Nostalgia is big business. And nostalgia and DVD make a great combination. Recent nostalgic DVDs to enter my house include the brand spanking newGoodies 2 disc set. Ah, 8 classic episodes, beautifully restored and with all the rude adult bits previously excised by the ABC for family viewing time intact. It just enforces my opinion that all along The Goodies was a multi-level show – slapstick for the kids, satire and parody for the adults, and – as it turns out – a little lewdness thrown in for good measure. As TBT himself has said, the Simpsons of its day.
And the kids are getting into
Doctor Who, courtesy of DVDs featuring this fine time traveller. Initially I’ll admit I was a bit worried about the violence in some of them. Yeah, I watched it when I was a kid, but standards have shifted. Stuff that I watched at dinner time as a kid is now rated PG, and wouldn’t get on TV at the same time today. I occasionally had a toy gun, too, and these have virtually vanished from the toyscape. No matter, I’ll stick to the G-rated discs for the moment and see how we go.
So anyway Isaac turned eight last week (EIGHT! How the hell did that happen?!?) and one of the presents I got him was the DVD of "Doctor Who: The Aztecs". Ah yes, a little history, could do wonders for his wider education. The ancient and noble Aztec civilisation, all with home counties BBC accents. I probably should have known better – the makers of Doctor Who went through the whole "historical educational" vs "monsters" bit around 1966. The monsters won out back then, and while Isaac was not ungrateful for receiving it, I got the distinct impression he’d have preferred a monster story.
Ah well.
