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November 3, 2026
  • The late 1980s love affair with French movies
  • Demonising people with ‘Yuppie Flu’
  • Teaching adult literacy in the 1980s
  • Was TV better in the 1970s and 1980s?

The 70s 80s 90s Blog

Three Decades of History with TV historian Tony McMahon

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  • French movies 1980s

    The late 1980s love affair with French movies

    16 hours ago16 hours ago
  • yuppie flu

    Demonising people with ‘Yuppie Flu’

    2 days ago2 days ago
  • 1980s illiteracy

    Teaching adult literacy in the 1980s

    2 days ago2 days ago
  • TV 1970s 1980s

    Was TV better in the 1970s and 1980s?

    2 months ago2 months ago
  • 1976 drought summer heat climate change

    Summer of 1976 and Climate Change

    5 months ago5 months ago
  • 1986 Britain

    1986 – 40 years ago in Britain

    10 months ago9 months ago
French movies 1980s
  • 1980s
  • 1990s
16 hours ago16 hours ago

The late 1980s love affair with French movies

The late 1980s saw an unexpected surge of interest in French movies like Jean de Florette.

yuppie flu
  • 1980s
2 days ago2 days ago

Demonising people with ‘Yuppie Flu’

Yuppie Flu was a condition recognised but mocked in the 1980s

1980s illiteracy
  • 1980s
2 days ago2 days ago

Teaching adult literacy in the 1980s

UK adult illiteracy in the 1980s was at least 5% and I was one of many tutors trying to tackle that.

TV 1970s 1980s
  • 1970s
  • 1980s
2 months ago2 months ago

Was TV better in the 1970s and 1980s?

Was TV better in the 1970s and 1980s or is our nostalgia a big mistake?

1976 drought summer heat climate change
  • 1970s
  • Culture
5 months ago5 months ago

Summer of 1976 and Climate Change

The Summer of 1976 saw an exceptional drought and heat but today’s summers are far worse

1986 Britain
  • 1980s
10 months ago9 months ago

1986 – 40 years ago in Britain

Looking back at 1986, it was a year when two halves of Britain went in…

shah of iran
  • 1970s
10 months ago10 months ago

Iran on the eve of the 1979 revolution

Iran is on the verge of revolutionary change not seen since the Shah was overthrown…

Drought 1976
  • 1970s
10 months ago10 months ago

1976 – 50 years ago in Britain

I turned 13 years of age in 1976 and was at secondary school in Buckhurst…

1975 summer holiday
  • 1970s
11 months ago9 months ago

School summer holidays in the 1970s

2025 marked an astonishing 50 years since I went on a school holiday to Chamonix…

Zoomer Boomer office culture
  • 1980s
  • 1990s
11 months ago9 months ago

Zoomers challenge Boomer office culture

Gen-Z is challenging the Boomer office culture of the 1980s and they might have a point.

  • 1981 riots
  • Politics

1979 UK General Election changes history

  • Music

WH Smith goes ska in 1980

  • 1980s
  • Politics

1985 – the murder of PC Keith Blakelock

  • Politics

Wood Green Riot of 1977

French movies 1980s
  • 1980s
  • 1990s

The late 1980s love affair with French movies

The 70s 80s 90s Blog16 hours ago16 hours ago06 mins

The late 1980s saw an unexpected surge of interest in French movies like Jean de Florette.

Read More
yuppie flu
  • 1980s

Demonising people with ‘Yuppie Flu’

The 70s 80s 90s Blog2 days ago2 days ago04 mins

Yuppie Flu was a condition recognised but mocked in the 1980s

Read More
1980s illiteracy
  • 1980s

Teaching adult literacy in the 1980s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog2 days ago2 days ago07 mins

UK adult illiteracy in the 1980s was at least 5% and I was one of many tutors trying to tackle that.

Read More
TV 1970s 1980s
  • 1970s
  • 1980s
  • Culture

Was TV better in the 1970s and 1980s?

The 70s 80s 90s Blog2 months ago2 months ago011 mins

Was TV better in the 1970s and 1980s or is our nostalgia a big mistake?

Read More
1976 drought summer heat climate change
  • 1970s
  • Culture

Summer of 1976 and Climate Change

The 70s 80s 90s Blog5 months ago5 months ago06 mins

The Summer of 1976 saw an exceptional drought and heat but today’s summers are far worse

Read More
1986 Britain
  • 1980s

1986 – 40 years ago in Britain

The 70s 80s 90s Blog10 months ago9 months ago07 mins

Looking back at 1986, it was a year when two halves of Britain went in different directions. With the year-long miners’ strike defeated in 1985, industrial areas saw a further surge in unemployment and a sense of despondency. But in London, it was a different world. Financial deregulation in the City of London powered the…

Read More
shah of iran
  • 1970s

Iran on the eve of the 1979 revolution

The 70s 80s 90s Blog10 months ago10 months ago08 mins

Iran is on the verge of revolutionary change not seen since the Shah was overthrown in 1979. So, I thought it would be interesting to look at how Iran was being covered by the global media in 1978, the year before the country became an Islamic republic. Nobody doubted in 1978 that Shah Mohammad Reza…

Read More
Drought 1976
  • 1970s

1976 – 50 years ago in Britain

The 70s 80s 90s Blog10 months ago10 months ago06 mins

I turned 13 years of age in 1976 and was at secondary school in Buckhurst Hill, Essex. Let’s look back at a year when we experienced a never ending summer with a resulting drought. Before that, Prime Minister Harold Wilson suddenly resigned for reasons that didn’t seem very obvious. He’d just won election only two…

Read More
1975 summer holiday
  • 1970s

School summer holidays in the 1970s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog11 months ago9 months ago09 mins

2025 marked an astonishing 50 years since I went on a school holiday to Chamonix in France. So, I returned to Chamonix, not having been there since 1975. I don’t know what I expected to find or experience. But the memories came flooding back of a very eventful school summer break. In the mid-1970s, I…

Read More
Zoomer Boomer office culture
  • 1980s
  • 1990s

Zoomers challenge Boomer office culture

The 70s 80s 90s Blog11 months ago9 months ago010 mins

Gen-Z is challenging the Boomer office culture of the 1980s and they might have a point.

Read More
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Buy Original Rude Boy – biography of Neville Staple, The Specials

Boxing and racism in the 80s

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Tony McMahon – your blogger – circa 1982

TV historian Tony McMahon journeys through the politics, culture, and history of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s

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