As a child, there are certain things that define and shape the adult you eventually grow and mature into. Whilst we wouldn’t want to claim that television had as much of an impact on us growing up as family, friends or education, there were certainly some shows, and some moments, that have stayed with us into our adult life.
From a schoolboy tragically dying from a drug overdose to a weatherman getting the forecast completely wrong, the 80s and early 90s contained a number of moments that we will never forget, and below are eight of our very favourite examples.
8. Scott and Charlene tie the knot in Neighbours
It was the TV moment that defined a generation, when the gorgeous couple of Scott Robinson and Charlene Ramsey tied the knot to the dulcet tones of Angry Anderson’s hit single Suddenly.
Little did we know at the time that actors Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan were a couple in real life, and that very soon they would have just as big an impact on our musical tastes as they did on our passion for Australian soaps.
7. Danny Kendall dies in Grange Hill
The classic children’s TV show Grange Hill certainly wasn’t afraid to deal with some difficult and hard-hitting subjects (remember one of the boys drowning in a swimming pool?), but there is one particular moment that still haunts us to this very day: the death of Danny Kendall, played by actor Jonathan Lambeth.
We already knew that Danny had health issues, but the image of his lifeless head flopping out of the door of Mr Bronson’s car when his friends discover his lifeless body is seared into our memories forevermore.
6. Michael Fish gets the weather forecast very wrong on BBC News
These days we can obtain weather forecasts from a number of trustworthy sources, but during our childhood, what the TV weatherman said was treated as absolute gospel. Whilst this didn’t cause any issues on the majority of occasions, there were one or two examples when they got it completely wrong.
This was never more true than when the trusted weatherman Michael Fish failing to warn us about, and even totally dismissing, an impending hurricane. Known as the Great Storm of 1987, it resulted in 22 deaths and over £2 billion worth of property damage across the UK, France and the Channel Islands.
5. Del Boy falls through a bar in Only Fools and Horses
In one of the most iconic comedy TV moments of all time, David Jason’s Del Boy tells Roger Lloyd Pack’s Trigger to “play it nice and cool” whilst trying to impress some ladies in a wine bar. Not looking, Del Boy tries to casually lean on the end of the bar – only to fall straight down to the floor, as while he wasn’t looking a bartender lifted the flap.
In less talented hands this particular gag may not have become as legendary as it has, but David Jason‘s delivery, along with the perfect way he falls, ensured it would be something that people would be laughing at for generations.
4. Anneka Rice tries to order ‘P.L.Y. wood’ in Challenge Anneka
Challenge Anneka was one of the greatest Saturday evening shows of our childhood, never failing to delight us when Anneka Rice and her crew tried to create something amazing for charity within a strict time limit.
But the moment from the show we’ve never forgotten was when Anneka gets a fit of giggles in a church after trying to order some plywood, spelling out the word to get the point across.
3. Will’s dad leaves again in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was usually trying to make us laugh rather than cry, but there is one moment from the classic US sitcom that never fails to get our waterworks flowing, no matter how many times we watch it.
In heartbreaking 1994 episode Papa’s Got a Brand New Excuse, Will’s estranged dad visits but then departs rather abruptly, forcing Will to ask “how come he don’t want me man?” before being pulled into the warm embrace of Uncle Phil.
2. Noel Edmonds gets awarded his own Gotcha in Noel’s House Party
The brilliant 90s Saturday evening family entertainment show Noel’s House Party was famous for its Gotcha segment, where Noel Edmonds would set up various celebrities, sometimes via the big, spotty monstrosity that was Mr Blobby.
But on just one occasion the tables were turned, with Noel himself being set up by his own crew, being forced to sing ‘you don’t bring me flowers’ over and over and over again.
1. Kristin is revealed as the person who shot JR in Dallas
It may have ended in something of a farce, but for a time ‘who shot JR’ was a question that was on everyone’s lips. The third season of Dallas came to a dramatic end in Mach 1980 with Larry Hagman’s J.R. Ewing being shot by an unseen assailant. This left audiences obsessively pondering just who the shooter was for months.
It all culminated in a November 1980 episode in which Mary Crosby’s Kristin Shepard – the person that no one ever suspected – was revealed as the shooter, as the jaws of millions of viewers across the globe simultaneously hit the floor.