Paula Hammond - Features EditorIf you ever wonder why Generation X are so darn odd, take a look at kid’s TV from the ‘70s and ‘80s. Subversive, silly, and laugh out loud funny, the likes of Chorlton and the Wheelies, Danger Mouse, and Roobarb and Custard, have arguably never been bettered.
The good news is that, this year, Fabulous Films have released a veritable smorgasbord of the very strangest cult kid’s TV.
This month is the turn of of the utterly marvellous Will O’ The Wisp.
A will-o’-wisp is a flame-like phosphorescence seen in a marsh or forest. According to legend, the wisp is a mischievous sprite, carrying a fleeting wisp of light. Lost travellers would follow the light and get led astray into the marsh … to end up who knows where …
First produced in 1981, Nick Spargo’s anarchic cartoon, averaged 8.2 million viewers — bridging the gap between afternoon children’s programming and adult evening viewing.
It’s success was undoubtedly due to the comic voice talents of the legendary Kenneth Williams, who so memorably created the characters we all came to know and love: Evil Edna, a witch in the form of a walking, talking television; the clumsy fairy, Mavis Cruet; the idiotic Moog: and Arthur, the Cockney geezer caterpillar.
Fabulous Films’ new DVD and blu-ray releases include all 26-episodes of season 1, plus 26 episodes of season 2, which featured James Dreyfus as the narrator.
Included in the Extras is the short film intended to promote (of all things) North Sea gas, which was the inspiration for the first series.
