Scarred For Life: Volume One: The 1970s

Ah the 1970s. What a strange decade it was. The beige hangover to the psychedelic 1960s. Or was it? In its own way the 1970s was just as “far out” as it's predecessor and in Scarred for Life authors Stephen Brotherstone and Dave Lawrence recall what it was like growing up in that decade surrounded by pop culture that seemingly wanted to scare the pants off you at every turn.

This is a volume focussed mainly on British pop culture, with only a few incursions from across the pond, but it does reveal what a very odd place Britain was during the era of power cuts, three day weeks, Glam, Punk and paranoia.

Their scope is exhaustive. We start with an in depth dissection of all those creepy TV shows that traumatised a generation. From The Owl Service to The Changes, from The Feathered Serpent to Grange Hill and Worzel Gummidge, kids TV was far more challenging and downright scary than the sanitised fair of today. This was mainstream, prime time stuff for the most part and when you throw in Doctor Who, Sky and Children of The Stones you can see why we became quivering wrecks hiding behind the family sofa!

70s TV takes up nearly half the book, such is the rich vein of brilliance to be mined. Because it wasn't only kid's TV that put the willies up the nation, adults were treated to such downbeat fare as Callan, Play For Today, Gangsters and all those peculiarly British dystopias such as Doomwatch, Survivors and Quatermass. No wonder it was a troubled decade. We were basically being told the future was rubbish! But in amongst all this there was some gloriously low budget, but highly imaginative, prime time Sci-Fi to be had as well. UFO, Space 1999 and Blake's 7 to name but a few. Plus there's a whole section devoted to Doctor Who (of course!)

There was a strong Gothic element to British TV output as well, with annual Ghost stories for Christmas (usually an MR James adaptation) and such downright strange shows as Dead of Night, The Stone Tape and Sapphire and Steel. All of this is recalled in loving detail by the authors along with recommendations of what to watch and how to watch (either DVD or YouTube. Thank god for YouTube!).

But there was a darker side to TV output as well, with shows that today would cause riots in the street and questions in Parliament: The Black and White Minstrel Show; Love Thy Neighbour; On The Buses.... All dissected and picked apart by Brotherstone and Lawrence.

The police drama, a staple of British TV since time immemorial (or at least the 1950s anyway), got a bruising make over in the 70s, with tougher shows like The Sweeney showing cops as humans who'll do whatever to “get the job done”. Dixon of Dock Green they weren't!

The rest of the book covers other aspects of pop culture that fed the minds of the nation and put the fear of god (or whatever monster) up them. From Public Information films (“Sensible children! I have no power over them!”); Toys and games; Movies, where we get essays about such things as English Folk Horror, those big American horror films that they were too young to watch (The Exorcist and it's ilk); dystopian science fiction and dark, downbeat pop movies like Stardust and Slade in Flame.

Then there were comics. Oh yes, there were comics. From Action! To 2000AD and all points inbetween, the authors lovingly recall their favourites and how much they were scared by them. There's also a very good section on girl's comics, which if anything were far more strange and disturbing than boys stuff (Misty anyone?). They then move on to books and the cornucopia of goodness that fed the imagination of those kids who were into horror (The Pan Book of Horror Stories); lurid pulp fiction; Dracula (you think vampires are big news now - Dracula was huge in the 70s); even down to the somewhat deranged art in kids comics by the likes of Ken Reid. Oh and also the trippier side of Marvel Comics who, under the editorship of Roy Thomas, produced some very strange stories indeed.

Finally there's a discussion of the 1970s fascination with the paranormal. Everything from Ancient Aliens and UFOs (take a bow Erich Von Daniken) to Uri Geller, Nessie, The Bermuda Triangle, hauntings and how this was all taken far too seriously by the media. I told you it was a strange decade.

The book isn't without flaws. There's no index for a start. The proof reader sometimes goes missing and we get a see page xx and to be honest certain sections are a bit of a slog. The Public Infomation section is exhaustive, reviewing EVERY SINGLE one, when in all honestly and overview and cherry picking the most disturbing would have done the job. And the part on Sweets and Food....really?

It's a book to dip into rather than plough through in one sitting, which is why it's taken me about 18 months to finish. But it was well worth it. Minor gripes aside this is a brilliant, irreverently written trip down a slightly creepy memory lane. For anyone who grew up in 1970s Britain this will bring back things with a Proustian rush. For those that weren't this book will show you what we had to survive!

Hats of to Brotherstone and Lawrence. This is a true labour of love. Oh and they're working on Volume 2: the 1980s! Highly Recommended.