1980s Brighton | British Seaside | East Sussex | Brighton | Wish you were here? 1988

'Wish you were here? Presenter John Carter visits East Sussex coastal city of
Brighton to see what it has to offer the holiday maker.
First shown: 18/01/1988
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Quote: VT41635

[@OlafProt]

Brighton is now just a suburb and playground of London. Completely unattainable. This video is how i remember it.

[@sam-dn9hr]

I miss these times when the world was not bonkers

[@nudisco300]

The world has always been bonkers, there has NEVER EVER been a lovely time. During this clip there was high unemployment. mad cow disease, people dying of Aids, football hooliganism, high car theft crime, wars in the Middle East, people were being given contaminated blood transfusions but it was covered up for a few more years, 2 year before this Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded and our sheep became radioactive. Oh and not to mention every egg we had was contaminated with Salmonella, and in a strange parallel with today the US president had dementia. Oh yeah the good old days 🤣

[@sam-dn9hr]

@@nudisco300 Still far better than today

[@nudisco300]

@@sam-dn9hr What's wrong with today? Apart from the obvious Covid stuff which is a once in a century pandemic.

[@alexanderjames6328]

@@nudisco300 Far too many imported trouble makers. Yes, there were problems back in the day... but nowhere near the magnitude of what there is nowadays.

[@selfiephotobooth]

The best thing about this is seeing groups of people socialising and not a mobile phone in sight. (Ironically I wrote this on my phone).

[@maggiesamuels2937]

I was born and bred in Brighton left in 2013. Brighton changed when it became a city.

[@TheBN1soldier]

Born here too. Also want to leave...

[@AN-fw5el]

So true..The worst decision they ever did was to go from Town to City Status. Infestation of Londoners destroyed the soul of the city. Used to be lovely place. Good childhood memories growing up. It was never busy lovely place to live. Making it a mini London with the swagger and the arrogance they bring destroyed it. Real shame :(

[@martinryan3318]

As a long time resident of Brighton&Hove,those images are very nostalgic. The city did seem to deteriorate rapidly after that time frame,but in the last few years has become one of the most sought after places to live. It is now a far cry from the holiday town of the 1980’s,in both a good and bad sense.

[@TheEdp123]

People always romanticise the past. It literally looks exactly the same now except the cars, clothes and hairstyles are different.

[@FINDINGFITNESS101]

@@TheEdp123 I didn't notice the mess, graffiti, street drinkers, etc..odd that huh?

[@geoffsclassiccars]

​@@TheEdp123 nah it peaked to its best in the 1990s, been going down hill since then

[@FunboyFandango]

​@@TheEdp123it's filthy and falling apart now

[@DK-mj5ck]

Not overcrowded....so nice .....oh such memories

[@Khaos969]

Before the internet the world was a nice place

[@nicolasmith4232]

Remember coming to briton in the 80s on holiday! Loved it great memories!

[@gigteevee6118]

This whole presentation is so Alan Partridge 😂

[@evans34]

Yes especially the opening sentence 😂

[@stewartcohen-jones2949]

Thought exactly the same thing. The most Partridge voice I’ve heard. Wonder if Coogan has seen this .

[@CARLIN4737]

Ah Ha?

[@dimosfassoulas6909]

I love brighton.i have been there 1987 1988.

[@MrReymoclif714]

April-1980!!! Depressingly empty!

[@david50south77]

Thanks for showing all these great videos.it certainly brings back so many memories.

[@cdfort]

As a kid I used to love wish you were here, it really gave me my travel bug. The video is cool, I live near Brighton and I have worked in lots of those companies at some point Inc uni, twenty one and patcham place, lots still their but Butlins now flats (I worked on the construction site). University flats are nice but abit far out for a holiday maker. Patcham place is not a youth hostel anymore? More something todo with council. Again abit far out for a weekend to Brighton but nice location. Certainly prices are not the same!

[@isupportthecurrentthing.1514]

I was there !

[@RetroReminiscing]

Love watching these thanks Sonique

[@speedygonzales378]

Nothing more annoying than someone asking if everything is alright,when you are trying to tuck into your meal.

[@ladytron1724]

Stayed at a Blackpool hotel and the owner would go round the tables in the dining room telling jokes.An absolute pest.😂

[@jamessomying]

@@ladytron1724 Best thing to do is answer " yeah, everything is ok", whilst letting some food fall from your mouth.

[@plumduff3303]

Ahhh takes me back happy days

[@jasonayres]

(5:34) "A family can often have a dormitory to themselves.." Now, I'm frugal.. Ah, thrifty. Love a bargain. But if I told my missus that we were having a holiday, far from home, in a youth hostel, with most of the room to ourselves.. 🤔 I would hope to have 'travel insurance' in the package, also 🤕

[@thepowerstation2702]

"Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan,.... DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!! '

[@marsilladewibaruch7097]

Missing the good old days in England. After 30 years in Malaysia, I believe it’s time to come back to UK

[@mikekaraoke]

Do it come back! Come back to your roots, where did you originally live in England? I'm in Kent between Dartford/Bexleyheath way!

[@nigelsheppard625]

The UK of your past has gone.

[@mikekaraoke]

@@nigelsheppard625 Not all of it it hasn't!

[@steverawlinson9635]

@@mikekaraoke are you sure

[@mikekaraoke]

@@steverawlinson9635 Yea I'm sure, was only in Devon the other week and still lovely and many others will agree with me!

[@DashDrones]

The twenty one is still there in Brighton. 9.6 on trip advisor

[@AlanMacKenzieBTN]

Youth Hostel is luxury! In my day, we slept in the sea off Kemp Town beach during the winter of 1947 and ate groynes for breakfast, if we were lucky! And we never complained. People have it too easy these days. A good war with the Isle of Wight is long overdue.

[@brucedanton3669]

Brighton always did seem a bit crummy to be fair, although you do have Hove and the South Downs nearby too. We would mostly go to Eastbourne or Worthing as they were not so crowded too. But each to their own I guess of course too?!

[@sleepmutterer9746]

Happy days 😊

[@CARLIN4737]

Indeed.

[@AnnabelleJARankin]

Yes I was there!

[@MsSteve70]

A scruffy late-riser doing up his shoe laces in his underpants at 4:14 for those interested.

[@bertiewooster3326]

He'd be mounted today !

[@CARLIN4737]

Probably in shock at waking up and finding a camera man at the end of his bed?

[@TheLionandtheWolfUK]

This is Alan Partridge I swear.

[@brucedanton3669]

The narrator here is John Carter by by the way. He used to be on BBC1's Holiday series up until 1987 if I remember rightly. In 1988-as here-he decided to cross over to ITV's Wish You Were Here series, made by Thames Television of old. I know he was there until 1998 when we read at the time that ITV had decided to drop him alas for some reason at the time. Holiday ran from 1969 to 2007; whilst Wish You Were Here ran from 1974 to 2003. BBC2 had a similar series, The Travel Show, that ran from 1982 to 1999; although the BBC News channel now has a series on there too of the same name. Channel 4 at one time had a series called Travelog, although I do not remember the dates of that one though. Thank you too!

[@CARLIN4737]

Ah Ha?

[@MrDanielfff777]

Going this weekend

[@jasonayres]

A bit envious. (Greetings from a locked down town 🇦🇺)

[@RegensDominor]

How was it?

[@CARLIN4737]

I was there all that time. Aaaaaaaaaaalbion...

[@paddas1612]

From someone born in the town, but moved away at the end of the 70’s, I find this very sad …where are the comments from people indicating a real pride and a commitment and desire to improve the environment and community(s)?

[@davidfreesefan23]

$150 in 1988 is about $400 now. (Dollars because I’m American - not sure if the inflation rate in the UK was similar, but giving an estimate as to what the price given for the Grand Hotel would equal in today’s money.) Of course, it’s probably a lot more now. This video is in January 1988, which puts it just over three years after the bombing in October 1984 - looks like by the time of the video they got the hotel fixed up.

[@amillionviews888]

Ooooooo I love that introduction theme. Brings back memories. I wonder what Brighton is like today. I've been living in Sweden since 1992 and really want to move back to England and buy a house somewhere, preferably not South London where I grew up.

[@cdl0]

Except for the prices, it is about the same. You may be better off staying in Sweden, however. It is a great place to live!

[@Isleofskye]

Hi. Inner London is unrecognizable from THe London you knew. By 2016 only one birth in 10 was to indigenous Brits. I moved from the heart of S E London in 1983 after 28 wonderful years there just 2 miles from Central London and like most S E Londoners I moved around 12 miles to the very edge of S E London and Kent where I have had 38 safe and happy years. South West Londoners moved to Surrey and East and West Sussex. Good Luck :)

[@Lucky-lo1ss]

A lot going on still, just much, much busier. And the addition of a very tall pole.

[@MrNobbyify]

Expensive.

[@amillionviews888]

@@Lucky-lo1ss Hahahahaha, tall pole. Must check that pole out

[@timphillips9954]

I grew up here in the seventies and left in 1988. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. I spent most of those twenty years on the beach or in the sea.

[@cerneuffington2656]

99.9% Indigenous, Genuine and Normal ♥

[@borja1000]

The prices...

[@Isleofskye]

Inner London to Luton then to Geneva in Switzerland then 5 hours to St.Anton in Austria and half board for 10 days in a hotel and, obviously, all transport on the return and the cost in 1976 was...£36 each :) Led Zeppelin @Wembley Arena 75 PENCE. Pink Floyd @Earls Court:£1 and best of all both Deep Purple and Creedence Clearwater Revival (the following week) at The Royal Albert Hall in 1973 :25 PENCE !!!!!

[@MrNobbyify]

@@Isleofskye Try adjusting for inflation.

[@Isleofskye]

Well, let's try Nobby. In 2010 the 3 remaining members of Led Zepplin played The O2 with the original drummers' son and the tickets were £200 so in 35 years that was 266 times greater.. I just looked up the average UK wage then and it was £48 per week. By 2010 it was £497 per week. Less than 11 times more. That holiday would have been 3/4 of an average weekly wage which would only make it £376 now. :)

[@CARLIN4737]

Be weird to see a 17 year old me bowling past in the film as i was knocking around Brighton during this time. Be freaky actually. maybe its just aswell....Im not in it.

[@ashleybland4696]

The 21 hotel is still there on Charlotte Street

[@cuebj]

No! Beaches were filthy with no dog control and water full of effluent - from drains and cattle run-off. Clean beaches were few and far apart. With nobody holidaying there (often cheaper to go to Spain or similar), accommodation was low grade. Restaurants and cafés hadn't woken up like they did ten to 20 years later. Seaside with greasy fish and chips from freezer, not fresh caught locally. We used to stay with friends in Dorset for access to clean beaches

[@mhaque5725]

I remember all of that as a child, being bought up in Brighton.Our parents didn't let us in the sea!

[@zonesproductions]

Wow. I've lived in brighton my whole life but now its too expensive. £1600 a month for a 1 bed flat. I have to leave.

[@iainholder8785]

Lovely. But I can’t see why anyone would want to go on holiday to the old East Slope at Sussex

[@bertiewooster3326]

Please explain why ?

[@likhan.ghosh.]

The Grand for £150 a night with breakfast included? I’ll take a whole week please.

[@mistofoles]

@2:29 - Oi ! You call that clean ??

[@needleontherecord]

Basshead: where are you?

[@richardtheeighth4431]

#Felix Last year another KZbinr chatted with basshead on a different channel asking why he wasn't first any longer. The word was Thames Tv blocked basshead for being first. I guess being first doesn't mean you always come out a winner? 🤷

[@jasonayres]

He is greatly missed around these parts. A man of few words. Well, one really. And yet, never far from controversy. How one word could divide the public! Some folks jeered, "What do you want - a medal!" Other folks, well, gave him a medal (🥇) Still, the bottom line (-I suppose the bass line -) is that he's moved on, or if rumours are right, been moved on, to greater challenges. Such is the mark of a man who always strives for excellence, aims to arrive.. 1st.

[@richardtheeighth4431]

@@jasonayres Well, put Sir Jason. 💯 😆 👍 Mind you, it's not beyond one's imagination to consider basshead might be in our midst if he was to create a separate KZbin account and adopt another alias. 🤔 Although the said method would have "first" been used by somebody shortly after KZbin was created. 💻

[@jasonayres]

@@richardtheeighth4431 🤔I hadn't thought of that. Basshead, now singing in a higher octave, perhaps? A changed man.

[@Bill-cv1xu]

We barley knew ye.

[@lucieirl]

uni’s should continue to rent out halls that makes so much sense?? But I’ve never heard of it done.

[@littlejohnnyturtle8770]

Went there a few weeks back. Won't be going back.

[@PodOfHeat]

Sand looks a bit uncomfortable...

[@Isleofskye]

The problem with Brighton is the Pebbles on the beach. There is little sand there.

[@mechanoid5739]

@@Isleofskye that's not pebbles, it's coarse sand! 😉

[@Isleofskye]

Ironically I am holding a coarse woollen cloth but I must thank you for not being coarse in your reply because of,er,coarse, it's coarse sand....:)

[@bobcatt289]

@@mechanoid5739 You've obviously never been to Brighton beach.

[@mechanoid5739]

@@bobcatt289 You obviously missed my Estate Agent descriptive narrative! ;)

[@alfreddunn03]

Anyone got any idea what year this would be?

[@ZeldaFitz]

I’d guess about 1987

[@alfreddunn03]

Zelda Fitzgerald I thought about the same? Pastel coloured clothes and hairstyles are about that time.

[@stephenasbridge878]

Butlins it is then…..😬

[@dan1strike]

It's long gone now

[@julianlawrence-ball2279]

I moved from London to Worthing in 1979, I was 13 and banned from going to Brighton on my own 😂

[@michaelhughes4466]

Had a weeks holiday in Brighton most years in 70s and 80s, stayed in Russell Square, great times in pubs and clubs. Now far too dear with b & b £100 or more a night, and culturally would no longer feel I belong. Torquay and Scarborough much better value.

[@CGetRight]

Why don’t you feel culturally at home in brighton anymore?

[@michaelhughes4466]

@@CGetRight Oh dear, did I say something politically incorrect? Though I must retract my comment about hotel prices, found a B&B near the Palace Pier for £62, will try Brighton again soon.

[@AntarcticaTelevision]

Personally, I'd rather go to the university campus than to those city centre B&B's...

[@AntarcticaTelevision]

Alan Partridge meets Fawlty Towers.

[@madasaboxofrogs]

Very Alan Partridge 😄

[@slametterus3155]

Remember in i was kid ..in 1993 perhaps indonesia tv nasional tvri always feed this program....i miss that

[@MrNobbyify]

Ahh, I always loved indonesia tv nasional tvri.

[@figure-of-speech]

that was really good - gust booklet , in each post letter in UK super ! today you got domino pizza with a special offer's that why you now ! .. ?

[@paulbroderick8438]

Same old, same old. B and B's plus trinket shops.

[@johnathanryan2117]

Not that long ago...but belongs to a different world. No Brighton for us in Lancashire....Blackpool all the way!🤣🤣🤣

[@rabbit64sj91]

It is a third of a century ago, so I'd say it's quite a long time ago really! 😉

[@philhealey449]

Blackpool still offering colour TV, H&C and use of cruet?

[@Isleofskye]

You had HOT as well as cold ??? We were done up like a Kipper :(

[@johnathanryan2117]

@@philhealey449 as long as you brought your own coal to put into back of the telly to make it ' go'...

[@johnathanryan2117]

@@philhealey449 as long as you brought your own coal to put into back of the telly to make it ' go'...

[@svitlanaostapchenko5642]

Not cheap

[@joejardine7893]

And you get dinner prepared by Chuck Norris

[@keithburgess1567]

My my how this world has changed in 30 years technology has launched us into chaos

[@richbiles230872]

@t n could you please recommend an alternative country of residence?

[@Vidley1866]

And no grafitti anywhere !

[@whatarewegonnabe2932]

I wouldn't like that meal time lark,all them stranger's

[@davidrobertson5700]

Where can I get a place like that for £55 a night now ?

[@wmtrader]

You will need a time machine because £55 in 1988 is the same as £150 in 2021. My source is the inflation calculator at the Bank of England website.

[@mikekaraoke]

@@wmtrader You are also forgetting you can get vouchers/deals as well back then-so wouldn't always be £150 in today's money!

[@nicaskey1]

Bangladesh

[@mistertobs4044]

No vegan or veggie options in them days.. strictly sausage and beef on the menu

[@hand587]

Gourmet dinner = just some fruit on a plate

[@javierbelver3752]

As an immigrant living in brighton I would like to be there and live the british culture. When I came to brighton I expected mods, rockers, english families and what I found out it's a gay lobby, woke culture and its getting worse. It's a shame

[@akrim777]

Spot on. Wish I was here in the 80s. Now it's time to save some ££ and pack my bags.

[@BlueSmurf10]

If you're not happy with the culture here, you're not obliged to live here.

[@Baldieman1]

Never paticuarly keen on this resort,too busy.Really avoid it now,as it is just London by the sea,with all the things,as a Londoner born & bred,I want to get away from,such as the crowds,the pink& green haired wokies,rip off prices,and everything covered in hideous graffiti. Prefer Eastbourne,although unfortunately,it will end up the same eventually.

[@tina5203]

It all looked cheap and overcrowded and having greasy breakfasts every day isn’t healthy at all !!

[@wallysymons7540]

Most of the accommodation in that video looks terrible but people just didn't have the same expectations back then and nor could they. Take it easy on the food tho, greasy breakfasts have been the staple of the working class for decades. Look back over videos from the 80s and you will see far less overweight people. Home cooked breakfasts aren't the issue, its our access to highly saturated fats through quick and cheap takeaway foods, and of course our cheap sugar drinks that are everywhere. We have so much choice now, whether or not that is making us happier is debatable.

[@tina5203]

@@wallysymons7540 Oh right but all I’m saying is that I wouldn’t eat greasy food but I’m only speaking for myself as I always have organic porridge and fresh fruit for breakfast. I do think the accommodation looked cheap but I like spa hotels so I suppose it’s all about what you prefer and I understand that !!

[@richardtheeighth4431]

#tina In the 1980s people weren't so narrowminded, openly pretentious and thick as your (woke?) self. This might explain your warped perception of the 1980s hotels appearing "cheap and overcrowded." (The word "nasty" has been redacted). 1:30, the "guestaccom" brochure was introduced in 1978, specifically to promote a variety of hotels at a range of budgets for travellers in that era. Besides that, 1:18 what do you assume the fat content would be of a fruit platter? In comparison, Wally is bang on with his accurate description of the nutrition, health, weight and overall well-being of the people from the 1980s era. P.S. kudos to Kodi for his bang on statement.

[@tina5203]

@@richardtheeighth4431 You again and I’m Not any of the above in your opening insults and I Never used the word Nasty in any of my comments either so please do read properly . Also I did say to Wally Symons that its a preferred choice so I wasn’t being horrible at all . However I Never have liked overcrowded hotels and yes I do enjoy spa breaks which you obviously look down on so let’s leave it here and don’t make False Assumptions about me either . You’ve made ridiculous comments to me before but I remember very clearly you saying that you liked nice hotels before so don’t try to pretend otherwise !!🙄

[@tina5203]

@@richardtheeighth4431 And I don’t insult people like you mate . Obviously you can’t have a proper conversation without resorting to calling people names !

[@TheBen465]

Wish I could tell them to buy bitcoin

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

god the world used to be so shit

[@mistofoles]

So what's changed ?

[@benstevens6982]

funny seeing butlins , longridge avenue, saltdean , now flats