near, and too bland, to evoke any nostalgia and seems to be mainly about parents battering one another in the Disney Store over the remaining Buzz Lightyears. Wisely, the bulk of the show is about the earlier decades, and much fuss is made about the power shortages of the 70s where Edward
Heath instructed households not to waste energy on Christmas lights. How miserable that would be, but we’re treated to some archive footage of rebellious people sitting staunchly in rooms stuffed with flashing fairy lights, saying there’s no way Ted Heath will be ruining their Christmas!
In the 80s, Britain seemed rather more keen to follow the Prime Minister’s lead as they indulged in consumerism and excess, splashing out on fur coats and Game Boys.
WHAT A PERFORMANCE! PIONEERS OF POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT, BBC4, 9pm
DURING the war we were all so fit and healthy – so the historians and nutritionists always say. Rationing cut out most of our sweets and chocolate and everyone who had the space was encouraged to plant an allotment and grow their own vegetables. Whilst the wartime diet might not have been particularly rich and appetising, it was healthy.
So if the war and privation had unintended consequences for our diet, what did it do for entertainment? As food took on a dual role - to keep people productive rather than just fed - so did popular entertainment which now had the task of raising morale besides simply providing some distraction and laughs.
This episode looks at acts such as The Andrews Sisters and the comedian Max Miller, known as “The Cheeky Chappie”, who kept spirits up during the war.
But in the post-war era, stage acts quickly seemed old-fashioned as they faced competition from the daring new American sound of rock ‘n’ roll as well as the increasing popularity of television.
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