The Magic Roundabout (known in the original French as Le Manège enchanté) was a children's television programme created in France in 1963 by Serge Danot. Some five hundred five-minute-long episodes were made and were originally broadcast between 1964 and 1971 on ORTF.
The series also attained great success in the United Kingdom. The English version was narrated by Eric Thompson, the father of actress Emma Thompson, and was broadcast from 18 October 1965 to January 1977. This version of the show attained cult status, and was watched as much by adults for its dry humour as by the children for whom it was intended.
Although the characters were common to both versions, they were given different names depending on the language.
The British Dougal was grumpy and loosely based on Tony Hancock. Ermintrude was rather matronly and fond of singing. Dylan was a hippy-like, guitar-playing rabbit, and rather dopey. Florence was portrayed sensibly. Brian was unsophisticated but well-meaning. Zebedee was an almost human creature in a yellow jacket with a spring instead of feet. He frequently went "Boing!" and regularly closed the show with the phrase "Time for bed." In the original French serial he was delivered to Mr.Rusty in a box which he sprang from like a jack-in-the-box, explaining the spring. In the foreword to the recent re-release of the books, Emma Thompson explains that her father had felt that he was most like Brian of all the characters and that Ermintrude was in some respects based upon his wife.
Other characters include Mr MacHenry, Mr Rusty, Uncle Hamish and Angus (in "Dougal's Scottish Holiday"), and the train. Three other children, Paul, Basil and Rosalie, appeared in the original b/w serial and in the credit sequence of the colour episodes, but very rarely in subsequent episodes.
Part of the show's attraction was that it appealed to adults, who enjoyed the world-weary Hancock-style comments made by Dougal, as well as to children. The audience measured eight million at its pea.
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