Gene, as of last night, is back and although he’s only been around for a couple of years I don’t think anyone would deny him his place as a Small Screen Icon, especially not on the last day of our Ashes to Ashes week and, even more importantly, because to do so would risk being called “a Southern jessie bastard” or some other similarly apposite Gene-rific shibboleth.
No, Gene deserves his status as an icon. Iconic look (different now, in A2A, but still distinctive), iconic behaviour and above all, iconic language. Shame that we only feel empowered to enjoy it because he’s firmly rooted in the past. We can secretly envy his ability to call a spade a bloody shovel while publicly claiming that is how it was back then, so what can you expect? If Gene could roll back the nauseating tide of political correctness then he’d become much more than just a small screen icon.
Anarchic ‘alternative’ comedy was still in its infancy (at least as far as television was concerned) in the early eighties, with little to succour the crowds who had been loving acts like the Dangerous Brothers and Alexei Sayle in live shows for some time. Channel 4 captured the essence of the moment in a short run of The Comic Strip Presents… and in answer to this, BBC Two negotiated with several of the Comic Strip regulars to write and star in what was to become one of the most popular and ground-breaking sitcoms of the decade.
Every so often a drama comes along that so perfectly embodies the moment it becomes almost a national emblem. From 1980 to 82, Boys from the Blackstuff became one such emblem. The series had such a profound effect on the nation’s psyche, introducing as it did Yosser Hughes’ famous catchphrases “gissa job” and “I can do that” to playgrounds and workplaces the length and breadth of the country, it’s hard to believe there were only six episodes in total, not counting the original Play for Today script, The Black Stuff, that started the whole thing off.
It’s hardly surprising that the BBC is to axe 
It seems hard to believe now, but back in 1982 British TV consisted of three channels – BBC1, BBC2 and ITV – and it had been almost 20 years since a new TV channel was introduced to the UK (BBC2 having launched in 1964). All that was to change on 2 November 1982 with the introduction of Channel 4. I guess there are probably quite a few people around now who don’t even know that it was called “Channel 4″ because it was, simply, the fourth channel.
Just two days left, people! And so, with 
March 21 1981 was a dark day for Doctor Who fans. It was the last episode of ‘Logopolis’ and, after an unprecedented seven years at the controls of the TARDIS, the last appearance of Tom Baker as The Doctor. Despite topping the polls as the most popular Doctor for years, Baker was recently unseated by David Tennant. In my mind, though Tennant is undoubtedly very good, this was a skewed result based on the voting of the many thousands of young fans who have only ever seen the modern series. To me Baker will remain forever the Master… err… I mean, the Doctor. The Doctor of Doctors.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the 80s was one of the worst decades in history. The music, for the most part, was awful. The clothes were worse and there was a couple of recessions that made some of my Christmas Day’s a bit crap. In saying that, there’s no denying that there was some cracking telly on during that strange decade. For every bad perm and Ben Elton, the 80s was a TV decade that ended with the Berlin Wall coming down which, even at ten or however old I was, provided me with one of my finest TV moments ever.
Ah, the eighties! For many a bleak and worrying time and in many ways a cultural desert. Even so, it had its icons, and one of those which started in 1981 and went on to become one of the funniest and most well-loved comedy series of all time was Only Fools And Horses.
From:TV Review: Kirstie's Homemade Home, Channel 4, Thursday, 23 April, 8pm