A trip down pop’s memory lane
SMASHING HITS! BBC FOUR, TONIGHT, 10PM
IT’S often said that nostalgia tends to peak whenever the past is more attractive than the present and less terrifying than the future.
That’s not always true, of course.
After all, retro is always chic. But as a generation of people who grew up in the
1980s now find themselves hurtling uncomfortably towards middle aged, the once derided decade is once more back in vogue.
Following Dominic Sandbrook’s pop-cultural history of the period which ran the other night, this evening sees the start of a three-part documentary series, the rather cumbersomely titled Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map Of Britain and Ireland (BBC Four, tonight,
10pm).
Presented by ‘80s icons Midge Ure and Kim Appleby, who as one half of Mel and Kim made teenage boys drool, the show does what it says on the tin – it goes to various parts of the UK and Ireland to explore the explosion of regional acts from across the land.
While the programme will be travelling to Ireland, where it interviewed Bob Geldof (he thought U2 were “dire” back in the day, apparently), tonight’s episode is probably the most attractive.
It starts with the New Romantic scene in London before moving to Coventry, which produced so many brilliant ska bands (Ghost Town by The Specials was a remarkably gloomy hate-letter to their native city) before moving to Sheffield where they speak to Martyn Ware and Glenn Gregory from the brilliant Heaven 17.
The 1980s was a decade of massive social unrest, political chaos, economic catastrophe (so brilliantly evoked in that still-powerful video for Ghost Town) and desperation, so even if you aren’t old enough to remember the tunes from the first time they were released, the social conditions will be familiar to everyone...
If you can remember the
1980s, then you can probably also remember The Crystal Maze (Channel
4, tonight, 9pm), the utterly bonkers and virtually incomprehensible game show hosted by Richard O’Brien.
The first episode ran in
1990, and saw various teams trying to co-ordinate their way through a series of physical and mental challenges, before finally entering the maze of the title.
While it undoubtedly had a certain limited appeal, even that initial sense of bafflement and curiosity soon gave way to boredom.
Tonight’s episode is a Derry Girls special as the cast, captained by SaoirseMonica Jackson, join host Richard Ayoade as they try to work their through way through the challenges...
If you’re looking for a weekend binge, check out Orphan Black on Netflix – it’s absolutely brilliant and zips along nicely.