There was a time when watching television was a much simpler affair.
You didn’t have hundreds of channels.
You didn’t have Netflix, YouTube or an endless list of programmes waiting for you.
You had the television.
And if somebody else was watching it, you had to negotiate.
For a generation growing up in Britain during the 1970s, 80s and 90s, television wasn’t just something we watched. It became part of the rhythm of everyday life.
Certain programmes meant breakfast.
Others meant getting home from school.
Some were reserved for Saturday nights.
And some were so important that you made absolutely sure you were sitting in front of the television before they started.
Saturday Morning Television
Saturday mornings were special.
You’d get up, grab some breakfast and settle down in front of the television while the adults got on with whatever adults did on Saturday mornings.
Shows such as Swap Shop, Going Live! and Live & Kicking became part of the ritual.
There were cartoons, competitions, celebrities, music, phone-ins and the possibility that something completely unexpected might happen.
And because there wasn’t an endless supply of children’s entertainment available whenever you wanted it, you watched what was on.
Blue Peter
For generations of British children, Blue Peter was almost a television institution.
There were presenters you grew up with, pets everyone knew and those famous badges.
Then there were the crafts.
If you were particularly brave, you attempted to make something yourself.
It rarely looked quite like the version on television.
But that didn’t matter.
You’d tried.
Grange Hill
Then there was Grange Hill.
For many young viewers, it felt different from other children’s television because it dealt with subjects that seemed much closer to real life.
School friendships.
Arguments.
Peer pressure.
Family problems.
Growing up.
It wasn’t always comfortable viewing, but that was part of what made it memorable.
Top Of The Pops
If you wanted to know what was happening in popular music, Top of the Pops was a major part of the week.
The latest singles.
The biggest bands.
The latest fashions.
And occasionally a performance that everyone would be talking about at school the next day.
Before music videos were instantly available online, seeing your favourite artist on television was a proper event.
The Generation Game
Saturday night television had its own rhythm.
Shows such as The Generation Game brought families together in front of the television.
There were contestants, prizes, games and the famous conveyor belt.
And everybody watching had an opinion about what they’d pick.
Especially when the contestants seemed to completely forget everything they’d just seen.
Bullseye
Then came Bullseye.
Darts, questions and prizes.
And that iconic phrase:
“In one!”
It was brilliantly simple television.
You didn’t need to understand every darting technique to enjoy it.
You just needed to pick a pair of contestants and decide whether they’d win.
And there was always the question of whether they’d gamble for the star prize.
The Price Is Right
Before online price comparisons, The Price Is Right gave us the chance to prove how good we were at guessing prices.
And most of us were probably terrible at it.
A washing machine.
A holiday.
A television.
A mysterious collection of household goods.
How much?
You’d shout your guess at the screen.
Usually with absolutely no idea.
Knightmare
For anyone who remembers it, Knightmare was something else.
A contestant entered a fantasy world wearing a helmet that meant they couldn’t see where they were going.
Their friends had to guide them.
It was part game show, part fantasy adventure and part exercise in shouting at the television.
Because you always knew where they should go.
Why couldn’t they?
Tiswas
Then there was Tiswas.
It was chaotic, noisy and completely unlike the polished children’s television that came later.
There were sketches, music, cartoons, competitions and plenty of silliness.
And, of course, the bucket of water.
It was the sort of programme that made Saturday morning television feel like anything could happen.
The A-Team
For slightly older children and teenagers, The A-Team was essential viewing.
The explosions were spectacular.
The plans were ridiculous.
The vehicles never seemed to run out of fuel.
And somehow, despite being surrounded by gunfire, everyone survived.
It was entertainment rather than realism, and that was precisely the point.
Only Fools And Horses
Then there were programmes that became part of the family vocabulary.
Only Fools and Horses gave us characters, phrases and moments that became part of everyday British life.
You didn’t necessarily have to be interested in sitcoms.
Once you’d watched it a few times, you knew the characters.
You knew what Del was likely to say.
You knew what Rodney was likely to say.
And you knew something was probably going to go wrong.
Dad’s Army
Another programme that seemed to be everywhere was Dad’s Army.
It had been made years earlier, but repeats introduced it to new generations.
The characters became instantly recognisable.
Captain Mainwaring.
Sergeant Wilson.
Corporal Jones.
Private Pike.
And that famous sense that everything was about to go spectacularly wrong.
The Two Ronnies
For many families, The Two Ronnies was another Saturday night favourite.
Sketches, comedy, wordplay and deliberately ridiculous situations.
Some jokes were clever.
Some were wonderfully silly.
And some were repeated around the house for years afterwards.
The Krypton Factor
If you wanted to feel completely inadequate, there was The Krypton Factor.
Memory tests.
Observation.
Physical challenges.
Mental agility.
It made ordinary television viewers feel as though they should perhaps be doing considerably more with their brains.
You’d sit on the sofa thinking:
“I could do that.”
You probably couldn’t.
Tomorrow’s World
Then there was Tomorrow’s World.
It showed viewers what the future might look like.
Computers.
New gadgets.
Robots.
Technology that seemed incredibly futuristic.
Some predictions were remarkably accurate.
Others were spectacularly optimistic.
But the programme captured something that television once did particularly well: it made the future feel exciting.
Doctor Who
For many British families, Doctor Who was more than a television programme.
It was an event.
You knew when it was on.
You knew the Doctor.
You knew the monsters.
And you knew that certain creatures were significantly more frightening than they had any right to be.
The programme also became one of those rare television traditions that could be passed from parents to children.
The Bill
As the years went on, The Bill became part of the television landscape.
For British viewers, Sun Hill Police Station and its collection of characters became familiar territory.
It wasn’t simply something you watched occasionally.
For many people, it became part of the weekly routine.
Blind Date
Saturday night had another essential ingredient: Blind Date.
People appeared on television looking for love while an audience watched three mystery contestants answer questions.
The format was simple.
The entertainment was often anything but.
And then came the reveal.
You could practically hear everyone at home shouting their opinion at the television.
Noel’s House Party
Then came Noel’s House Party.
Saturday night television was becoming bigger, louder and more interactive.
There were surprises, games, celebrities and the infamous Gotcha moments.
The idea that someone could be watching television at home and suddenly become part of the programme felt extraordinary at the time.
Changing Rooms
The 1990s brought a new obsession: decorating.
Changing Rooms convinced an entire nation that two households could hand over rooms to each other and somehow this was a sensible idea.
Sometimes the results were brilliant.
Sometimes they involved an alarming amount of sponge painting.
And there were moments when the homeowner clearly had to pretend to like what had happened.
The X-Files
For teenagers and adults, television was also becoming more adventurous.
The X-Files brought aliens, conspiracies and unexplained phenomena into the living room.
It became one of those programmes where you’d watch an episode and then spend the next day discussing whether any of it could actually be true.
The Generation Gap
Perhaps what made television so important was that everyone had their favourites.
Parents had theirs.
Children had theirs.
Grandparents had theirs.
And sometimes the entire household had to agree.
There was no streaming profile where everyone could simply watch something different.
There was one television.
One remote.
And occasionally a fairly intense negotiation over who was allowed to use it.
When The Programme Finished, It Finished
This is perhaps the biggest difference between then and now.
If you missed your favourite programme, you missed it.
There might be a repeat.
You might hear someone talking about it at school or work the next day.
But you couldn’t simply open an app and watch it whenever you wanted.
There was something about that scarcity that made television feel more important.
You planned around it.
You remembered when it was on.
You made sure you were home.
Television Gave Us Shared Memories
The programmes themselves are only part of the memory.
It’s remembering where you were when you watched them.
Who you watched them with.
The snacks you had.
The arguments over the remote.
The adverts.
The theme tunes.
The television set itself.
Maybe it was a huge wooden box in the corner of the living room.
Maybe you had to get up and physically change the channel.
Maybe somebody recorded something on VHS and accidentally recorded over it later.
Television wasn’t perfect.
But it was shared.
And We Still Remember The Theme Tunes
Ask someone of a certain age to hum a television theme and you’ll often get an immediate response.
The words might be forgotten.
The plot might be hazy.
But the music is still there.
That’s the strange power television had.
It didn’t just give us programmes.
It gave us memories attached to sounds, places and people.
So, What Defined Your Childhood?
There are far too many programmes to fit into one list.
Swap Shop, Blue Peter, Grange Hill, Top of the Pops, Knightmare, Tiswas, The A-Team, Only Fools and Horses, Doctor Who, The Bill, Blind Date, Noel’s House Party and countless others all left their mark in different ways.
Some made us laugh.
Some scared us.
Some taught us something.
Some simply gave us something to talk about the next day.
And that’s probably why television from those years remains so memorable.
We didn’t have unlimited choice.
We had a handful of programmes that mattered.
And because we couldn’t watch everything whenever we wanted, the programmes we did watch became part of our lives.
Which television programme instantly takes you back to growing up in Britain, and what did you always make sure you were home in time to watch?
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