I was lucky enough(!) to be born in 1970, which meant I was able to witness some of the best TV shows known to man. OK, so it also meant I wore Bay City Rollers socks, and watched the Partridge family, but they were minor inconveniences.
The Wombles, Pipkins, Banana Splits, Wacky Races, Playaway, Tiswas..................they don't make them like that any more!
See how many of the following programmes you remember, and not just from re-runs on Satellite!!!!!!!
The Wombles
My favourite was Orinocho; I'm still plotting my revenge for when my brothers scalped my stuffed womble about 25 years ago! The first record I ever bought was "The Wombling Song" and I bought it again recently for posterity!
Possibly one of my favourite programmes ever. This ran from the early 70s until 1981, and featured the best character of any show (except Roobarb), Hartley Hare. There was also Topov the monkey (didn't look a bit like a monkey if you ask me), Pig, the er...pig from Birmingham ("oi'm Peeg and oi'm hungroy!), Tortoise who lived near the till and Octavia the Ostrich. Sometimes starring Sue Nicholls (Audrey in Corrie and Miss Popov in Rentaghost). It's time.......for a story.
Why don't you......."go and switch off the TV set and do something less boring instead?" Er.........yeah.....
Playschool....why did Floella Benjamin wear earrings that looked like Polo mints.....they were annoying.
The Double Deckers Peter Firth was in the Double Deckers; oh, the shame he must feel now!
Magpie
The Sooty Show. Did you know.....that Sweep the dog is one of quadruplets? His brothers are called Swoop Swipe and Swap. There you go, something you never thought you needed to know, but now you can't do without!
Banana Splits One banana two banana three banana four...
Chorlton and the Wheelies Hello little old lady. What other era could spawn a show with a Welsh witch called Fenella? Class.
Tales of the Riverbank Hammy....what an original name for a hamster.
Rainbow
Wasn't Rainbow the strangest programme? Only pre-school kids would unquestioningly watch a show where a bloke in a tank-top lived with a thing with an oval head, zipped mouth and an attitude problem, a dozy great bear, and a pink hippo with huge eyelashes. Good old Geoffrey, Bungle, George and Zippy...not forgetting Rod, Jane and Freddy. And why did Zippy only have one arm? It was never the same in the 80s after Geoffrey left the show and the animals were given free rein. Anyway, here's the Rainbow theme for your listening pleasure. And just in case you've forgotten the words, here they are so you can sing along:
Up above the streets and houses
Rainbow climing high
Everyone can see it smiling
Over the sky
Paint the whole world with a rainbow.
If you have digital TV, you probably know that Carlton Kids' Channel has an all day show called "Tiny Time" which features shows such as "The Raggy Dolls," "Henry's Cat," and "Crystal Tips and Alistair." If you didn't know, go get it!
The Wombles