You may have noticed a lot of social media posts about TV being so much better in the 1970s and 1980s. On TikTok, I’ve come across clips of BBC and ITV Christmas schedules with the announcer – always with a posh voice – detailing what was in store if you stayed in on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. In the comments, many sigh at how amazing telly was in those decades. But I’m going to argue – it was a mixed bag. In fact, the Xmas schedules were often so bad, I think they were intended to drive us all to the pub.
The big difference between then and today is that TV was way less fragmented. Millions of us tuned in to watch the exact same show and it became the talking point in offices, factories, and school playgrounds. We had a lot more shared experiences. That’s not to say that people now at parties don’t bore on about the Netflix or Disney streamed content they’ve been watching, but it was as if the nation moved in lockstep back in the 70s and 80s.
So which shows were overrated and which still stand up to another watch today?
To the Manor Born was a huge success with the final episode of the first series in November 1979 achieving nearly 24 million viewers. But…there’s a reason it doesn’t get repeated much today and that’s because the comedy is truly on the nose and despite Penelope Keith’s brilliant acting, the snobbery underlying the jokes isn’t very funny these days. Possibly because Britain in 1979 was a more egalitarian society without the yawning wealth gap we endure in 2026.
That’s not to say that class can’t produce great humour. Most British sitcoms rely on social division to make the audience squirm and giggle. Penelope Keith was one of the four main characters in The Good Life – which also touched on 1970s obsessions with self-sufficiency, an early form of prepper culture. And I’d argue that Richard Briers, another Good Life stalwart, was incredible in Ever Decreasing Circles – which I didn’t rate at the time. But as a window on suburban, neurotic, lower-middle-class Britain, Ever Decreasing Circles is pure genius and deservedly gets repeated today.
Soap operas have always driven views and the two great warhorses of British television are Coronation Street and Eastenders. The former began in the 1960s while the latter only got going in the 1980s. I think both have declined in quality. Corrie used to have real humour and warm characters. I seriously don’t get it now. As for Eastenders, the high point was undoubtedly the Dirty Den era – now, I wonder why anybody yearns for 30 minutes of misery after a day at work.
The two soap operas missing in action today are Crossroads and Brookside. These were cult classics in their day. I’d watch Brookside again but you’d have to hold a gun to my head to make me sit through an episode of Crossroads.
When it comes to comedy, the 1970s and 1980s were a decidedly mixed bag. Again, on social media, you have folks sobbing for the gags of yesteryear. But seriously, this is a story of highs and lows.
The lows…
The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club – currently being repeated on one of the Sky channels. This ran from 1974 to 1977. Set in a fictional, northern English working men’s club – that was actually a TV studio – and hosted by the irascible Colin Crompton, wearing a cloth cap and being generally dismissive. If you want to get a snapshot of Britain before it was de-industrialised, then this show is what to watch. But the comedy…oh my days.
Crompton would often spar with Bernard Manning, a comedian who set out to be offensive but forgot to be funny on the way. If you’ve never seen Manning demolished in the 1990s on the Mrs Merton Show then seek it out on YouTube. Manning used to be a regular on an early 1970s variety show, The Comedians. This involved an endless series of jokers, normally dressed in a lurid tuxedo, laughing at their own weak gags. I was going to put up a link but started watching and was immediately hit with a racist gag – so, no.
Morecambe and Wise ruled comedy in the 1970s and are repeated because their humour didn’t rely 100% on racism and sexism. Yeah – they were ‘woke’. The influence of Abbott and Costello, the 1940s legendary comic duo, was very evident – much more than Laurel and Hardy. Though thankully, Morecambe and Wise blurred the roles of straight man. Because I think what brought down Abbott and Costello was the increasingly predictable on-screen bickering between them.
Others tried to equal Morecambe and Wise and failed dismally – though unfortunately, and inexplicably, these acts got long running shows. I’m looking at Little and Large and Cannon and Ball. Can honestly say – hand on heart – I never heard those two woeful duos ever crack a half-decent gag. Among comedians I rate from that era – and this might surprise you – but Les Dawson remains a favourite, more because of his word play than the mother-in-law jokes. Benny Hill was way smarter than he appeared – not surprised that Charlie Chaplin was a huge fan. And among the wretched stinkers, I’d include Freddie Starr and the wearisome routine from Rod Hull and Emu (make it stop!).
TV drama today – all the streaming shows – gives us a huge range of entertainment that never existed 40 or 50 years ago. Though it’s interesting to note how Netflix seems to be running out of ideas. Among the 1970s drama greats, I have to give a loud cheer for I Claudius – just repeated on BBC Four. It’s very ‘stagey’ now and clearly filmed in the old BBC studios. But the performances from top actors are unforgettable. I’m truly convinced it’s never been equalled as a TV historical drama series.
There are complaints of a lack of variety today – hello Netflix – but remember the amount of cop dramas stuffed down our throats in the 70s. When it came to TV drama in the 1980s, we had a glut of lavishly costumed period pieces like Brideshead Revisited and The Jewel in the Crown. They reflected the tastes of ‘yuppie’ Britain while the other half got to see themselves in Boys from the Blackstuff – revealing the horror of long-term unemployment in the early 1980s. Plus let’s never forget The Singing Detective from that great TV drama innovator, Dennis Potter.
So – was TV better in the 1970s and 1980s – you tell me!
