WHO REMEMBERS? The UK Nostalgia Podcast

It’s Halloween this week, so we are going a bit off script. We’ve already done “things that scared us as kids” TWICE, so this time we’re talking about the real-life things that creep us out. There are no ghosts, ghouls or monsters, just everyday things that we hope you will find unsettling once you think about them with your own brain.

In this Halloween special we talk about:

• Victorian post-mortem photography: why families posed for photos with their dead loved ones, and why the pictures are so unnerving now.
• Kicking something underwater: open-water swimming, wild swimming, and the fear of not knowing what’s beneath you.
• Church windows: are they beautiful or threatening? One of us finds churches calming, the other finds the imagery intense.
• Liminal spaces: empty offices, supermarkets after closing, deserted schools and shopping centres, and why familiar places feel so wrong with nobody in them.
• Lost media and morbid curiosity: why people hunt for disturbing footage, and what that says about us. Content note: this segment discusses a real on-air suicide from 1974 so listener discretion is advised.
• Mirrors and seeing what you shouldn’t: glimpses into other rooms, staring at your own reflection, and two true stories we still can’t explain (the rattling beads and the figure in the doorway).

We also get into Nick Ross’s “Don’t have nightmares” sign-off on Crimewatch, and a few late-night field-walking incidents. We hope you're sitting UNCOMFORTABLY!!!

This week we’re digging into the crisps of our childhoods. We cover the classic packets, the flavours that vanished and the lunchbox swaps we’ve never forgotten.

This episode was inspired by the book U.K. Crisp Packets 1970–2000: The Incomplete Collection of Chris Packets. It’s a wonderfull archive of three decades of crisp packet design, and a huge thank you to Karl for buying us a copy. We debate what actually counts as a crisp (Quavers? Mini Cheddars? Pork scratchings?), tell the story of the man who ate twelve packets of Skips on the way to a party, and each pick our top childhood crisps. Then we pick our favourites today and ask whether crisps were better then or now.

In this episode:

• What counts as a crisp? The great Wotsits, Quavers and Mini Cheddars debate
• A quick history of crisps, from Smiths’ blue salt bags to Golden Wonder’s cheese and onion to Walkers
• The weirdest flavours ever
• Lunchbox dark times: a grandma who worked at Golden Wonder and a box of turkey and stuffing
• Crisp habits: finger licking, tipping the crumbs, and sharing the packet
• Best crisp packet designs
• Our top childhood crisps
• Our favourites today
• Crisps then vs now: have the flavours changed, or have we?

Was life really better in the 90s? For once, we try to argue the opposite. In this anti-nostalgia episode, we each pick five everyday things that are better today than they were in the 90s.

Things we debate:

• Holiday photos: online posting vs. an evening trapped looking at someone’s slides
• Shazam, and the lost art of humming a song at a mate
• Getting a taxi, from ringing a firm that never answered to tracking your driver on a map
• Arranging to meet people, and why plans meant more when you couldn’t cancel by text
• Maps, sat nav and Google Maps vs. the A to Z and the family argument in the car
• Instant facts, and whether the internet killed the great pub argument and the urban myth
• Catch-up TV, and the days of taping Sopranos and begging someone to record it
• Modern cars vs. the Mini Metro
• Light bulbs, which may be the most undefeated argument in this episode
• Never being bored, and whether having everything on tap is actually a good thing

Get in touch: WhoRemembersPod@outlook.com, or find us on X and Bluesky at @WhoRemembersPod.

We rank the top 10 board games we played as kids, from Snakes and Ladders to Chess, with Mo Money Meakin joining us. Which childhood classic takes number one: Cluedo? Trivial Pursuit? Or something else? We also cover the Atmosfear VHS game, the Mousetrap setup nightmare, Go For Broke, honourable mentions like Hero Quest and Key to the Kingdom, and some Monopoly house rule arguments. If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, you'll remember most of these.

Live from a caravan in Chapel St. Leonards, its the annual Who Remembers Roadshow and we go through your comments on the last few episodes. And yes, there is plenty of karaoke....

In this episode:

• Your Apple reviews, the Guinness Book of Records feedback, and the ongoing complaint that Andrew is too loud
• First celebrity deaths you remember, the 1974 Guinness Book of Records, and whether cheetahs are getting slower
• Dream jobs that made sense when you were a kid: farmer (thanks, school career test), chef, fireman, skier, red coat
• Which TV show would you kill off?
• Controversial TV follow-ups: Benny Hill, Heil Honey I'm Home and some Chris Morris Blue Jam
• 80s v 90s girl bands
• Ricky Gervais vs Grant Bovey, the Comic Relief boxing match, and the real question: who is Britain's hardest comedian?
• Your horse and dog shit stories.
• A 9/11 retrospective request, and whether Liam actually been to France for a day
• Caravan holidays, the state of seaside arcades, and the best fish and chips on the coast
• Pub observations: a gang of lads, and a man dressed as Hulk Hogan who was meant to be the Lorax

ALL THAT AND MORE!

Have you ever been completely certain something happened, only to find there's no evidence it ever did? This week we go through the UK Mandela effects and false memories we can't shake, and ask whether anyone else remembers them too.

Topics include:

• A Radio 1 DJ who was sacked for a nuclear bomb prank.
• The Rainbow innuendo episode.
• Drew from Neighbours and the drugs storyline.
• Was Doc Brown Marty McFly's uncle in Back to the Future?
• Walkers crisp packet colours.
• Blue Riband or Blue Ribbon?
• Newsround déjà vu.
• Goal music putting the away team off at Bramall Lane.
• Did Bob Geldof ever say "give us your f*ing money" at Live Aid?

If you remember any of these, or you can explain where we've gone wrong, get in touch. We'd love someone to say "I know what you've done there."

Contains strong language.

The World Cup of One Hit Wonders is back — and this time it's the Noughties under the microscope. We are joined once again by returning guest Adam Follett as we seed one-hit chart bangers into a 32-team tournament

Songs featured (by group)

Group A: Zombie Nation-Kernkraft 400, Alexander Rybak – Fairy Tale, Lumidee – Never Leave You (Uh Oh), Vanessa Carlton – A Thousand Miles
Group B: Gary Jules – Mad World, Three of a Kind – Baby Cakes, Sam Sparro – Black and Gold, Cazals – Jerk It Out
Group C: O-Zone – Dragostea Din Tei, Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition, Hoobastank – The Reason, Phantom Planet – California
Group D: Rui Da Silva – Touch Me, Daniel Powter – Bad Day, Hellogoodbye – Here (In Your Arms), Liam Lynch – United States of Whatever
Group E: Bodyrockers – I Like the Way, Newton Faulkner – Dream Catch Me, Las Ketchup – The Ketchup Song, Steve Brookstein – Against All Odds
Group F: Sweet Female Attitude – Flowers, Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah, Frankee – F.U.R.B., Tomcraft – Loneliness
Group G: Vanessa Jenkins & Bryn – Islands in the Stream, The Bravery – Honest Mistake, Metro Station – Shake It, Scantie Sandwich – Because of You
Group H: Peter Bjorn and John – Young Folks, DJ Pied Piper – Do You Really Like It?, Nizlopi – JCB Song, I Monster – Daydream in Blue

Link to playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3DuY0ZeWxMbvFSK173QFuQ?si=cb1afb14d54c40e1

It's a Rankers episode! We count down the top 10 celebrity scandals of the 1990s — from British tabloid stitch-ups to full-blown transatlantic media storms. Along the way we cover OJ Simpson, Bill Clinton, Hugh Grant, George Michael, Richard Bacon, David Mellor, Jarvis Cocker and Michael Jackson, Charles and Diana, Sinéad O'Connor, Robert Maxwell, Glenn Hoddle, and Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee — but who takes the crown as the biggest scandal of the decade?

A trip back to the 90s, for anyone who remembers when a newspaper could destroy a career overnight.

Andrew and Liam grab a battered copy of the 2020 Guinness World Records and go full "human encyclopedia" mode, tracing the book back to its 1955 origins as a way to settle pub arguments (top marks to founder Sir Hugh Beaver) and asking whether it still means anything now that you can just ask an AI how many pigeons fit in a wheelbarrow.

In this episode:

• The Guinness Book of Records vs Guinness World Records name change (and why it still counts as nostalgia)
• Norris McWhirter, human encyclopedia, and the records that got banned for being too dangerous — hunger strikes, longest kiss, gluttony records, and more
• A full tribute to Record Breakers, Roy Castle's 43 broken records, his upside-down trumpet playing, and the Chris Akabusi/Cheryl Baker/Linford Christie presenter lineage
• Three favourite records each, including: the most dogs in a conga line, the world's highest-ranking sheep (yes, really), giant knitting needles, the most M&Ms eaten blindfolded with chopsticks, and 65 concrete blocks broken on one head in a minute
• A genuinely uncomfortable detour into the "most prolific serial killer" record and why it was pulled, then reinstated
• Verdict: has the Guinness Book of Records had its day?

Get in touch: whorememberspod@outlook.com | Twitter/X: @WhoRemembersPod | Bluesky: @WhoRemembers Pod

This week we count down the jobs we actually wanted as 80s and 90s UK kids and how each dream got crushed. On the list: Beano illustrator (derailed by undiagnosed dyspraxia), policeman, bedroom video game coder, carpenter, goalkeeper, pilot (colour-blindness ended that one fast), UK Top 40 host, fireman/PE teacher, record shop worker, and civil engineer.

Plus: Helen Sharman's school visit, Peter Shilton appreciation, and eight hours a day of Andy's Records' Top Ten on loop.

Content warning: this episode discusses TV shows containing racist, offensive, and adult content, including material some listeners may find upsetting. Please check the chapters if you'd rather skip specific sections.

A different kind of episode this week — we take a look back at British TV shows that got made, aired, and in some cases ran for years... and ask whether any of them could exist today.

Covered in this episode:

• Heil Honey I'm Home — the notorious Hitler sitcom pulled after one episode
• Racial sitcoms of the 70s — Rising Damp, Love Thy Neighbour, Till Death Us Do Part — and the line between satirising bigotry and platforming it
• Benny Hill and the saucy-postcard humour of British TV's biggest ever export
• Banzai and its shockingly ill-judged betting sketches
• Chris Morris's Jam and Brass Eye — TV built to make you question whether you should be laughing
• There's Something About Miriam and the ethics of reality TV built on deception
• Fat Families, Shattered, and the shows that pushed contestants' physical and mental limits for entertainment
• Naked Jungle, Topless Darts, and the "lads' TV" era
• The Black and White Minstrel Show — one of British broadcasting's most uncomfortable legacies
• Minipops and Jim'll Fix It — shows whose reputations were forever changed

Not for kids, and not for everyone — but could still be fun.

It's your monthly dose of listener feedback! We work through your Apple reviews (Review), comments, and messages on everything from the 80s and 90s One Hit Wonders tournaments to the UK Caravan Holidays episode, the Unsolved Mysteries deep dive, and the fallout from their World Cup Review.

In this episode:

• A shout-out to Green Bay Blade, the lone Apple reviewer who came through
• Plans for a Champion of Champions one-hit-wonder tournament, with listener wildcards including Mental As Anything's "Live It Up" and The Dream Academy
• An update request on "the Sainsbury's bailer guy"
• Angry Anderson, Rose Tattoo, and the mystery of his invite to Scott and Charlene's wedding
• Caravan chaos: static vs. towed, Donkey Derby disputes and a dog-crap double disaster in Ingoldmells.
• The Dodleston Messages, Keith Chegwin's echoing cave fart, and a listener campaign for a full BBC Micro Computers episode
• Fallout from a viral World Cup clip that got us blocked and added to someone's "clickbait" list

All (most) of your comments, being read out in our trademark remembering fashion

Following the success of our 90s one-hit wonder tournament, we're back with a knockout competition for the greatest one-hit wonders of the 1980s. Joined by returning guest David Beeden, we seed 32 songs into eight groups of four, applying a strict rule: one UK top-20 hit only, no other top-40 entries allowed.

The group stage throws up classic clashes between decade-defining tracks — 99 Red Balloons, Fast Car, Betty Davis Eyes, It's Raining Men, Turning Japanese, and Waiting for a Star to Fall all do battle for a place in the knockouts. Some big names crash out early, while a few surprise packages quietly build momentum through the rounds.

The tournament builds to a dramatic final between two very different contenders, with the hosts going back and forth before crowning a winner in one of the most unexpected results of the series so far — plus a mysterious late twist involving a friend's secret ballot that nobody can open.

Expect chart trivia, arguments over what actually counts as a "one-hit wonder," and plenty of 80s nightclub nostalgia along the way.

Link to the one hit wonder playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Bpt2cv5hE79AypXOlBGK5?si=0e2d5aa6e4734ce9

This week we are back in the caravan — remembering UK holidays from the 80s and 90s, from Whitby and New Quay to Skegness and Chapel St Leonards. Prompted by a long-standing listener request, we dig into everything that made a British caravan holiday unforgettable: the marathon car journeys, "who sees the sea first," cramped kitchens, stripy bed sheets, and the unmistakable sound of rain on a caravan roof.

Expect Butlins nostalgia, arcade machine memories, bingo chaos, seaside chips, and the dread of that final countdown before heading home. A properly nostalgic one this week.

In this episode:

• The build-up and the journey down — back roads, roof racks, and no seatbelts in sight
• First impressions walking into the caravan
• Rain on the roof, tiny kitchens, and caravan privacy (or lack of it)
• Clubhouses, bingo, and seaside etiquette
• Arcade machines, 2p pushers, and classic games
• Family telly, chart music, and the drive home
• UK holidays vs going abroad

This week on Who Remembers?, we bring back a fan-favourite format from the old Living With Madeley days: unsolved mysteries, investigated (and solved) by two self proclaimed detectives.

We dig into some of history's strangest unexplained cases, including a time-travelling computer message, a vanishing pilot, "goblins" attacking a Kentucky farmhouse, a crewless Navy blimp, twins with eerie reincarnation memories, and a mysterious ancient manuscript that shouldn't exist.

Mysteries covered in this episode:

• The Dodleston Messages (1984) — A Cheshire teacher's BBC Micro computer allegedly received messages from a man living in the same house in 1546, and later from someone claiming to be from the year 2109.
• The Valentich UFO Disappearance (1978) — An Australian pilot vanishes after reporting a strange aircraft hovering above him, with no wreckage ever found.
• The Hopkinsville Goblins Encounter (1955) — Eleven witnesses in Kentucky report a night-long siege by small, bulletproof creatures.
• The Ghost Blimp Mystery (1942) — A US Navy blimp lands safely with no crew on board and no explanation for their disappearance.
• The Pollock Twins Reincarnation Case (1950s–60s) — Twin girls born after their sisters' deaths appear to recall memories, people, and objects from their sisters' lives.
• The Ura Linda Book Mystery — A 19th-century manuscript claiming to be an ancient Frisian chronicle, describing lost civilisations and a hidden version of European history.

Plus a bonus mystery solved mid-recording — the strange case of "The Man From Taured," the traveler who allegedly arrived in Tokyo with a passport from a country that doesn't exist......

A one-hit wonder sounds simple until you try to define it properly. We set ourselves a brutal challenge: build a 32-song World Cup of 1990s one-hit wonders using strict UK Top 40 rules, then argue it all the way to a single champion. With Marc Webster joining us, we go from instant group-stage favourites to the kind of debates that only a proper nostalgia podcast can justify: what counts as “one hit”, whether TV themes should be allowed, and why some songs feel massive even when the chart history says otherwise.....

Azteca at pitch level and suddenly all the pre-tournament cynicism disappears. We start there, because the opening night in Mexico reminds us what the World Cup is meant to feel like before the hydration breaks, ref cam gimmicks and endless off-pitch noise drag us back to reality.

Mo Money Meekin joins us to rewind through the 2026 World Cup chronologically, picking out the moments that will actually stick: the BBC versus ITV broadcast battle, studio weirdness, Fox Sports clips going viral, and group stage folklore. We talk about how the expanded tournament played out, why the underdogs have their scenes without getting the endings, and how a few baffling decisions make suspicion part of the viewing experience.

Then we get to the emotional centre: England vs Mexico at 2am, delayed kick-off chaos, penalties, panic defending, and one genuinely heartwarming sideline moment that somehow cuts through the intensity. From there it’s VArgentina talk, England’s semi-final self-destruction, a third-place play-off that’s way better than it has any right to be, and a final where Spain deserve it and Argentina never show up. If you’ve got a strong memory of this tournament already, we want to know what it is. Subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a review with your one moment you’ll still be quoting in 20 years.

We hand the mic to you for a full listeners’ comments special, where the compliments come with a sting and the recurring theme is clear: People doubt our remembering.

If you enjoy UK nostalgia, 90s football memories, and friendly bickering about tiny details that shouldn’t matter but somehow do, hit subscribe, leave us a review, and share the episode with the mate who always “remembers it differently”. What did we get wrong this time?

Twenty-three and a half million people sat down to watch a Bond film on ITV. Thirty million watched Dirty Den deliver divorce papers on Christmas Day. If those numbers sound unreal in the age of streaming, that’s exactly why we wanted to dig into the most watched UK TV broadcasts of the 1980s and 1990s, year by year, and work out what was really going on in the living rooms of Britain.

If you love UK nostalgia, 80s television, 90s television, and the stories behind the viewing figures, hit play. Subscribe, share it with a mate and leave us a review with the one broadcast you remember the whole country watching together.

Andrew has lost his voice so badly we can’t give you a full new recording this week, but we still wanted to give you something worth your time. So we flip the schedule and pull a favourite from the archive: our deep dive into the Neil Warnock documentary that follows Sheffield United’s 2004 to 2005 season. It’s a proper time capsule of Championship football, captured before the era of polished club media and carefully managed access.

If you enjoyed it, subscribe, share it with a mate who loves a football documentary, and leave us a review with your favourite Warnock moment.