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May 8, 2026
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The 70s 80s 90s Blog

Three Decades of History with TV historian Tony McMahon

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  • 1970s
  • 1980s
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Cold War Spies in the 1980s – a dangerous era

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago3 months ago08 mins

1985 saw two double agents exposed. KGB agent Oleg Gordievsky and US Navy officer John Walker were not what they seemed. Tony McMahon reports

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  • 1980s
  • 1990s
  • Culture
  • Politics

Police raids of clubs in the 1980s and 1990s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago3 years ago016 mins

Night clubs in the 1980s and 1990s were often subjected to police raids for various reasons as TV historian Tony McMahon recalls

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  • Politics

New Years Eve in Glasgow in the 1980s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago3 months ago114 mins

In 1989, TV historian Tony McMahon spent the last New Year’s Eve of the decade in Bellshill just outside Glasgow and it was a culture shock!

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Coventry
  • 1980s
  • 1981 riots
  • Politics

Coventry heroes escaping the Ghost Town

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago3 years ago013 mins

In 1981 – Coventry really was the Ghost Town but local heroes like Neville Staple and Errol Christie were trying to make a difference – as Tony McMahon reports

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Clifford Olson serial killer
  • 1980s
  • Politics
  • true crime

Clifford Olson – Canadian serial killer

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago3 years ago011 mins

Clifford Olson was a notorious Canadian serial killer and yet has slipped into obscurity compared to some American mass murderers as Tony McMahon reports

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short sharp shock Whitelaw
  • 1970s
  • 1980s
  • crime
  • Politics

Short Sharp Shock – nightmare prison regime

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago3 years ago011 mins

Short Sharp Shock was a military-style prison regime for young offenders that wrecked lives and didn’t work as Tony McMahon discovers

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Mods Rockers Tamworth
  • 1970s
  • 1980s
  • Music
  • Politics

Mods and Rockers clash in Tamworth – 1979

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago3 years ago010 mins

Mods and Rockers were at each others’ throats again in the late 1970s in the town of Tamworth in England as Tony McMahon discovers

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  • 1970s
  • 1980s
  • Politics

1967 – when abortion became legal in the UK

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago3 months ago016 mins

From the 1960s to the 1990s, abortion became a culture war issue that is hugely divisive down to the present day as TV historian Tony McMahon reports

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miners strike ended
  • 1980s
  • Miners Strike
  • Politics

Tragic end to the Miners Strike 1984/85

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago3 months ago027 mins

The 1984/85 miners strike ended with defeat for organised labour and a victory for neo-liberalism as TV historian Tony McMahon explains

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nuclear missile explodes
  • 1980s
  • Politics

Accidental explosion of the Titan II nuclear missile

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago3 months ago09 mins

When a nuclear missile explodes once, that’s bad. But the Titan II nuclear missile exploded twice on American soil as Tony McMahon reports

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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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