Spotted on the BBC today the news that 25 years ago the 1979 General Election took place. Margaret Thatcher became the first (and, to date, the only) female British Prime Minister. The BBC Parliament TV channel was re-running the BBC1 programming from that day.
Although I only saw about half an hour of this, it was greatly entertaining. Not because of any particular historical or political interest, but because it was Very 1970’s and Very Funny. Kenneth Kendall, Sue Lawley and Angela Rippon were reading the news – and all at a time when clearly every single BBC reporter was still required to speak the Queen’s English. One report, from “Issix” turned out to be from Essex, for example. Anchor man Dimbleby still in the studio, of course, looking surprisingly similar to today.
To anyone waking up and accidentally stumbling upon this program, with footage of people wearing 1970’s fashion, some ridiculous haircuts and some even more ridiculous trousers, the BBC helpfully put a “1979” caption in the corner of the screen. Just in case anyone got worried.
There was also an early outing for the magnificent Ian McCaskill at the Weather Centre. Nice spectacles, that man!