That's So Last Century, Channel 4 - TV review: You'd have to be under 16 not to recognise these gadgets

The show seemed to assume we were all the same age as the celebrities' children

Daisy Wyatt
Tuesday 08 December 2015 23:56 GMT
Comments
James Corden in That's So Last Century
James Corden in That's So Last Century (Channel 4)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Christmas schedule is upon us, and Channel 4 has got the proceedings well under way with That's So Last Century, a look at retro gadgets gone by brought to you by some of our most famous comedians – and their families.

Doc Brown, Vic Reeves, Will Mellor and – rather randomly – boxer David Haye gathered around the table with their brood to discuss a bygone era where we rewound cassette tapes by turning them over in our Walkmans and fast-forwarding them. Even James Corden took a break from hosting his late-night show in LA to talk about the merits of playing Snake on a Nokia 3310.

The show seemed to assume we were all the same age as the celebrities' children and had never known the days when you had to savour the number of holiday snaps you could take on your Kodak or use text speak to SV MNY ON CRDT.

Amusing as it was to see Vic Reeves's daughter call a cassette tape a record, and Dom Joly's son try and take a selfie with an archaic Nikon, most of us do remember when chemists dobbed customers in for their naughty snaps and people re-recorded TV shows over old episodes of Top of the Pops on VHS.

It may have seemed like an eternity since we started messaging on WhatsApp and sharing photos on Instagram, but the smartphone has only been around for eight years. You'd have to be under-16 not to recognise any of the gadgets on the show, in which case you probably should have been in bed.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in