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Christmas wouldn’t have been the same without the Bad Influence and GamesMaster Christmas specials, or indeed their build up to the festive season. Here I take a look at some of my favourite parts of the christmas episodes! Including Patrick Moore’s Christmas hat! Featuring festive sections on the SNES, Mega Drive, 32X, Master System, Atari ST and more!
JESUS CHRIST!….. was born about 2,000 years ago, apparently around this time of year. This momentous occasion spawned a few things, but undoubtedly one of the main things was Christmas Specials. If there are any Christmas specials from the 90s which spring to my mind, it’s Channel 4’s Gamesmaster and ITV’s Bad Influence. If you’re from the UK, I’m sure you can relate.
Bad Influence was an afternoon Children’s ITV programme which span from 1992 to 1996. It featured presenters Andy Crane (of broomcupboard fame) and Violet Berlin, who was an actual gamer who happened to be working in the studio and was roped into presenting. The Thursday afternoon show featured game reviews, new hardware and mini features, along with game hints and tips offered by Nam Rood.
Gamesmaster on the other hand was Channel 4 evening viewing, spanning 1992 to 1998 where contestants and celebrities were pitted against each other in various 2 player games. These ranged from home consoles such as the SNES to arcade cabinets. There were also a few reviews dotted throughout, and of course Patrick Moore as the almighty Gamesmaster.
Both of these programmes aired throughout the winter season, and frankly, without them, Christmas wouldn’t have been the same. These shows sprinkled excitement and anticipation to the festive season, especially as I was wholly obsessed with consoles and computers at the time. A number of Christmas specials were aired… so it feels fitting to share some of my favourite parts with you in my latest video; check it out above.
Nostalgia Nerd is also known by the name Peter Leigh. They routinely make YouTube videos and then publish the scripts to those videos here. You can follow Nostalgia Nerd using the social links below.
