The 1980s was one of the best periods in British history. It was jam-packed full of incredible TV shows, music and a golden era in sweets and candy bars.
It was a bit scary as some points with the Cold War at the centre of most of the news, but it was also one of the happiest times, with the boom in technology meaning people could play video games in their homes, and Micheal Jackson deemed one of the most successful artists of the era.
The likes of Micheal Jackson and Madonna dominated the charts along with the like of Whitney Houston, Prince and Guns N’ Roses. In the cinema, we saw some seriously classic films released, with E.T. Indiana Jones, Back To The Future and Crocodile Dundee all being released in this golden era.
Do any of these ring any bells? Well, hopefully this list will send you straight back to the 80s. Here is a list of 17 things that made the 1980s in the UK unforgettable!
1.Button Moon
This show was one of the best things about the 1980s. These ten-minute episodes were on all the time and started in 1980. There were 91 episodes made, meaning we had 910 minutes of amazing television! The episodes are still being shown on telly and if you have UK Gold then look out for them appearing on the channel!
2. Back To The Future
Back to the future has gone down in history as one of the most memorable films ever made! It was just one of several films that we all remember from the 80s. One of everybody’s favourites was E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. It was filled with so many amazing scenes and you’re lying if you say it never made you cry at the end!
3. These sweets!
Couldn’t eat enough of these. The minty freshness of one of these was delicious and I used to go through bags of these on the way home from school. Did you eat them in the 80s?
4. Whitney Houston
Amazing! What did you think of her? She was just one of a long list of incredible 80s artists and if ever you’re looking for a song to get the night going then just throw ‘I wanna dance with somebody’ on and everyone will get involved.
5. Terry’s Pyramint
Loved these! Chocolate in the 80s was the best and it’s a real shame that it didn’t all survive for us to eat still. Terry did keep going and making chocolate but unfortunately, he’s just concentrating on his Oranges now. It’s a real shame he doesn’t make these too!
6. The Young Ones
British TV was definitely at one of its peaks in the 80s and The Young Ones was everybody’s favourite show. Other incredible TV shows made in the era were Dallas, Blankety Blank, Blind Date and Only Fools and Horses. It really was a golden era, do you remember these TV shows?
7. These things
Who remember’s these? The film cartridges from the 80s used to crop up everywhere.
8. The big yellow teapot
Who had one of these? This was one of the most classic toys of the era and was one of everybody’s favourites. There were tons of classic toys from the 80s and if you don’t remember this then maybe some of these other ones might ring some bells.
The Big Yellow Teapot was an early 80s toy, if you don’t remember it then maybe Cabbage Patch Dolls, My Little Pony’s or Transformers may be in your memories? All of these started in the 80s and went on to become incredibly popular.
9. The Goodies
I absolutely loved this. It was made by three incredible comedians, Graeme Garden, Time Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie. It was on for at least half an hour and even had two long Christmas episodes! It was full of sketches and I’m sure we all remember the episode where they brought in a giant Dougal!
10. Cabana
This was definitely a specialist chocolate bar with a ton of different flavours all merged into one bar. It mixes caramel, coconut and cherry pieces and doesn’t sound great on the face of it. They were definitely like marmite, you either loved them or you hated them. Rowntree’s quickly cut their production and they were off the shelves pretty quickly.
11. Three of a Kind
This TV series was a hidden gem and started the career of a lot of famous comedians. Tracey Ullman, Lenny Henry and David Copperfield all started here and went on to bigger things. It was short lived with only 3 series but it was seriously funny and had a massive following.
12. Mini Song Book.
Who remembers this? This was one of the best Christmas presents and perfect for any kids wanting to learn the piano. It was every 80s kids first instrument and was actually really good for learning songs!
13. These things
Loved these! Everyone tried to collect as many as possible and cover their bikes in the reflective roosters. The only way to get them was in Kellogs cereals so you had to eat a lot in the morning to try and get as many boxes as possible.
14. Poddington Pea’s
Do you remember these? The animated TV series was on towards the end of the 80s and had a great theme song. The theme song describes the peas as ‘down at the bottom of the garden.’
15. Freshen up!
These were so good! They were the first chewing gum with gewey juice in the middle and they were SO tasty.
16. Famous actors of the 80s
The 80s saw a ton of good movies released and there were a couple of actors who really rocketed to the pinnacle of the acting scene. Robert De Niro was top of the group and appeared in 14 movies throughout the decade. You’ll probably remember him most in Raging Bull but he also filmed Goodfellas at the end of the decade, which is one of his biggest movies ever.
17. Famous actresses of the 80s
Michelle Pfeiffer tops the list for actresses in the 80s. She appeared in 16 movies and was in some of the best movies of the era. She was in Scarface, Tequila Sunrise and was also in Grease 2!
