The Wonder Years is a warm , witty and nostalgic story of growing up in the late sixties, in the hippie era of free love while living under the threat of nuclear armageddon. Global war reigned as the National Guard murdered protesting students at home in the US. We marveled at moon landings and the magic of colour television. It was a time of opposites: the time of JFK and Richard Nixon (were they very different?); of Martin Luther King and the Ku Klux Klan. Digital audio was an experiment and mobile phones were science fiction.

The story is narrated by actor Daniel Stern, looking back twenty years at the innocence and frustrations, the hopes and aspirations of youth. Each episode is like a little lesson in (mostly US) history and features some fine examples of music from the time. Perhaps twenty years from now the young people of today will likewise think back and wonder at how they amused themselves while the earth boiled. But such is the charm of reminiscence - it is a luxury afforded only to those who survive.

Joe Cocker at Woodstock!