1980s Back in Time for Dinner

Meet the Robshaws.

Brandon, Rochelle,

Miranda, Ros, and Fred.

Let's go!

For one summer, this food-loving family is embarking on

an extraordinary time-travelling adventure,

to discover how a post-war revolution in what we eat

has transformed the way we live.

That is just amazing,

look at them!

Britain has gone from meagre rations to ready meals

at the touch of a button in just 50 years.

IMITATES POURING

But how has this changed our health...

We've got a pull-out larder!

..our homes, and our family dynamics?

I can't do it any more. This is what would make a woman break.

To find out, the Robshaws are going to shop, cook and eat

their way through history.

It's 1974!

Whoa!

I think that is enough sugar now, though, darling.

I haven't put hardly any on.

Starting in 1950, their own home will be their time machine.

-Oh, my goodness!

-Oh, wow!

ALL: Oh!

This carpet hurts my eyes.

Who designed that?

Someone who's colour-blind.

Fast forwarding them through a new year every day,

as they experience, first hand,

the culinary fads, fashions and gadgets of each age.

DEVICE HISSES

LAUGHTER

-Catch.

-Whoa!

After four weeks of time travel through the austere '50s,

the swinging '60s

and the tasteless '70s...

Eurgh! It smells like fish food.

..the family is upping the pace...

LAUGHTER

..in the era when technological advances

delivered food faster than ever -

the 1980s.

-Wow, my goodness.

-Look at that.

As they discover how our changing relationship with food

has shaped all of our lives.

Everyone's eating something different

and we're no longer eating together.

And the microwave is doing it.

A new decade, and a new makeover for the Robshaws.

It's goodbye to the garish '70s

and hello to the gadget-rich, family home of the 1980s.

The kitchen has opened up

and it's filled with more cooking appliances than ever before.

Food historian Dr Polly Russell and I are back

to see what this decade will unleash on the Robshaws.

Wow, so bright.

The wallpaper, I mean,

nostalgic and also grizzly.

It is. It's hideous.

And a red plastic table, which you look at it and you think,

"That's office furniture," but it's definitely the stuff we had

in our house, and we were very tasteful.

It's very, sort of, power suit, isn't it?

Nature is out of this space

and it's all about display, isn't it?

'In pride of place is a kitchen newcomer

'that sums up the 1980s' drive for speed and efficiency.'

I'd forgotten microwaves used to look like that.

When this arrived, people threw out their ovens and put them in.

It was supposed to be a sort of revolution in home cooking.

You were going to be using this as your main way of cooking,

that was what was thought.

And when I was a kid, we didn't have one, until quite late.

And I thought we were really behind and I was like,

"Mum, Mum, we've got to get one of these."

'Only 6% of homes had a microwave in 1980,

'but by the end of the decade, half of us had one.

'Consumer programmes fell over themselves to offer advice

'on how best to use this newfangled appliance.'

The question we're asking this week

is whether a microwave is worth buying at all.

Now that depends on which foods it cooks well, and which not so well.

'The traditional cooker got an '80s update, too.'

-That's some sort of ceramic hob.

-Yes, ceramic hob.

But looked good, and you could touch up your make-up in the reflection,

if you kept it clean, which was one of its added advantages.

Your massive eyeliner in the '80s!

For the first time, extractor fans come in, too.

Was it really the first time?

Yeah, and it makes the kitchen a space

much more that you can hang out.

This is where people were starting

to spend most of their time, as a family.

No, well, I mean, not everything about the '80s was bad.

But they had some things right about design.

'80s definitely laid the ground rules for kitchens today.

'Previously, I've given the family

'an overview of the decade face-to-face.

'But this time, the newly invented Post-it Note

'can do the job for me.'

"You know the drill.

"Good luck."

Although things would improve for many over the decade,

in 1980, Britain was in poor economic shape.

APPLAUSE

New Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

had increased interest rates and slashed public spending

in an attempt to bring the country's 20% inflation rate under control.

The lady's not for turning.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

Her policies were controversial.

Maggy, Maggy, Maggy!

ALL: Out! Out! Out!

Traditional heavy industries struggled

and unemployment soared across the country.

Despite the '80s' uncertain beginnings,

Brandon and Rochelle are stepping back into a decade

they remember fondly.

I'm looking forward to going back into the '80s,

reliving those years when I was a young adult.

I think the '80s is when it all opens out

and the food starts to become more varied.

It felt like a fairly glitzy time with lots of glamour

and big hair, glossy lipstick.

If it looks like, sort of, a Dallas-style palace,

I think I'll be quite pleased.

Oh, goodness!

THEY LAUGH

Oh, wow!

Staggered.

What do you think of the telly?

-We've got a remote.

-It's got a remote!

So now, for the first time,

you can change the channel without getting up.

I have to say, that I really don't like it.

It's all about getting your things out and putting them on show.

-I think it's a great room...

-Yeah.

-..for a party.

-Ah!

Well, we're not having a party, so...

You never know.

THEY GASP

Oh, wow! That's beautiful.

-LAUGHTER

-Do you think so?!

I love it, yeah. Look at this beautiful table.

We have a microwave!

Where? Oh, yes.

My goodness.

That's like the size of a house.

LAUGHTER

Oh, look, what have we got here, everybody?

Could it be a toasted sandwich machine?

I love them.

Now, see, this was an innovation of the '80s,

people were eating toasted sandwiches all the time.

Somebody that I was at university with,

he had one of these up in his room and he cooked a rabbit on it.

Oh, for goodness' sake! What, in a sandwich?

No, just the rabbit, I don't know if he put it in a sandwich afterwards.

-It was dead, yeah?

-Yeah, of course it was dead!

See, this is what was called a Filofax,

and the bigger your Filofax, the more important you were.

-So, if you had a little baby one...

-Nobody would be impressed by that.

So, has he just left a note, then, Giles?

It must be Giles, "You know the drill, good luck."

-Oh, that's nice.

-Oh, right, so Giles is too busy even to hang around(?)

He doesn't hang about.

"Rochelle, you'll now be working full time,

"which means that there's less time to prepare family meals.

"But the new technological developments at your disposal

"should help reduce the time you spend in the kitchen."

As in previous decades, the food the Robshaws will be eating

will be guided by the National Food Survey,

in which thousands of families recorded what they ate

for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

# Gotta make a move to a town that's right for me. #

Tonight, Rochelle and Miranda are recreating a dinner

enjoyed by a Kidderminster family of four,

in November 1980.

"Roast chicken, potatoes,

"vegetables, jam sponge cake."

An explosion of microwave cookbooks

encouraged you to cook absolutely everything in it.

So the Robshaws are doing just that.

Surely, you can't put a whole chicken in it?!

It weighs 3.5lbs.

So, it's ten minutes per pound.

Oh, my God, that's so fast!

Have we got a roasting bag?

Can we put foil on it?

No! Oh, my God, are you joking?!

-Yes.

-Good.

Right.

Cooked in a plastic roasting bag,

their chicken should be ready in 35 minutes,

less than half the time a conventional oven would take.

It says here that, "Always keep the door seal and door surfaces clean.

"Grease, soil or splatters could result in a leakage

"of microwave energy from the oven."

At a time when the fear of nuclear war hung in the air,

a TV documentary terrified new microwave users

by suggesting the machines could pose a radiation risk.

'Testing showed that whilst the new ovens leak negligible amounts,

'those that have been in continuous use leaked varying amounts

'up to and above the safety levels.'

Many cautious microwave owners bought domestic Geiger counters

to check for leaks.

MICROWAVE BEEPS

Do we have to move it along the seals?

Oh, my God! Look, did you see that?

It went right up to high!

MIRANDA GASPS

Wait, do it again, do it again. Go up.

See? Look.

MICROWAVE BEEPS

It went right up to danger.

There must be a bit of grease or something.

All right, if you've taken away radiation,

be careful of that kitchen paper, kitchen roll.

It's all on there.

SHE LAUGHS

In fact, the levels of radiation were so low

that they were later proved to be totally harmless.

-OK, now shut this.

-Yeah, and then...

But making a 1980s roast dinner in the microwave

did present some very real problems.

-Do you know what's difficult about this?

-Yeah?

It's getting everything done at the same time.

Yeah.

It's strange, isn't it? I reckon that you would probably, like,

if you wanted to roast the chicken quickly in the microwave,

you might just cook the vegetables on the hob.

I know, I know.

-It's got to be one thing in and one thing out, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

So it hasn't really saved us any time, has it?

The Robshaws' speedy chicken dinner

has taken two-and-a-half hours to prepare.

And following the advice of the time,

they've resorted to a generous spreading of Marmite

to give it that just roasted look.

I'm really fed up, two-and-a-half hours

with very, very little to show for it,

except a chicken that's been covered with Marmite.

It doesn't even look attractive.

What is this?!

There's a bit of clingfilm.

You don't normally get that on a roast chicken, do you?

Thank you very much.

I'm sorry it only took two-and-a-half hours.

Thanks, ladies.

Well, the hungrier we are, the more we enjoy it.

-FRED:

-It's not cooked.

ROS: It's really not!

Let's do this.

CRUNCH

I did not enjoy that cooking experience.

I don't know how many people would try to cook

a whole meal in the microwave, like that.

But do you think people just thought we've got a microwave, we're going to use it?

I'd NEVER do it again.

# Under pressure. #

'Let's start with the microwaves.'

It's funny how the '80s ones can cook a chicken perfectly,

but vegetables, they just don't even touch.

It's like me.

It's a new day,

which means a new year for the time travelling Robshaws.

Who's tea is that on there?

-Mine, I'm not...

-Why don't you drink it, then?

Why don't...? Cos I'm doing a Rubik's cube.

Cos you're not allowed to wear make-up in school.

Well, I don't care.

I'm a sassy rebel.

"I'm a sassy rebel."

LAUGHTER

Kids, do you want to come in for breakfast?

As Brandon and Rochelle are now working full time,

I sent a classic, early '80s gift to speed up their morning routine.

A 19... Oh.

A 1981 coffee cup.

Do you know who it is?

-FRED:

-Queen Victoria.

And who else with her?

Jonathan.

Yes, Jonathan and Victoria on the mug(!)

LAUGHTER

And here it comes.

-MIRANDA:

-That's so cool.

Filter coffee machines were the must-have kitchen gadgets

of the early 1980s.

Nearly a million flew off the shelves in 1981 alone...

Do you think this is right?

..as people switched from instant to real coffee.

Are you putting the sugar inside?

Roselyn! Roselyn, don't do that.

I've never seen that before.

-LAUGHING

-Please, don't do that.

-I think it's a really good idea.

-You just can't face change!

-Roselyn!

-I think that is enough sugar now, though, darling.

No, I haven't put hardly any on.

It wasn't just at breakfast time that parents struggled

to ensure their children ate healthily.

In 1980, the government's Education Act

abolished minimum nutritional standards for school dinners,

and allowed private contractors to take over school kitchens.

On average, the price of a school lunch surged by 40%

and the number of children taking a packed lunch to school doubled.

For busy parents, it meant preparing another meal each day.

Wait! Wait, that's not helping!

That's not helping.

You know it's just gone 20 past? They've got about eight minutes.

Thanks.

The clock is ticking.

I would prefer the children to have a school dinner,

cos that way I could just get straight out to work

without having the added, sort of, worry about

what I'm actually putting in their packed lunch.

Erm, is there a Penguin in there?

No, there's a parrot(!)

Chocolate biscuit sales increased by 35% over the decade,

and National Food Survey shopping lists

show a plethora of unhealthy treats,

like this one from a family in Dorset.

"Milky Ways,

"Twix bars,

"Club biscuits."

In 1981, nearly two thirds of married woman worked,

and Rochelle is no exception.

Places to go and people to see, she'll be delighted

by the latest lunchtime innovation -

the pre-packed sandwich.

'I've come to a Marks & Spencer's factory

'to discover how a humble salmon and tomato sandwich

'spawned a £6 billion industry,

'and transformed lunchtime forever.'

Can I just test it?

So this is not a filling that you have any more, at all?

No, unfortunately, salmon and tomato's bitten the dust,

but that was the first sandwich.

And story has it, that a store manager

took some cafe sandwiches,

wrapped them, took them down into the food hall, customers loved them.

There began the pre-packed sandwich.

And from that day growth of the sandwich, the pre-packed sandwich,

was phenomenal.

By 1984, we had four factories making sandwiches.

We now sell 92.5 million sandwiches a year.

-Just by accident.

-Almost by accident.

Look at that!

I mean, that is just really quite something of a sandwich.

-It's amazing.

-That is a superb 1980s sandwich.

I think this sandwich would stand up in any era!

Do you think the way people lived changed

because the sandwich was invented, or was the sandwich invented

to facilitate the way that they had changed anyway?

I guess it's the chicken and egg story, but...

Chicken and egg, there's a good sandwich -

-do you have one of those?

-Egg... Egg mayonnaise.

Certainly the pre-packed sandwiches for lunch

revolutionised people's lunch hours.

Like all 1980s food innovations,

the packeted sandwich was a double-edged sword.

On the one hand it gave people more freedom,

they didn't have to go home to have their lunch,

they didn't have to waste time in the morning

packing their food for themselves.

On the other hand, it did chain them to their desks,

it did contribute to the breakdown of the whole idea of a lunch break,

it de-socialised the lunch,

and it made the office much more of a prison.

So, I don't really know which way Rochelle's going to take it.

# Working nine to five

# What a way to make a living

# Barely gettin' by... #

Rochelle, this was at reception.

Oh, wow!

Thank you very much, thanks. Thank you.

-Ooh! It's lunch.

-Oh, that sounds exciting.

"Let me know if you think it'll take off...

"It's still novel."

-Giles.

-Excellent.

Are you going to share this lunch?

-I am going to share this lunch.

-Lovely, I look forward to it.

Unless it's really nice, then I might eat it myself!

Look.

Sandwiches, lovely.

In a box, look at that.

That's the original one.

And the prawn mayo is 1981's bestseller.

Isn't it amazing, though, to think that that...

was novel, to get a sandwich in a package?

Mm. Very much the working woman, isn't it?

Grabbing a sandwich on the way into work.

Yeah. It's nice to have something made.

But this innocent packaged sandwich

didn't know what it was going to bring in, did it?

In 1981, the average lunch break was an hour long -

today it's only 29 minutes.

MUSIC: The Reflex by Duran Duran

It's 1982, and Fred is embracing the latest craze to hit British shores.

# I tell you somebody's fooling around

# With my chances on the danger line

# I'll cross that bridge... #

In the early '80s, children played outside

for more than two hours a day - double the amount they do today.

Look at my skills!

I've sent some new gadgets that were making an impact indoors, as well.

There's this.

What is that?

The arrival of a VCR

means the Robshaws are joining the lucky 13% of households

who can record TV programmes to watch when they want.

-There's something else as well. A SodaStream.

-Ooh!

Cool!

This is so cool - how does it work?

IT HISSES

THEY LAUGH

Soda streams injected sparkle into the kitchen,

showing food could be fun.

MUSIC: Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper

With Brandon and Rochelle at work,

the girls are inviting friends round for a video party.

Again! Yeah.

Wow, we did it! You can hear the bubbles.

You CAN hear the bubbles.

-I don't know, can you?

-Yeah!

Their party menu is inspired by National Food Survey entries

of the time.

-OK, we're going to make toasted sandwiches...

-Yes!

..oven chips, popcorn.

This is going to be so good.

This is going to be the best party ever.

We haven't done chips yet.

No, Mum made chips cooked in lard, but we only got eight each.

-No, eight altogether.

-Eight altogether!

THEY LAUGH

So, they were quite grim,

they didn't taste very nice, and they were a lot of hard work.

Introduced in 1979,

oven chips helped to cut the number of domestic chip pan fires in half

in only ten years.

And today they make up three quarters of all the chips

we cook at home.

Considering what we've been eating,

-this is quite fashionable food.

-Yeah.

And it's all food that you need special equipment to make.

This is like Fred's heaven in here.

It's got a toasty machine.

-SodaStream.

-It's got a SodaStream, it's got everything he wants.

-He could live here.

-Yeah, but it's so easy, as well.

I guess - does that mean we're losing the art of cookery?

Oh...

Yeah, I guess so.

They look good.

Rochelle will get home from work too late

to have any say about the food the girls are making.

I can see, now, at this point,

how having more gadgets and processed food,

and the microwave, is actually helping me.

You know, whether it provides the good enough food within the home

is probably not the case,

but it's certainly enabling me to have a life outside of the home.

Back home, the girls are serving up '80s treats

and entertainment to their guests.

The interesting thing is that we needed loads

and loads of gadgets to make all this food.

-Do you like the presentation?

-Mm!

I think it's great. I love this.

I think, in the '80s, it's a lot more about showing off.

A lot less practicality and a lot more show.

A bit like the hair.

THEY LAUGH

Would you like a toasty?

The cheese is quite bright orange!

That's the '80s for you, everything is bright orange.

But this 1982 party is about to get a lot more stylish.

'The spectacular ice cream dessert, called Viennetta.'

Before 1982, ice cream usually came in simple blocks, or tubs.

Viennetta changed all that.

This was convenience food at its most sophisticated.

'Wall's Viennetta - one slice is never enough.'

Nobody could do that.

So, I guess, before it became kind of old-fashioned...

it must have been, like, a really cool thing.

Oh, my goodness me! Wow. That looks really nice.

Mm!

-Have you got a Viennetta there?

-Yeah.

-And what are you watching?

-Top Of The Pops.

-# Give me back my heart... #

-Who's on it?

We don't really know. THEY LAUGH

Who are these people? Do you think they're brother and sister?

# Give me back my heart... #

Their hair says yes, but their face says no.

LAUGHTER

-I think the Viennetta should have stayed in the freezer...

-Yeah.

..cos I think that's dinner party food.

Yeah, actually, we should tell them off about that.

Yeah, that's like, sort of, breaking into the sherry.

HE CHUCKLES

I wish I'd been home earlier to make them something healthier.

You've got a job, I've got a job.

Why are you the one feeling guilty and not me?

That's the way it goes.

-Is this, like, food that we would eat all the time, or...?

-Mm.

There's nothing green apart from the sweets,

and I don't think they count. LAUGHTER

-Yeah, I don't feel very well.

-No.

It was nice just to be able to use the kitchen more freely.

The food we made did feel, kind of, like fairly cutting edge, actually.

I just think it was cos we had to use so many gadgets to make it.

MUSIC: Let's Dance by David Bowie

It's 1983, and Britons are waking up to the fact

that the '80s diet and lifestyle might not be terribly healthy.

Wake up, shape up.

It's...the Green Goddess.

Let's get Britain fit.

Anybody else who'd like to join us, do come and take...

Can we do it?

Although only 7% of the population was obese in 1983,

compared to 24% today,

Britain's health and waistline was a national talking point.

Two, one...

Oh!

Are you all right?

Ow!

Everyone make sure they've got plenty of room.

Exercise was only one weapon in the battle to shift Britain's bulge -

dieting was a national obsession.

2.50, please, Eddie.

-Chris, you know you're not supposed to have beer, don't you?

-Yes.

Don't think next week that you can do the same for two weeks, you know?

You can't. You've had your holiday, forget it.

The Robshaws have got their own taskmaster to inspire them.

-Hello, everybody.

-Hi, Polly.

Oh, welcome to the '80s.

So, this decade is where health, exercise and dieting take off.

And so, today, we're going to be splitting you into two teams.

One team is going to be eating the grapefruit diet.

The other team is going to be eating the F-Plan diet.

MUSIC: Fashion by David Bowie

The grapefruit diet advocated a low-calorie, high-protein approach,

plus half a grapefruit with each meal

which would, allegedly, help burn off the pounds.

The bestselling F-Plan endorsed a diet low in fat and high in fibre.

I just think diets became, sort of, so popular at this point.

It's this decade of contrasts, really,

where people are eating more convenience foods

and doing less exercise, and are putting on more weight.

On the other hand, people are really obsessing about diets.

In the teenage magazines there's almost, like, an assumption

that you're going to be slimming.

In this period what you see is a real, sort of, explosion

of the dieting, exercise, and health industries,

because the publishing diet industry explodes during this time.

Slimming clubs, slimming magazines - ten titles during the '80s.

About 24 bestseller titles for diets.

So, there's a kind of explosion of the industry,

fuelling concerns about diet and health.

MUSIC: I Can't Wait by Nu Shooz

By 1983, Britain's diet industry

was worth a hefty £350 million a year -

nearly triple its value only five years earlier.

And supermarket shelves bulged with new, low calorie goods,

as the food industry saw profit in the growing waistlines

some of its own products had helped to create.

Very tart.

I'm not allowed to put sugar on it, am I?

No, that's not the diet.

And the...oh, gosh.

I actually think...

It makes your ears tingle.

-I think you better go to the doctor.

-LAUGHTER

What do we get in ours, Mum?

Well, we get a lot of fibre.

The portions may be smaller, but you are full.

You don't feel as hungry.

If it's brown...it'll go down!

Do you mind? I'm trying to finish my breakfast.

But I seem to remember somebody -

a journalist back in the '80s - writing about the F-Plan diet.

I think it might have been Anne Robinson, and she said that every...

-From The Weakest Link?

-Yeah.

And she said every copy of the F-Plan diet

should come with a can of air freshener.

HE CHUCKLES

MUSIC: Physical by Olivia Newton-John

To work up an appetite for their next delicious diet meal,

the Robshaws are getting physical in classic early '80s style...

..when a pair of velour shorts was more essential than a crash helmet.

And music on the move was a novelty.

I used to think, actually,

that joggers running along with their headphones in

were slightly comical figures, really,

I thought they were figures of fun.

And now I am one.

SHE LAUGHS

# Let's get physical, physical... #

Aah!

# I wanna get physical... #

It's no good. I don't like it!

It's back to the kitchen for dinner.

Rochelle's using another '80s gadget to open her baked beans

for the F-Plan shepherd's pie.

Yeah. Oh, God, look at that go!

How do you stop it? Cor, blimey.

And Brandon's rustling up an omelette.

You don't need to put milk in an omelette mix.

-You can't do that.

-Why not?

-It's not in your diet.

You can't add - you can't add that to that.

But I can have as much butter as I like to fry this in.

So, you won't be overweight, you'll just die of a heart attack.

Food packaging wasn't required to carry nutritional information,

so the guidelines of diets like the F-Plan

were the only advice people got.

If you look at the label, right, this doesn't say too much, does it?

So, you would eat that and not know that it's got loads of calories in.

-That's it.

-There's an awful lot more food,

but there's very little guidance, so people might be a bit confused,

and that's why they'd overeat

and they'd have to go on, sort of, extreme diets

like the grapefruit one.

It would be 1990 before nutritional labelling on food became mandatory.

I think this grapefruit plan diet is just a fad.

I don't really feel it's filling me up.

-I actually feel I'd like to have a pie and chips now.

-Right.

Yeah, that was... Ugh, the diet was...

Eurgh!

I DO need a can of air freshener.

MUSIC: Let's Hear It For The Boy by Deniece Williams

Another day, and I'm sending the Robshaws yet more kitchen kit

from the decade of conspicuous consumption...

courtesy of 1984's top TV chef.

-Brandon.

-Oh, wow!

-Are you Ken Hom?

-Hi. I certainly am.

We've got a special guest, we've got Mr Ken Hom.

Hi, nice to meet you, it's very nice to meet you.

Hello, how are you?

You're too young to remember who I am.

And I see you've brought the wok.

Oh, I thought I'd give you something for your new kitchen in the '80s.

Fantastic. Yeah, completely new piece of equipment.

Ken Hom and his wok introduced TV audiences

to a whole new style of cooking.

These types of woks are best used on a gas hob.

Now, if you have an electric cooker,

you must use a flat-bottom wok like this.

I mean, what was it about the 1980s

that kind of made the British public ready for these new techniques?

-People were beginning to actually entertain at home.

-Yeah.

And one of the ways of doing that, I guess, showing off,

is either making an Indian, or Chinese.

I mean that would really impress them.

-And your guests would be impressed, wouldn't they?

-Oh, they would be!

MUSIC: Karma Chameleon by Culture Club

Today, Brandon and Ken are stir-frying chicken

marinated in soy sauce and ginger.

We add the steaks that way.

-That is such a fantastic noise, though!

-Yeah.

But this is why, I think, men really love cooking Chinese.

-Yeah.

-Because there's action.

-It's instant gratification.

-Yes.

I think when you see how it starts browning immediately...

You can watch it cook in front of your eyes, can't you, yeah.

Yes, exactly, yeah.

We have never cooked a complete Chinese meal in this house.

We've never cooked it - we've had them as takeaways,

we've been to restaurants,

but we have never cooked a Chinese meal here.

-It's not...

-So, this is completely new, it's not a takeaway.

No, it's not!

In fact, we've taken away the chef!

SHE LAUGHS

You're so funny, Mum(!)

It smells so nice.

Looking on this experiment through the decades,

I think British eating has got progressively more interesting,

-more ambitious.

-Better, I think.

-And better, and better - simple as that.

-Yeah.

Oh, my goodness.

-Help yourself to...

-Rice.

-..some rice.

How would you say "bon appetit" in Cantonese?

You would say "sik fan" - eat, eat rice.

Absolutely delicious.

Chinese was the perfect cuisine

for the show-off amateur chef of the 1980s.

People started cooking this on Saturday nights for friends,

which showed that...

they were hip, and they were able to cross, sort of, cultural boundaries.

Mm. And you can see how it sort of becomes a hobby,

something that people just do for pleasure.

This country has taken to it.

I mean, Chinese is as British, now, as fish and chips.

Today I had the fantastic experience of cooking with Ken Hom.

This kind of cooking - it's really kind of satisfying

and rewarding, and quite an exciting way to cook.

You know, all that action and smoke and sizzle.

MUSIC: The Edge Of Heaven by Wham!

It's 1985,

And while some of the country were still struggling economically,

in the City of London, good times have well and truly arrived.

'The number of flashy sports cars in the city

'shows there's a good deal of new wealth around.'

For those with cash to splash on dining out,

there was really only one cuisine.

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

Hello, mate, how are you?

Are you in the mood for a slap-up lunch?

I'd absolutely love it, yeah. Couldn't ask for anything better.

I'm currently outside Mosimann's, the inventor of nouvelle cuisine,

or cuisine naturelle, and a HUGE deal in the '80s.

Do you have any nice clothes?

Er, I think I could dig something out, yeah.

All right, I'll see you later!

Cheers, Brandon, bye.

-Well, you heard that was Giles.

-Yes, I did.

He's invited us out for a slap-up meal in a really posh restaurant.

-GASPS:

-My legs have gone all funny!

We're going up the dark blue end of the Monopoly board.

The nouvelle cuisine movement revolutionised British fine dining.

It emphasised its ingredients' delicate colours and flavours

in beautifully presented but tiny portions.

A complete contrast to the richly sauced, heavy French cooking

that had gone before.

'The Terrace Room at the Dorchester is a foodies' place of pilgrimage.

'Here, Anton Mosimann has created the menu surprise.

'The "surprise" being that it'll knock you back about £57.'

MUSIC: There Must Be An Angel by Eurythmics

-Well, let's say cheers - to the '80s, then.

-Yes.

The '80s.

Cheers.

I'm sorry I couldn't be with you for the whole of it.

I was really only available for the things

which involved drinking champagne, Michelin two-star meals.

THEY LAUGH

Do I take one, or...?

-It's the decade of consumption - you take them all.

-Do I?!

And hang the rest of us.

We can send out for another one.

I wonder how he gets all that taste in the tiny parcel like that.

It's absolutely amazing.

That's the key to nouvelle cuisine -

lots and lots of flavour in a tiny, tiny, tiny little, tiny portion.

And that's all you're getting.

We'll have another glass of champagne and we're off.

People always had a cheeseburger on the way home in those days.

Nouvelle cuisine was unaffordable to most,

but the ingredients it introduced,

like kiwi fruit, goat's cheese and mange tout

have trickled down to become supermarket staples.

And its fiddly presentation is now the norm.

This sort of plating -

you wouldn't think, "Eurgh, that's so '80s!"

-cos that's what we think of as presentation now.

-Right.

And then all these fresh herbs, which they didn't tend to have then.

I mean, there's the dill and the flat parsley -

flat parsley was totally new then, we thought it was curly.

It's healthy and also it's showing off,

it's the best of both worlds for the '80s.

So he really did, sort of, change the game, didn't he?

It's very distinctive, like, each individual vegetable.

I don't think he's boiled them all together,

I mean, I think it seems like they've all been...

-Oh, I think he can afford several pots.

-Yes, I think so, yeah.

It was small because it was prepared

in this really, very fine, thoughtful way.

But that wasn't, probably - possibly - of less interest

to those people who had masses of money to spend on it.

-The phrase you're grasping for there is "more money than sense"...

-Yes.

..about these people, isn't it? I mean, the food was terrific,

and the people are there just because it's expensive,

just so they can show off.

I'm sitting here feeling no guilt at all,

but I suspect you two are probably feeling,

as you tuck into this meal,

that not everyone is having it so good in 1985.

Well, I kind of do feel

I wish everybody could have eaten like this, yeah.

-Ooh!

-Ooh, gosh! Wow! My goodness.

Blimey.

While some were dining on the finest of dishes in 1985,

others were struggling to put food on the table.

MUSIC: Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood

The only way we'll get unity

is for people like you not to cross the picket line.

By 1985, many of Britain's miners had been on strike,

with no pay or benefits, for nearly a year.

And for some, things were getting desperate.

'This is a divided community,

'scarred by bitterness, envy and acrimony,

'where neighbour is pitted against neighbour,

'and even father against son.

'The reason - some miners have full pay packets and eat well,

'continue to pay off the mortgage.

'Other miners have virtually no money.

'Soup kitchens provide what, for some, is the only meal of the day.'

I certainly remember seeing it on the news,

and quite violent demonstrations.

-Cos when you're hungry, you're angry, aren't you?

-Yeah.

And it just reminds me of when we got to the National Food Survey

for the 1950s,

a woman had written in it, "A hungry man is an angry man."

MUSIC: Money's Too Tight (To Mention) by Simply Red

Brandon's uncles were miners,

and he's keen to help Rochelle prepare a dish

that a miner's wife cooked for her family in 1985.

'Tattie pot.

'Potatoes, onions, carrots, corned beef, dumplings.'

-The word that springs to mind...

-Yes.

-..is "humbling".

Of course, I did - I mean, I did kind of know about it.

I went on marches and things, I dropped money in the buckets,

I wore the badges, but I just feel that I didn't really...

I just let it pass me by, really.

I was just leading my own, kind of, merry, selfish little life.

I don't think I paid enough attention to it.

When I think I actually had an uncle involved in that strike,

and I don't think I was nearly supportive enough.

-I want to ask you about these dumplings...

-Right.

..because I have never made dumplings before,

and it said mix with water,

and now this seems to be very, kind of, gooey and sloppy.

So, I don't know, have I put in too much water, or not enough?

-I think you've put in too much water.

-Too much.

So, I think the only way to remedy that

-is going to be to add some more suet and some more flour.

-Really?

If you eat this, you won't wake up hungry

-in the middle of the night, will you?

-No, you won't wake up at all!

THEY CHUCKLE

Miranda, Ros, Fred.

These dumplings aren't too bad.

Did you think they were going to be horrible?

I feared that they might be.

This is the kind of food they used to cook during the miner's strike.

Through rationing at the beginning, in the '50s,

we ate meals like this -

and up in Sunderland, all those sort of mining communities,

had to go back to sort of eating... being clever with what they had.

It's all kind of, you know, quite...not expensive food,

but it's very, kind of...fills you up.

-It is nice.

-Mm-hm.

-It is nice.

-What's it called?

Tatie pot.

SHE CHUCKLES

The 1980s really was a decade of polar opposites.

You've got people on strike who are really, really hard up,

and then at the opposite, kind of, end of the spectrum,

you know, you've got this...

decade of conspicuous consumption

where people are just really, really enjoying spending

their not particularly hard-earned money.

MUSIC: West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys

Talking of money,

1986 is the year of the Big Bang,

and the city is filling up with go-getting, shoulder pad wearing,

mobile phone toting entrepreneurs

ready to seize the opportunities presented by financial deregulation.

# Sometimes you're better off dead... #

Even women are welcome.

# You think you're mad, too unstable

# Kicking in chairs... #

Today, Miranda's sampling the joys of '80s City life

in the offices of one of the decades highest financial flyers -

Nicola Horlick.

What was the atmosphere?

Well, it was phenomenally exciting.

American banks came in and bought up our banks -

it became much more professional.

Everything was changing, the pace was incredibly fast,

and, you know, the Americans have a reputation

for being hard taskmasters -

things like the boozy City lunch went out of the window.

The consequence of people not going out for boozy lunches

was that they were eating sandwiches at their desks.

MUSIC: Addicted To Love by Robert Palmer

Luckily, by 1986 there were 25 varieties

of sandwich filling to choose from.

With the lunch break fast disappearing,

City restaurants were struggling.

Many reinvented themselves as wine bars,

and a new generation of bankers lapped them up.

'The champagne lifestyle is possible at an earlier age in the City

'than anywhere else.'

I've asked Miranda and Nicola to join me and my friend, Ben,

a trader in 1986,

for an evening at one of the City's original wine bars.

Was champagne the thing that you drank in the City?

If you had something to celebrate - but there was a lot to celebrate.

I remember when Ben went into the City,

and then Ben just had all this cash and champagne,

I thought he was a bit flash.

That was the idea.

Money was a way of saying, "Look, I'm really good at my job."

It was a kind of status symbol.

'Fine champagnes and wines were the ultimate in aspirational drinking.'

-Cheers, anyway.

-Cheers.

-Yeah, cheers.

-To the '80s...

'But teetotallers weren't left out.'

How come I've got sparkling water?

You can't have this, cos you're only 17.

And that is also a celebratory, emblematic 1980s drink.

Perrier was quite a big status symbol -

everything had to be, you know,

flashy and fizzy and bubbly and sparkling.

I don't think we actually had Perrier in the meeting rooms

at that point - we just had water.

What, cos it was, like, so special?

Well, it was so special.

If you'd gone back to your 1950s and '60s versions of yourselves

in the house and said, "Yeah, we're up in the '80s,

-"it's great. We're buying water..."

-SHE LAUGHS

..they'd have thought you were mad.

MUSIC: I Want To Break Free by Queen

Fancy wines and bottled water

may have started out being enjoyed by the wealthy few,

but their influence quickly flowed into all our homes.

They're very fiddly, aren't they, these wine boxes?

It's very hard to get it out.

Oh, you can tear it up a bit there.

Agh! It's like a sort of breech birth, isn't it?

Agh!

Thank God you're not a midwife.

THEY LAUGH

Look at that. Cheers.

Thanks very much, cheers.

-There's Jilly.

-Ooh, Jilly!

Oh, yeah.

Jill Goolden.

MUSIC: Take On Me by A-ha

I used to really like the way she described the tastes of drinks.

"This tastes like a summer breeze

"blowing through a field of golden corn," that kind of thing.

Bit of wood, bit of tobacco, pencil sharpenings - the works.

It's absolutely terrific.

Wine drinking was viewed as upwardly mobile.

And TV helped demystify it for an aspirational public.

And between 1980 and 1987,

Britain's wine consumption rose by 50%.

It suddenly became accessible just to drink a glass of wine.

-Yeah.

-Cos we kind of got used to having it...

We got used to not doing that.

-..with food, haven't we?

-Yeah.

-And not just sort of necking it.

-Yeah.

Just sit down at night on the sofa, with a glass of wine,

and watching the telly,

just seems, you know, a kind of very self-indulgent sort of luxury

which is now freely available in the '80s,

and would have seemed very strange and, kind of, a little bit wrong,

I think, in previous decades.

MUSIC: Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer

It's 1987,

and the Robshaws are off to the supermarket

to meet food historian Polly Russell

to discover how a transformation in food packaging over the decade

revolutionised what was available on the shelves.

The thing about food packaging is, it seems rather boring,

it seems rather everyday, but actually it is the unsung hero

of food processing and food change in this period,

and without it, many of the foods we enjoy today

would simply not be possible.

MUSIC: Chain Reaction by Diana Ross

One of the biggest innovations is found in the drinks aisle.

Are you surprised to see fizzy, soft drinks on the list for the 1980s?

Well, I'm surprised in the sense

that my mum wouldn't normally let us have coke.

The plastic packaging is new.

In fact...

we haven't really seen anything in, like, drinks in bottles, really.

The plastic bottle is called a PET piece of packaging,

it's only developed in the 1980s and this is what makes this possible,

this huge new explosion of drinking soft drinks.

Lighter than glass and virtually unbreakable,

PET helped put more fizzy drinks on supermarket shelves,

and sales more than doubled over the decade.

In 1987, another food technology breakthrough

gave birth to the ultimate fast food - the microwaveable ready meal.

So, in this sort of box is a sort of revolution, really,

in food processing and food technology,

because for the first time you can buy a completely made meal...

-Yeah.

-..and it can be yours to eat in a matter of three, four minutes.

So, why is it now, in the mid to late '80s,

that these ready meals are coming in?

You have to have your cold chain -

so, you have to have your refrigeration from manufacture,

your supermarket and, of course, at home.

Unlike frozen food,

which can be sort of held at any temperature

below a certain temperature,

this has to be held within quite narrow margins.

Cooked at the factory,

chilled ready meals need to be held at between one and four degrees

to avoid the risk of food poising.

A technological leap that only became possible in the 1980s.

Cheeky little lasagne!

And, of course, it emphasises the speed - five minutes,

five minutes, five minutes.

In market research at the time,

people put convenience way ahead of price,

nutritional value, and even taste.

So, you have the packaging developed in the late '80s

which allows this to be microwaveable OR oven-able.

So, it's like the microwave

has actually kind of found its moment now.

Choose one of those.

Well, I think I'll just go with chicken curry.

We close the door, we press time... MICROWAVE BEEPS

But what it means is that we can all eat something different.

Yeah. And it's easy to eat something different -

-you don't have to cook loads of different things.

-No, that's right.

-I feel a bit sad.

-Why?

Cos, like, everyone's eating something different

and we're no longer eating together.

We can't all sit round here with these little packet things.

No, we're also - we're all eating at different times

because we can't put them all in at once.

Oh, Fred! Right.

-Can I eat now?

-Yes, eat, just eat.

But, look, I'll tell you what's good. Watch this.

No washing up, how's that?

Well, you would if you had a plate, wouldn't you?

You've just put a lot of plastic and stuff in the bin.

-Yeah.

-Which isn't really good.

It's pretty much the first time anything's made to be disposable.

-Kind of, almost.

-But that's not actually a good thing.

-FRED:

-I'm going to go and play Nintendo.

Throughout this experiment we have all eaten together.

This is the first evening, the very first evening,

when everybody is eating differently.

You're standing up, they're sitting over there,

Fred's in the other room.

But you do gain in convenience.

-It's quite nice...

-But what is the convenience?

We're all sort of dispersed - dispersed and displaced.

And the microwave is doing it.

Coming home and then sort of feeding that to the family,

I felt, was kind of soulless.

This was, in some ways, my least favourite meal of the experiment.

It just felt completely sterile.

MUSIC: The Only Way Is Up by Yazz

It's five weeks since the Robshaws began their time travelling.

Tonight, Brandon and Rochelle are taking inspiration

from the excesses of the '80s and wowing her boss

with a complex nouvelle cuisine-inspired dinner party.

Oh, my goodness me.

Goat's cheese and spinach tart

-accompanied by a green salad with raspberry coulis.

-Ooh!

-I say!

-Oh, my goodness, though, it's not dessert,

-that's actually...

-That's part of the...

..the goat's cheese is... Oh!

Oh, Brandon, this is going to be really bad,

because we're going to sort of be annoying each other, aren't we?

I think we need to take different, sort of, different...

-We should each have a different station, shouldn't we?

-Yeah, yeah.

I'll go to Walthamstow Central!

-Get on the train.

-I'll go to Liverpool Street!

The menu includes many ingredients

which are widely available for the first time.

For the main course they're poaching a whole Scottish salmon,

now affordable because of a step-up in salmon farming.

This is served with a trio of vegetables

pureed in their new Magimix -

a must-have for the aspirational home chef.

Suddenly there's a new type of food, isn't there?

There's a new way of eating and preparing food, isn't it?

Thinking about the dinner we had at Mosimann's,

the whole thing was designed to be impressive.

And I supposed we're kind of trying to do that in the home

-a bit, aren't we?

-Yeah.

To show off - not just that we can afford it,

but that we've got the knowledge and the expertise

to be able to do this kind of food.

Yes. It's a bit show-offy.

And, in the decade of speed,

ostentatious dishes showed the hosts had used

the most precious '80s commodity to make their meal.

Time.

It's just so fiddly. It's maddening.

I mean, also, does this even look like fish scales,

or does it look like somebody's put a load of cucumber on a fish?

While Rochelle and Brandon discover the joys of nouvelle cuisine,

the children are embracing new trends of their own.

Oh...

It's my go now. So give me the controller.

-Fred!

-Wait until I die.

-Stop it!

-Right, I'm not playing with you.

-All right.

-You're greedy.

-I'm not greedy.

-You're greedy and selfish,

and as soon as a piece of technology comes here

you're into a different person.

Mario is amazing.

But I do notice that we're not going outside as much any more.

Hi, kids - look, you know we've got some guests coming round tonight,

Mum's work colleagues,

so is it all right if you lot go out while they're here?

Enjoy yourselves.

MUSIC: Perfect by Fairground Attraction

Getting a small bowl and piling as much as you could.

While her guests reminisce about the joy of the all-you-can-eat buffet,

Rochelle's plating up her show-off starter.

Oh, God. Oh, bugger, bugger.

It's not quite cooked on the pastry bit,

so this will be nouvelle portions.

SHE LAUGHS

How could I have done this?

That's just horrible.

-Thank you.

-Oh that looks very nouvelle, doesn't it?

Thank you, it really does. Lovely, thank you.

So, goat's cheese and...yeah.

Goat's cheese and spinach tart, yeah.

Goat's cheese had reached, you know, the kind of - the normal household.

And that does ring bells.

-Alarm bells!

-Alarm bells.

-LAUGHTER

I thought it was a very nice starter, myself,

but they didn't actually say, "Oh, wow, that was delicious,"

-did they?

-No. What did you think of the presentation?

Beautiful. Absolutely a picture.

-What did you think of the, um...?

-I'd put that in the Tate gallery.

-You don't have to take the piss! But...

-I'm not!

They looked really pretty.

Right, let's go and show them this, then.

Wow, amazing.

It's really, really impressive.

-It was a bit like doing a jigsaw.

-Yes!

MUSIC: Oh Yeah by Yello

Impressing their guests means Rochelle and Brandon are too busy

to keep an eye on what the kids are scoffing when they're not looking.

Chains like Burger King and McDonald's

had arrived in the mid '70s,

but it was in the '80s that Britain became a fast food nation.

McDonald's ended the decade with over 400 branches.

With burgers costing less than £1.20,

the meals were dished up at pocket money prices,

and fast food chains became a popular after school hangout

for a whole generation.

I hadn't missed it until I ate it, if that makes sense.

-Yeah, same.

-Yeah, definitely.

It is nice that you can, I don't know, just like nip out

and get some - whatever you want, now.

-Yeah.

-Yeah...

But I almost, like, prefer the '50s more,

because now I can just get sweets whenever I want.

In the '50s I was getting excited when I got a packet of sweets,

so it's, like, all changed now.

The food and lifestyle of the '80s

led to childhood obesity rates doubling over the decade.

-Creme brulee? No...

-It is, you're right.

It is creme brulee! Oh, my goodness, wow.

Very impressive.

I can start to smell that caramelised sugar now.

-That's lovely.

-Well, you're doing something right -

it smells incredible.

What a gadget.

Dig in, everybody.

So, if this was the '80s, and you'd come round to dinner

and we'd served you this up,

would you think, "Wow, Rochelle,

"we've got to find her an important role in our organisation

"as quickly as possible?"

Well, no.

LAUGHTER

Why not?!

MUSIC: Walls Come Tumbling Down by Style Council

'But tonight, there were no filters, no checks.

'At midnight the border was thrown open,

'and the crowd surged through the open gates.'

Oh, Berlin Wall!

It's fantastic to see these pictures, isn't it?

It was a real, kind of,

great, optimistic way to end the decade of the '80s, wasn't it?

I got a bit of the wall.

It was that bit there.

LAUGHTER

The decade's winding up -

but there's just time for one final surprise.

-Hello, Giles.

-Hi, there.

-Nice to see you.

-Hello, chaps.

-Come perch up here.

-Oh, really?

We've got a good place for you to perch, there, yeah.

-You couldn't have shuffled up a little bit?

-No.

-Typical, selfish '80s behaviour.

-THEY LAUGH

How's the '80s been?

It's been very eventful and very enjoyable.

The Wall's come down, so I think that's...

-Oh, the Berlin Wall.

-Yeah.

What better way could there possibly be to celebrate

the end of Communism than a pizza delivery?

-Yay!

-Oh, yes! Get in.

That's an exciting thing, isn't it?

Is this the first food you've had delivered, then,

in your journey through the ages?

Yes, it is. We've had takeaway before, we've had fish and chips,

but we had to go and get that ourselves.

Oh, how incredibly '70s and backwards.

THEY LAUGH

Pizza Hut and Domino's started home deliveries

as the decade drew to a close.

This was the perfect incarnation of the '80s love of speed and choice.

Hey, thanks, Danny!

Hey, what do you think this is, a takeaway service?!

Pick up the phone and you've got it made.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

-Cheers, everybody.

How was the '80s for you?

It's been sort of quite an exciting time,

but sort of working full time now, I find it pretty hard going.

It's a great pity not to have as much family time.

Has there, to any extent - the new convenience foods of the '80s,

made it possible?

Yeah, we've had a number of ready meals - pierce the film,

pop them in the microwave, all done in sort of five minutes.

So that's been a complete change.

So, the family are all in here,

but the real hands-on cooking isn't, so, have you lost anything?

It has become a bit, sort of, atomised.

People wander into the kitchen and get what they want,

and wander out again.

On the plus side, I quite like the fact

that the kids can get in the kitchen,

and on occasion they fix things for themselves.

So there was generally more independence, more freewill,

which is how we're led to remember the '80s.

I think it's like a sort of revolution

that's been gathering pace in the '60s and then in the '70s,

and it really hits its stride in the '80s.

MUSIC: Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley

I come with pizza!

-Whoa!

-My word.

-That's your one.

Ooh, they are thick, these slices, aren't they?

Wow!

I must say, I am enjoying this pizza.

I think it's a fitting culmination to the '80s.

-I'm just going to have another slice.

-Fast work.

Yeah.

-ROS:

-I can see why people would have eaten more

takeaway food in the '80s.

I think it would have been pretty cool

to have food that wasn't made by you or your family.

But it's not exactly the healthiest of foods.

Do you think there's a danger with all of this here,

there's going to be an obesity crisis,

you're going to eat more than you need?

I feel that as long as this stuff is in front of me,

I probably will keep eating.

MUSIC: Hand On Your Heart by Kylie Minogue

Well, that seems a suitable ending to the decade -

I've left them sitting in front of a screen,

eating processed food out of cardboard boxes in their laps,

not talking to each other.

Which basically tells you all you need to know

about what happened in the '80s.

I think they're beginning to get a sense

of all the things they've lost.

I do like the independence of being able to choose

what you eat and when,

but I guess we do miss the family mealtimes.

I think there is a bit less love going into everyday food,

and that's, perhaps, one of the regrettable changes.

As somebody who's out at work full time,

I can sort of see that my power to control what they are eating

at home has now gone.