Gus Honeybun

Gus Honeybun was the station mascot for Westward Television, and later Television South West, from 1961 to 1992.cite news | last = Henry | first = Georgina | coauthors = Wainwright, Martin | title = Media: Civilised shoot-out in the West - Week 3 of the Guardian/BFI ITV franchise debates | work = The Guardian | pages = 27 | date = June 24 1991] A puppet rabbit, and star of "Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays", he achieved a longevity for a TV puppet second only to Sooty. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A749423 BBC - h2g2 - Gus Honeybun - Puppet ] ]

Gus Honeybun was filmed at Westward/TSW's Plymouth studios in the Derry's Cross part of the city. There were four different Gus Honeybun puppets and TSW employed a person to create Gus Honeybun's wardrobe. Gus had a theme tune composed by TV composer, Ed Welch, and a short video was made to accompany it, featuring Gus & several TSW presenters walking around in Plymouth. A 7" single of the theme song was released in several local record shops. Other Gus merchandise available were cuddly toy puppets, keyrings and car stickers. One car sticker said "Watch Gus on TSW!" and had both his face & the TSW logo on it.

Gus Honeybun (given the full name Augustus J Honeybun by some continunity announcers) was found under a gorse bush on Dartmoor in 1961 by the founders of Westward Television. Several ITV franchise stations had at one time had a regional birthdays slot (often following Childrens ITV or the predecessor children's television slot) with a continuity announcer and puppet announcing children's birthdays. Today Channel Television is the only region to continue with such a practice with its Puffin's Pla(i)ce programme. With Gus the announcer would read out a birthday card and the puppet would give a jump, known as bunny hops,for each year of the childs' life. Alternatives to bunny hops were ear waggles, head stands, winks and later "putting out the lights" and a colour distorting "magic button". Gus appeared with virtually every Westward/TSW presenter, including the likes of Ian Stirling, Fern Britton, Judi Spiers, David Fitzgerald, Ruth Langsford & Sally Meen.

During the TSW-era, Gus was broadcast twice a day on weekdays (before & after Children's ITV), and usually once a day at weekends. The show usually lasted about 2 or 3 minutes per episode. From 1987 - 1990, TSW used to often opt-out of showing the first & last Children's ITV in-vision continuity links of the day, so it could fit in Gus' birthday slot on weekday afternoons. It was also rumoured that in September 1989, the 'real' reason TSW moved the tea-time repeat of Australian soap, Home and Away from its original slot of 5:10pm, to an earlier time of 3:27pm, was to give Gus some more air-time, therefore also ending anymore CITV opt-outs. The opt-outs gradually stopped between September - December of 1989, then they stopped for good in January 1990, with only 3 more opt-outs ever happening; one day in early 1990, once again on the 20th December 1991 & finally on one day in August 1992.

There was also a TSW/Gus branded "Hoppa" bus, which was made by local bus & coach company, Western National. It was in regular use by them on most service routes, until TSW's demise in 1992.

Westcountry Cult

Gus Honeybun attracted a cult following and it was not unknown for adults to write in requesting "bunny hops" etc. 12 was the official age limit for having a birthday read out on air so people of 40 were presented as being 4 and so on!

Gus Honeybun was so identified with regional television in the south-west that, when TSW's managing director Harry Turner presented the station's ITV franchise renewal in 1991, he took Gus with him. However, Gus's "Magic Birthdays" series and his career at the station were cancelled at the start of 1993, when Westcountry Television took over from TSW after winning the franchise.

The last ever Gus Honeybun programme in 1992 saw Gus returned to the moor and reunited with his rabbit family. The successor ITV franchise Westcountry did provide a successor programme called Birthday People but this was cancelled in 2004.

The puppet was spoofed on Victoria Wood As Seen On TV. Terry Wogan for some time referred to Gloria Hunniford (who's show followed his on national radio 2) as Gloria Honeybun

Today, a Gus Honeybun attraction can be found at The Flambards Experience amusement park in Helston, Cornwall. [ [http://www.flambards-leisure-cornwall.com/gus_honeybun.php The Flambards Experience - The BEST Day of the Week! ] ]

Gus Honeybun also now features on the breakfast show on Atlantic FM. [ [http://www.atlantic.fm/ Atlantic FM Cornwall - More Music ] ]

External links

* [http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/itvsouthwest/index.html Gus Honeybun on TV ARK (Click under Westward Programmes and TSW Programmes)]
* [http://www.flambards.co.uk/gus_honeybun.php Gus at Flambards]

References