Look Back On 70's Telly - Issue 2 [DVD] [1970]

I can tell you that if you were a tiny tot growing up during the 1970's then this DVD is possibly one of the best that you can spend your money on. I have fond memories of lunch time telly and many fond memroies of watching them with parents and grandparents who are no longer around. Some of the programmes I had not seen in over 30 years, and I was keen to see how the memories that I had of these programmes (some very vague indeed) that had stayed with me all these years compared to actually sitting down and watching the programme for this first time in 3 decades.

One of the most anticipated was 'A Handful of Songs' - the theme tune had stick in my head all these years - finally being able to see it again was a delight.

There are so many programmes here - Network have done a wonderful job in collecting together something for everyone. My son who has just turned 3 loves watching this DVD.

Not only do you get all these shows but you also get a mini comic with a new adventure for Hartley Hare and the pipkins gang - their first since December 1981!

Even if you don't remember ALL of the shows on this 2 disc set - there will be plenty of memories that you will enjoy reliving and perhaps even rediscover something that you used to enjoy with delight as a tiny tot but had forgotten.

Now is the time to tack that trip back to your childhood!

Essential if your in your mid 30s, and can remember coming home for your dinner from school, and not wanting to go back after watching all the delights thay had to offer then. Pipkins, Animal Kwackers, Rainbow, Jamie and the Magic Torch, Cloppa Castle, Handful of Songs, they,re all there plus a lot of weird and wonderful stuff I,d completely forgotten such as The Magic Fountain, and Mr Trimble. There,s also a quite amusing comic with plenty of parodies of the Look In format. Very good 2 disc set. Only one flaw, the Rainbow episode is the very first 'Shapes, already included on the Rainbow 30th Anniversary DVD set, and includes none of the familiar cast, and a very scary looking Bungle, but i suppose purists will like it. The Pipkins episode hasn,t been released on any of the 3 Pipkins DVDs so that,s a nice treat for all Hartley Hare fans out there!

I bought this as I am ready to admit, I love a bit of nostalgia; not a particularly cool thing to admit, but there it is. I remember this period very well, and was a consumer of fish fingers, spangles and texan bars (as sugested by the cover of this DVD), so I looked forward to wading through the large amount of 70 TV on these discs. After viewing, I can say I have enjoyed most of them, but I am realising that rose tinted glasses makes one's judgement sometimes skewed!

Firstly we have Ace of Wands, a programme already released a couple of years back by Network, about a character called Tarot, whois VERY early 70s. This episode is a good one, and will drag you in. Secondly, the slightly po-faced Timeslip, with the very clearly older than she is pretending to be Cheryl Burfield and the winging tones of Spencer Banks. This is the only colour episode left after ITV junked much old and occasionally 'classic TV' (although they are less guilty than the BBC) and isn't the best Timeslip, but is fun non the less. Next up is 'Jamie', a strange country village based serial about a boy who buys a carpet that can travel through time. Very of it's time! Follyfoot has an episode too, which is dry and ends with the lead character in tears. Oh, happy days!

Shadows has a slightly creepy element to it (and features a pre-Blakes 7 Servalan), but is fun. Then things go slightly adrift; You must be Joking, Pauline's Quirkes and Get it Together are toe curlingly awful; no humour is to be found here and provides a strong arguement to why most kids were outside on chopper bikes when these dreadful programmes were on. The band Flintlock clearly have a big future behind them and the funniest thing abou thtem is Jim Bowen's haircut. Oh, and look out for a young pre-Spandeau Ballet Kemp strumming a song he should have left in his bedroom and a Phil Daniels with a poor attempt at a moustache providing musical back up. Very funny stuff!

Other well know series such as The Adventures of Black Beauty and Magpie are covered, typical for it's time weird and ghost based things are also featured (Nobody's House, a pre runner to The Ghosts of Motley Hall), Raven (what is going on here is anyone's guess), Tightrope (more whining Spencer Banks and a camp John Savident in a cape - I am still clueless to what it's about though) and a couple of precursors to Grange Hill/teenage drama in the form of Four Idel Hands (more Phil Daniels) and The Paper Lads (Geordies delivering newspapers, hardly cutting edge stuff). Robert's Robots is a first attempt by Bob Block who went on to do Jigsaw, and has a very young Sylvester McCoy and Christopher Biggins in it.

Network have done a wonderful job here, and even supplied a mini-Look-in-alike magazine. This is a very worthy purchase should this be your thing, but expect quality (in terms of content) to raise and fall at an alarming rate. When it's good it is great, and when it is bad, you'll be watching with clenched teeth and white knuckles.