Nostalgia makes a welcome comeback
- Publication: Daily Express
- Date: 1993-05-20
- Author: Jasmine Birtles
- Page: 46
- Language: English
Jason's still King but Pinky and his pal have been perked up with pop
PICTURE the scene: a skinny, middle-aged man in wide cotton flares and muttonchop sideburns walks through the door of a Paris apartment. Beautiful women with big cleavages and little skirts suddenly fall about, smitten with desire.
Sounds unlikely? Well it happened on screen, that is -to Jason King, sex-god of the Seventies. And now he's making a comeback.
It seems doubtful, admittedly, for this is a character who has the widest lavender lapels this side of Liberace, and a haircut that should have been declared a criminal offence.
But actor Peter Wyngarde made the super sleuth and crimewriter Britain's television equivalent of James Bond. ITC, the production company owned by showbiz supremo Lord Grade, made both Jason King and Department S (the programme where the dashing King originated).
Over the last three years, the company has been releasing episodes such as Flamingos Only Fly On Tuesdays and The Company 1 Keep on video.
When they shot to number four in the video sales charts, ITC realised it was on to a good thing-so it now plans to release 50 more volumes of his adventures. Which all goes to prove the selling power of classic kitsch.
In fact, nostalgia is now a compelling reason for buying videos. The plots may be ludicrous and the dress sense of the stars appalling, but adventure series from the Sixties and Seventies are selling in their thousands.
Roger Moore in The Saint and The Return Of The Saint the series that set him up for his role as 007- is a firm favourite with nostalgia fans, as are Sapphire And Steel, Adam Adamant, starring Gerald Harper, Randall & Hopkirk Deceased and The Protectors. Video sales of these titles have made ITC £500,000 in the last 18 months. Another ITC series, The Champions, will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in style in London next Monday evening with a special screening of four episodes of the cult TV series at the Prince Charles cinema in Leicester Place, near Leicester Square.
The BBC has jumped on the nostalgia bandwagon too. When it began re-releasing some of its old programmes on cassette eight years ago, it was taken aback by the rush of buyers, most of them people in their thirties and forties who were eager to relive their past.
But teenagers are also picking up on the cult programmes.
Jan Vincent Rudzki, editor of TV Zone, the magazine for fans of classic television, says many of its 35,000 readers are young teenagers who have watched their parents' copy of Timeslip or Dr Who and discovered a whole new world. "Thirtysomethings buy them to remember the oldtimes," he says. "Some people collect all the episodes that feature their favourite Doctor in Dr Who.
"But when the kids pick up these videos, they love them, because there are some really good stories which you don't always get now.
"Back then, TV producers had to rely on strong stories and characters, because they couldn't depend simply on stunning special effects.
These are the words of a smitten nostalgia groupie. More level-headed viewers are inclined to giggle at some of the old episodes of Dr Who.
What seemed fine on black and white television - such as Brigadier Lefbridge-Stuart, whose response to any alien life form was to shoot it with his trusty revolver - can look pretty silly nowadays.
But this is another reason for the enduring popularity of Dr Who - which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Viewers have an affection for its egg-box sets and the rubbery tentacles of the baddies.
So much so that one episode, Death To The Daleks with Jon Pertwee, has sold more than 40,000 copies.
"And people are still buying it," says a spokeswoman for BBC Enterprises. "I don't know what it is about those monsters, but they seem to have caught the public's imagination."
But even the Daleks are not the BBC's best-selling nostalgia video. That honour goes to Watch With Mother.
"WHEN the first cassette of this children's programme was released in 1988, it rocketed to the top of the video charts, selling more copies than both ET and Rambo.
The pulling power of Bill and Ben have ensured that between them, the four Watch With Mother tapes have sold nearly 600,000 copies. And the interest does not seem to be waning.
"Adults are buying these tapes for themselves, not their children," says Norman Abbott, director of the British
Video Association. "Parents in their thirties are revelling in the opportunity to see programmes from their own childhood, when life was simple and cosy. It's pure escapism."
Of course, you can't go on recycling old material for ever. And that's why nostalgia now has a new trend: neo-nostalgia. Some of television's best-loved series are now being remade.
Film-makers Paramount have added to the original Star Trek series by adding Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as another Star Trek-ish series, Deep Space 9.
Rob Summers, president of The Bristol Starfleet Registry, one of 10 Star Trek fan clubs in Britain, says that devotees are happy with the new developments.
"We do feel nostalgic for the original programmes, but the new ones are so well made. and Paramount puts so much money and effort into them, that we're really excited about those too."
Video sales of The Next Generation are catching up with the originals. Episodes with Captain Kirk and his crew have sold nearly 20,000 copies to date, while Paramount has sold 18,000 Next Generation cassettes.
The BBC is not planning to remake any of its most popular classic children's shows.
So no chance then of Andy Pandy: The Next Generation.
However, the ITV company HTV has stolen a bit of the corporation's thunder by relaunching Pinky And Perky (first shown on BBC in 1957) on television, after a 20-year absence from our screens.
The pig duo have come back with a splash, releasing an album and video of pop songs which they perform on their new programme.
Purists wishing to see the original Pinky and Perky shows can find them in Polygram's Pocket Money Video series at £4.99 a cassette. This includes other old favourites such as Roobarb And Custard, The Wombles and Tales Of The Riverbank.
Ah, the halcyon days when the nearest you got to a Sega Megadrive was a new toy car.
No, nostalgia videos ain't what they used to be.
Captions:
HORSE PLAY: Annette Mills and Muffin The Mule
PIG TALES: Pinky and Perky enjoy new lease of life
FLOWERPOT POWER: Bill and Ben grow again
THREE CHAIRS FOR THE SAINT: Action man Roger Moore
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: Birtles, Jasmine (1993-05-20). Nostalgia makes a welcome comeback. Daily Express p. 46.
- MLA 7th ed.: Birtles, Jasmine. "Nostalgia makes a welcome comeback." Daily Express [add city] 1993-05-20, 46. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Birtles, Jasmine. "Nostalgia makes a welcome comeback." Daily Express, edition, sec., 1993-05-20
- Turabian: Birtles, Jasmine. "Nostalgia makes a welcome comeback." Daily Express, 1993-05-20, section, 46 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Nostalgia makes a welcome comeback | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Nostalgia_makes_a_welcome_comeback | work=Daily Express | pages=46 | date=1993-05-20 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=15 June 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Nostalgia makes a welcome comeback | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Nostalgia_makes_a_welcome_comeback | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=15 June 2025}}</ref>
