After a few weeks of fiddling with margins and tabs in Word documents, wrestling with anxiety over font sizes and being driven up the wall by Amazon, the paperback version of 172 Forgotten British Children's TV Shows From The 1980s is now available at Amazon.
As you can probably guess from the title, it's an almost-encyclopaedic look at forgotten British children's television from the 1980s. We all remember Pigeon Street, Saturday Superstore, Danger Mouse, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and they're still discussed today whenever someone of that generation gets a little nostalgic. But there was so much else being broadcast. Some of it was amazing, some completely baffling and some of it was truly abysmal. Most importantly, however, it was broadcast. This means it's part of our televisual history and should be preserved.
It's my third print book - following The Curiosities of British Children's TV and More Curiosities of British Children's TV - and it may well be my favourite. Am I biased? Yes. Is it simply self-promotion to say it's my favourite? Probably, but I genuinely find it fascinating. It's the type of book I wish I could have got hold of 14 years ago when I started Curious British Telly. Sitting here, flicking through the proof copy, it's forgotten programme after forgotten programme. Heaven.