Why is the BBC always so middle classed when it comes to shows like this? Why does it always set up the 1970s to be a wonderland that news and media of the time reveal to be completely untrue? In this show, we apparently experienced family leisure time in five different decades.
OK. In the 1950s, women didn't work (they did in my family and had for generations), the 1960s, well, they were OK but not perfect, the 1970s - well, they were marvellous - no rampant inflation, no three day week, no million-and-a-half unemployed, no Winter of Discontent - or if they did exist they didn't bother anybody - no, we had roller discos (a 1980s UK fad), space hopper races (um...), played crazy golf during power cuts (who did that? the majority of people, worn down by the times, did not) and it was all funky, darling. We were perfectly balanced. Enough technology, enough family time. Um, why did everybody round my way spend so much family time staring at the telly then? Why were the elders of the neighbourhood saying the "ome-eyed monster" had killed conversation?
The 1980s were baddies. Ooh, technology! Ooh, we all watched TV! Um.. surely TV really took a grip in the 1960s? And in that mass-ratings decade of so called "Golden Age" TV - the 1970s - we were all apparently glued to our screens? But no, no, it was the 1980s when TV viewing rose substantially! Um... Ooh, and we all went shopping! Ooh, and we were all scared of nuclear war (despite the fact that the Cold War ice melted rapidly after the arrival of Gorbachev in 1985). And, whilst the other decade houses were all decorated in modern, cutting edge styles, the '80s house was "chintzy". Well, there were plenty of "chintzy" houses around before the 1980s, but Wall to Wall, the production company, did not want to portray the 1980s as being too funky. In contrast, I've never seen a house like the 1990s house (a decade in which decor differed tremendously) as that "funky" house in the 90s show! But then New Labour arrived in the 1990s, so it was OK to portray the 1990s as funky in "Back In Time...". I'm sorry. But I'm really tired of the BBC doing things like this. A political agenda, questionable statistics, and a middle class setting. Fortunately, I don't have a TV set and don't have to pay the licence fee. I would begrudge every penny if I had to do so.
