in 1989

ho ho ho, Merry Christmas


i would really rather encourage you to be doing something else than be on the internet on Christmas Day, look you see, but you live your life as you wish. for those of you who insist on having a browse, or maybe have come after the day, i figured well, why not throw something together here for you.

just for fun, then, a bit of a "throwback" thing to what one would have probably been watching on the tele on this evening 30 years ago. well, likely to have been watching. this was 1989, and at this stage almost as many as 100 homes in the UK had that new "satellite" TV thing. further, many homes had video machines (mostly VHS but a couple of functional Betamax were around), so it is possible some watched a few tapes instead.

why 1989? i can think of no reason why not. there is a school of thought that it was the end of an era, for let us face it, despite some highlights here and there on the way, the world, and everything in it, went right f****d the moment we left the 80s. or maybe that is just me.

in my estimation, or my opinion, your early evening televisiual entertainment on Christmas Day in 1989 was best spent on BBC1. earlier in the afternoon they had the Top Of The Pops special for the year, hosted by (oooooh) Gary (young free and single) Davies. so everyone would be tuned in anyhow.

you can't really go wrong with this line up, can you? especially as smoking was generally encouraged and allowed anywhere, so as long as you had a full packet there was no reason to leave your chair or sofa at all. Russ Abbot was class, and even more class when Les Dennis appeared as a guest. as was the case here. quite a nice warm up for one of Australian cinema's greatest moments in the form of 'Crocodile' Dundee. sure, the film is no Mad Max 2 or Star Struck, but being 3rd best ever Australian film behind them two is no disgrace.

what made this line up even more appealing was the fact that ITV had for some reason decided that people across the nation wished for nothing more than a complete cockney w@anker early evening selection of entertainment. to this end, they had something with Michael Barrymore in it, followed by something with Jim Davidson in it.

once Paul Hogan's finest cinematic hour had completed, it was time to switch over to the generally murky but often quite good world of Channel 4. actually pretty great mostly, for they did give us the excellent Who Dares Wins, and Comic Strip Presents, and them films what had a red triangle in the corner which meant the promise of nudies and other naughty stuff.

yes, at 8pm it was time for a Christmas dose of Brookside, a show which in absolutely no way whatsoever reinforced any Liverpool stereotypes. what i quite like about this synopsis is that i can actually remember all three characters named. not sure i could name any other characters off it, mind.

what was the present that Jimmy and Sinbad left on Billy's lawn? no idea, as i do not recall watching it, or if i did i certainly do not remember. it probably was not anything vulgar or crass as the write up suggests, although maybe it was. i simply do not know.

by 9pm on Christmas Day ITV had, with some mercy, dispensed with an overtly cockney celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. they went right ahead an "won" the choice for main evening viewing (if 9pm is considered main evening) by having a premiere of Down & Out In Beverly Hills, barely 3 years after its most triumphant cinema run. believe me, back then this was an extraordinarily fast move from being at the movies to being on rental video to being on the tele, so you could tape it.

in truth i have not seen this film for many years. whilst there is every chance i might have watched it at some point in the 90s (on video), i suspect this screening was probably the last time i watched it. but, i remember it well, and class it was. let me have a dig around, maybe i have the DVD.

no, there was absolutely nothing of consequence on BBC 2, so i have not bothered including it. this was in the days when BBC 2 was more or less limited to broadcasting high quality but limited interest stuff, and was not as concerned with ratings as is the case now.

this is ground i am pretty sure i have covered before, but, well, we are here now, so i might as well once more. back when we had but four channels to choose some viewing off of, ratings were insane. something like 24 million people tuned in to the big Christmas entertainment shows. now, with such a variation and proliferation of channels, i suspect at best the "big" Christmas broadcasts would think themselves to have done well to get a minor fraction of that figure.

a bit of a pity, really, for when we all (more or less) watched the same thing, we all had a topic of conversation. that seems to be gone, now, but freedom of choice and all that.

right, enough 1989 for now, let me get on with the present. i guess.




be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!