'THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT' CHILDREN'S TV SERIES

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.

DINKY TOYS - ED STRAKER'S CAR FROM THE UFO TV SERIES

'Ed Straker's Car from the 'UFO' TV Series (and also from the earlier film Doppleganger or Journey to the Far Side of the Sun) was a rather poor attempt at what could have been a first class model. Apart from the whole body contours being simplified, the largest and most glaring error is that the up and over gull wing doors (as featured prominently in the series) were portrayed as front-hinged normal doors. The fact that these doors were also modelled non-opening makes the error doubly inexcusable. However, as the model stands, it is at least recognisable and represents a scale of 1/42nd, the real vehicle being based on the Ford Zephyr/Zodiac MK IV chassis with aluminium and glassfibre bodies.

Straker's car was finished in a mid-metallic brown in the 'UFO' series, but the model appeared in two fictitious colour variations, one being gloss yellow with a white interior, the other being a gold plate effect with blue interior. Radial ribbed or center nut cast wheels with tyres could be found on either colour variation, the real wheels being powered by a pull-back clockwork motor. It was the first 'UFO' based model to be deleated, in 1975. --Model Collector See here

UFO TV SERIES

UFO is a British television science fiction series created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson and produced by the Anderson's and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company. The Andersons had previously made a number of very successful marionette-based children's science fiction series including Stingray, Thunderbirds, and Captain Scarlet. They had also made one live-action science fiction movie, Doppelgänger, also known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, and now felt ready to move into live-action television and aim at a more adult market.
UFO was the Andersons' first totally live-action TV series. Despite the assumption of many TV station executives, the series was not aimed at children, but deliberately sought an older audience; many episodes featured adult themes such as adultery, divorce, and drug use.

UFO first aired in the UK in 1970 and in US syndication over the next two years. In all, 26 episodes, including the pilot, were filmed over the course of more than a year, with a five-month production break caused by the ultimate closure of the MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood, where the show was initially made.

An idiosyncrasy of the series is that the term "UFO" is pronounced as a word ("you-foh"), as suggested by the real-world originator of the term Edward J. Ruppelt, and not as the more common "you-eff-oh". This is particularly true of the lead character, Ed Straker. Technically speaking the series title should properly be pronounced "you-foh" as well. However, the "you-foh" pronunciation was not consistently applied and some supporting characters use the more traditional form.

In a sad coincidence, lead actors Ed Bishop and Michael Billington died in June 2005, within five days of each other.

RETURN OF THE SAINT CORGI DIECAST MODEL CAR

The 'Saint's Jaguar XJS' was a larger model than the previous 'Saint's Volvo' model. This 1/35th scale vehicle was just slightly more than a repainted standard XJS model, having 'ST1" licence plate labels, a 'Saint' logo label (not authentic), and a rear mounted aerial. The red interior set off the white paint work nicely, though there was no Simon Templar figure - a pity, as the only features are the opening doors. The final ones were produced in 1982, though the basic XJS is still available.

CORGI TOYS: THE SAINT'S VOLVO P1 800S

The Saint's Volvo P1 800S (no.258) was finished in white with a red interior and a figure of Simon Templar at the wheel. A black 'Saint' decal (which never appeared on the real car) featured prominently on the bonnet for most of the production run, but rather a white 'Saint' on a red bonnet-shaped label was substituted. This 1/48th scale model had a five year with rubber tyred, spun metal wheels, before being shod with the mandatory whizzwheels in 1970, the change of wheels coinciding with a change of catalogue number (no.201). The red bonnet label continued for the whizzwheels version, but the interior colour was change to either yellow or black. Jewelled headlights featured on both versions; 1972 was its final year.

DINKY TOYS - GABRIEL MODEL T FORD

The ‘Gabriel Model T Ford’ (no 109) was the everyday run about of Father Stanley Unwin from the Gerry Anderson ‘Secret Service’ series, though the same vehicle was also seen in a couple of episodes of the later ‘UFO’ series.
The 1/43 rd scale yellow and black model featured a figure of Unwin at the wheel and ‘Gabriel’ labels on each body side. Due to the model only being available for two years, and the series only being shown in three ITV regions, the Gabriel Model T is rare, especially when compard with other Anderson related items.

CORGI - DR.WHO SET; BESSIE, DALEK, DR.WHO & K9 FIGURES

The 1970's saw the national institution of Doctor Who grow up, with adults outnumbering children in the continually climbing audience figures. In january 1970 Doctor Who returned in full Colour and advances in technology had produced more belivable monsters. By the 1980's Dr Who was the longest running science fiction TV series in the world, having millions of fans all around the globe.

This great 4 piece set from Corgi features the Doctor in Tom Baker likeness (height: 62 mm), his trusty companion, K9 (length: 50 mm), Bessie, the Doctors yellow vintage car (length: 75 mm) and a perfectly detailed Dalek (height: 60 mm). This set is a fantastic addition to any Dr Who collection. Forty years on, friend and foe are reunited with this delightful set of four characters from Britains favourite TV sci-fi programme. From mutant monstrosity to the loyal robot dog and the eccentric figure of the good Doctor himself, what more endearing mementos could there be of a much-loved programme. See more.

CORGI - DOCTOR WHO 40th ANNIVERSARY GIFT SET

This anniversary Gift Set was launched to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Dr. Who TV series. It contains seven highly-detailed collectable models and figures which are exact miniature replicas of various characters from the famous Sci-Fi programme, and they come beautifully displayed in a presentation film can.

Own the whole set, which comes complete with a special presentation film can. Incidentally, did you know that in 1963 a typical Doctor Who story cost around £10,000 to make: the 1996 TV movie cost over £3 million? See more.

CORGI - DOCTOR WHO BESSIE WITH FIGURE

Dr Who was first transmitted on November 23rd 1963 and by the end of the 1960's the BBC programme had enthralled a generation of children. The police telephone box and the daleks became household icons.

The souped-up yellow roadster first belonged to the third Doctor, played by Jon Pertwee, though our model is shown with the figure of the fourth, Tom Baker, with that distinctive scarf and hat. These highly-detailed collectable figures are exact miniature replicas of Dr. Who and his car Bessie from the Dr. Who TV series. See here.

TIN TIN CAR IN THE LAND OF THE SOVIETS

Tintin in the Land of the Soviets is the first of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé. The series features young reporter Tintin as its hero.Tintin in the Land of the Soviets was published for the first time in Le Petit Vingtième (the children's supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle) between 10 January 1929 and 11 May 1930, and appeared in album form in 1930.The story is a political satire, expressing Hergé's distrust of the Soviet Union and poking fun at its claim to have a thriving economy. According to Benoît Peeters' book (Le monde d'Hergé), the only source used by Hergé to create his story was the book entitled Mosco sans voiles (Moscow Unveiled) written by Joseph Douillet, a former Belgian consul in Soviet Russia. For such reasons, Hergé decided to withdraw the album from circulation in the 1930s. In 1973, a facsimile edition was launched, that immediately became a best-seller (100,000 copies sold in that year alone).

This diecast car is produced from the real “Mercedes Torpedo 1925”. This car is in Tintin “the Land of the Soviet”, paging 9. It is the only early Tintin adventure which Hergé did not redraw or colourizes in later years, and, as a result, looks and feels very different from the other books. In this diecast car. Tintin and Snowy are black and white. Oval tires show kept in that it is running with a very high speed. Tintin is wearing a scotch shirt and Snowy is sitting in the car. The position is exactly the same as in cartoon. This car is one of the first three cars that were produced. There is window box. It is collectible for those who love cartoon.