''Roobarb'' (also known as ''Roobarb and Custard'') is an

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

children's television series, created by

Grange Calveley Grange Calveley (6 May 1943 – 22 August 2021) was a British artist and writer. He was best known as the creator of the BBC's animated television series ''Roobarb'' (1974) and ''Noah and Nelly in... SkylArk'' (1977). Calveley also wrote and ma ...

and originally shown on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

just before the evening news. Each cartoon of the original series, written by Calveley and directed by

Bob Godfrey Roland Frederick Godfrey MBE (27 May 1921 – 21 February 2013),Channel 5's Milkshake block. The narration of both series was provided by the actor

Richard Briers Richard David Briers (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television. Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in '' Marriage Lines'' (1961–66), but ...

. On 17 February 2013, Briers died, followed four days later by animator Godfrey.

Original series

Roobarb is a green

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

, and Custard is a pink

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

. Roobarb is always involved in some kind of misadventure which he approaches with unbounded enthusiasm. Custard is cynical and sets out to sabotage Roobarb's fun. Which one comes out on top varies from episode to episode. Other characters in the series are the

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s, who watch the antics of the other two from the safety of a nearby tree, often making snide remarks, and siding with whoever is winning. There is also a rather timid, pink

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

as well as the Sun and the Moon, who are depicted as sentient and able to talk to the other characters. The series is animated in a deliberately rough style, using

marker pen A marker pen, fine liner, marking pen, felt-tip pen, felt pen, flow marker, sign pen (in South Korea), vivid (in New Zealand), flomaster (in East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic countries), texta (in Australia), sketch pen (in South ...

s and a very sketchy drawing technique, so that the pictures are constantly "shaking". This effect, known to animators as "boiling", gives an energetic character to the show, and was a contrast to the slick, smooth colouring of the American

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

shows that were being shown on British television. The series was voiced by actor

and the theme tune was written by

Johnny Hawksworth Johnny Hawksworth (2 February 1924 – 13 February 2009) was a British jazz bass player and composer of library music widely used for television. He lived and worked in Australia from 1984. Biography Born in London in 1924, Hawksworth in ...

for

de Wolfe Music De Wolfe Limited (previously known as Music de Wolfe, often referred to as De Wolfe Music) is a British music production company, recognised as the originator of what has become known as library music. De Wolfe Music was established by Meyer de Wo ...

. It was the first fully animated television series to be made in the United Kingdom. The series was later shown in reruns on the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

Eureeka's Castle ''Eureeka's Castle'' is an American children's puppet television series created by Debby Beece and Judy Katschke. R. L. Stine developed the characters and was the head writer of the show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block fro ...

'' on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

, with an American dub. The cartoon was a success, greatly loved by children and adults alike, and winning numerous awards. The series was also known for its eccentric use of quirky word play and sight gags.

2005 series

A new series titled ''Roobarb and Custard Too'' debuted on Channel 5 on 8 August 2005. Like the original series, it was written by

and narrated by Richard Briers, though Bob Godfrey did not return for this series. The revival introduced a large number of other animal characters who also got involved in Roobarb's schemes. It was produced by Adam Sharp and Bernadette O'Riordan for A&B TV, and directed by

Jason Tammemagi Jason Tammemagi is the creator, writer and director of preschool show, '' Fluffy Gardens''. He also directed '' Roobarb & Custard Too'', '' Planet Cosmo'', and Irish animated drama, '' Ballybraddan''. Jason was Creative Director of Geronimo Produc ...

; the animation was by the Irish company Monster Animation & Design (now Monster Entertainment). The revival used computer animation, but kept the "wobbly" look and plain white backgrounds from the original series. The music for the revival was by Jon Atkinson. 39 episodes were made and clocked in at 7 minutes.

Characters

Roobarb A green dog with a shaggy tail, two hairs each on the side of his head and a wild imagination. He's fond of bones, adventure, inventing and also seems to eat various things like coal, paper, books, chairs, shoes, holes in carpets, trees. Despite being short-tempered, Roobarb is usually very good-hearted and seems friendly to everyone he meets. He loves performing shows and is often helpful. His rival is Custard, his next door neighbour. Roobarb lives in a small cosy house, sleeps in a basket and seems to get on well with his rent free life. He's not always very bright, but is always curious. Although anthropomorphic, Roobarb does usually run and walk on all fours, barks like a dog and even has his own dog bowl for water. Roobarb is always deep in thoughts, usually for long hours until a plan has been thought. Roobarb thinks he's brave and handsome. He's usually always cheerful, optimistic, inventive and curious. Custard A chubby pink cat and Roobarb's friendly rival and sometimes best friend. Custard usually likes to sabotage Roobarb's fun and plays pranks on him and often looks for the biggest laugh of the day. Although malicious and sarcastic, Custard has been shown to care about Roobarb and has even helped him out a few times and enjoys his company. Examples include when he dressed up as Santa Claus for Roobarb's Christmas party to help save it from being a disaster. Another example is when he helped Roobarb spook a group of tramps who retired to bed in Roobarb's house. Custard lives behind a large white wooden fence where he also takes his naps on top of it. Being a cat, Custard has a fondness for fishing, always trying to find his way to catch the fish, most of the time failing, he also envies Roobarb in competitions. Custard is also a very crafty cat, causing mischief and often getting the other animals involved. He's always grinning wide like a Cheshire Cat. Like Roobarb, Custard goes from antropomorphic to sometimes walking and prowling on all fours, even stretches, yowls like a cat and scratches like one. He is sneaky, sly, mischievous, greedy and sassy.

Episode list

''Roobarb'' (1974)

''Roobarb and Custard Too'' (2005)

UK VHS/DVD Releases

Between 1988 and 1990, Channel 5 released two videos of the 1974 series with ten episodes on each one. The first video was re-released by Entertainment UK Ltd and PolyGram Video (Cat. No. EUKV 2006) in October 1991, until it had a new re-release by 4 Front Video (Cat. No. 6356043) on 24 April 1995, until it was reissued by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (UK) Ltd (Cat. No. 0463463) on 16 June 1997. In 1993, 4 Front Video released a single video containing 20 episodes of the 1974 series consisting of ten episodes from each of the two Channel 5 releases together in one video. In 2000, Contender Entertainment Group Ltd released a single video with the first eight episodes of the 1974 series on it. In 2024, digitally restored versions of the original, alongside the revival, have been released by Fabulous Films in the 'Fabulous Films Kids Collection' range of children's DVD and Blu-ray releases.

In popular culture

The '' Noah and Nelly in... SkylArk'' episode "During a Picnic" features a pirate ship called ''The Nutty Dog'', the figurehead of which looks exactly like Roobarb.

The Streets The Streets is an English musical project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner (musician), Mike Skinner. The project was founded in the early 90s, while Skinner was still a teenager; however, no music would formally eventuat ...

' song "Turn the Page" mentions "Roobarb and Custard verses". A sampling of ''Roobarb'' episodes and theme song made up the basis for the 1992 single of the same name by the UK group

Shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around whi ...

. The end bit of the theme tune could be heard at the end of each of 3 adverts for Ambrosia flavored custard. Roobarb and Custard were featured in the music video for "

The Official BBC Children in Need Medley "The Official BBC Children in Need Medley" is a single by Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band. It is the official Children in Need Single for 2009, and was released on 21 November 2009. The song was shown for the first time on Children in Need ...

" by

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. Born and raised in Farnworth, Kay studied media performance at the University of Salford and later began working part-time as a stand-up comedian. In 199 ...

, which contained many other popular cartoon characters. They appeared via a televised monitor as they were in 2-D animation, as opposed to the stop-motion style of the video and characters. Roobarb and Custard became the stars of a series of children's books based on the TV series by Mogzilla Publishing in 2009. The ''Roobarb'' theme tune appears in the Channel 4 comedy "Spaced" (Season one, Episode 4: "Battles") in a flashback as Tim is chased by a pack of dogs, and also as Daisy chases the pack itself. Roobarb and Custard were used as mascots for the

People's Dispensary for Sick Animals The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) is the UK's leading veterinary Charitable organization, charity, carrying out more than one million free veterinary consultations a year. It was founded in 1917 by Maria Dickin to provide care f ...

charity in the UK from 2011 to 2015. They were voiced by Ian Swann.

Music by "Roobarb"

In 1975, singer-songwriter duo Sandy Davis and Paul Travis were commissioned to write and record an album for the ''Roobarb'' TV series. A single, "Roobarb's a Star" was released in 1976, closely followed by the "Roobarb" album. All releases feature original artwork by Grange Calveley, and was funded/released by Bell Records.

Broadcast history

*UK **

(1974) **

The Children's Channel The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a British-based pan-European children's television channel in Europe, Asia and Africa, which was owned by Flextech in London, England, UK. It began broadcasting on the original Eutelsat satellite ...

(1992) **

Nickelodeon (UK and Ireland) Nickelodeon (commonly shortened to Nick) is a British pay television network. It launched on 1 September 1993, as a localised version of the American channel of the same name in the United Kingdom and launched in Ireland in 2004. In the United ...

(1993) **

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

(2005-2008) **Rewind TV (2024-present) *Australia **

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

(1977-1993) *USA **

(1988)

References

External links

Roobarb & Custard's official web siteRoobarb & Custard's producers and brand guardians
at

bbc.co.uk BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

* {{IMDb title, 0071043, Roobarb
Roobarb eBooks by Box of Frogs
1970s British animated television series 1970s British children's television series 1974 British television series debuts 1974 animated television series debuts 2000s British animated television series 2000s British children's television series 2005 British television series endings Animated television series about cats Animated television series about dogs Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming BBC animated television series BBC children's television shows British children's animated comedy television series British English-language television shows British television series revived after cancellation Channel 5 (British TV channel) original programming Children's television series about talking animals