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November 5, 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

    3 days ago3 days ago
  • yuppie flu

    Demonising people with ‘Yuppie Flu’

    4 days ago4 days ago
  • 1980s illiteracy

    Teaching adult literacy in the 1980s

    4 days ago4 days ago
  • TV 1970s 1980s

    Was TV better in the 1970s and 1980s?

    2 months ago2 months ago
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    Summer of 1976 and Climate Change

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    1986 – 40 years ago in Britain

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1980

nuclear missile explodes
  • 1980s
  • Politics

Accidental explosion of the Titan II nuclear missile

The 70s 80s 90s Blog3 years ago9 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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  • Music

WH Smith goes ska in 1980

The 70s 80s 90s Blog10 years ago9 years ago01 mins

1979 and 1980 were the glory years of the so-called “second wave” of ska music – first wave in Jamaica twenty plus years before and now the 2Tone wave came crashing out of Coventry. The Specials seized the charts by the scruff of the neck with a string of hits. And even WH Smith felt…

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survive nuclear war
  • Politics

How to survive a nuclear war

The 70s 80s 90s Blog13 years ago4 years ago020 mins

Back in 1980, the UK government gave advice on how to survive a nuclear war that was rubbished at the time as Tony McMahon discovers

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  • Politics

The collapse of businesses during the 80s Thatcher recession

The 70s 80s 90s Blog14 years ago4 years ago01 mins

The collapse of businesses during the 80s Thatcher recession

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  • Music

Missing Words – The Selecter and Pauline Black

The 70s 80s 90s Blog14 years ago9 years ago01 mins

Missing Words – The Selecter and Pauline Black

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  • Politics

Northern Ireland Troubles in 1980

The 70s 80s 90s Blog14 years ago9 years ago01 mins

Northern Ireland Troubles in 1980

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skinhead riot
  • Culture
  • Music

1980 – the Year of the Skinhead

The 70s 80s 90s Blog14 years ago6 years ago04 mins

1980 was described by one newspaper as The Year of the Skinhead marking the revival of a subculture that took off aggressively in the late 1970s

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  • Politics

Was anybody on the People’s March for Jobs in the early 80s?

The 70s 80s 90s Blog14 years ago6 years ago101 mins

Was anybody on the People’s March for Jobs in the early 80s?

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  • Politics

Thatcher first year in power

The 70s 80s 90s Blog14 years ago6 years ago01 mins

Thatcher first year in power

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  • Music

Walthamstow – Mecca of Punk and New Wave

The 70s 80s 90s Blog16 years ago4 years ago09 mins

Walthamstow in north east London has a proud Punk and New Wave history centred on Small Wonder Records 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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