Sheena's Updates

"I absolutely loved Scarred For Life: Volume One: The 1970s, the first book in this series. I bought both of these on a whim in the summer of 2022 and only got round to reading Volume 1 in December 2022 and almost instantly jumped into Volume 2 in January. I knew it at the time, but I probably should have held off a bit, because in the space of two months I've read about 1,300 small type pages about British media and culture in the 1970's and 80's. I think if I had read this book maybe six months after the first one I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

The concept of 'Scarred For Life' is essentially, that the period the authors grew up in, was well, a bit mad. There was an awful lot of stuff, primarily aimed at children that really wouldn't be shown today and in some respects it 'scarred us for life'. I loved the 1970's book and had recalled in my review that if they just focused on one thing, like television, or books, they'd still have a brilliant book. After reading Volume 2 I have changed my mind somewhat. The authors whilst writing Volume 2 realised they had so much material they have split it into two volumes - one for TV and one for everything else. I found reading this, I was craving to read about all the material that will be in the next volume! (which of course I will be buying).

There is also a sense in this book that the authors are growing up, they are no longer children, they are young adults and so reading this book it feels it is less about how media and culture screwed kids up and more about, 'this is the creepy / weird / strange / controversial' TV viewed through the eyes of people slightly older (the 70's volume did cover TV and films for adults too, but there does seem to be a tonal shift). The other thing which felt a bit weird, was that the 70's book felt like a homage to childhood but most of it I hadn't seen before, being born in 1975. Much of the TV mentioned in this book I was at least somewhat aware of. I think this changed my relationship to it, and I wasn't as nostalgic as I thought.

We do have a breadth of content in here, from children's TV shows, to horror and science fiction shows to the anthologies and the birth of Channel 4. The advertising of the era is covered, along with public information films and also documentaries. Everything is impeccably researched and goes into detail about each TV show's content, history and impact, including where to obtain the shows if they are released or on You Tube. It's a real labour of love and consistently of high value. (I did spot a possible error though - in the section about Napalm Death's appearance on 'What's That Noise' they refer to the singer as Barney Greenway. I am pretty sure it's Lee Dorrian in the video - I totally lost it watching that as a metal head in the 80's!)

It's hard to pick out highlights - my personal one though, and I suspect lots of kids my generation would agree is the Zammo heroin addiction story in Grange Hill. It's almost impossible to imagine that kind of story being broadcast at 5 o'clock to the nation now but I swear it was incredibly effective. I can say from experience it terrified me. From my mid teens to my mid twenties I took quite a lot of drugs but heroin was always a massive no-no and I put that down to Zammo.

I had fun reminiscing about 'The Tripods'. I remember when it came out and there was so much hype for it - it looked amazing, but sadly didn't last when you actually watched it. I remember it being really boring and made me turn over to watch the A-Team.

The section on Channel 4 was pretty cool and how they were the channel to try anything at the time. They had the best US imports, the weirdest films and the best content for teens. I remember thinking Network 7 on Sunday's was the best but it never scarred anyone for life so it's not here (we should get the authors to do a 'not scarred for life' book where we can all read about Tiswas and stuff!). I was also one of 'those' teenagers who would stay up late to watch subtitled films on Channel Four on the off chance there would be a bit of nudity, and I remember (along with our authors) regularly being disappointed in the flesh stakes but watching something bizarre too.

One thing which I was never really aware of back then (possibly because I was the target age group) is how teenage sexuality was approached. Some TV programmes aimed at kids and teens did show brief nudity or explore teenage sexuality in a way that wouldn't be broached now. I don't know how I feel about it, of course we have to protect children (both working and viewing) but I have a sense TV of the era was talking to young people and not treating them as stupid. On the flipside of that there is the nonce horror of Page 3 girls. Doing my paper round in the mid-late 80's I'd often turn to Page 3 to look at some tits. The girls in them 'looked' grown up but it is really quite sickening to think the nation's men were leering at girls who had just left school. At the time girls could be photographed topless from age 16, and in some cases the shots were taken earlier. I distinctly remember a 'countdown' to a girl's 16th birthday with her losing bits of school uniform before she had her tits out on her 16th. It's mentioned in this book in the documentary section but it turns my stomach to think of how exploitative that really is.

There is a good section on adverts of the era - it possibly could have been greater because I feel we have skimmed the surface. I remember most of the Public Information Films of the era - they don't seem to have been as varied as the ones in the 70's or old-fashioned. A big shout out goes to the heroin campaign and the AIDS campaign (and how they intersected). It really was terrifying! I can still see those 'Heroin, It really screws you up' posters and of course, condoms everywhere. (My mum dragged me down the family planning clinic when I was 16 to get condoms - at the time you get 30 every three months which felt like a lifetime supply!).

Of course if we weren't bothered about AIDS and heroin we had nuclear death and extreme poverty to worry about...

I enjoyed the sections about 'life on the dole', and I really enjoyed the authors brutal criticism of 'Bread' - I think scousers are still trying to limit the damage that show did to Liverpool and people's perceptions of scousers. This book also showed me a possible origin of the term 'Shite Hawk' and it isn't pretty.

This book is an essential read for anyone interested in the darker side of TV in the 80's. I really liked it but didn't love it, but that's down to reading in close proximity to Volume 1. Pick them both up - they are really worth it if you are into this kind of thing."