Did it feel like it was set in the past on first reading?

[Bertie]

Slightly off-topic, but here in the UK at the moment quite a few soapies/serials like EastEnders and Coronation Street are being re-run in the afternoons, showing episodes from about 20 years ago. For the most part, they don’t feel particularly dated except for some pop-culture/contemporary references and it’s easy to forget how old the episodes are - until a character gets a call on their mobile with a “tinny” electronic ringtone or a text message in capital letters on a Nokia phone!

I’m not sure if it’s an age thing (I was born in the 70s), but watching a TV show from the 60s in the 1980s felt like watching a relic from the distant past - not helped by the fact they were in black and white - whereas today, the 00s, and indeed the 90s, feels like yesterday.

I agree with that, Morgan.

I was also born in the (late) 70's and, although I've never watched the soaps, I still watch plenty of sitcoms from the late 60's to the 90's era. A lot of the 60's/70's shows do feel quite dated, with their fashion sense and the fact that it's a lot less polished in terms of sound, colour, sets, re-takes, etc. Though still highly enjoyable! But the ones from the 80's onwards really don't feel 'old' at all to me, even when I re-watch them today alongside modern shows. I guess I still live that kind of life, really, and it all feels very comfortable and familiar, and a world I'm still very happy in (and clinging onto!), much more so than most of the modern era.

I guess a lot of that is an age thing!

[Morgan Jones]

I’ve always assumed you were older than me, Bertie! I was born in ‘72. Perhaps it’s the name Bertie I associate with an older person - I assume that’s not your real name? (No offence meant if it is!)