Kids TV L-Z

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The Legend Of White Fang
(C4, ’90s, Animated)

Somewhat different to the original Jack London story, where White Fang seems more of a heroic Balto (film) type, and also entirely white. France and Canada co-production.

The Legends Of Treasure Island
(CITV, 1993 – 1995, Animated)

A show very recently remembered whilst looking up The Dreamstone. A UK-made cartoon, loosely based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, but with anthropomorphised animals.

Lift Off
(C4, Early-mid ’90s, Live-action; puppets)

When I rediscovered the beginning theme song on YouTube I remembered how catchy the song of this Australian kids show is! It was about some young children who went to a club thing? There were one or more creepy faceless dolls in it, too, helping the children along with their woes, et al.

The Little Mermaid
(ITV: Disney Club, Early ’90s, Animated)

Spin-off cartoon of the film that kicked into gear the Disney Renaissance of the ’90s.

Little Mouse On The Prairie
(CITV, Mid ’90s, Animated)

A take on the name of the live-action series and books Little House on the Prairie. As the name suggests, the main characters are mice, living on a prairie farm.

Live & Kicking
(CBBC: Saturday mornings, 1993-2001, Magazine show)

This British ‘magazine show’ – so called for the variety of TV shows and cartoons within the show, phone-in games, interviews, pop singers and more – ran for just under a decade. It was possibly the most involved and engaging of the weekend morning fare. Good presenter partnerships were those of Anthea Turner and Andi Peters, and Jamie Theakston and Zoe Ball – with puppet brothers, the leprechauns, who were named in a Live & Kicking competition as ‘Sage’ and ‘Onion’. The usual pop bands would appear and perform, cartoons and series were shown – The Rugrats was a favourite of the show – as well as countless competitions, in show celeb challenges, phone in game challenges like ‘Grabbit Rabbit’ and the one with the pig jumping in splats of mud, and yet more. Very much a ’90s child show!

Look And Read
(BBC2, Mornings, 1967 – early ’00s, Educational; mixed)

A Primary school favourite. A short programme of stories and English lessons rolled into one. Think ‘Magic E’ who taught us in song about ‘I before E, except after C’ which we now know is quite incorrect for so many more words. But anyway. This programme included several drama series to follow through week by week whilst also learning English in the drama’s idents. Such dramas included: Spy Watch – about some children evacuated to the countryside during 1940s wartime and Through The Dragon’s Eye – a group of children get teleported through the eye of a dragon painting on a school wall to the land of Pelamar to help save it, along with the dragon’s guidance. Others were Geordie Racer and Captain Crimson, created during the ’80s and ’90s.

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The Magic House
(CITV, Early-mid ’90s, Puppets)

A younger child’s programme about friendly – albeit scary looking – teapots that owned quaint houses and conversed with each other.

Maid Marian And Her Merry Men
(CBBC, 1989 – early ’00s, Live-action) 

Humorous costume series written by Tony Robinson of Blackadder fame, a show which did not patronise children. It took the well-known legend of ‘Robin Hood’ but instead Maid Marian became the main character and leader of the funny mix of ‘merry men’. Robin Hood himself was made a little more pathetic – as became a lot of the characters – while Tony played the sheriff. The show was very popular, as aforementioned Blackadder links suggest, and from later showings of it on CBBC I could properly be introduced to and appreciate it. In the very early ’00s re-showing on CBBC, fans of the programme could phone in to sing along to the catchy ending theme song. YouTube searching will find an amusing Crystal Maze spoof.

The Mask
(CBBC, Mid ’90s, Animated)

“Smokin’!” Yet another spin-off from a film. Here, the Mask’s Tex Avery-esque overreactions fit in all the better back in the cartoon environment.

Microsoap
(CBBC, ’98-’01, Live-action)

A brother (Joe) and sister (Emily) talk us through their crazy lifestyle since their parents’ separation. Some of the same people were involved with this as had been on The Wild House, so there was a similar feel in the quirky effects and situations.

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers
(GMTV, Early-mid ’90s, Live-action)

One of those programmes I think every child, even then, knew it was a bit crap. “I-yiy-yiy!” Set in the USA, when danger struck, the usually ‘everyday’ teenagers became ‘Power Rangers’ to fight the evil. There were blue, red, pink and yellow costumed rangers (guess which two were the females). Further colours cropped up in time with green, white and black. They even had their own robots that would change – sorry, morph into dinosaurs. I remember seeing the film (with that blooming song: ‘Uh-oh, we’re in trouble, something’s come along and it’s burst our bubble…’) where those robotic dinosaurs actually became extinct.

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Mike And Angelo
(CITV, Mid ‘90s)

An admittedly rather fondly remembered show about an alien (named Angelo) who crash lands in the room of a house in England to the astonishment of a boy named – yes, that’s right – Mike, and his guardian, Judy the Scottish lady (though some actors changed). Angelo, although rightfully taking human form, was not to be stopped using his alien skills such as walking on walls! much to the horror and wonder of the humans.

Moomins, The
(Early-mid ‘90s)

The Moomins, a group of slightly fazed hippo-like characters were originally created by a Finnish author and illustrator. They were rather friendly creatures, but it also featuring some very scary looking humanish characters and a (possibly) kangaroo.

Mr. Benn
(CBBC, ‘80s-early ‘90s)

And as if by magic… Something about this cartoon frightened me. Well, the whole idea and style of it, really. But that kind of old British cartoon is always worth a deserved mention. A seemingly obsessive compulsive man in a black bowler hat and suit would go to a mysterious shop with a suspect old man and go into a changing room to wear all sorts, including spacesuits, clown costumes, etc. (apparently he never cross-dressed), and then find himself in the relevant place for a mini adventure. When he returned it was as if nothing happened as he left the shop.

Mr. Whyme
(CBBC, Late ‘90s)

“Why me-ee…?” Programme about a clumsy robotic man named Whyme, working at a hotel of sorts – much to the frustration of Matron.

My Little Pony
(CBBC, Late ‘80s-early ‘90s)

As was the thing particularly in the ‘80s to make spin-off cartoons from successful toy brands. A clever marketing tool while animation was otherwise on a bit of a downer. The show was fairly entertaining and very different to the modernised 21^st Century ‘toon.

My Parents Are Aliens
(CITV, ’99-’06)

A successful show, somewhat reminiscent of Mike and Angelo. It’s really primarily a ‘00s series, but I thought it should have a mention anyway. There was satisfactory acting all around for the bizarre situation of three children ‘Mel (moody teen), Josh (sneaky) and (brainbox)’ being adopted by two aliens, now disguised as humans ‘Sophie and Brian’ who accidently crash land onto Earth and cannot return without the complicated fixing of their spaceship. It’s up to the children to teach the aliens to be more human as they just keep more and more problems for themselves. The show could be quite knowing at times with its suggestions and intelligence, which was part of the reason it gained a lot of recognition. The later series were hindered a touch by swapping and gaining some actors and adding a laughter track, which in children’s TV seems to be all the more distracting.

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Name That Toon
(CBBC, ’96-’97)

The kind of show I might have had a crack at. It was a quiz show to test children’s cartoon knowledge – largely on Looney Tunes, but also on some less obvious toons. In one round the competitors had to draw a cartoon character, which was then judged for closest accuracy.

No Sweat
(CBBC, 1997-1998)

A light-hearted series about a struggling fictional boyband –- North & South — who also happened to be a real band making their small mark in the British music industry. After the first television series, North & South released such passable songs as ‘I’m a Man Not a Boy’ (in 1997) but split up shortly after the second series.

Noah’s Island
(CBBC, Mid-late ‘90s)

Following the success of The Animals Of Farthing Wood, the same company came out with the original tale of Noah’s Island. Here showed an improvement in the animation and another captivating story. Some animals were supposed to be shipped to a zoo; however a sudden storm ensures this never happens and the ship is wrecked. The animals swim away and end up on a floating island somewhere out on the Atlantic Sea. Bizarrely it featured some ice age Woolly Mammoths, as well as an annoying shrew named Sacha (“Oisky poisky!”), Noah the polar bear (of course. He was also voiced by Ron Moody as Badger was), Rocco a gorilla, a grumpy lion, and so on. Noah’s island was a haven of sorts for many animals until they could find a new land so-called ‘Diamentina’.

Numbertime/BBC2 Maths
(BBC2, Mornings, ‘90s)

The maths equivalent of Look and Read. Numbertime itself comprised of ten different short programmes that taught younguns about numbers, adding up and the like from one to ten. Possibly the best remembered show to come out of the BBC2 educational maths mornings was the multiplication-obsessed kingdom Megamaths of the monarchs of Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds. Yes, we saw this at junior school. The kings and queens would face many mathematical quandaries and use various old calculator devices and an abacus to try and find the answer. Meanwhile, two children would enter the castle grounds and would stop before two chatty gargoyles guarding the gate that would only let them through if they could answer a sum each. A female jester would then greet them on to play a mathsy snakes and ladders game with a giant dice – where knowing your timestables well enough was the name of the game (but not literally). The children became their own counters. There was also the castle’s dragon segment, which was a badly made animation where an inquisitive kitten would ask the green dragon about timestables, and then they would fly into the air and the dragon could shape clouds and blow smoke from his mouth for the correct numbers. Another popular segment was El Nombre, which if you think about it is a somewhat inaccurate name. In a little town in Mexico lived a bunch of gerbils, including ‘El Nombre’ who always worked very much around the boundless delights of numbers.

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Ocean Odyssey
(BBC2, Mornings, Late ’90s)

Show shown in the mornings about a group of New Zealanders or Australians on a ship; including some youngsters who discover a girl who lives amongst the sea and an island. They bring her on to the ship in secret and attempt to unlock the mysteries of such a woman coming to be like that.

Old Bear
(BBC2, Mornings, Early-mid ‘90s)

‘Read us a story Old Bear, we’ll all gather round, all around…’ A sweet show which was also a collection of books, it was about a bunch of stuffed toys living in a house and having various adventures. Originally the cuddly toys rescued ‘Old Bear’ from the loft where he had been quite forgotten and collecting dust. Other stories were newcomer, ‘Jolly Tall’ the giraffe, who was stuck in a cardboard box so the other teddies turned it into a house, using felt pens and cutting window holes; and the zebra whose stripes got covered up by flour.

Any others?

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Pet Swap
(CITV, Late ‘90s-’01)

Another just off the ‘90s, it was a gameshow where the contestants got to dress up as their precious pet, sort of; be it a bunny, a cat, dog, bird, etc., and take part in pet-like games. Despite the name’s suggestion, the pets did not become humans. The task was to win cuddly toys. Not the most engaging show; nevertheless quite a fun little idea.

Pingu
(CBBC, ‘90s)

Everyone remembers this. Little Pingu, the seal, and pals live in a big igloo and talk a kind of gibberish to eachother. 

Playdays
(CBBC, Late ‘80s-‘90s)

Originally called ‘Playbus’, this young children’s show had various bus stops that could be stopped at that would decide the day’s show. Bus stops included the Peggy Patch Stop (little slightly scary looking doll) who went out and about looking at how things were made, in a similar way to Tots TV and Rosie and Jim. Also, the Why Bird Stop with the ‘Why Bird’ and Poppy the cat puppets. I remember that Poppy had a Scouse accent which was a little grating, but as a cat, I rather liked her. Actually, I think Why Bird’s voice was a bit annoying too. Yet this was my favourite stop because a human presenter would read a story. There was also the Roundabout Stop with Rosie the magical, musical merry-go-round. For some reason, they rarely stopped here; so much so I can only remember that there was a guy and children who made arty crafty things… and a scary clown.

Poddington Peas, The
(CBBC, ‘90s)

‘Down at the bottom of the garden, among the birds and the bees…’ A well-remembered theme song but not such a great cartoon about a little town of living peas.

Potamus Park
(CITV, 1995 – 2002)

A show about a family of pink hippos for the younger children.

Potsworth & Co.
(CITV, Early ‘90s)

This cartoon was a Hanna-Barbera studios early ‘90s venture about four kids and an English spaniel dog. When the children went to sleep they turn up in the Dream Zone, where, as the Midnight Patrol they are appointed to protect the place from nightmares.

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Quack Pack
(ITV, Disney Club, Mid ‘90s)

Set when the characters Huey, Dewey and Louie have became young teens. They are back with Donald, who is now a cameraman, and Daisy who has become a global reporter. Due to her job, they all find themselves in several different countries and situations.

Queen’s Nose, The

(CBBC, Mid-late ‘90s (‘00s for later series))

Based off a Dick King-Smith novel. Harmony Parker’s mysterious Uncle Ginger gives her a magical 50 pence piece that whenever she makes a wish while rubbing the coin with her thumb, it would come true. Much of the time this would cause big problems that she would have to then fix. A few series focused on the Parker family – her sister Melody (see what he did there?) and parents, as well as other characters like Gregory, Melody’s on/off boyfriend, and the Parkers’ grandma. Such episodes included the Parkers winning a trip to stay in a big house where lots of spooky goings on occurred, and a later episode where Gregory (now working in an office), keen to get Melody back from another man, rides into work as a knight on a stead (aided by the 50p, of course). Thinking back on this show, I can see what a good fun programme it was for children and past the ‘90s it ran on for more series with some big changes. At first Harmony went to stay with a bratty cousin on a canal boat and it was this girl who was given the 50p. Later the show kept the Parker parents, but now Harmony was too grown up for the show, it was decided they would run a home for parentless children. A girl (I think called Sarah?) then got the 50p.

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Raccoons, The
(CBBC; CBBC 2, Mornings, ‘90s)

A late-‘80s Canadian cartoon primarily about raccoons – and particularly the clumsy red-jumpered, wonky-nosed Bert. The baddie was a strange pink creature named Syril Sneer whose son was a friend of the raccoons. Syril had three henchmen pigs that would often do Syril’s sneaky bidding, often clumsily. This was another cartoon with a catchy theme song.

Raggy Dolls, The
(CITV, Late ‘80s-early ‘90s)

‘Raggy Dolls, Raggy Dolls, dolls like you and me…’ This was an English cartoon about some dolls getting along together as good, supportive friends in life after originally being discarded at a toy factory because of ‘faults’ with them. Which really meant, those with disabilities can get along in life and have as much right to living as the able-bodied and we recognise not everybody’s ‘perfect’, kind of thing.

Rainbow
(CBBC, ‘80s-early ‘90s)

A popular and somewhat questionable series. A man named Geoff lived with a man-sized bear named Bungle, a pink hippo named George (not gay!) and a creature with a zip for a mouth, named ‘Zippy’, no less. YouTubers have perhaps seen odd things about the programme that I shan’t get into here; it’s nice when nostalgic memories aren’t ruined! These characters were pretty awesome in their different ways. Well, particularly Zippy and George for clear reasons. I can’t even remember what happened in the episodes if I’m honest, but there was probably some educational aspect. What I do remember is that they all slept in the same bed and that Bungle walked around ‘naked’ by day, yet donned pyjamas to go to bed… ah, the logic. If you never saw this show… shame on you.

Really Wild Show, The

(CBBC, ‘90s-early ‘00s)

There were two versions of this. One with Terry, and the ‘main’ show had Michaela and co. on. Learn about wildlife across the globe with animated idents that was a little more engaging than other wildlife shows.

Rent-A-Ghost
(CBBC, Early ‘90s)

A show I really remember only vaguely. Thanks to a guestbook signer I now have a name for it! All I remember is a group of costumed people owning a shop of unusual items. One of the people was a pirate.

Riddlers, The
(CITV, Early-mid ‘90s)

Quite scary looking back on this, when you see what the puppets looked like. Nevertheless, it is a programme I remember watching about some ginger-haired troll-like ‘Riddlers’, and an elder with white hair, that all lived near a well. They had human friends, I think a man and a lady, too.

Rosie and Jim
(CITV, ‘90s)

Lock away your children; they are coming to get you… Otherwise they will scarily watch you from a canal boat with big smiles and waving hands. Frightening puppet aspects aside, I liked this show as a wee one. These two raggy dolls were the inspiration for the canal boat’s name ‘The Old Rag Doll’ with their old real life owner, and an ornamental mallard duck on the top that voiced the odd quack. The curious Rosie and Jim would explore/nosy about on and off the boat to fill us growing young ones with a bit of ‘useful’ information on things in life.

Rottentrolls, The
(CITV, Late ‘90s)

“Jim-Jam Ya-haaaaa!” yells a karate chopping Ram. Enter a most BAFTA-deserving show about a bunch of Norwegian trolls (puppets) that, after getting caught in a strange snow cloud, end up sabotaging a ski resort that the old wizard, Merlin had planned for King Arthur. A thousand years later, and the trolls had settled somewhere north in the English countryside. After reading some graffiti written on a stone, ‘Roger Was ‘Ere’, the trolls believe this everyday boy to be their king. The Rottentrolls was a genuinely funny and imaginative show, up with those kinds of children’s show that can be enjoyed by a wide age range because of the humour and general show idea.

Round The Twist
(CBBC, ‘90s (C5 on and off ‘00s))

The bizarre happenings of an Australian family living in a lighthouse. Also featuring one of the greatest TV theme songs of all! The storylines were pretty crazy at times; one ending with little son Bronson peeing over a fence and on to some older, nasty guys. Great stuff.

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Scratchy And Co.
(ITV1, Saturday mornings, Mid ‘90s)

The late Mark Speight presented this cartoon strip-like show, dressed with a cloudy sky jacket and plastic blond quiff wig (this was later replaced with his normal hair) alongside a boy in a tux and a brown quiff wig. As with the usual Saturday morning standard, various cartoons were shown among strange goings on with Scratchy, and people could also write in, etc. He acted as a kind of news reporter.

Secret Life Of Toys, The
(CBBC, Mornings, Late ‘90s)

Ever the popular theme of toys that can come to life. A little scary, this one expanded on what came alive, with not just cuddly toys but normal toys, a rocking horse, and so on. These characters only came alive when no humans were around and they all resided in a loft kind of area of a house.

Sesame Street
(C4, ‘80s-‘90s)

This long-running programme is perhaps one of the best pre-school of all, and probably one of the best children’s programmes on any level. It’s flagged since the ‘00s due to the tyranny of political correctness, and anyway, it was taken off UK screens, but we should all remember watching it at its best with the repeats from the late ‘60s to the ‘90s. In a Channel 4 poll of the early ‘00s of favourite children’s programmes, Sesame Street was in the top 10 (second? – must check). This great Jim Henson programme is reviewed in more detail on another Page.

Sharky And George
(C4, mornings, Early ‘90s)

‘The crime busters of the sea, Sharky and George clear up any mystery’. Detectives – Sharky is a pink shark with a big nose; George is a blue fish with a yellow face. Together they, well, bust crime under the sea.

Shoe People, The
(CITV, Late ‘80s-early ‘90s)

Shoes with personality. How they acted and appeared very much depended on the kind of shoe they were.

Silver Brumby, The

(CBBC, Mid-late ‘90s)

This reminds me somewhat of an Australian version of Farthing Wood. The animation was stodgy and repeated in places but it was quite entertaining as it followed the story of Thowra, ‘… they named him Thowra, like the wind, like the wind that is free’, a wild horse and chosen leader of the wild horses. This doesn’t sit well with a certain old horse, but Thowra has plenty of animal chums, which includes the wise kangaroo and an odd owl named Mopel.

Sir Gadabout: The Worst Knight In The Land
(CITV, 2002-03)

I snuck this one in too. It didn’t last too long but was nevertheless a likable and humorous series about a dreadfully useless knight named Sir Gadabout and his time with King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table – Sir Lancelot, Sir Prano, Sir Real, Sir Gestion, Sir Prize, and Sir Tificate. Among the bizarre tales of these amusedly named knights, was the king’s daughter Elenora who would disguise herself as ‘Sir Knight’ in times of great peril to the castle, and lastly, her stable boy admirer ‘Master’ Will.

Sister, Sister
(C4 ’90s)

‘…Never knew how much I missed her.’ American children/young teen sitcom about twins – Tia and Tamera – separated at birth and then reunited at fourteen.

Skippy The Bush Kangaroo
(C4?, Early ‘90s)

Rather old Australian series about a brave and intelligent little kangaroo who would help save people in danger.

Sonic The Hedgehog
(CITV, Early ‘90s)

Specifically the early ‘90s US version of the popular Sega games. Sonic had his best pal ‘Tails’ Miles Prower, and of course Egghead being the main enemy.

Sooty / & Co.
(CBBC, Late ‘80s-‘90s)

Sooty has been on British tellies for several decades (but not so much in the 21^st Century). Sooty shows ran throughout the ‘90s – first as part of The Sooty Show and then as Sooty & Co. both with the real life bearded Matthew Corbett. Sooty, Sweep, Soo and (little cousin) Scampi were very small puppets; only Soo the panda could properly speak, Sweep the dog would squeak, and the two bears would ‘whisper’ in others’ ears. In Sooty Show, the characters would visit museums, parks and so on. In Sooty & Co. (‘everyone say hello!’) they worked in a DIY hardware store where ‘Mo from Market’ would visit them, as well as Matthew Kelly and Dale Winton. The latter invited Sweep onto Supermarket Sweep! They would still have adventures away from the shop and in their adooorable little camper van of which I really wanted for myself. In the ‘00s it was changed to Sooty Heights in a hotel (there’s a lot of hotel-related shows about, huh?) with new human characters plus a cat puppet. They changed the look of all the puppets and generally it wasn’t so good and not worth anymore mentioning really.

Spider In The Bath
(CBBC, Early ‘90s)

‘You know he’s only there because he wants to have a bath…’ Turning what is an absolutely horrible minibeast into a simple and cute cartoon – cunning that. The main character was of course the smiley spider, and also a blond boy who has since befriended Spider. I used to own a video of a lot of the episodes and especially remember (from reasons of childish fun) the sing-a-long tale of the hamster running away from a cat: ‘Hamster, hamster, where will you run, where will you run tonight? If the cat comes looking, where will you run, if the cat comes looking tonight?’ Spiders – blergh!

Spooks Of Bottle Bay, The
(ITV1, Mid ‘90s)

Actually pretty spooky show… and not even for the ghosts themselves! This was a puppet creation based around the ‘Spooks’ – a ghost family with what looked just like sheets over their bodies. There were also some freaky looking humans – a red haired young man and a scary witch.

Spot
(CBBC, Late ‘80s-early ‘90s)

‘Spot, Spot, the loveable Spot, he’s soft and cuddly and he smiles a lot…’ Spot is an adorable little Labrador or retriever pup who likes to explore and play with his animal friends, and then cuddle up to his mum at the end of the day.

Stay Tooned!
(CBBC, Early-mid ‘90s)

Busy-wizzy pre-Time Team Tony Robinson presented this show about a selection of Warner Brothers and MGM cartoons, amongst others. They were often quite factual of the shorts (I believe) and a particular episode looked behind the scenes of the great ‘50s British cartoon film Animal Farm.

Stingray
(BBC, ‘90s)

One of the ‘supermarionation’ series by Gerry Anderson and co. of decades gone by. With such low budgets from the beginning, the string puppet creations steadily gained credibility with each series – Stingray being one of the better known and would consequently get re-aired in the ‘90s. With an ounce of hilarity, this show took place under sea (or in fact, a fish tank) and was about an atomic powered submarine and the captain – ‘Troy Tempest’ – who worked for ‘WASP’ – the World Aquanaut Security Patrol, which was set up to protecting the seas from the threat of foes as the ‘Titan’ and his army of ‘Terror Fish’. 

Storykeepers, The
(BBC2, C4? Late ‘90s-‘00s)

A religious cartoon set in the times of Ancient Rome. A friendly baker helps to shelter and hide the young, often homeless children from the angry, rampaging Romans. As he does this he tells the children the biblical tales of Jesus and his Disciples.

Story Store, The
(CITV, Mid ‘90s)

‘The Story Store, the Story Store, wonderful surprises for you to explore; peek through the window, into the store, into the Story Store’. Another of those shows that used to freak me out. An Old English Sheepdog owned a bookstore and presumably we were told some stories within (I’m not sure because I determinedly switched over when it came on).

SuperTed
(CBBC, Late ‘80s-‘90s)

Formally a cartoon for Welsh-speaking children, it was later adapted for the rest of Britain. Another superhero, this time a teddy bear. Somehow he is friends with a polka-dotted banana thing named Spotty,

SWAT Kats
(CITV, Early ‘90s)

US cartoon about anthropomorphised, jet riding cats living in a big city.

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TaleSpin
(ITV, Disney Club, Early-mid ‘90s)

The 1967 Jungle Book characters are recycled, wearing clothes and in a more human world. Baloo the bear is a pilot with a little bear friend named Kit Cloudkicker. Louie is a Hawaiian shirted friend who works at the bar, and Shere Kahn is the baddie businessman.

Tales Of The Riverbank
(Early ‘90s)

An older show about a hamster named Hammy, a rat named Roderick, and Mr Guinea Pig, and their little adventures beside the riverbank. These animals were all real and were filmed and directed very carefully to get it to look like they could speak and use items like a typewriter.

Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
(CBBC, Late ‘80s-early ‘90s)

‘Heroes in a half shell – turtle power!’ Back in the late ‘80s, the title was changed from ‘ninja’ to ‘hero’ as the former was considered too violent for British children (oh, how things have changed). Due to a chemical leak in a sewer, four turtles and a rat (Splinter) are mutated to walking, talking, fighting creatures. Named after well-known Italian renaissance artists of centuries past, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Botticello— no not really, it was Michaelangelo, who wielded various weapons and of course fought the bad guys.

Terror Towers
(CITV, Mid ‘90s)

A gameshow set up as a creepy castle. Quite an interesting theme, like with Finders Keepers, there were different rooms to go in, but here with different challenges. You had to answer questions first, and a skull would light up when a challenge was complete.

Thomas The Tank Engine
(CBBC, Late ‘80s)

Another series which has sadly later been given the CGI treatment. Thomas was a stop motion venture with steam train friends with all their perils, and of course ‘the Fat Controller’. Based off books of the same name. Ringo Starr of The Beatles narrated.

Thundercats

(CBBC, ‘80s-early ‘90s)

It’s hard to forget this one; T-shirt manufacturers won’t let you forget, either. The show is about humanoid alien cats from the planet ‘Thundera’. These ‘cats’ include leader Lion-o, as well as Cheetara, Panthro, Tygra, Wilykit and Wilykat. Their companion is a funny little creature (and what a funny thing that is to say after talking about humanoid cats…) named Snarf.

Tiny Toon Adventures

(CBBC, Mid ‘90s)

‘We’re tiny, we’re toony; we’re all a little loony’. Taught in fact by Looney Tunes teachers at Acme Acres, these ‘tiny toons’ were very like child versions of a lot of the well-known ‘Tunes’. Characters included Babs and Buster Bunny, Plucky duck and Hampton pig, etc. They featured in various carton segments, not unlike The Animaniacs.

Tom And Jerry Kids
(ITV, GMTV, Early ‘90s)

Child versions of Tom and Jerry are joined by Spike, his son Tyke, Droopy and his son Dribble, for a selection of short cartoons. I remember occasionally watching this being going off to school. Not any patch on the original Tom and Jerry shorts of the ‘40s and ‘50s, but entertaining enough when you’re a wee one.

Tots TV
(CITV, Early-mid ‘90s)

‘I’m a tot, je’suis une tot: Tilly, Tom and Tiny – we’re the tots from Tots TV, 1-2-3!’ So you are… Those three tots were the less stupid one, the baby one and the French one – the latter would occasionally interject with typical French words and the magic bag they had became “sac magique!”. Oh, and a scruffy mop… possibly a dog. Much like Rosie and Jim, these puppets were jolly well nosy about the slightly more agricultural work of humans (they never visited a boring old admin office).

Trumpton
(Early ‘90s)

A follow on of Camberwick Green with a cute little fire brigade as the main feature.

Twisted Tales Of Felix The Cat, The
(CITV, Mid ‘90s)

Quite frankly pretty twisted cartoon – as the title would suggest – containing freaky hotdogs and the like. Also starring in a few dreadful films and cartoons in the ‘80s, Felix has been distanced somewhat from his delightful silent film days.

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Wacaday
(CBBC, Late ‘80s-92)

Really this entry encompasses any Timmy Mallet show. I think there was a later one than Wacaday, but I can’t remember everything. Timmy is known for making people groan in an ‘oh my god, what a twit’ way, but also for his ‘sidekick’ of sorts, the foamy, happy-faced mallet that he would frequently hit children’s head with during his ‘quiz’ shows. Remember I said foam here.

What’s Up, Doc?
(ITV, Mornings, Mid ‘90s)

Another of the weekend magazine show types; with the usual presenters, games, programmes and guests, but this one was specifically Looney Tunes themed (just check out the intro again on YouTube).

Where’s Wally?
(CITV, Early-mid ’90s)

That great man of fashion, time-traveller, master of hiding in big crowd scenes, Wally turned from being drawn in the popular books by the same name to starring in his very own animated series. Another memorable theme tune: “Where, o-o, where, 0-o, where is Wally? where is Wally? Where, where, where…”. Despite the show’s English roots, the show was created largely in North America so Wally – or ‘Waldo’ as he’s known there – had an American accent. The magical series also starred his enemy Odlaw, bungling wizard Whitebeard, Woof the dog and friend Wenda.

Wild House, The
(CBBC, ‘97-99)

An English show about the ‘Wild’ family. Natalie, the sister and main character, is the ‘normal’ member of the family and would talk directly to the camera about the various situations the family has got themselves into.

Wizadora
(CITV, Early-mid ’90s)

‘We adore her…’ Tame enough trainee Wizardora had a very odd selection of friends, including a giant, squeaky vegetable named Philbert, a coat hanger…, socks in a drawer, a scarecrow ‘Tatty Bogle’ and Nigel the snail – the latter seeming to have some gender confusion.

Wolves, Witches And Giants
(CITV, Mid-late ‘90s)

Short English cartoons about various well-known fairytales that contained wolves, witches or giants. Sometimes stories were improvised on: Puss in Boots was up against a giant rather than an ogre, etc. From the same bunch that later created Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Children, it was not to be the most Disney-esque happy version of fairytale events, with an ever-so-slight dark undertone.

Wombles, The
(CBBC, ‘90s)

The Wombles of Wimbledon would very much like to keep the Common clean and tidy, thank you. This was first off a children’s programme featuring little rodenty characters with lots of grey fur and with names like Orinoco, Great Uncle Bulgaria and Wellington. Then in the ‘70s they also became a band – albeit they were men in costume and perhaps not so caring about the environment, but instead in making money! They had much success on Top of the Pops; particularly with ‘Remember You’re A Womble’ (sorry) and then returned briefly in the ‘90s along with old and new episodes on TV.

Woof!
(CITV, ‘90s)

A long-running show about a boy who would turn into a dog – a change that was quite out of his control. Queue a lot of excuses at inconvenient times and running behind bushes (ahem?!) to hide his clothes. Over the years, new series introduced new boy actors and new dogs.

Words And Pictures

Featuring most wonderful ‘The Magic Pencil’.

Worst Witch, The
(CITV, Late ‘90s)

Some twenty-odd years before the first Harry Potter was published, author Jill Murphy was writing children’s books about a clumsy pupil witch named Mildred Hubble who just seemed to attract things to go wrong. Despite these many failings, by the end of each book she managed to redeem herself in pretty heroic ways. She and other young witches were taught at Miss Cackle’s Academy to become witches to be, hopefully, proud of. The casting was well chosen for much of the series and it followed the books fairly closely. In the early ‘00s the show had veered off from the books as Mildred attended university and it wasn’t very good.

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Zzaap!
(CITV, ‘90s)

Segmented show set out as a comic, it featured such characters as Cuthbert Lily ‘he’s dead silly’, Daisy Dare, Stereotypical artist guy (good ol’ Neil B.) and colourful hands that liked to make things. Daisy Dare, a woman dressed as a young naughty girl, liked to take the piss out of kids, setting up tricky tasks for a group of them to overcome (such as jumping across mats in a swimming pool; if they did, they would cheer as she whined, vice versa I believe the kids could throw pies at her darn face. Neil’s artistic segment had him silently drawing various things on a white wall while classical music played, which he could then bring to life; so if he drew a boat with oars and water, he could then sit in it and paddle away. At the beginning of the show we would be shown the large front cover of a comic with the different panels/show segments and the camera would track around it so you weren’t immediately sure which bit was to be shown. Unfortunately some of the panels it seemed never to go to – when did we ever stop on the panel with the leg hanging out of it?