• The Animal Shelf
• Bill and Ben
• Brambly Hedge
• Chorlton and the Wheelies
• Cockleshell Bay

• Creepy Crawlies
• Fetch the Vet
• Lavender Castle
• Noddy
• Oakie Doke

• Rocky and the Dodos
• Rotten Ralph
• Truckers
• The Wind in the Willows

(Since I've never seen this, I'm quoting directly from the Itsy Bitsy TV Web Site): "On the wall in Timothy's bedroom is a shelf painted blue, and on this shelf live his five little special animals. There's GUMPA the bear, who is good-natured (if a little lazy), WOEFUL the mischievous monkey who likes to get his own way, STRIPEY the woollen zebra and his best friend GETUP the giraffe, who is losing the stuffing from her feet and is always falling down, and the soft and cuddly LITTLE MUTT who always seems to get things wrong."

Links

The official Web site of Itsy Bitsy TV has nice Animal Shelf pictures.

Now that's the stuff. If you want a sure-fire hit, take a concept that has an established fanbase and make it look sexy for children of the millennium. It worked wonders for Noddy, and now those lovable speech-impaired flowerpot men and their friend Little Weed have gone the same way. This new series does away with the strings and introduces new friends for the boys, including Whoops the worm, Pry the magpie and a really cute hedgehog named Boo. I gather Andy Pandy is next in line for a CH makeover, so watch this space. Flobadobadob!

• The BBC's official Bill and Ben site has lots of things for younger visitors to see and do.
• Take a look at the Sterling Times Web site, which has a useful selection of newspaper clippings about the return of the potty boys.
• It's interesting to compare the original Bill and Ben with the new ones, just to see what a good job Cosgrove Hall did of removing their inherent scariness. Go to Whirligig TV for sounds and video clips, if you dare.

Beautifully realised series detailing the goings-on of the mice of Brambly Hedge, and all their friends. Based on the books by Jill Barklem. There were eight episodes in all, each typically being shown on a Bank holiday in a particular season. They were: Spring Story, Summer Story, Autumn Story, Winter Story, The Secret Staircase, High Hills, Poppy's Babies and Sea Story.

• Visit the official Brambly Hedge Website, not forgetting to read the section about Cosgrove Hall's involvement.
• Lots of good information, but unfortunately no pictures, on this Web site.

"Cockleshell Bay is a town near the sea, with sunshine, seagulls and sand. With shops that sell ices and bright-coloured kites that will fly from a string in your hand. There are buildings painted white along the sea front - this one's called the Bucket and Spade. It's where people come to stay, and two children play, with all the good friends they have made. So meet Robin...and Rosie...of Cockleshell Bay."

Another series from my mis-spent early youth. Unlike Jamie and the Magic Torch or Chorlton and the Wheelies, you can only truly appreciate this show if you are under five years old. It's so gentle and inoffensive, even my mum would be begging for Robin or Rosie to start swearing or taking drugs after a couple of minutes. The best thing about it was that you got to see Gran Routy's bloomers in the end credits, which made me laugh every time. Heh. Bloomers. Oh, and for all you trivia heads out there – the sailor's name was Mr Ship, and the seagull was called Ben.

Links

Those nice people at Little Gems have produced a Cockleshell Bay site for you to enjoy. Plenty of top-notch screengrabs to bring the memories flooding back.

Cute-looking show for the younger kiddies, concerning a bunch of insects who live around the old broken sundial at the bottom of the garden. They were: a spider named Ariadne, Mr Harrison the snail, an elderly caterpillar called the Ancient, a ladybird, Suppose the depressed worm, a not-too-bright beetle named Lambeth and Anorak the woodlouse, who always insisted "I'm not a woodlouse, I'm a pill-bug." Every show ended with the sun setting over the old broken sundial. That's pretty much all I can remember about this one.

Did you know?

Creepy Crawlies was narrated by annoying mop-topped fop Paul Nicholas of "Just Good Friends" fame. He also sang the theme song.

Stories for wee ones about the life of affable country vet Tom Fetch, and his four-legged and two-legged friends. Only time will tell if Fetch will be the new Postman Pat, but it's still a jolly cute series. Check it out!

Did you know?

Tom Fetch is voiced by Gregory's Girl star John Gordon Sinclair.

Links

Well, why not start with the official site, or even Cosgrove Hall's Fetch the Vet Web pages?

"In deepest space Captain Thrice embarks on a search for the legendary Lavender Castle. Other characters included Roger and Isambard." Sorry, I just totally got that from another Web site, because I've never actually seen this show. But I wish I had, because I saw the puppets on display in The Lowry and they were insanely gorgeous. Look closely at the credits of this show – it was made in association with Gerry "Thunderbirds are go" Anderson.

Links

You absolutely have to go and check out Rodney Matthews' homepage, which has loads of production and design information, as well as video clips.

Star of Enid Blyton's books and many tedious pieces in the Daily Mail about how it's a crying shame that innocent golliwogs get such rough treatment at the hands of Political Correctness. Cosgrove and Hall have had two cracks at the Noddy stories, one in the seventies (by Brian Cosgrove alone) and one in the nineties. Both versions look quite similar, and both have been big hits all over the world. Of course, it helps that Noddy, Big Ears, Mr Plod and co have been around for donkey's years, and thousands of parents who read the books when they were kids want their children to watch the cartoon so they can go on big ol' nostalgia trips. But hey, there's nothing wrong with that.

Links

Meet Noddy and assorted other childhood chums at the official Enid Blyton Web site.

The adventures of Oakie Doke, a helpful little acorn-man, and his various woodland friends. These include a family of frogs and some mischievous squirrels.

The adventures of a bunch of dodos (Rocky, Elvis, Bill, Wonda, Astra and Tantra) on a remote island. I haven't seen much of this show, but I do know that it features amusingly bog-eyed puppets.

Links

To see Rocky in action, go to the ABC Australia Showcase, which has some nifty video clips.

Ralph is a cat who tries his best to be good, but always ends up doing bad. His owner, Sarah, knows he means well, but somehow he just can't help being rotten! This show was based on the well-known Rotten Ralph books, created by Jack Gantos and Nicole Rubel. The style of the show reproduces Rubel's illustations very accurately.

Links

You want episode guide? Go here, fool!

Superlative adaptation of the well-known book by Terry Pratchett. The story revolves around a group of Nomes, whose spaceship accidently crashed to Earth 15,000 years ago, and their quest to return home. Truckers was originally envisioned as part of an ongoing adaptation of the trilogy known as the Bromeliad (the other books being Diggers and Wings). Sadly, this was shelved when Thames lost their broadcasting license in the early nineties, and everything at Cosgrove Hall went pear-shaped for a while. I hear DreamWorks have the rights to the series now, so stay tuned.

• Truckers received first prize for Best Animated Feature from the Chicago International Children's Festival, having been entered in a specially edited 98-minute version.
• Many celebs were involved in the voicework, including Joe McGann and Debra Gillett.

Links

As usual, Toonhound can be relied on to produce the goods where others have failed (or just not bothered). Lots of Truckers info is handily compiled on this ever-worthy site.

Cosgrove Hall's multi-award winning adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's famous books, concerning the adventures of Toad, Ratty, Badger and Mole. (All of the following info is taken from Cosgrove Hall's official company information documents, because I never actually watched this show. I know it's a classic, but hey, sue me.)

• 75-minute film based on the Kenneth Grahame classic story. This film was winner of 1983 BAFTA award, the 1983 International Emmy Award and 1st prize winner at the Chicago Festival in 1984.
  
  
• 52 x 20 minute episodes under the same title also won first place in the Animated Series section of the 1987 Chicago Festival.
  
  
• 60 minute feature entitled "Tale of Two Toads" and 13 x 20 episodes under the title "Oh Mr Toad!" are also available. This series won The Observer Children's Award for 1990.

Links

I may not know much about The Wind in the Willows, but this guy does.

Merchandise

Check out the Loot page for more about The Wind in the Willows merchandise.

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