Wanderly Wagon

"Wanderly Wagon" was an Irish children's television series which aired on RTÉ from 1968 until 1982. Wanderly Wagon followed human and puppet characters as they travelled around Ireland visiting interesting locations, rescuing princesses and generally doing good. The original premise of the show expanded to follow the characters to magical lands of Irish mythology, and even into outer space.

Various episodes were written by Neil Jordan, Carolyn Swift, Pat Ingoldsby, Martin Duffy and Frank Kelly, who also played several characters on the show.

The Wagon itself could fly. Using chroma key special effects, the Wagon was shown hovering in midair, landing in various magical lands, and even traveling underwater.

The series developed a tradition of transmitting a Christmas Day show from a Dublin childrens' hospital every year.

Characters

* "Rory" - originally the lead character. Played by acclaimed stage actor Bill Golding. Golding left the series in its middle years.
* "O'Brien" - a bumbler played by Eugene Lambert, who was also the puppeteer and ventriloquist for the animal characters.
* "Godmother" - a sensible mother-figure played by Nora O'Mahoney.
* "Judge" - a dog. He was the voice of reason and good sense, a moral conscience to the rest of them (he also starred in televised road safety ads). To this day, Judge is held in great affection by people who remember him - many of whom can still sing his song, "I Am The Flying Dog":"I am the flying dog,With lots of flying hours in my log,The newspapers are all agog,When they see the flying dog."(etc)
* "Fortycoats" - a gruff, bearded character in a costume made of ragged swatches of many different materials, he owned a flying sweetshop. An occasional character who later had an eponymous spin-off show. Originally played by Bill Golding and later by Fran Dempsey.
* "Mr Crow" - a crow who lived in a cuckoo clock. Crow was a sarcastic fellow with a cutting sense of humour.
* "Foxy" - a fox who lived in a barrel on the side of the wagon and spoke with an American gangster style accent.
* Four "moon mice" who lived in the attic.
* "Doctor Astro", a recurring villain played by Frank Kelly
* "Sneaky the Snake", Doctor Astro's sidekick also voiced by Frank Kelly
* "Maeve The Witch", Her attempts to do mischief to the wagon and the other members of the cast always failed - just like Wylie Coyote and the Road Runner.

External links

* [http://www.lambertpuppettheatre.com Eugene Lambert's of O'Brien fame website]
* [http://www.irish-tv.com/wander.asp Unofficial fan site]
* [http://pages.ebay.ie/judge/ ebay's Safe Cross Code by Judge]
* [http://www.enn.ie/frontpage/news-9629855.html Judge promotes eBay's Safe Surf Code News article]
* [http://www.fustar.info/2006/02/08/92/ 3 Part Eugene Lambert Interview - fustar.info]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296454/fullcredits IMDB listing]
* [http://www.rte.ie/laweb/images/brc/brc60s_wwagony425x250.jpgRTE Archive Picture]
* [http://www.rte.ie/laweb/brc/brc_1960s.html RTE 1960's Programming]