So there was 1995, but we’re not heading into 1996 just yet. Don’t worry, with fifty episodes shown at the rate of two a week we’ve got plenty of time to get them all in before the end of the year, and it’s worked out pretty well we take a break this week as the snooker’s on with all the potential for disruption that causes. But if they can get a move on at the Crucible we’ll still get some archive episodes, starting off in 1984 which we seem to have visited a lot this year. Back in more familiar surroundings after their exile to the Broom Cupboard, it’s Janice and Simes in charge, the former doubtless in her element with Echo and The Bunnymen and the three good members of The Smiths in attendance. Then, last week you’ll have seen Peter Powell introduce the debut of The Cure in 1981, while this week he’ll be proved wrong because they’d actually already appeared in 1980, as we’ll see here. This is one of the final episodes of the old format before Michael Hurll got his hands on it and it does feel like a bit of a transitional phase as we also get the last appearance (until 1995) of Smokie, which seems a bit odd introduced by Steve Wright, who at one point wears a false moustache over his real moustache. Sadly we think Silver Dream Machine doesn’t make the half hour edit, which is a bit of a shame.
