Posts Tagged ‘1980s tv’
The Red Hand Gang
In the days before dedicated kids TV channels, The Red Hand Gang was one of those US TV shows that the BBC always pulled out of the archives to fill in gaps in their children’s TV schedules in the afternoons and during school holiday mornings. Being the BBC though, it was, of course, quality filler material!
The show was an American take on the Enid Blyton Famous Five tales, where a group of kids get together to solve mysteries which they just happen to stumble upon. In this case though we swap the English middle class boarding school kids and the seaside setting for a group of every day inner city kids.
There were five kids in The Red Hand Gang. Frankie was the leader, whilst J.R. was the athletic one, Doc was the clever one, Joanne was the tom-boy, and Li’l Bill was the youngest, and brother of Frankie. They were also accompanied by their dog, Boomer, who even ended up getting his own TV show later on!
The gang got their name from the fact that they used to leave a red hand print on walls to mark where they had been. That was perhaps a bit naughty for the Beeb, but the rest of the show was fairly innocent stuff, with the kids tracking down clues, discussing plans in their clubhouse and they bringing the villains to justice.
The show sadly only managed half a full season before it was cancelled, and to all accounts appears to have had a bigger following in the UK than it did in the States. The thing I will always remember it for though is the title sequence, with the kids bouncing it from all angles (presumably on a trampoline) with the “la-la-la-la-la” theme tune playing in the background.
Oh, and the fact that Doc was played by an actor named James Bond III!
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80′s revival – GMTV
 GMTV |
80's revival
GMTV Britain is going through an eighties revival with 25 million Brits saying they still enjoy music and culture from the decade, according to new research. ... |
Wednesday 31 December 1986
Well, what goes around comes around. Today being the last day of the year I kept up my tradition ("you sad bastard," I hear you cry) and watched Wogan - the last programme of '86, not '85. I was dead chuffed that I had managed to keep my diary up for a whole 12 months. It was quite a year for me - a death in the family, exams, starting a new phase of my education, a football world cup and so on. What would 1987 hold?
Friday 12 December 1986
It was a boring day today. We did have some new neighbours move in next door and I managed to lose my contact lens on the bus home from college - fortunately, someone found it. Tonight we watched the Proffessionals (sic). I had a big day tomorrow.
Thursday 11 December 1986
Well it didn't let me down - it was a bastard day, 'but not as completely bastard as Mondays!' Tonight we watched A Question of Sport - and no doubt TOTP and Tomorrow's World. Oh, and the TV companies (well such as they were at the time - BBC, ITV and C4) had started their crazy "You must watch this at Christmas" campaign. Things were certainly getting more festive.
Thursday 4 December 1986
The only thing of note that happened today was that it was Thursday. Oh, and I bought a Christmas present with couple of quid I found in my pocket. As Rik in the Young Ones said (about something completely different), 'Bit of pretty bloody brilliant luck eh?' I noted that I had my lifesaving test in the pool tomorrow.
Monday 6 October 1986
More cash splashing with another 12". This time a slightly more cool purchase as I went for the Police's re-release of Don't Stand So Close To Me. To be brutally honest it's a completely academic exercise, as it offers no improvement whatsoever on the original. Hey ho. As far as studies were concerned, Physics ran late and I very nearly missed the bus home. But I didn't. After tea, I settled down to watch a programme that would have benefited me tremendously had I been doing the A Levels that I should have been doing. It was called the Story of English and it fascinated me, had I completely hooked.
Sunday 31 August 1986
So we came to the last day of August. It was no different to any other day in August (BORING!) but at least we were able to watch Paul McGann's portrayal of Percy Topliss, aka the Monocled Mutineer. As part of my (ultimately futile) attempts to become a TV critic, my copy on this one was erudite in the extreme - 'man, just love the swearing!' So that was that. Now for September and the start of the Academic Year.
Step Back In Time With 1980′s Fashion
The 1980's were good times on both sides of the pond. When we think back to the 80's we think of new wave, big hair, Pacman, Dallas, Reagan & Thatcher, Charles & Diana, FGTH, Wham!, Back To The Future, Ghostbusters, and the list goes on....
If you are feeling a bit nostalgic for those days - you can hardly deny it, you're reading this, LOL! - why not tog yourself up with some classic 1980's fashion? Of course Madonna was probably the hottest (female) pop star of that decade and today you can buy 80's Madonna costumes that are perfect for when you attend or throw a 1980's theme party.
There are some awesome 80's T shirts that are on the market today that feature some of the other big acts from back then including AC/DC, Iggy Pop, U2, Prince, Michael Jackson, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, another list that just goes on... Who can forget Bob Geldof the charity rock concerts, watched by millions of thousands of fans worldwide? Concerts such as Live Aid, Band Aid and USA for Africa were historical and monumental events.
Then there's television series, again The Racoons, The Dukes Of Hazzard, Diff'rent Strokes, The A Team (all American I notice), yet ANOTHER never ending list...
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 Blondie Debbie Harry Call Me 80s Disco Punk Retro Vintage T shirts Sizes M L XL  £11.75
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Blondie Debbie Harry Call Me 80s Disco Punk Retro Vintage T shirts Sizes M L XL £11.75
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Blondie Debbie Harry Call Me 80s Disco Punk Retro Vintage T shirts Sizes M L XL £11.75
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Blondie Debbie Harry Call Me 80s Disco Punk Retro Vintage T shirts Sizes M L XL £11.75
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Wednesday 16 July 1986
Today was a very hot day - good job I moved that soil yesterday eh? I took the dogs for a walk, had a shower and helped my friend with his delivery of free midweek newspapers. I did this job on my own once, just the once mind, and it took me ages, and I think that I received a penny per paper. Never mind Charles Dickens or Charles Kinglsey this was modern day exploitation of child labour at its very worst... or maybe not. We played football and I watched Sherlock Holmes on TV - I'm guessing that it must've been the Jeremy Brett version. A quick check on wikipedia tells me that it was 'The Abbey Grange' - first shown on this day. I know I'm biased, but Brett was the man as Holmes and the later of his two Watsons, Edward Hardwicke the definitive sidekick.
