Jamie and the Magic Torch

"Jamie and the Magic Torch" was a British children's animated television series, made by Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television and shown on the ITV network, running from 1976 to 1979. It was based around the young boy of the title and his torch, or flashlight. When shone on the floor, the torch opened up a hole into a fun dimension called Cuckoo Land.

The beginning of each episode would show Jamie's mother tucking him into bed at night and saying, "Sleep well, Jamie." Then from under his bed, his pet dog Wordsworth would appear holding the torch in his mouth. Jamie would take the torch and shine it on the floor, opening up a portal to Cuckoo Land (which Wordsworth always got stuck in). The portal manifested itself as a helter skelter.

When they reached the end of the slide they would fly out into Cuckoo Land from the bottom of a tree trunk and land on a trampoline. All of this was accompanied by a song, written by Joe Griffiths. Once in Cuckoo Land, the fun would begin.

The series was written by Brian Trueman, who went on to write shows such as Dangermouse and Count Duckula for Cosgrove Hall.

Episode Titles

Series 1
#Mr Boo Loses a Mountain
#Nutmeg's House
#Let There Be Music
#Nutmeg's Box
#The Runaway Trombonium
#The Hair Stack
#Sym-Phoney
#The Flying Rabbit
#The Magician's Hat
#The Wicked Wand
#The House of Wellibob
#National Wellibob Day
#Spade Work

Series 2
#Hidden Persuasion
#The Dirty Submachine
#Yoo-Hoo Yeti!
#A Narrow Escape
#A Policeman's Lot
#The Flossed World
#Help! Help!
#One Cloudy Day
#The Downside-Upper
#Jeepers Creepers
#The Unexpected Visitor
#Big Magic
#Jamie's Birthday Party

Series 3
#Unidentified Flying Elephant
#Arthur's Detour
#The Ghost Of Spiny Mountain
#Going Down
#The Great Race
#The Baby Show
#The Big Noise
#Hello, Goodbye
#Wishes
#Mr Boo's Holiday
#All Tied Up
#Beside The Seaside
#Buried Treasure

Characters in Cuckoo Land

* Mr. Boo, who flies around in his 'submachine', obsessed with counting things.
* Officer Gotcha, whose lower half is a unicycle, eats truncheons
* Strumpers Plunkett, who plays melodies on his trumpet nose
* Wellybob the cat, who does everything backwards
* Jo-Jo Help the unhelpful handyman
* Nutmeg the ragdoll
* The Yoo-hoo Bird, who plays tricks on and runs from, Officer Gotcha.
* BullyBundy; the show business rabbit with oversized feet!

Title song lyrics

: Jamie! Jamie!: Jamie and the Magic Torch.: Down the helter skelter, faster and faster: towards Cuckoo Land.

: Wordsworth! Wordsworth!: Following hard behind.: Ready for adventure, always there to lend a paw: ...or hand!

: Mr Boo and all the others too,: the strangest people you've ever seen.: And the torch with its magical beam -: If I hadn't really been there: I'd think that I was dreaming!

: Jamie! Jamie!: No two nights are the same.: Life is one long glorious game: with Jamie.: Jamie and the Magic Torch!: [Yeah! Switch On!]

Credits

* Written and Narrated by: Brian Trueman
* Music by: Joe Griffiths
* Drawn by: Graham Garside, Jean Flynn, Jane Johnstone, April Spencer, Bernard Dicken, Mario Cavalli, Graham Kennedy, Meryl Owen, Diane Wren, Ed Shirt, Ian Ellis, Philip McMylor
* Rostrum Camera: Frank Hardie
* Film Editor: Dave Street
* Animation Director: Keith Scoble
* Post Production Director: Chris Taylor
* Producers: Brian Cosgrove, Mark Hall
* Executive Producer: John Hambley

References

Simon Sheridan "The A to Z of Classic Children's Television" (Reynolds & Hearn books, 2004, reprinted 2007) ISBN 1-903111-27-7. Contains an extensive chapter on "Jamie and the Magic Torch", rare artwork and an interview with Brian Cosgrove.

The Eugene McGuinness video for "Monsters Under the Bed" was based on the cartoon, and copied the opening titles. The cartoon boy and his teddy bear landed in a nightmarish wood, where the bear got eaten, and the boy got stomped by a huge clawed foot.

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433298/ Jamie and the Magic Torch at imdb]
* [http://tv.cream.org/specialassignments/themes/jamie.mp3 Theme Tune {links to TV Cream)]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/tvothemesongs/ TVO theme songs]