All in the Best Possible Taste
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Review
`An engaging primer for 1980s TV which will have you stacking up a whole new YouTube play list' --Metro
`Good fun . . . Bromley makes an entertaining guide' --Daily Mail, Book of the week
`An enjoyable slice of nostalgia' --Choice
`Good fun . . . Bromley makes an entertaining guide' --Daily Mail, Book of the week
`An enjoyable slice of nostalgia' --Choice
Product Description
Television past, as LP Hartley might have once said, is another country. And, in the early 1980s it certainly was a different beast. There were still only three channels to watch; the evening's programmes finished with the playing of the national anthem; and the biggest prize on TV was not Chris Tarrant's million pounds but a speedboat on Bullseye ...But as Tom Bromley suggests in this funny and warming memoir, all that was about to change: The 1980s saw the end of the original golden era of television, and the beginnings of TV as we know it today. In 1982, Channel 4 became the first new terrestrial channel for almost twenty years and by the end of the decade, Rupert Murdoch's Sky Television was vying to become Britain's first multi-channel provider. The result of all this was that slowly but surely, British viewers had more choice than ever before and the cost of this choice was the erosion of television as a shared national event. And no-one felt this change more deeply than Tom Bromley. Television played a large part in Tom's childhood. His first word was 'two', as in BBC Two, and his earliest childhood memory is seeing Johnny Ball at a church fete. With great humour and affection, Tom Bromley tells the story of a childhood spent with his three siblings and that other all-important family member; the television set.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm sure you remember, a few years ago, there was a spate of nostalgia programmes, most of them I think on Channel 4, with names like `I love the 70s', `The Hundred Best TV moments of the 80s', `I love that bit 15 minutes ago they haven't given a name to yet', and `Your All Time Greatest Test Cards'. The trend for nostalgia about things that we didn't think much of the first time seems to be slightly in abeyance now. But never fear! Because, through the technological breakthrough known as `Pay-per-view'... sorry, I mean `Paper-view', you can relive all your favourite 80s TV moments, like, you known, when that thing happened on Neighbours, and JR said that thing on Dallas, and the shoulder pads eh? And goodness didn't we laugh?
OK, I'm being unfair. Just like `I love the 80s', `All in the Best Possible Taste' was clearly intended as a bit of fun, and not high art, and that's what it is. If you enjoyed that sort of nostalgia-fest, there's a fair chance you'll enjoy this too.
But it does suffer from three problems. Firstly, I'm afraid to say it's not actually that funny. A lot of the humour involves rather heavy handed riffs on what a lot has changed in 30 years. `Can you believe we only had three TV channels!?! I mean, less than four?!!?! Until Channel 4 of course. And we didn't know what a mobile phone was??! Isn't that amazing!?!! And did I mention the shoulder pads??!' Given that the book is subtitled `Growing Up Watching TV in the 80s', there's very little here about the growing up bit. Usually I'd say that was a good thing - I'm getting fed up with reading books by journos who think that, because they've squeezed something about pop-music, or football, or Dr Who or something genuinely popular into the title, this gives them carte blanche to go on endlessly about their dull lives, like we care. But in Bromley's case, it's actually a bit of a shame, because the details of his childhood turn out to be some of the funniest bits of the book. His description of visits to pre-McDonald's fast food outlets did indeed make me laugh out loud.
Secondly, it's a bit of a list. For example, Bromley will talk about, say, sit-coms, and he'll have to run through all the sit-coms he can remember from the 80s, in a sort of `oh, and then there was that one... and do you remember whatsit... oh, and who can forget...' way. This relentless production of lists means that parts of the book resemble York Passnotes on 80s culture.
Which brings me to the third, and related, problem - there's not a lot here that you don't already know, as least if you remember the 80s (and if you don't, why are you buying it? Research?) The potted descriptions of soaps and sitcoms tend towards basic plot overviews, and rarely deviate from the mainstream - Dallas and Dynasty, Grandstand, Neighbours, East Enders, Blackadder and the Young Ones. All well and good, but I was hoping for something more obscure - to be reminded of the programmes I'd forgotten or at least to learn something new about the ones I hadn't.
That, in a nutshell, is why (as another review points out) this book isn't nearly as good as Brian Viner's account of 70s viewing - `Nice to see it, to see it nice'. Viner is a professional TV reviewer. He sits at the feet of the Gods. I mean, he plays golf with Brucie for goodness sake. Bromley is a novelist.
Anyway, buy this if you enjoy things like `I heart the 80s' and want a few hours of nostalgic distraction. But, like so much of 80s programming itself, it's ultimately throwaway.
OK, I'm being unfair. Just like `I love the 80s', `All in the Best Possible Taste' was clearly intended as a bit of fun, and not high art, and that's what it is. If you enjoyed that sort of nostalgia-fest, there's a fair chance you'll enjoy this too.
But it does suffer from three problems. Firstly, I'm afraid to say it's not actually that funny. A lot of the humour involves rather heavy handed riffs on what a lot has changed in 30 years. `Can you believe we only had three TV channels!?! I mean, less than four?!!?! Until Channel 4 of course. And we didn't know what a mobile phone was??! Isn't that amazing!?!! And did I mention the shoulder pads??!' Given that the book is subtitled `Growing Up Watching TV in the 80s', there's very little here about the growing up bit. Usually I'd say that was a good thing - I'm getting fed up with reading books by journos who think that, because they've squeezed something about pop-music, or football, or Dr Who or something genuinely popular into the title, this gives them carte blanche to go on endlessly about their dull lives, like we care. But in Bromley's case, it's actually a bit of a shame, because the details of his childhood turn out to be some of the funniest bits of the book. His description of visits to pre-McDonald's fast food outlets did indeed make me laugh out loud.
Secondly, it's a bit of a list. For example, Bromley will talk about, say, sit-coms, and he'll have to run through all the sit-coms he can remember from the 80s, in a sort of `oh, and then there was that one... and do you remember whatsit... oh, and who can forget...' way. This relentless production of lists means that parts of the book resemble York Passnotes on 80s culture.
Which brings me to the third, and related, problem - there's not a lot here that you don't already know, as least if you remember the 80s (and if you don't, why are you buying it? Research?) The potted descriptions of soaps and sitcoms tend towards basic plot overviews, and rarely deviate from the mainstream - Dallas and Dynasty, Grandstand, Neighbours, East Enders, Blackadder and the Young Ones. All well and good, but I was hoping for something more obscure - to be reminded of the programmes I'd forgotten or at least to learn something new about the ones I hadn't.
That, in a nutshell, is why (as another review points out) this book isn't nearly as good as Brian Viner's account of 70s viewing - `Nice to see it, to see it nice'. Viner is a professional TV reviewer. He sits at the feet of the Gods. I mean, he plays golf with Brucie for goodness sake. Bromley is a novelist.
Anyway, buy this if you enjoy things like `I heart the 80s' and want a few hours of nostalgic distraction. But, like so much of 80s programming itself, it's ultimately throwaway.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you, like me, were convinced that TV was so much better in the old days, prepare to have your illusions shattered. This is a great book about growing up in the 80s, and not just watching TV, but living for it. Tom Bromley, as he cheerfully admits, was born to watch television and this memoir shows an unrivaled depth of knowledge on the subject. As well as covering the programmes we all know and love, it also dredges up memories of programmes that it's best not to remember. For me, the funniest chapters were the ones that dealt with game shows. How some of them made it on air is beyond me.
The book succeeds because it resists the temptation to use 80s TV as an easy target and is, instead, genuinely affectionate. There's also a lovely ending which I won't spoil for you. This is a book I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys great writing and a night in front of the box.
The book succeeds because it resists the temptation to use 80s TV as an easy target and is, instead, genuinely affectionate. There's also a lovely ending which I won't spoil for you. This is a book I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys great writing and a night in front of the box.
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed this book. I read it in a week - which is very quick for me. I'd recommend it. Do you want to know what happened to Petra the Blue Peter dog? What drove Zammo to take heroin? Or, what happened in the Falklands War? There's a lovely mix in this book between the shared experience of having just 3 - and then 4 - TV channels, and autobiographical detail. The format's good too, with 'adverts' interleaved between the chapters. I used to love the adverts, although I never saw the one where Morecambe & Wise advertised Atari. The books a great mix of stuff I'd forgotten I knew and stuff I never knew. Put on your headband, turn up the Jan Hammer and enjoy!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Exercise for your eyes, not your brain (or laughter muscles)
This is an odd one - and I'm tempted to suggest that's odd in a bad way, not odd in an interesting one - All In The Best Possible Taste is neither a full enough memoir of growing... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. Steve Jansen
Charming memoir from an author with a deft light touch.
It's hard to believe that there was a time when British television had only three channels to offer. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Nick
Memories
Easy Read and an enjoyable trip down memory lane. If you are in the 35-65 age group just buy it and stick by the loo.Highly recommended well researched and very funny in parts!
Published 20 months ago by BK00
TV in the days of Dallas and Dynasty
Whereas most of us can now settle down and make a choice of TV programme from dozens of different channels just thirty years ago we had just three. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Bantam Dave
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