Published on 12, July, 2020
Being born in the fifties, and having my formative years in the sixties and seventies, I believe some of the best television programmes were those made for children. I am a great fan of programmes made for children, and even now think there is some quality work there.But some of the programmes of rhe past excelled in real quality.
For starting this thread I will include one or two of my favourites from the sixties to the eighties.
I will come back to this later with others, I think my avatar would indicate one of my favourites so that goes without saying, for the moment.
The Owl service, a programme made in the late sixties, a mystery about a tea service and the remote.locarion it was set in.
Follyfoot, with its theme tune about a farm for retired horses, the characer of Dora every lad in my year fell in love with
Children of the Stones, a very creepy tale set in Avebury, with similarities to the Wicker Man
The Witches and the Grinnygog, a tale of a gargoyle with a seemingly strange power.
Worzel Gummidge, with Jon Pertwee and Una Stubbs at their best.
Others to come, but opening up to reminiscences from other people.
My claim to fame moment...I named Shep the Blue Peter puppy! ...back in 1971 or maybe early 72 they had a competition to name him, had to send it in on a postcard... several kids including me thought of Shep, didn't get on the show but my postcard was shown to camera and got a Blue Peter badge and a letter from Biddy Baxer.
That was you? Do you still have the badge?
No the name came from the Elvis tune Old Shep via my Mum.
They weren't allowed to say 'Sellotape' of course. Here's one I made earlier.
youtu.be/55TyNkCAMBc
It's a good name for a collie. Did you know others with the same name?
I seem to remember when John Noakes mentioned he'd died on Wogan and seemed really cut up about it, although it seems Shep had already found another home:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shep_(British_dog)
You didn’t fancy making your own replacement then out if washing up liquid bottles and foil tops from milk bottles...and invariably sticky backed plastic?
Yep! but not me alone several people came up with the name. The original badge got nicked off my denim jacket in the early 80s but I wrote to them about 18 years ago and they replaced it for me.