I have to confess that I'm not a girl. I'm not a girl who was a teenager in the seventies either. So whilst sitting down with Jackie Magazine: A Girl's Best Friend (BBC2, Monday, 9pm) last night was either going to be pointless or a fascinating look at a cultural phenomenon. Thankfully it veered toward the latter.

As ever with these nostaligic things, it's full of talking heads reminiscing about things and trying to be humourous about it all, but with this documentary, it was refreshing to see all involved showing a real affection for something that recalls a more innocent time in Britain, as opposed to tittering away at the crapness of it all... although there was a little of that... but not too much thankfully.

To understand the impact that Jackie had on seventies Britain, you have to look at the difference between the teenagers of now, and the children of then. The first distinction is in that sentence. Now, teens are media savvy and much more clued up than the kids of the seventies. Basically, the teenagers in the seventies were children with pubes. There was no internet. There wasn't a thousand channels for them to get informed by, and to idle their hours away. There was no mobile phones or Heat magazine. Teens had their place in the family and were in no way looked upon as our future.

So, D.C. Thompson & Co (who brought the world The Beano and Dandy) came along to fill the vacuum for the teenage girls. Kicking off like something straight out of swinging London, the mag was actually based in Dundee, but that didn't matter. There was a voice (finally!) for young women! Jackie was filled with advice on boys (who it would seem were looked upon like an alien species in those days) fashion and huge posters of David Cassidy and Donny Osmond's teeth.

With the seventies being a hugely different climate to today, the magazine could be seen as pretty twee now. It was filled with fashion tips... but instead of telling young ladies that this is the way to dress like Paris Hilton with high street shops, it encouraged girls to make their own clothes. Scarves, ponchos, ear-rings... and one incredibly ill advised 'fry-up hat'. Yep, knit yourself a hat that features a huge fried egg and some bacon. It turns out that the writers of Jackie thought it was all a bit of a joke. One writer in particular cheekily wheezed when recalling the article... and then with brilliant pantomime horror, realised that girls may have actually left the house sporting a woollen sausage on their head.

Of course, the talking heads of the show (notably Trisha Goddard, Trevor and Simon, Fiona Allen) had mixed feelings looking back. They recalled how invaluable the Cathy & Claire  problem page was. The creative use of "excited" as opposed to erection caused great mirth... "perhaps you should avoid those longer cuddles...". That said, all thought (in hindsight) that Jackie was very 'establishment' and couldn't really tackle the more tricky problems of teenage pregnancy and the like. All said and done, it was intriguing to look back at a time when kids were encouraged to be more creative in their fashion (bacon hats aside) and generally be a bit more youthful and in less of a rush to be adults. They managed it all wearing ridiculous platform shoes as well! [Mof Gimmers]