80,s suburban living room

We were the first family in the street to get a video recorder. Dad knew someone in the dr who appreciation society who got me copies of old episodes that been shown on Australian television. 

 These were third generation grainy copies of copies but we got to watch episodes of Doctor Who that hadn’t been showed on British TV since the 60s it was our own small version of Shangri-La . 

As a 10 year-olds  I d invite my friends round my house to sit and watch episodes in the living room and mum would make us all cups of tea and bring in a tray of biscuits. 

Alternatively I d invite friends round to play dungeons and dragons on the living room floor. Rolling the many sided dice to decide if we had slayen an orc or not.  

 I enjoyed being the dungeon master who to the  uninitiated is the one who sets the traps for the dungeon adventurers. Endless hours of fun in the years before we discovered girls and the pub. 

The tv was the obvious focal point of the room and as a pose to the kitchen mum and dad would never discuss politics or the merits of frued and Jung as they often  did at the dinner table 

Watching top of the pops as a family was always a weekly highlight. As we d gather round the tv in the living room. I distinctly remember the first appearance of boy George on the television. “ no way that’s a boy “ piped up my dad in obvious shock at cross dressing on the BBC.