''Round the Bend!'' is a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 ...

, which ran on

Children's ITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...

for three series from January 6, 1989, to May 7, 1991. The programme was produced by

Hat Trick Productions Hat Trick Productions Limited is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London. The company's logo is depicted as a rabbit pulling a man out of a hat inste ...

for

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

. After its first run concluded, it was later repeated on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

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 ...

and

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

(the "Yorkshire Television Production" and "A Yorkshire Television Production for ITV" company logos were also removed from the end of the episodes in each case, and they would just fade to black where they originally were), and was nominated for an

RTS Award The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

. The programme was created by the team behind the comic book magazine '' Oink!'' (Patrick Gallagher,

Tony Husband William Anthony Husband (28 August 1950 – 18 October 2023) was a British cartoonist known for his black humour. He was mainly known for his work in ''Private Eye'' magazine, and his work has appeared in ''The Times'', the ''Daily Mail'' and t ...

, and Mark Rodgers). The puppets, animated characters and main sewer set were designed by Gallagher, who was also the programme's graphic designer. The puppets were made by the team who made the ones for Central Television's ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...

''. ''Round the Bend!'' was a satirical parody of Saturday morning magazine shows, with a host providing linking material between cartoons, music videos and news reports (albeit set in a sewer). The anarchic tone of the programme and its parody cartoons was like that of ''Viz''. The animated sketches were produced by Catalyst Pictures (who made the crudely drawn cel animations and stop-motion cardboard animations) and

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited, known simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England, United Kingdom. It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those fe ...

(who made the clay-animated serials, all three of which were spoofs of B-movies). The title of the programme is a

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

. Referring to a

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human waste (urine and feces) and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting p ...

U-bend, the cel-animated opening titles began with the camera being flushed down a toilet and ending up in a sewer (for the first series' opening titles, a live-action boy also sat at his kitchen table waiting for his copy of the ''Round the Bend!'' comic to be delivered, and when his mother grabbed it after it came through the letterbox just before he could, he mouthed something that made the comic give her an electric shock and forced her to drop it, and the view then changed to the now-fully-animated shot of the comic's front cover). It was also a popular saying at the time to describe someone who was insane.

Main characters

*Doc Croc: The show's host and a temperamental, rude, and overbearing crocodile. He ran the operations of the sewer and took command of the rats who worked (unpaid) for him. Performed by Anthony Asbury and Kaefan Shaw, and voiced by

Enn Reitel Enn Reitel (born 21 June 1950) is a Scottish actor who specialises in voice work in films, television series and video games. Early life Reitel's family arrived in Scotland as refugees from Estonia. He trained as an actor at the Central Sch ...

. In one episode, he started his own political party to try and win the general election (which he named the "Greedy Party"), but lost it by one vote to "Screaming Lord Screwloose" (the candidate for the "Monster Robot Loony Party") as the rats had forgotten to vote. *Jemima Wellington-Green: The cleverest of the three rats, she was often sarcastic and miserable about the fact that she worked in a sewer and had no hope of ever getting a boyfriend. She spoke with a posh accent, which was a parody of

Janet Street-Porter Janet Vera Street-Porter (''née'' Bull; born 27 December 1946) is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. She began her career in 1969 as a fashion writer and columnist at the ''Daily Mail'' and was appointed fashion ...

. Performed by

Richard Coombs Richard Coombs is a British puppeteer who has worked extensively on television shows, feature films, commercials, and music videos. From 1987 to 1988, he worked on the ITV Network, ITV Saturday morning children's show, ''Get Fresh'', where he oper ...

and voiced by

Kate Robbins Kate Elizabeth Robbins (born 21 August 1958) is an English actress, singer, and songwriter. She came to prominence in the early 1980s when she scored a top ten single on the UK Official Charts with "More Than in Love", while she was appearing i ...

. In the first three episodes, she came up out of the toilets of actor

Tony Robinson Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television sitcom ''Blackadder'' and has presented many historical documentaries, including the Channel ...

, reggae band Aswad and footballer

John Fashanu John Winton Fashanu (born 18 September 1962) is an English television presenter and former professional footballer. As a footballer he was a centre-forward from 1978 until 1995, most notably in an eight-year spell at Wimbledon in which he won ...

to interview them, but they all flushed her away. *"Vaudeville" Vincent Vermin: A cockney rat and the resident comic who always tried to see the bright side of every situation. He hosted his own joke segment of the show. The jokes were intentionally bad, which was the reason for them being funny. At the end of each segment, Doc Croc would ask an "Opinion Poll" (a talking barber's pole) what he thought of them, and the pole would say "Rubbish!". There was also at one point a talking piece of furniture, the "Armchair Critic". Performed by

Nigel Plaskitt Nigel Plaskitt (born 27 July 1950) is an English actor, puppeteer, producer, and stage and television director. Career His voice and puppetry talents have appeared on television shows such as ''Pipkins'' (for which he provided the narration, a ...

and voiced by

Jon Glover Jonathan Philip Glover (born 26 December 1952) is an English actor. He has appeared in various television programmes including '' Play School'', '' Survivors'', the Management consultant in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', ''Casualty' ...

. In one episode, he was blasted into space in a space shuttle that Doc Croc had stolen for the intention of broadcasting ''Round the Bend!'' to the whole world, only for Vincent to realise he wouldn’t have long to live doing this, so decided to “die laughing” by broadcasting his jokes using the satellite, which only took over every television and radio signal going. *Luschetti "Lou Brush" Bruschetti: an Italian rat and the programme's resident artist. Not as intelligent as the other rats, and usually the rat that Doc took most of his problems out on. Originally performed by Alistair Fullarton, later by Simon Buckley, and voiced by Jonathan Kydd. In one episode, he concocted a brew for Doc Croc (to try and put him in a better mood), but it shrunk him when he drunk it. In three episodes, the cast were plagued by a sunglasses-wearing teddy bear who, despite his diminutive size, would inflict severe physical beatings on them. On the second one of these occasions, the cast were also visited by the teddy's (much larger) father, who took on Doc Croc in a boxing match, and would have won had it not been for Luschetti making a "big brother" crocodile out of cardboard (with Jemima impersonating Doc's voice when Luschetti projected its silhouette onto the wall of the sewer) to frighten both teddies away.

Other characters

Other non-regular cast members were often satirical parodies of real-life celebrities and existing television programmes, including: *The Oddbod Family: Original animation about a family of five, focusing on their three children (Bouncing Benny, Loud Lucy and Nancy's Nose) who all had abnormal abilities. *Transformaloids and Transformabots: Animated parodies of ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'', the first of which featured "Octopus Slime", an octopus-headed transforming robot (whose name is a pun on

Optimus Prime Optimus Prime, also known in Japan as is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Transformers'' franchise. Generally depicted as a brave and noble leader, Optimus Prime is the supreme commander of the Autobots in their fight ag ...

), who on at least one occasion went up against his arch-enemy, "Armadillotron" (whose name is a pun on

Megatron Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Transformers'' media franchise produced by the American toy company Hasbro and the Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. He is the tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a villaino ...

). *The Strange Tales of Pzycho the Magnificent (Series 1–2): Original stop-motion cardboard animation about a psychotic German magician who attempted to use magic for his own personal gain, but got caught by the police every time and sent to jail. For the third series, Pzycho was presumed to be dead as a gravestone reading "RIP PZYCHO" was seen in one of the Woolly the Wonder Sheep sketches (but in the last episode's Kenny McTickle sketch, he reappeared when Kenny conjured up everything he had from under his kilt). *Doc Croc's Nursery Spot (Series 1): Animated take-offs of '' The Care Bears'' ("The Couldn't-Care-Less Bears"), ''

Mr. Men ''Mr. Men'' is a British series of children's books and media franchise written and illustrated by English author Roger Hargreaves which began publication in August 1971. From 1981, an accompanying series of Little Miss books by the same aut ...

'' ("Masters and Missuses"), ''

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' is a British children's television series which aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on ''The Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher, the series was developed for television by Brit ...

'' ("Clarence the Crank Engine"), ''

Rupert the Bear Rupert Bear is an English children's comic strip character and franchise created by Herbert Tourtel and illustrated by his wife, the artist Mary Tourtel, first appearing in the ''Daily Express'' newspaper on 8 November 1920. Rupert's init ...

'' ("Poopert the Bear"), and '' Noddy'' ("The Adventures of Nuddy"). Replaced in the second series by Nursery Crimes (an animated parody of ''

Jackanory ''Jackanory'' was a BBC children's television series which was originally broadcast between 1965 and 1996. It was designed to stimulate an interest in Reading (activity), reading. The programme was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, and the ...

'', which spoofed well-known nursery rhymes), which in turn was replaced in the third series by Fairytales of the Unexpected (an animated parody of '' Tales of the Unexpected'', which, as its name suggested, spoofed fairy tales). *John Potato's Newsround: A parody of ''

John Craven's Newsround ''Newsround'' (stylised as ''newsround'') is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972. Originally ''John Craven's Newsround'', it was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically a ...

'', but presented by a potato (the eponymous "John Potato", who had eyes, a nose and a moustache from a

Mr. Potato Head Mr. Potato Head is an American toy produced by Hasbro since 1952. It consists of a plastic model of a potato "head" to which a variety of plastic parts can attach; typically ears, eyes, shoes, hat, nose, mustache, pipe (1952–1987), pants (19 ...

). The sports section was presented by "David Colemole", a puppet mole who wore a pair of round glasses and had a voice very similar to

David Coleman David Robert Coleman (26 April 1926 – 21 December 2013) was a British sports commentator and television presenter who worked for the BBC for 46 years. He covered eleven Summer Olympic Games from 1960 to 2000 and six FIFA World Cups from 196 ...

. In three episodes, David Colemole became "Timmy Molett" (a parody of

Timmy Mallett Timmy Mallett (born 18 October 1955) is an English television presenter, broadcaster, author and artist. He is known for his striking visual style, colourful glasses and shirts, and a giant pink foam mallet (known as "Mallett's Mallet"), as we ...

) when "The Rattles" took the world by storm, "John Colemole" (a parody of John Cole) when Doc Croc had started the "Greedy Party", and "Sir Patrick Mole" (a parody of

Sir Patrick Moore Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter. Moore's early interest in astro ...

). *Ricky, Spambo, Arizona Jones, and Special Agent James Bomb (Series 1): Animated take-offs of

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American independent film, independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky (film series), ''Rocky'' franchise and also star ...

Rambo Rambo may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *John Rambo, the main character from the ''Rambo'' franchise * Mary Rambo, female character in '' Invisible Man'' Films * ''Rambo'' (franchise), starring Sylvester St ...

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...

, and

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

. *Rubbish Rock Spot: A music video segment that had the puppets "Dross", "Kylie Manure", "Paul Muckartney", "Swill Collins", "Rick Ashtray", "Muddonna", "Sneezy Wonder", "Binanarama", "Stink", "Elton the John", "Jason Dungovan", "Michael Jackdung", "Jon Pong Jovi", "WC Splash and the Sucker MCs", "Kate Brush" and "Bin Lids on the Block", parodies (in name only) of Bros,

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, radio DJ and podcaster. He gained fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, releasing the 1987 album ''Whenever You Need Somebody'', which sol ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

Bananarama Bananarama is an English pop group formed in London in 1980. The group, originally a trio, consisted of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when ...

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

Jason Donovan Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 millio ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and Lead vocalist, frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was fo ...

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

and

New Kids on the Block New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block had ...

. Each had a mouth that would sing along to parodied versions of pop songs (and for one episode, the rats also formed their own rock band named "The Rattles", a pun on

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

). *False Teeth from Beyond the Stars (Series 1), Attack of the Atomic Banana (Series 2), and False Teeth from Beyond the Stars Meet Atom Banana (Series 3): A trio of clay-animated B-movie parody serials, fictionally produced by "Unidental" (a pun on

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

), "Stubby Broccoli" and "Samuel J. Greengrocer" (a pun on Cubby Broccoli, and Samuel J. Briskin), and "Incredibly Cheap Productions" in association with "We Could Use This Set For Something Else P.L.C.". The first featured Roger Prentice, an apprentice dentist, and his assistant Lily O'Lovely trying to stop an invasion of intergalactic false teeth from eating the whole world, while the second featured a fifty-foot banana rampaging through

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and three teenagers who enlisted the help of Marshal Marshal Marshal and Professor Brainsley Noggin to solve the "banana problem" in a style similar to ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...

'' by calling in

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

to eat him. However, the third was a crossover between both of the first two, as the False Teeth had returned to try and eat the world again and only Atom Banana could stop them. These sketches were animated by Dave Alex Riddett of Aardman Animations. *True Romance (Series 1): Original animation parodying romantic fiction stories. Every sketch would end with a punchline which was a reference to the last line of dialogue. *Cosmic Comprehensive (Series 1): A stop-motion cardboard animation parodying ''

The Bash Street Kids ''The Bash Street Kids'' is a comic strip in the British comic magazine '' The Beano''. It also appeared briefly in The Wizard as series of prose stories in 1955. The strip, created by Leo Baxendale as ''When the Bell Rings!'', first appear ...

'' and ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

'' about an intergalactic academy of aliens. *Wee-Man and the Masters of the Looniverse and O.A.P.-Man: Animated parodies of ''

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' (often referred to simply as ''He-Man'') is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line ''Masters of the Universe''. The show was one of the most popular an ...

''. Based in the mystical land of "Hernia" (a pun on

Eternia ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince A ...

), Wee-Man fought against "Skeleton Face" (a spoof of

Skeletor Skeletor () is a fictional supervillain and the main antagonist of the ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise created by Mattel, serving as the archenemy of He-Man and usually depicted as a skull-faced, blue-skinned Magic_(supernatural)#Magicians, ...

), while O.A.P.-Man (his father) fought against Skeleton Face's father "Grandad Skullface". *Thunderpants: An animated parody of ''

ThunderCats ''ThunderCats'' is a media franchise, featuring a fictional group of cat-like humanoid aliens. The characters were created by Tobin Wolf and featured in an animated television series named ''ThunderCats'', running from 1985 to 1989, whic ...

'', which featured "Y-Fronto" (a spoof of

Lion-O Lion-O is a superhero and the main protagonist character of the ''ThunderCats'' franchise. Lion-O is the leader and the hereditary "Lord of the ThunderCats". Lion-O is based on the lion and wields the legendary Sword of Omens, which is able to f ...

) leading their fights against "Bumm-Ra" (a spoof of Mumm-Ra). *Karate Kiddie (Series 2): An animated parody of ''

The Karate Kid ''The Karate Kid'' is a 1984 American martial arts drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by Robert Mark Kamen. It is the first film in ''The Karate Kid'' franchise. The film stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, an ...

'', who returned to his ex-master's house and accidentally destroyed it with his overpowering strength. *Vegetables (Series 2): A live-action parody of ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'', for which all the characters were vegetables with Mr. Potato Head pieces and Australian accents. *Botman and Fatman (Series 2): Animated parodies of ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' (the eponymous character in the first of which, as his name implied, had abnormally huge buttocks). *Tommy's Magic Time Trousers (Series 2): Original stop-motion cutout animation about a boy who could travel back in time to witness the causes of great historical events whenever he pulled on his talking green trousers. Many trouser-related puns were used, such as Tommy saying in the time-travelling sequence, "Tally-ho and away we go! The fly's the limit!" with the trousers replying "Brace yourself, Tommy!". Every sketch ended with Tommy returning to 1990 A.D. (then the present day), his teacher asking him something to determine if he had been paying attention, Tommy answering it based on what he had just witnessed, the teacher correcting him, and the trousers saying "If only he knew, Tommy! If only he knew!". *Starry Trek (Series 2): An animated parody of '' Star Trek: The Original Series'', set aboard the "Starship Rent-A-Prize" under the command of "Captain James T. Burke". *Kenny McTickle and his Magic Kilt (Series 3): Original stop-motion cardboard animation about a Scottish boy who could conjure up anything from underneath his kilt. Kenny's catchphrase, "Oh, crivvens, jings and help ma bob!", was a reference to the Scots comic strip ''

The Broons ''The Broons'' ( English: The Browns) is a comic strip in Scots published in the weekly Scottish newspaper ''The Sunday Post''. It features the Brown (Broon) family, who live in a tenement flat at 10 Glebe Street (since the late 1990s) in th ...

'' from ''

The Sunday Post ''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, U ...

'', as they were using those exclamations long before he did. *Woolly the Wonder Sheep (Series 3): A stop-motion cardboard animation parodying ''

Champion the Wonder Horse Champion the Wonder Horse was the on-screen companion of singing cowboy Gene Autry in 79 films between 1935 and 1952, and 91 television episodes of ''The Gene Autry Show'' between 1950 and 1955. In addition, Champion starred in 26 episodes of his ...

'' and the heroic dog

Rin Tin Tin Rin Tin Tin or Rin-Tin-Tin (October 10, 1918 – August 10, 1932) was a male German Shepherd born in Flirey, France, who became an international star in motion pictures. He was rescued from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier, ...

, the eponymous main character of which was voiced by Enn Reitel (impersonating

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...

). Although Woolly proclaimed himself to be an "excellent sheep", he would often inadvertently enrage the people he had been trying to save by ruining their livelihoods, and they would chase him away while threatening to make kebabs out of him. *Old-Age Useless Nitwit Tortoises and Teenage Mutant Ninja Toilets (Series 3): Animated parodies of the 1987 ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...

'' series, the eponymous main characters in the first of which fought against "Bottom Brain" (a spoof of

Krang Krang (also spelled Kraang) is a supervillain appearing in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''-related media, most frequently in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series), 1987 animated series and its associated merchandise, such as the ''Te ...

, who faced backwards out of his android).

Merchandise

In 1990, a one-off tie-in

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

special was published as ''Round the Bend!: TV Special''. A

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

based on it, ''Round the Bend!: Doc Croc's Outrageous Adventures!'', was produced by

Zeppelin Games Eutechnyx Limited (formerly Zeppelin Games Limited, until 1994, and Merit Studios (Europe) Limited, until 1997) is a British video game developer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Since 1997, the company has focused on racing games. They a ...

for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

in 1991 and ported to the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

, and

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

. A preview of a sequel was also released, but it was never finished.

Global broadcasters

* United Kingdom ** ITV (1989-1991) **

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 ...

* 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 ...

(1990-1996) * Republic of Ireland **

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

(1990) **

RTÉ Two (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...

(1992-1993) * Germany **

BFBS The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselv ...

** SSVC Television * Cyprus **

** SSVC Television * New Zealand ** TV2 (1989-1992) * Falkland Islands **

** SSVC Television * Papua New Guinea **

(1990-1996, via broadcasting transmissions from Australia with the ABC as the only Australian television channel being shown in Papua New Guinea) * Vanuatu **

(1992-1996, via broadcasting transmissions from Australia)

References

External links