Crikey, now there’s a headline and-a-half.
But then, July must have felt
like a month and-a-half for poor
Geoffrey Hayes – you know – THE
Geoffrey from evergreen pre-school
favourite Rainbow. Unless
you were
living down a hole last month, or
indeed a contestant on Big Brother,
you can’t fail to have heard about
the debacle concerning the stealing
and subsequent return of the original
George Zippy and Bungle costumes
If you were down that hole, or on
that show, here’s what’s happened:
Mr Hayes recently spent £3,500
on the the original Bungle costume which
he bought from Christie’s specifically
to use as part of his new stage show
Over The Rainbow, in which he takes an
insightful look at his days
on the kids series. The show’s producer
Richard Temple owns the original
George and Zippy costumes and all
three were sitting in a trunk in the
back of a car at a Berkshire service
station on the way home from a filming
session in Bristol when an opportunist
thief saw fit to nab the trunk!
Poor old Geoffrey and Richard were
incredibly distressed, of course,
and both envisaged never seeing
the colourful trio again. But then,
incredibly, a couple of days later
the priceless threesome were posted
back to Mr Temple’s office in High
St. Kensington. They were in a box
with a note which read, simply,
‘sorry’. So who was the thief, and where
did the trio go on their travels?
– No one knows. But what we do know
is that Geoffrey and Richard were
ecstatic at the return, and Over The
Rainbow was launched August 2nd
at the Edinburgh Fringe as planned,
with all three puppet co-stars present
and correct…
Which is all jolly decent and splendid,
but there is an interesting footnote
or two, to all this. Firstly, wasn’t
the timing convenient? – I mean, the trio
go missing a week before the show
launches, and then return safe and well,
in time for the premiere. And also,
weren’t the circumstances convenient?
Apparently, Thames Valley Police
have said the theft was never officially
reported to them. According to Mr Temple’s
spokesperson, that was because
the costumes were never properly
insured, negating the need for a Crime
Reference Number. Well, cynical
old me is probably putting two-and-two
together and making five. I mean,
Geoffrey certainly appeared to be genuinely
distressed in all the publicity
surrounding the case, so perhaps such
Conspiracy Theories are unfounded…
What is indisputably, splendiferously
great however is that Mr Geoffrey
Hayes is finally getting something back
for all the effort he put into the series
over the years – George, Zippy, and Bungle
must have weighed around his
neck like a millstone at times. It’s
also pleasing to see the three original
characters safe in the hands of people
who truly deserve to have them, and
are putting them to good use once
more, rather than having them stuck behind
glass in some ridiculous Hard Rock-style
restaurant…
Toonhound,
of course, has shamefully overlooked Rainbow in its indexes,
although Grandma
Bricks Of Swallow Street gets a page. And whilst you
wait with baited breathe for yours
truly to correct his error, True Blue-
Mauve-Indigo-Violet Rainbow aficionados
should make their way here:
http://www.rainbow.web.com/
____________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile over at Aardman Animation, the
good news rumbles ever on.
You probably recall last month the studio
announced their new film project
Flushed Away from the pen of comedy stalwarts
Clement LeFrenais. Reports
suggested that this new tale had bumped
the long-delayed Tortoise Vs Hare
script in to touch indefinitely. Well
now, it seems that Aardman are keen to
clarify the situation and have announced
that the Tortoise script is still very
much a going concern – which is just terrific
news.
Tortoise Vs Hare was/is a take on the
eons old Aesop Fable about the race
between the two critters. It was to be
directed by Rex The Runt
creator Richard
Goleszowski from a script by Rob Sprackling
and John Smith (Mike Bassett:
England Manager). The project conjures
forth countless splendidly fun scenarios
to play with, just perfect for the Big Screen
so it’s jolly exciting to see this one
still out there for the future.
Stay tooned to all things Aardman-esque
at their official site:
http://www.aardman.com
___________________________________________________________________
Elsewhere this month chart-star,
licensing phenomenon and all-round
happy labourer Bob The Builder is back
in the news. Bob’s returning to
the BBC soon with his sixth season of
shows and this time he’s bringing
some new friends along with him. JJ and
Molly are a father-daughter team
of Builder’s Merchants, and Skip and
Trix are new vehicular buddies.
Apparently Molly is a particularly keen
environmentalist. Ah, but more
importantly, will she be a rival
in love to Bob’s unrequited amour Wendy?
The press releases don’t say, but they
do tell us that these are the first
new characters to join the show
since it began…
It’s great to see this HIT
series going from strength to strength. Indeed,
things are going so well there’s
also been an announcement of a second
Bob The Builder special for launch on
homevideo next year. Last year’s
special A Christmas To Remember was a
terrific success and featured guest
voices and characters in the form of
Noddy Holder, Elton John, Chris Evans,
Alison Steadman and Stephen Tompkinson.
This new special continues the
trend and introduces us to Bob’s parents,
Robert and Dot, to be voiced by
Richard Briers and June Whitfield. Brenda
Blethyn – Gawd bless ‘er – is also
onboard, providing the voice of Doctor
Florence Montfitchett. Apparently she’s
a Heritage Expert, and the storyline
features medieval castles and jousting.
Add to that the fact that Bob’s Dad is
also a bit of a builder, and we can expect
much conflict between the father-son
duo and no doubt Lofty or Dizzy will end
up having a tilt or two in the process….
So far HIT’s animation studio HOT
have produced 104 episodes of the
top-rated series, and they’ve plans
to make a total of 10 series in all.
10 series? – That’s amazing, especially
when one thinks of how far a
single series can travel. I mean, Bagpuss,
Mr Benn, Moschops
and
so many more are still thriving
on the back of just 13 episodes…
Get building with Bob at his official
site:
http://www.bobthebuilder.com
____________________________________________________________________
…Now remember last month when I promised
‘no more apologies’?
Well it seems I have to return to old
habits this month, not because I’ve
promised things I can’t deliver, but rather
because I haven’t been able to
deliver as much as I’d hoped. Confused
yet? – Let me explain. My lovely
but-painfully-slow PC has finally hit
crunch point. It just keeps crashing,
allowing conflicts twixt AOL, IE6, Windows,
Zonealarm etc. It’s made
updating the site nigh-on impossible without
a lot of patience and
something soft for me to bang my head
off repeatedly. But things are
going to change very soon with the arrival
of a new, all-singing, all-dancing
machine. At least, that’s the plan. Once
I’ve sussed out the new set-up
the updates should return to normal –
that means three-to-four times a
week instead of the current level of two-to-three
at most. Of course,
this is all irrelevant to you anyway,
because you’ve never actually thought
to check that kind of detail, right? –
Oh well, at least you know I’m trying
here, even if you’re not actually aware
of the fact…
Rainbow costumes rediscovered and Geoffrey Hayes’s eventful August 2002
Crikey, now there’s a headline and-a-half.
But then, July must have felt
like a month and-a-half for poor
Geoffrey Hayes – you know – THE
Geoffrey from evergreen pre-school
favourite Rainbow. Unless
you were
living down a hole last month, or
indeed a contestant on Big Brother,
you can’t fail to have heard about
the debacle concerning the stealing
and subsequent return of the original
George Zippy and Bungle costumes
If you were down that hole, or on
that show, here’s what’s happened:
Mr Hayes recently spent £3,500
on the the original Bungle costume which
he bought from Christie’s specifically
to use as part of his new stage show
Over The Rainbow, in which he takes an
insightful look at his days
on the kids series. The show’s producer
Richard Temple owns the original
George and Zippy costumes and all
three were sitting in a trunk in the
back of a car at a Berkshire service
station on the way home from a filming
session in Bristol when an opportunist
thief saw fit to nab the trunk!
Poor old Geoffrey and Richard were
incredibly distressed, of course,
and both envisaged never seeing
the colourful trio again. But then,
incredibly, a couple of days later
the priceless threesome were posted
back to Mr Temple’s office in High
St. Kensington. They were in a box
with a note which read, simply,
‘sorry’. So who was the thief, and where
did the trio go on their travels?
– No one knows. But what we do know
is that Geoffrey and Richard were
ecstatic at the return, and Over The
Rainbow was launched August 2nd
at the Edinburgh Fringe as planned,
with all three puppet co-stars present
and correct…
Which is all jolly decent and splendid,
but there is an interesting footnote
or two, to all this. Firstly, wasn’t
the timing convenient? – I mean, the trio
go missing a week before the show
launches, and then return safe and well,
in time for the premiere. And also,
weren’t the circumstances convenient?
Apparently, Thames Valley Police
have said the theft was never officially
reported to them. According to Mr Temple’s
spokesperson, that was because
the costumes were never properly
insured, negating the need for a Crime
Reference Number. Well, cynical
old me is probably putting two-and-two
together and making five. I mean,
Geoffrey certainly appeared to be genuinely
distressed in all the publicity
surrounding the case, so perhaps such
Conspiracy Theories are unfounded…
What is indisputably, splendiferously
great however is that Mr Geoffrey
Hayes is finally getting something back
for all the effort he put into the series
over the years – George, Zippy, and Bungle
must have weighed around his
neck like a millstone at times. It’s
also pleasing to see the three original
characters safe in the hands of people
who truly deserve to have them, and
are putting them to good use once
more, rather than having them stuck behind
glass in some ridiculous Hard Rock-style
restaurant…
Toonhound,
of course, has shamefully overlooked Rainbow in its indexes,
although Grandma
Bricks Of Swallow Street gets a page. And whilst you
wait with baited breathe for yours
truly to correct his error, True Blue-
Mauve-Indigo-Violet Rainbow aficionados
should make their way here:
http://www.rainbow.web.com/
____________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile over at Aardman Animation, the
good news rumbles ever on.
You probably recall last month the studio
announced their new film project
Flushed Away from the pen of comedy stalwarts
Clement LeFrenais. Reports
suggested that this new tale had bumped
the long-delayed Tortoise Vs Hare
script in to touch indefinitely. Well
now, it seems that Aardman are keen to
clarify the situation and have announced
that the Tortoise script is still very
much a going concern – which is just terrific
news.
Tortoise Vs Hare was/is a take on the
eons old Aesop Fable about the race
between the two critters. It was to be
directed by Rex The Runt
creator Richard
Goleszowski from a script by Rob Sprackling
and John Smith (Mike Bassett:
England Manager). The project conjures
forth countless splendidly fun scenarios
to play with, just perfect for the Big Screen
so it’s jolly exciting to see this one
still out there for the future.
Stay tooned to all things Aardman-esque
at their official site:
http://www.aardman.com
___________________________________________________________________
Elsewhere this month chart-star,
licensing phenomenon and all-round
happy labourer Bob The Builder is back
in the news. Bob’s returning to
the BBC soon with his sixth season of
shows and this time he’s bringing
some new friends along with him. JJ and
Molly are a father-daughter team
of Builder’s Merchants, and Skip and
Trix are new vehicular buddies.
Apparently Molly is a particularly keen
environmentalist. Ah, but more
importantly, will she be a rival
in love to Bob’s unrequited amour Wendy?
The press releases don’t say, but they
do tell us that these are the first
new characters to join the show
since it began…
It’s great to see this HIT
series going from strength to strength. Indeed,
things are going so well there’s
also been an announcement of a second
Bob The Builder special for launch on
homevideo next year. Last year’s
special A Christmas To Remember was a
terrific success and featured guest
voices and characters in the form of
Noddy Holder, Elton John, Chris Evans,
Alison Steadman and Stephen Tompkinson.
This new special continues the
trend and introduces us to Bob’s parents,
Robert and Dot, to be voiced by
Richard Briers and June Whitfield. Brenda
Blethyn – Gawd bless ‘er – is also
onboard, providing the voice of Doctor
Florence Montfitchett. Apparently she’s
a Heritage Expert, and the storyline
features medieval castles and jousting.
Add to that the fact that Bob’s Dad is
also a bit of a builder, and we can expect
much conflict between the father-son
duo and no doubt Lofty or Dizzy will end
up having a tilt or two in the process….
So far HIT’s animation studio HOT
have produced 104 episodes of the
top-rated series, and they’ve plans
to make a total of 10 series in all.
10 series? – That’s amazing, especially
when one thinks of how far a
single series can travel. I mean, Bagpuss,
Mr Benn, Moschops
and
so many more are still thriving
on the back of just 13 episodes…
Get building with Bob at his official
site:
http://www.bobthebuilder.com
____________________________________________________________________
…Now remember last month when I promised
‘no more apologies’?
Well it seems I have to return to old
habits this month, not because I’ve
promised things I can’t deliver, but rather
because I haven’t been able to
deliver as much as I’d hoped. Confused
yet? – Let me explain. My lovely
but-painfully-slow PC has finally hit
crunch point. It just keeps crashing,
allowing conflicts twixt AOL, IE6, Windows,
Zonealarm etc. It’s made
updating the site nigh-on impossible without
a lot of patience and
something soft for me to bang my head
off repeatedly. But things are
going to change very soon with the arrival
of a new, all-singing, all-dancing
machine. At least, that’s the plan. Once
I’ve sussed out the new set-up
the updates should return to normal –
that means three-to-four times a
week instead of the current level of two-to-three
at most. Of course,
this is all irrelevant to you anyway,
because you’ve never actually thought
to check that kind of detail, right? –
Oh well, at least you know I’m trying
here, even if you’re not actually aware
of the fact…