The 'live' and 1952 Versions
The original version of Andy Pandy premiered on BBC TV in 1950, on either 11 July or 20 June, as part of the For the Children strand (later Watch with Mother) narrated by Vera McKechnie. Initially the programmes were transmitted live, but it was realised that if the programmes were filmed, they could be repeated. Twenty-six episodes of fifteen minutes duration were filmed on 16mm, and were produced around 1952; they were repeated continuously until 1970. This version had narration by Maria Bird. In one episode Andy Pandy sees how high he can go on a swing, an episode which featured in the 1987 compilation by BBC Video.
A marionette who lived in a picnic basket, Andy was later joined by Teddy, a teddy bear, and Looby Loo, a rag doll, who would appear when Andy and Teddy weren't around. Looby Loo had her own special song "Here we go Looby Loo". All three lived in the same picnic basket. Each episode ended with a variation on the famous song: "Time to go home, Time to go home, Andy is waving goodbye."
It is claimed that the design for the character was based on Paul Atterbury, the then young son of puppeteer Audrey Atterbury. A comic-strip version was published in ].
The prouction staff for the original series were:
- Producer: Freda Lingstrom.
- Writer/composer: Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird.
- Singers: Gladys Whitred, Julia Williams
- Puppeteers: Audrey Atterbury, Molly Gibson, Martin Grainger.
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Famous quotes containing the word versions:
“The assumption must be that those who can see value only in tradition, or versions of it, deny man’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”
—Stephen Bayley (b. 1951)