''Wanderly Wagon'' is an Irish

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 aired on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

from Saturday 30 September 1967Hourihane, Anne Marie
''Sunday Tribune''
11 August 2002. until 1982.

Plot

''Wanderly Wagon'' followed human and

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...

characters as they travelled around Ireland visiting interesting locations, rescuing Princesses and generally doing good. The original premise of the show expanded to follow the characters to magical lands of

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

, and into outer space. The Wagon could fly, and using

chroma key Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a Visual effects, visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues (colorfulness, chroma range). The techniq ...

effects, the Wagon was shown hovering in mid-air, landing in various magical lands, and even traveling underwater.

Characters

* ''Rory'' - originally the lead character. Played by stage actor Bill Golding. Golding left the series in its middle years. * ''O'Brien'' - a bumbler played by

Eugene Lambert Eugene Lambert (1928 – 22 February 2010) was an Irish puppeteer and actor from County Sligo. He was owner of the Lambert Puppet Theatre in Monkstown, Dublin. He was noted for co-starring as O'Brien in the RTÉ television series '' Wanderly ...

, who was also the puppeteer and

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

for some of the animal characters. Other voices were provided by puppeteer members of the Lambert family. * ''Godmother'' - a sensible mother-figure played by Nora O'Mahoney. * ''Judge'' - a dog. He was the voice of reason and good sense, a moral conscience to the rest of them (he also starred in television road safety advertisements). To this day, Judge is held in great affection by people who remember him - many of whom can still sing his song, "I Am the Flying Dog" * '' Fortycoats'' - a gruff, bearded character in a costume made of ragged swatches of many different materials, he owned a flying sweetshop. An occasional character who later had an eponymous spin-off show. Originally played by Bill Golding and later by Fran Dempsey. * ''Mr Crow'' - a

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

who lived in a

cuckoo clock A cuckoo clock is a type of clock, typically pendulum clock, pendulum driven, that striking clock, strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo call and has an automated cuckoo bird that moves with each note. Some move their wings and ope ...

. Crow was a sarcastic fellow with a cutting sense of humour. * ''Foxy'' - a

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

who lived in a barrel on the side of the wagon and spoke with an American gangster style accent. * ''Doctor Astro'' - a recurring villain played by Frank Kelly * ''Sneaky Snake'' - Doctor Astro's sidekick, also voiced by Frank Kelly * ''Maeve the Witch'' - a mischievous witch, whose attempts at villainy always ended in failure * ''moon mice'' - four mice who lived in the attic. * ''squirrels'' - two squirrels played by Miriam Lambert.

Production

Don Lennox and Eugene Lambert came up with the idea of ''Wanderly Wagon'' along with Jim O'Hare. O'Hare was recalling a recent family holiday spent on a horse drawn caravan in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

. Lennox became the first producer of ''Wanderly Wagon'' and O'Hare designed the wagon and the show's costumes. In the early years of the show, each episode was recorded live, and as such there was no editing. If there was a mistake, it would either have to be left in or the whole episode would have to begin shooting again from the start. In addition, boom mics were not in use and each actor had to be fitted with a hidden microphone on a trailing wire, which restricted movement around the set. Various episodes were written by

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia,'' which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in ...

, Carolyn Swift, Pat Ingoldsby, Martin Duffy and Frank Kelly, who also played several characters on the show. The series developed a tradition of transmitting a

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

show from a Dublin children's hospital every year. The original Wanderly Wagon used in the making of the show is on display at Tinahely Farm Shop in County Wicklow. The smaller replica of the Wanderly Wagon used when filming the opening scenes of Wanderly Wagon is on display in The Little Museum of Dublin on St. Stephen's Green in Dublin.

Spin-offs

The character of Fortycoats was given his own show, Fortycoats & Co., played by Fran Dempsey. In the show Fortycoats is accompanied by two companions; Sofar Sogood (played by Conal Kearney), a prim goody two shoes character, and Slightly Bonkers (played by Virginia Cole), a naive schoolgirl. They travelled in the Flying Tuck Shop doing good, and battling the evil Whilomena the Whirligig Witch and The Pickarooney.

References

External links