Edinburgh in the Eighties: Here are 27 pictures to transport you back to life in the Capital in 1986 - including the Commonweath Games

Events making the headlines in 1986 included the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the Space Shuttle Challenger breaking apart 73 seconds after liftoff, Halley’s Comet appearing in the night sky, and the start of the mad cow disease outbreak in the UK.

On television viewers were tuning into the first episodes of ‘Lovejoy’, ‘Every Second Counts’ and ‘The Singing Detective’, while at the cinema ‘Crocodile’, ‘Top Gun’, ‘Rocky IV’ and ‘Aliens’ saw film fans queue around the block.

In the music charts The Communards had the best-selling single of the year with ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’, followed by ‘Every Loser Wins’ by Nick Berry, Boris Gardiner’s ‘I Want To Wake Up With You’, ‘Living Doll’ by The Young Ones and Ciff Richard, and Diana Ross’s ‘Chain Reaction’.

And there was plenty going on in Edinburgh, including that year’s Commonwealth Games and plenty of celebrity visits.

Here are 27 pictures to take you back to Scotland’s Capital in 1986.

Read more:

Edinburgh Commonwealth Games 1986 in pictures - These 23 photographs take you back to the last time the Capital hosted the Games

Edinburgh Commonwealth Games 1970 - These 23 pictures take you back to when the games took over the Capital

Edinburgh's Morningside: These 28 pictures from the 1950s and 1960s show the fascinating past of the residential neighbourhood

17 pictures of Edinburgh's Lothian Road in the 1950s and 1960s show how much the familiar Capital street has changed

Edinburgh's Meadows: These pictures from the 1950s and 1960s show the fascinating past of the popular park