So far the two biggest box-office hits of 2008 are Batman and Indiana Jones films. This was also the case in 1989, which says a lot about the originality of Hollywood.

Another big hit in 1989 was Honey I Shrunk the Kids, a light-hearted family film.

The 2008 Batman and Indiana Jones films were much darker than their 1989 predecessors, and I think the same should be done with a new Honey I Shrunk film.

How about Honey I Shrunk Your Mother and Fed Her to the Dog and then I Did Something to the Cat I'm Not Proud Of.

Bromley Council was grooming its own screen stars in 1989, with media training for its councillors in case they had to appear on TV or radio.

A reliable source tells me the councillors were also taught how to entertain at public meetings.

The education chief learned to juggle and a 62-year-old member of the planning committee learned to rap.

Apparently she dropped this fresh rhyme at a meeting in March 1989: "Yo yo yo, that you bring this planning application before me is unbelievable, because the building you propose is simply not feasible."

Councillors shining in the spotlight was not the only showbiz activity going on in the area in 1989.

Imagine the bright lights and glamour of American professional wrestling, with muscular men doing battle in front of thousands of fans.

Now imagine two fat sweaty men rolling around on gym mats in a dingy warehouse while the crowd of seven ex-convicts shouts "go on Terry, grab his nuts".

You wouldn't have to imagine the latter if you'd been in Lewisham in February 1989 to see local wrestling stars' compete.

Another glamorous pastime in 1989 was stamp collecting, and sensing this was the new rock and roll, News Shopper dedicated a column to the hobby.

My reliable source tells me Dave Stevens' weekly The World of Stamps column pulled in 15 million readers a week.

And with this thrilling sentence included in the column, I'm not surprised: "At the recent Leeds Showpex I bought a small Victorian GBcollection, which included a fine used half-d of the Jubilee issue."



In 1989:

  • The big films of the year were Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters II and Driving Miss Daisy, with the latter winning the best picture Oscar.
  • In music, the biggest selling singles were Madonna's Like a Prayer, The Bangles' Eternal Flame and Phil Collins' Another Day in Paradise. The Christmas number one was Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid.
  • On television, Jeremy Paxman made his first appearance as presenter of BBC2's Newsnight on October 4, The Simpsons and the masterpiece of comedy and drama Saved by the Bell made their debuts. For many people, television has not been worth watching since Saved by the Bell ended.
  • Notable births included Bob Geldof's daughter Peaches, Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, England international footballer Theo Walcott and millions were born again when they first saw Saved by the Bell.
  • Notable deaths included Spanish artist Salvador Dali, Western genre film director Sergio Leone and English actor Laurence Olivier.



1989 Star Fact

  • On February 2, satellite television network Sky launched in the UK.