A personal list of my favourite TV shown on BBC and ITV in the 1970s. Includes repeats from the 60s and 50s. I was eight years old in 1980.
Bagpuss and his friends are toys in a turn of the century shop for 'found things'. When young Emily brings them a new object, the toys come to life to work out what the strange new thing could possibly be.
Classic kids' stop-motion cartoon from the creators of DangerMouse. Chorlton (a magical dragon) wakes up from an egg one day and he awakens the Wheelies and brightens up the Wheelie World. It had been a long time since Wheelie World had seen a ray of sunshine. The evil the green kettle witch Fenella who lives in Spout Hall (between Wheelie World and the Sad Lands) is not happy about Chorlton's appearance and is determined to destroy him so that Wheelie World can stay in darkness again. Though Charlton isn't as smart as you might think, he and all his Wheelie friends always manages to beat Fenella and her servants known as the Spikers and the Toadies at their own game. Now Jump in, take a spin and go round the Wheelie World! "By 'eck!"
The Flumps was a popular children's programme broadcast on British television in 1976 and produced by David Yates and narrated by Gay Soper. The plot revolved around the various adventures of a family of furry, human-like characters called The Flumps. The family was headed by Father Flump who was very clever and often invented things. Mother Flump spent most of her time tidying and did the cooking and often read to the young Flumps, stories from the big book. Perkin Flump was the eldest of the children and often wore a yellow and blue hat. Posie was the only girl and she always wore a bright blue ribbon on her head. Pootle was the youngest member of the Flump family, he often got things confused and he sometimes wore a white hat. Grandfather Flump was the oldest Flump and spent most of his time either in the garden playing with the younger Flumps or playing his Flumpet (musical instrument). If Grandfather was not doing any of the above then he would sometimes be found sitting in the comfy chair reading his paper or sleeping under it as was often the case. He always woke up for tea though, especially if Mother Flump had been baking. Each episode also contained a story or pictures from Mother Flumps big book. The lack of detailed movement with their eyes was more than made up for with the delicate movements and action of their hands.
When Jamie shines his Magic Torch on the floor of his bedroom a hole appears, leading Jamie and Wordsworth the sheepdog to the psychedelic fantasy world of Cuckooland.
Mr Benn is an ordinary fellow, living an ordinary life in an ordinary suburban house, at Number 52, Festive Road. One day, Mr Benn receives an invitation to a fancy dress party, and so, donning his bowler hat, he sets off to find a costume to wear. Unable to find a suitable outfit in the usual shops, he turns down a small lane and finds a shop filled with strange and unusual costumes. Inside, Mr Benn asks the fez-wearing shopkeeper if he can try on a suit of red armour; he then enters the changing room, puts on the outfit, and walks through another door... and suddenly finds himself transported back to medieval times. It is the first of many amazing and extraordinary adventures for Mr Benn…
Yoffy lifts a finger... and you're guaranteed all sorts of fun! Yoffy is the hirsute hippy host of Fingermouse's fabulous adventures, gifted with the ability to bring all manner of characters and stories to life using bits of paper and some rather fetching pairs of gloves... Thrill at the adventures of the intrepid rodent Fingermouse and cheer as he finds props for Yoffy's stories! Witness the steadfast seagull Gulliver take flight, and enjoy slow tortoise Flash's sluggish journeys across ficticious lands!
The Flashing Blade (Le Chevalier Tempête) is a French television serial made in the late 1960s, which was broadcast in the UK on BBC children's television during the 1960s, with several re-runs in the 1970s. Dubbed from French into English, the action was set in 17th century France, during a period of war between France and Spain. The plot involves a besieged French garrison in a castle (Fort Casal) on the Savoie border, and the efforts of a dashing spy to engineer their rescue.
The Doctor, a mysterious traveller in space and time, travels in his ship, the TARDIS. The TARDIS can take him and his companions anywhere in time and space. Inevitably he finds evil at work wherever he goes...
Egg-shaped "Ludwig" arrives to share his music and fun adventures with the friendly animals in the forest. Simple and beautiful cut-out animation from the late seventies.
Captain Horatio Pugwash sails the high seas in his ship, the Black Pig, ably assisted by Tom the cabin boy Tom, pirates Willy and Barnabas, and Master Mate. His mortal enemy is Cut-Throat Jake, captain of the Flying Dustman. Black and white episodes were made by writer-animator John Ryan in irregular batches from 1957 to 1966. He made a second series in colour in 1974/75. The series was revived in 1998 by John Cary Studios.
An animated children's series which followed the adventures of a little girl called Mary and her dog, Mungo, and her mouse, Midge.
A teatime gem here, courtesy of FilmFair. Those perishin' youngsters Wellington, Maisie, Marlon, and Baby Grumplin and Boot the rakish sheepdog, jump off the pages of the "Daily Mirror" and into the living rooms of the nostalgia generation. The kids and their dogs go carting and camping, they visit the seaside, and go bouncing around wildly on bright green spacehoppers. And throughout they bicker and backbite in that brilliant mangled dialect that's part-cockney, part-hoity-toity, and utterly, beautifully British.
Play Away is a British television children's programme. A sister programme to the infants' series Play School, it was aimed at slightly older children. It ran from 1971 until 1984, and was broadcast on Saturday afternoons on BBC 2. While Play School had a more gentle, intimate feel, featuring just two presenters in a studio with the usual collection of toys, Play Away was much more lively, including songs, games and many jokes. The first eight series were shot in a studio, usually at BBC Television Centre, London, although certain episodes were recorded in Bristol or Manchester. Later episodes were recorded in front of a live studio audience. The format was a little like a music-hall variety show or 'end-of-the-pier' show. The Musical Director was Jonathan Cohen on piano, with Spike Heatley on double bass and Alan Rushton on drums, often with accomplished guest musicians such as trombonist George Chisholm.
Fun but instructive science lectures from Johnny Ball in his first of many children's factual series.
The saga of Noggin The Nog. A cartoon film of the adventures of the Prince of the Nogs in the land of the midnight sun.
A long-running BBC children's television series. Stories read by well known people of the day, spanning 15min episodes.
Black Beauty lives in the late 19th century in England. This series is about his adventures and how he found "his" family - the doctor's family Gordon. Vicky Gordon becomes his best friend but the rest of the family loves him, too. This great black stallion often helps to save lives. Beauty is brave and sensible but in the other way a normal horse.
Based on the children's books by Barbara Euphan Todd, this series concerns the adventures of Worzel Gummidge, a scarecrow, and his love Aunt Sally, a life-size wooden fairground doll, both of whom can walk and talk and pass themselves off as human. The only people in on their secret are a couple of children, John and Susan. The Crowman, who created Worzel, also provided him with a set of different heads for different tasks: a thinking head, a brave head, a counting head and a clever head. Made by Southern Television for the ITV network.
The Wombles was adapted as a British children's television programme, The Wombles, a series of five-minute stop-motion episodes produced by FilmFair for the BBC and voiced by Bernard Cribbins. The first series aired in 1973 and the second in 1975, sixty episodes in all. In 1977, a feature-length live-action movie Wombling Free appeared, starring David Tomlinson and Bonnie Langford. The Wombles were re-invented from 1998 as a cartoon after FilmFair was acquired by the Canadian company Cinar Films in 1996, a number of new geographically-named Wombles were introduced. The original television series remained popular with children in the eighties. However, the original "green" message backfired: newspapers reported at the time that children were deliberately throwing litter onto the real Wimbledon Common in the hope of seeing a Womble emerge to pick it up.
For Brits of a certain age, Camberwick Green is a programme guaranteed to spark nostalgia. At the start of each episode, we saw a tall, hexagonal box sitting on a table. This was to be our way in to the charmingly old-fashioned world of Windy Miller, Mrs Honeyman the gossip, PC McGarry ("number four! five! two!") and the rest. Here is a box, a musical box, Wound up and ready to play. But this box can hide A secret inside. Can you guess what is in it today? And from the box would emerge one of the residents of Camberwick Green. Following a brief chat between the narrator (Brian Cant) and the character (who would respond to Cant's questions silently with nods, shrugs and shakes of the head), the scene mixed through into Camberwick Green itself - a quiet country village with all the basic amenities (bakery, butcher, garage) and, in the land surrounding it, Windy Miller's windmill, Jonathan Bell's farm and the army fort commanded by Captain Snort.
Here is the clock, the Trumpton clock. Telling the time steadily, sensibly. Never too quickly, never too slowly. Telling the time for Trumpton. Gordon Murray's 1966 series for the BBC, Camberwick Green, was an immediate success and an instant classic, and naturally he was asked to produce a second run of episodes. But, feeling that he had exhausted the possibilities for the village setting of that series, he instead came up with a sequel. Trumpton carried on the style of Camberwick Green, but this time the setting was a busy market town, complete with town hall and resident mayor. There was a whole new cast of characters, including Mrs Lovelace (and her yappy dogs), Chippy Minton the carpenter and, most famously of all, the town fire brigade, whose roll-call ("Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grubb!") became the series' catchphrase. But the main theme remained: whether in a small village or a bustling market
Chigley (1969) is the third and final stop-motion children's television series in Gordon Murray's Trumptonshire sequence. Production details are identical to Camberwick Green. As in Camberwick Green and Trumpton, the action centres around a small community, in this case the fictitious village or hamlet of Chigley, near Camberwick Green in Trumptonshire. Chigley is more of an industrial area, and according to Gordon Murray, the three communities are at the corners of an equilateral triangle. A digitally restored version of the series from the rediscovered original film masters emerged in 2012.[1]
The Adventures of Rupert Bear is a 70’s Children’s TV puppet show. The characters were created in 1920 by Mary Tourtell as a comic strip for the Daily Express Newspaper. He was so popular that during World War II the British Government asked the Daily Express to keep him going for the public morale. He eventually made it to our screens in 1970 via the capable hands of Mary Turner and John Read for ATV. Mary sculpted Rupert, who was based on the annual covers that show him as solid flesh and blood, unlike the drawings inside of it. She and her team of puppeteers had worked on other TV puppet productions before Rupert.
Bod, Aunt Flo, PC Copper, Frank The Postman and Farmer Barleymow dwelt in a simple world of single-colour backgrounds and cut-outs. They starred in a show specifically tailored for preschool children, featuring stories, music and games, and the 13 episodes were shown repeatedly through the 1970's as part of the BBC's "Watch With Mother" schedule. Each original episode included a short BOD story, a story about Alberto Frog and His Amazing Animal Band, a song, and a game of BOD Snap. It was a simple affair, but the delivery was both masterful and memorable.
The series featured Geoffrey Bayldon as the title character, an eccentric, incompetent, dishevelled and smelly (but lovable) old 11th century wizard who accidentally travels through time to the year 1970 and befriends a young red-headed boy, nicknamed Carrot (Robin Davies), who spends most of the rest of the series attempting to hide Catweazle from his father and farmhand Sam. Meanwhile Catweazle searches for a way to return to his own time whilst hiding out in 'Castle Saburac', a disused water tower, with his 'Familiar', a toad called Touchwood.
Children's quiz show where the kids would run to the answer then 'runaround' if they changed their minds at the last minute. The original host was comedian Mike Reid. In 1977 his place was taken by Leslie Crowther and Stan Boardman, before Reid returned in 1978. The ball in tube scoring was copied from the US version but with two colours; red worth one point for a correct answer and yellow worth two points for being the only contestant to choose the right answer. Metal Mickey made his screen debut on the British version of the show after being discovered by the show's in-vision researcher, Tim Edmunds.
British cartoon series about the adventures of a frizzy haired girl and her dog, Alistair. They also meet up with their friends Birdie and Butterfly.
The Clangers are strange, long-nosed, pink, woolly creatures that live inside a small blue planet, which lies far, far away in space. Under the dustbin-lidded craters that cover the planet's surface is the cave system where the these strange yet cuddly extraterrestrials live. They share their world with the bizarre Soup Dragon, who lives in a soup well and provides them with their staple diet of green soup and blue string pudding; the Glow Buzzers, which supply light and tasty glow honey; and the tiny orange Froglets, magical creatures that live inside a travelling top-hat. Other beings encountered by the Clangers are the Iron Chicken, originally found in pieces and who, once reconstructed by the little planet's inhabitants, now lives in a nest in the sky; the large, odd, blue-skinned Skymoos; and the water-providing Cloud.
Dr. Snuggles is a 13-episode animated series about a jolly inventor who lives in a forest in a house with his housekeeper, Miss Nettles. In the forest also live his many animal friends, talking treacle trees, and other bizarre creations.
The Sooty Show is a British children's television series that aired on BBC Television from 1955 until 1967, and on ITV from 1968-1992 It features the glove puppet characters Sooty, Sweep (who first appeared in 1957) and Soo (first appeared in 1964), and follows them in their many mischievous adventures. The show was presented from the 1955 to 1975 by Harry Corbett, and from 1976 to 1992 by his son, Matthew, as he bought the rights for Sooty for £35,000 from his father, and acted as the token human being. In 1981, The Sooty Show changed from a sketch-based format with a studio audience into a more sitcom-based format set in the Sooteries cottage.
Grange Hill is a British children's soap opera television series originally made by the BBC and portraying life in a typical secondary school. The show began its run on 8 February 1978 on BBC1, and was one of the longest-running programmes on British television when it ended its run on 15 September 2008.
The adventures of seven children whose den was an old red double-decker London bus in an unused works (junk) yard.
How was a British educational television show created by Jack Hargreaves. Made in Southern's Southampton studios, it provided answers to questions beginning with the word "How". Topics commonly covered included science, history, mathematics and simple puzzles. The formula proved so successful that it was soon broadcast to the whole ITV network and given two slots per week. The show was originally presented by Hargreaves alone. He was joined by Fred Dinenage, Jon Miller , Bunty James, Dr Tom Gaskell, Jill Graham and Marian Davies.
Jigsaw was a Children's BBC show, combining elements of puzzle solving & entertainment, which was broadcast from 16 July 1979 until 24 May 1984. Written and directed by Clive Doig, the show was presented by Adrian Hedley, Janet Ellis and "Jigg" - a giant floating orange Jigsaw piece, voiced by John Leeson.
How We Used to Live is a British educational historical television drama written by Freda Kelsall and sometimes narrated by Redvers Kyle. Production began in 1968 at Yorkshire Television studios in Leeds. The series traced the lives and fortunes of various fictional Yorkshire families from the Victorian era until the 1960s, in and around the fictional town of Bradley.
...Not very long ago, in the top left-hand corner of Wales, there was a railway. It wasn't a very long railway or a very important railway, but it was called The Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited, and it was all there was. And in a shed, in a siding at the end of the railway, lives the Locomotive of the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited, which was a long name for a little engine so his friends just called him Ivor..." ...And that was how it began, back in 1959: one of Oliver Postgate's most loved creations, Ivor the Engine. It was a series about the Welsh adventures of a little green railway engine and his many friends. But Ivor wasn't an ordinary steam engine. He pretty much wished he was a person and ended up doing things like singing in a choir and swimming in the sea! One season of six, 10 minute, Black and White films was made for and screened by Associated-Red.
"Tournicoti Tournicoton !" C’est par cette formule que Margote est transportée au pays magique de Bois Joli par Zébulon, un drôle de personnage à ressorts. Elle y rencontre Pollux, le chien à l’accent anglais qui ferait tout pour un morceau de sucre, et ses amis : Azalée la vache, Ambroise l’escargot, Flappy le lapin, etc.
The Mr. Men series was based on the Children's books written by Roger Hargreaves. In 1974, the first Mr. Men series was broadcast by the BBC and consisted of 13 episodes. It was narrated by Arthur Lowe of Dad's Army fame.
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, more commonly known simply as Swap Shop, was a British children's entertainment TV programme broadcast on Saturday mornings and early afternoons on BBC1 for 146 episodes in six series between 1976 and 1982. It was ground-breaking in many ways: by being live, being nearly three hours in length, and using the phone-in format extensively for the first time on TV. The show was hosted by Noel Edmonds with Keith Chegwin, John Craven and, from 1978, Maggie Philbin. Also featured was Posh Paws, a stuffed toy dinosaur. Edmonds once explained that his name was actually spelt "Pohs Paws", because that is Swap Shop backwards as suggested in the phone in by 5 year old Duncan Beck.
Harold and Ethel Meaker live in South Ealing, West London and run 'Rentaghost' where they rent ghosts out to the public. Over the years many ghosts came and went but the main Rentaghost crew consisted of Timothy Claypole; a jester at the court of Queen Mattilda, Hazel the McWitch; the ghost of a Scottish witch who was recruited during the rentapotion venture, Nadia Popov; a Dutch ghost who still suffered from hayfever and had a habit of 'popping off' whenever she saw a flower, Fred Mumford; founder of Rentaghost after becoming a ghost in a shipping accident, Hubert Davenport; a distinguished Victorian gentleman. The Meaker's next door neighbours, Rose and Arthur Perkins, were convinced that the Meaker's were a pair of nutters and hired a private detective then tried to get a psychiatrist to convince them that they needed treatment...
Tiswas, an acronym of "Today Is Saturday: Watch And Smile") was a British children's television series that originally aired on Saturday mornings from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982, and was produced for the ITV network by ATV. It was originally produced as a Midlands regional programme by ATV, and was first broadcast live on 5 January 1974. The then federal structure of ITV, with its independent regional companies, meant that not all of these stations broadcast the show when it became available for networked transmission. Over time most ITV regions chose to broadcast it, with Granada Television and Southern Television being among the last to pick up the show, in 1979. Tyne Tees and Ulster eventually decided to take Tiswas for its final series in 1981. The smallest broadcaster in the network, Channel Television, did not carry the programme.
Almost everyone knows that Paddington is a bear who usually wears a duffle coat, a rather shapeless hat and, on occasions, Wellington boots. Many people also know that his favourite food is marmalade and that he originally comes from Darkest Peru. Named for the train station where he was first found, Paddington was adopted by the Brown family (Father Henry, mother Mary, son Jonathan, and daughter Judy) and taken to their home at 32 Windsor Gardens, and his misadventures have delighted children since. Based on the books by Michael Bond.
Join Zippy, George, Bungle and Geoffrey on their many adventures as they play, learn and teach us many thingds about life. Music, dancing and laughter are all part of the fun and the Rainbow gang are sometimes joined by their friends Rod, Jane and Freddy to help them.
Record Breakers is a British children's TV show, themed around world records and produced by the BBC. It was broadcast on BBC1 from 15 December 1972 to 21 December 2001. It was originally presented by Roy Castle with Guinness World Records founders twin brothers Norris McWhirter and Ross McWhirter. The programme was a spin-off series from Blue Peter which had featured record breaking attempts overseen by the McWhirter twins. Producers of the series over the years were, Alan Russell (its creator), Michael Forte, Eric Rowan, Greg Childs, Annette Williams and Jeremy Daldry. The closing theme was "Dedication", performed by Roy Castle, who broke nine world records on the show himself.
Roobarb is an animated children's programme originally broadcast in 1974. It was originally shown on BBC One. Each episode shows the friendly rivalry between Roobarb, the green dog, and Custard, the pink cat from next door.
Tony Hart with the help of Morph encourages interest in art for children and adults alike. With practical demonstrations of all kinds of techniques, plus a chance to see your own picture in the Gallery.
What-a-Mess is a series of children's books written by British comedy writer Frank Muir and illustrated by Joseph Wright. The title character is a dishevelled, accident-prone Afghan Hound puppy, whose real name is Prince Amir of Kinjan. The book series was later made into two animated series, both narrated by Muir.
Agaton Sax är privatdetektiv och redaktör för Byköpingsposten i Byköping. Han brukar lösa sina fall samtidigt som han driver tidningen. Böckerna utspelar sig i Byköping, i England och i Brosnien (efter Bosnien), ett fiktivt land på Balkan, samt i ett fall på Rhodos. Sax är kort och rund, bär slips och plommonstop och har mustasch; i sin framtoning har han liknats vid en Hercule Poirot i småstadstappning.
Il signor Rossi è un personaggio immaginario creato dall'animatore e fumettista italiano Bruno Bozzetto, dal quale sono stati realizzati un totale di sette cortometraggi e tre film, oltre ad una serie televisiva di 11 puntate da 12 minuti ciascuna, chiamata Il signor Rossi e lo sport, mai distribuita commercialmente, ed una miniserie di sei episodi del 1972, Le avventure del signor Rossi, in cui il personaggio è comparso all'interno del programma televisivo Gulp!.