Prince William and Kate Middleton to marry!!

[A Lark Ascending]

Sick to death of the news coverage so far, and it can only get worse.

Anything to distract us sheep from the economy. This ploy last activated back in 1981 ..

Quite. The inner city riots, I recall, suddenly glossed over with wedding dresses and bunting. Someone alluded to this on the radio a couple of days back and referred also to the Princess Margaret marriage in the early 70s. I only vaguely remember that but it would fit with the economic and social unrest of the time.

[BillF]

Sick to death of the news coverage so far, and it can only get worse.

Anything to distract us sheep from the economy. This ploy last activated back in 1981 ..

Quite. The inner city riots, I recall, suddenly glossed over with wedding dresses and bunting. Someone alluded to this on the radio a couple of days back and referred also to the Princess Margaret marriage in the early 70s. I only vaguely remember that but it would fit with the economic and social unrest of the time.

And in the early 80s mass unemployment and urban riots v. the Falklands War and the Charles/Diana wedding, all put in perspective by that brilliant movie, This Is England:

[cih]

I was only eight in 1981 but I remember it fairly well - I bought my first records that year, including (with my brother) the Specials' 'Ghost Town' which was famously timely, and shortly after, 'The Boiler' which was a reconstruction of a date rape, complete with Abbey Lincoln style screaming (our mum confiscated it but she needn't have bothered - I still have to turn it off at a certain point). The TV shows were equally foreboding around that period - Day of the Triffids etc - but the thing from that period that sticks in my mind more than anything else was 'Threads' about a nuclear attack, and those public information films, and the periodic testing of the warning sirens. It was all strangely eery - there was a scene with a milk bottle melting on a doorstep that stopped me sleeping! I remember at school we decided that the best place to be if the missile came over was right under it so it hit you on the head before exploding

[papsrus]

Ah ... weddings.

[gmonahan]

I was only eight in 1981 but I remember it fairly well - I bought my first records that year, including (with my brother) the Specials' 'Ghost Town' which was famously timely, and shortly after, 'The Boiler' which was a reconstruction of a date rape, complete with Abbey Lincoln style screaming (our mum confiscated it but she needn't have bothered - I still have to turn it off at a certain point). The TV shows were equally foreboding around that period - Day of the Triffids etc - but the thing from that period that sticks in my mind more than anything else was 'Threads' about a nuclear attack, and those public information films, and the periodic testing of the warning sirens. It was all strangely eery - there was a scene with a milk bottle melting on a doorstep that stopped me sleeping! I remember at school we decided that the best place to be if the missile came over was right under it so it hit you on the head before exploding

"Threads" was just about the only realistic portrayal of a nuclear attack I've ever seen. Boy, was it a *downer*!!

gregmo

[A Lark Ascending]

I recall being petrified by 'Threads' - this was the era of Reagan's 'Evil Empire' and the deployment of Cruise missiles in Europe.

I played it to a class of 16-17 year olds a couple of years ago (as part of a unit I teach on The Cold War) and they were most unimpressed. The production values that were so realistic in the early 80s looked like a Dr Who set. The long build up and slow moving post-attack parts had them extremely restless.

[king ubu]

What? British schools taught that Reagan's was the evil empire?

[A Lark Ascending]

What? British schools taught that Reagan's was the evil empire?

Maybe I should have said 'Evil Empire Speech'.

I'm afraid we study alternative interpretations - from Reagan as bimbo-brained warmonger to Reagan as a quiet genius pushing the Soviets into bankruptcy. The kids much prefer the former interpretation.

[cih]

My secondary school (1984-89) seemed oriented toward the first idea. We were taught Russian rather than the usual German or Spanish, and my English teacher wore clogs and a Lenin pin-badge. They did trips to the USSR every year - unfortunately I never got to go. The same teacher took us to see Dame Edna but it wasn't the same.

[BillF]

My secondary school (1984-89) seemed oriented toward the first idea. We were taught Russian rather than the usual German or Spanish, and my English teacher wore clogs and a Lenin pin-badge. They did trips to the USSR every year - unfortunately I never got to go. The same teacher took us to see Dame Edna but it wasn't the same.

[A Lark Ascending]

My secondary school (1984-89) seemed oriented toward the first idea. We were taught Russian rather than the usual German or Spanish, and my English teacher wore clogs and a Lenin pin-badge. They did trips to the USSR every year - unfortunately I never got to go. The same teacher took us to see Dame Edna but it wasn't the same.

I don't know. Dame Edna always looked a bit like the wife of a Soviet Politburo member.

[gmonahan]

I recall being petrified by 'Threads' - this was the era of Reagan's 'Evil Empire' and the deployment of Cruise missiles in Europe.

I played it to a class of 16-17 year olds a couple of years ago (as part of a unit I teach on The Cold War) and they were most unimpressed. The production values that were so realistic in the early 80s looked like a Dr Who set. The long build up and slow moving post-attack parts had them extremely restless.

I used it in a couple of college classes at the time, but my old video copy was too crappy. I can well imagine it would make students restless today. It was sort of the British answer to the American "The Day After," which made a huge stink then. Hard to believe if one looks at it now. That was also the era of the big Nuclear Freeze movement. Time passes.

As for Reagan...don't get me started.

gregmo

[sidewinder]

As for Reagan...don't get me started.

I still laugh when I recall my late Gran referring to him as 'Ray Gun'..

I don't know. Dame Edna always looked a bit like the wife of a Soviet Politburo member.

Mrs Brezhnev?

My secondary school (1984-89) seemed oriented toward the first idea. We were taught Russian rather than the usual German or Spanish, and my English teacher wore clogs and a Lenin pin-badge. They did trips to the USSR every year - unfortunately I never got to go. The same teacher took us to see Dame Edna but it wasn't the same.

Sounds like you went to the "Dave Spart Revolutionary People's Comprehensive" !

[BillF]

As for Reagan...don't get me started.

I still laugh when I recall my late Gran referring to him as 'Ray Gun'..

I don't know. Dame Edna always looked a bit like the wife of a Soviet Politburo member.

Mrs Brezhnev?

My secondary school (1984-89) seemed oriented toward the first idea. We were taught Russian rather than the usual German or Spanish, and my English teacher wore clogs and a Lenin pin-badge. They did trips to the USSR every year - unfortunately I never got to go. The same teacher took us to see Dame Edna but it wasn't the same.

Sounds like you went to the "Dave Spart Revolutionary People's Comprehensive" !

Wasn't he president of the National Amalgamated Union of Sixth-Form Operatives and Allied Trades?