Radio Times Xmas Double Issue: 1980 v 2020. Which one’s the winner?
A Christmas and New Year double issue from 1979-80 which Robert has carefully kept for the last four decades and this year’s edition which he hasn’t bought yet. Was Auntie more entertaining then, or now?
By Robert J Davies
Our current campaign to wake up to the wokeness of the BBC got me wondering: what was the BBC’s radio and TV output like years ago? And in particular, how did their Christmas and New Year line-up compare? Was it better or worse? Did they rely on loads of repeats decades ago? It’s easy to forget. Fortunately, help is at hand. I rather carefully held on to numerous back copies of our family’s weekly Radio Times in the 1970s and early 1980s when I was a youngster. Well, you never know when they might come in useful!
Actually, scoff if you like but old copies of the Radio Times can sell for as much as £10 each on eBay, particularly if you have a Christmas double issue. Sadly, I don’t seem to have very many but I’ve found one from December 1979 to January 1980 which should give us an interesting insight into Auntie’s festive line-up on TV and radio 40 years ago and what we can hope for this time round, in 2020.
Mindful of our wish to help expose the BBC’s current left-wing bias and woke obsessions, you’ll probably expect me to heap praise on the offerings from four decades back and condemn this year’s output. I’m expecting much the same, too. However, I don’t know for sure. I haven’t yet bought this year’s Radio Times and it’s been throwing it down with rain all today, so I’ve opted for a little self-isolating. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised, or maybe I won’t. I will try, despite my preconceptions and concerns, to be scrupulously fair. So look out for my analysis somewhere on this website over the next few days.
By the way, dear reader, if you haven’t yet bought your copy, I suggest you snap one up. Even if a grim Christmas is coming our way over the airwaves, the Christmas 2020 Radio Times double issue will probably be worth double what you paid one day. Well, by about 2060 anyway!
