My TV years and soap opera silences.
22 Mar 2018
Dear LPG,
I really enjoyed reading entitled ‘What takes you back?’, which was featured on your site on March 5th. That article got me doing a bit of remembering and, as a result, I have worked out something that I want to share with the rest of my LPG peers. I have discovered that the TV becomes a commodity that grows and diminishes in the part it plays in life not only depending on the preferences that the individual makes, but the importance of its placement in one’s life is, or should also be, dependent on age.
When a child , many of us elders did not have this box in one corner of the living room. I was a child of the 1950s, and I can remember having a childminder who did have one that early, which meant that I was exposed to ‘Watch with mother’. I have to say that ‘Andy Pandy’ was my favourite Monday viewing with Thursday’s ‘Bill and Ben’ coming in a close 2nd.
When I got to my teens ‘Top of the Pops’ and ‘Ready Steady Go’ were the things that I would make a point of being in front of the box to see. Then, in my 20s, when I was far too busy working all day and going out in the evenings, I still found some time for the TV. Comedy and drama kicked in and when I had the time and I would watch programmes like ‘Some mothers do 'ave 'em and ‘the Saint’
By the time I was in my thirties I had young children and found myself watching ‘Transformers’ and ‘Knightmare’ with them, but that was also when my ‘Coronation Street’ habit took root. I have to admit to having got stuck there.
At that time I had become a busy mother and so I adopted an invention that the computer world has now taken on; multitasking. I would be watching while doing the cooking, ironing, washing up or even from behind the sofa dealing with the dust there.
This forced me to miss some of the most important events… those dramatic bits which depended on silent visual action for their explanation, but no more. In my older age I confess to spending a lot less time dust-gathering behind the sofa, but I have discovered a concept that makes adding TV watching to your multitasking skills much easier. And that is the AD button.
I have a really good friend who is blind and when I visit, I find myself doing a few things for her. She regularly takes advantage of the AD (Audio Description) facility on her TV. It means that we can discuss the intricacies of the programs we watch in more detail without my having to explain who said what.
This relatively new TV function is designed to ensure that blind and partially sighted people can understand the parts of the drama that you have to see to appreciate if you want to know exactly what is going on when the dialogue is giving no clue, but it works a treat when your head is down and the action gets really visual.
KE, Catford.
LPG has tried to find clips from all the memorable TV programmes that KE has mentioned. We hope that the trip down memory lane that has been provoked by this post is enjoyable if you have the time to click on them all.
