He's Charlie Chalk - make no mistake about that!

He may have a "funny way of walking and a wacky way of talking", but these are a few reasons why folks like myself adore shows like Charlie Chalk:

Simply put, it provides what I like to call "intelligent nonsense". Basically when odd things happen with a somewhat logical reason rather than being LOLrandom with no punchline at all. The Goon Show made a wonderful living with this theory from nonsensical storylines packed to overflowing with bizarre but clever "theories". Just listen to their "What Time is it, Eccles?" sketch for a perfect example of "intelligent nonsense".

Charlie Chalk follows the same wonderfully. Created by Ivor Wood of Woodland Animations (Postman Pat, Bertha and Gran) in 1987, it tells of a clown lost at sea, who washes up on a strange island known as Merrytwit - its inhabitants include Captain Mildred of the Good Ship Buttercup, Edward the lazy Gorilla, know-it-all Lewis T. Duck, Arnold the clumsy Elephant, Trader Jones the odd job man and the aberrant-looking Litterbug.

It may not sound much to some, but with a small cast like this (adding Mary the Hover Fairy and Bert the Mountain Monster), it offers bucketloads of crazy storytelling as demonstrated by Jocelyn Stevenson when she was in her creative prime (Funnybones, Captain Zed, Fraggle Rock, the Magic School Bus). Again, no moral lessons were required quite as often for today's generation - it's the fun of telling a story with solid characters and a lot of imagination that's the best reward =)

Although like many things in this life, Charlie's TV Career was short but sweet - with 13 episodes still on DVD and earning himself a LP Record in 1994 with songs from the episodes themselves. Not bad, eh?

So if you want to find out more about how to write "intelligent nonsense", feel free to watch a few episodes from the Playlist below and learn something... ;D

Charlie Chalk on Toonhound!

BBC - Small People's TV - 1998

The first time I saw this Children In Need promo back in 1998, it made my heart sing. This was what truly made up the Children's BBC at the time: long before Digital TV, long before Sam and Mark, long before everything became outsourced and "American-imported".

THIS, my friends, was a perfect history of British Children's TV from the BBC, by the BBC. With as much of the "gang" included as possible - stop-motion, live-action and traditionally animated =)

I'd have loved to know who was responsible for the animation throughout here. Could be from their respective studios (who were probably still in business) at the time, but at a hunch I'd call on Cosgrove Hall for the stop-motion segments.

The little chap here, BTW, was played by one Scott Chisholm; in what would be his acting debut just aged 5, he would later expand his career in various other shows such as Casualty, The Giblet Boys and Things To Do Before You're Thirty.


But enough chatter. Here's the video below to enjoy and reminisce...thank lord that 83% of the shows included have already made their way to DVD... le sigh.



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