2018 and still no sign of any of these original episodes showing signs of being available on DVD. Seriously, what's the point of keeping them locked up in the TV vaults somewhere if nobody can ever see them again!!
As a kid I remember staying up way past bedtime into the early hours of the morning and occasionally this would come on. Watching it always felt like a surreal dream.
This was maybe 15 years ago for me, in my 20s now. I think it was on one of the premium kids channels here in the UK. Once they ran out of programming for the night they'd rerun any old crap until morning. This just happened to be one of the shows aired during summer, if memory serves.
My Dad often used expressions such as "dear heart" and "dear thing" in his classroom - until the day when one of the kids turned round and said "thanks Ermintrude".
+Mark Tripp If you have ever listened to the 'Test Match Special' cricket (for all our American friends out there,it is a summer sport involving a bat and a ball but is not really like baseball at all) commentary on the radio, Henry Blofeld uses those phrases all the time and he has a similar voice-in fact, to me he IS Ermintrude!
I was born in 1965, i was 5 years old in 1970. I remember all of the 1970's. I remember this very well. I loved those times. I know it is impossible, but i would go back to being 5 years old again in 1970 in an instant if i could.
I was born in 94 , and it must have been late nineties early 2000S when my dad worked down pit. I used to get up at crack of dawn say 4am and go down stairs and watch this. Then I'd piss off back to bed after
I worked at BMC Longbridge for a short time during 1967-68 and our foreman would have a job on his hands pleading with grown men to work overtime if Magic Roundabout was on!
Really? That's incredible! The Magic Roundabout certainly was THE children's programme to watch amongst us kids. Kudos to your work colleagues of that time.
Quite right too! Overtime instead of The Magic Roundabout-unthinkable!! Apparantly work at thr Royal docks used to stop for it so you didnt stand a chance!
As a young adult in the late 60s and early 70s, my mates and I would rush home to watch this iconic show.The English voice over of the French cartoon was what made it so successful. It was not quite the "South Park" of its day, but the adult messages were not lost on us.Thank you for sharing it.
I remember the episode when Florence and Dougal are telling each other that they love the other and zebedee springs down to annouce,"Time for bed everybody!"Scandalous stuff!
One of the best theme tunes for childrens tv haha! My brother & me used to watch this many years ago now...Its just weird to be able to look back & see this now we're in our 50's. I just wonder how we perceived it in our little heads way back then...along with The Herbs, The Clangers, Hector's House, Tales of the Riverbank etc. My, how things have changed for little'uns nowadays.(I do remember I always found Play School, the first of the afternoon programs boring but remember fondly Brian Cant).
To everyone saying "So this is what 'Doogal' is based off. NO. This is what "The magic roundabout is based of," the original and much better version of the movie before it was redubbed and dummed down for American Audiences.
Unconventional Jack NOPE Doogal is terrible. The Magical Roundabout is just boring. It's mediocre, with mediocre jokes, actors, and cohesion. It's competent, but nothing else. Doogal was such a bad movie that it's unintentionally hilarious. This TV show is comforting.
Yes, I'm the same age ~ all these shows bring back so many memories...it's almost like we were living in a different world. I remember racing home from school to watch "Picture Book", The Woodentops and Andy Pandy. So wonderful to see them again! I never realized Eric Thompson was Emma's dad, you're right no wonder she is so talented!
DJCandyManMike Exactly! The good ole days when "Nick" was Nickelodeon. It's been soooo long since I've seen this, as I heard the first few notes it came flooding back to me like it was from a dream.
The tune brings me back to the time I was very little (born 1963). I had a record with this, and I played it over and over and over........omg it's so long ago that I heard this melody... thanks for posting it!
I'm only 17 but a channel used to play reruns of this all night long when I was around 10. I used to sit awake and watch them till daybreak. Good times!
I was talking about the design style the other day, but couldn't remember the name, after 35 years. Having run across a reference to Dougal on a blog, found this. I had a photo storybook and never saw the show. Thanks so much for posting this! Wouldn't I kill if I could go back to the 70's too!
As a kid of the 60s and 70s i just love how good kids tv was then,and the magic roundabout was always the weirdest with some really weird characters, and stories was a 5min french show Eric Thompson then brilliantly makes the stories his and the character of Dylan the hippy rabbit was always my fave
I am 57 now and recall this show with great affection. BTW - The writer/narrator Eric Thompson was Emma Thompson's Father. Little wonder she grew up to be an amazing human being and actor
Haha only just came across this for the first time since a child! Back then I didn't realize that it had been dubbed from French without any translation. It is just so brilliant!
Ahh to be young again. I used to run like a nut from the school bus to not miss the Magic Roundabout. Loved it & yeah I grew up & took lots of drugs .... See they knew 😂 Genius
3:03 is funny "Oh dear, no wonder she was nationalised" (the train) LOL. As a forty nine year old Aussie brought up in Glasgow and Manchester till 1968, this song and the innocence of those days truly pulls on the heart strings.
I love the Classic Magic Roundabout! They really should release the classic stories on DVD! They've released other classic childrens TV series for the 60's on DVD, Why not The Magic Roundabout?
The Beatles used to watch this while on breaks from recording at Abbey Road. They declared it 'trippy'. For me it was one of the touchstones of childhood.
The lads and me used to watch this every evening without fail. I was 15 or 16 at the time and aJunior Soldier. Some good comments were made about Förence and Zebadie.
How the heck did this end up in my recomendeds!? I've never looked this up in my life, but my Dad is from England so I know exactly what this is! What are the odds I'm seeing it here and now?
@loaflord I own the Eric Thompson narrated episodes on VHS - BBC videos bought long before Nigel Planer started narrating the show. Nigel Planer narrated when it was on channel 4 in the early nineties. I watched my Magic Roundabout videos enough times as a child to be able to tell the difference, which is not at all subtle. The Fruit Party episode on UA-cam is narrated by Nigel Planer. Very different voice.
So Eric Thompson looked at episodes of an obscure French stop-motion show and invented his own stories around them? Respect to the man! And the the theme tune was marvellous as well.
Mary Whitehouse never banned a TV show, she was just a campaigner and largely ignored by the BBC management. Zebedee only occasionally said 'time for bed.' Thompson did base Dougal somewhat upon Hancock though.
Thanks Alan for your great contribution to my nostalgia! I wish there were more episodes...?? Couldn't you get a petition going for the BBC to re-release it on T.V. or DVD format. Beats the rubbish they're producing these days! I read that there is an audio book of four stories read by Eric Thompson available online. Anyhow, cheers Eric Thompson wherever you may be. Rest in Peace.
"I'm a bus!" :D I was always brought up by Nigel Planer's voice but it was neat to hear Eric Thompson for a change. Wish they'd release these classics on DVD soon.
I think that was the idea, they knew that parents would be around to supervise the kids so they put in all the innuendo to keep them entertained at the same time.
Pretty amazing dude, I have been looking for this show but I don't think we have it here in the U.S. but I remember this when I was a kid in England in the days of 1970 when my dad was in the U.S.A.F. at the time. Thanks for posting! A friend of mine just sent this one today.
Used to watch this too, even made some models of it for Foyle's bookshop in London when they had a big fisplay of spin-off books. Lovely stuff - thanks
So I've just done a chat show about growing up and this show came up as a childhood memory and for the life of me I couldn't remember it. Until now 🙈😂😂😂
I would love to be able to get the whole back catalogue of Magic Roundabouts. Not the Nigel Planer stuff, but the old UK versions by Eric Thompson. Thanks for the video, it brought back memories.
I remember some years ago that Channel 4 used to show this at gone 5am. It can have both a wonderful and alarming affect upon the soul at that hour. In the right (or wrong) frame of mind, simply pondering the significance of the (more than likely innocent) unoccupied horse on the roundabout during the opening sequence can lead you down a very deep rabbit hole.
This may sound odd but I remember about ten years ago introducing my niece to this show. Now this is the weird part I am not British I did not grow up with this show never heard about it before then but I love all things British and found the British version of the Mr. Men show and this show was in my suggestions so we watched it. She liked it.
Right now, I'm making a playlist of old-ish cartoons for my sister, 'cause I don't think she should be missing out. Plus, the newer series is just plain depressing... So, thanks for uploading this, sir. :)
Wow this brings back memories of Blackburn Lancashire UK in the late 60's. Just reading about the show & all the original episodes were actually French, the BBC used the video & created English soundtracks that often had nothing at all to do with the original French plots. Good stuff.
I loved the Magic Roundabout when I was a kid- I seem to remember talking over the TV broadcast of the moon landing about it much to my parents annoyance!
My puppy is called Florence. People ask if it's 'as in Florence and the Machine'. There have only been a very few people have ever said "The Magic Roundabout!!!"
Eric Thompson's narration was what made this lovely cartoon extra special. Eric, Phillida, Emma and her younger sister lived just up the road when this programme was being broadcast...my own children loved it.
2018 and still no sign of any of these original episodes showing signs of being available on DVD. Seriously, what's the point of keeping them locked up in the TV vaults somewhere if nobody can ever see them again!!
I am 54 I have just explained that this was the best children's TV show ever- absolutely mental and brilliant at the same time 💝
Yes this and the Banana Splits LoL 😃
stupid
As a kid I remember staying up way past bedtime into the early hours of the morning and occasionally this would come on. Watching it always felt like a surreal dream.
Bruh, exactly the same!
Nitro the good old days of child hood
This was maybe 15 years ago for me, in my 20s now. I think it was on one of the premium kids channels here in the UK. Once they ran out of programming for the night they'd rerun any old crap until morning. This just happened to be one of the shows aired during summer, if memory serves.
same here lol, only this was on CN in Poland in the early 90's
Nitro , jfxz.
"
God I wish I was back then again
They rebooted the series in the same sickly animation as the UK film adaption of the same name, and it's shorter U.S. release Doogal!
This reminds me of being a kid in the 1970s when it was shown just before teatime at the end of the afternoon.
My Dad often used expressions such as "dear heart" and "dear thing" in his classroom - until the day when one of the kids turned round and said "thanks Ermintrude".
+Mark Tripp If you have ever listened to the 'Test Match Special' cricket (for all our American friends out there,it is a summer sport involving a bat and a ball but is not really like baseball at all) commentary on the radio, Henry Blofeld uses those phrases all the time and he has a similar voice-in fact, to me he IS Ermintrude!
as a child of the 70s I demand a DVD release of the entire series NOW!!!!!!!!!!!
Or whatever format they are making now. Oh wait, it would be a subscription, not an actual product!
I was born in 1965, i was 5 years old in 1970. I remember all of the 1970's. I remember this very well. I loved those times. I know it is impossible, but i would go back to being 5 years old again in 1970 in an instant if i could.
I saw this as a kid some great vintage CBBC. It used to be on 5:40 just before the BBC News.
I never realised when I was young how many gags were there that only the parents could appreciate!
man!! videos like that makes u realize how much life changed nowadays!
No wander she was nationalised!!
Oh that's brilliant.
Richard Tuffin Greatest BR reference.
ahhh, the best kids show EVER! made my parents tape every episode i missed. thankyou for posting this!
I live this, it's just great. Why they don't show this anymore is beyond me!!!
I am 44 and i remember this well in the 1970's. Life was good then.
I watched this when I was a kid , still watch watch Videos like Thunderbirds on U Tube. Can't beat the Old stuff .
Lovely. One of the greatest TV theme tunes ever.
I was born in 94 , and it must have been late nineties early 2000S when my dad worked down pit. I used to get up at crack of dawn say 4am and go down stairs and watch this. Then I'd piss off back to bed after
Scarily so! Could learn a huge amount about 70's Britain just from watching this show.
I worked at BMC Longbridge for a short time during 1967-68 and our foreman would have a job on his hands pleading with grown men to work overtime if Magic Roundabout was on!
Really? That's incredible! The Magic Roundabout certainly was THE children's programme to watch amongst us kids. Kudos to your work colleagues of that time.
Quite right too! Overtime instead of The Magic Roundabout-unthinkable!! Apparantly work at thr Royal docks used to stop for it so you didnt stand a chance!
What model(s) did you build? Perhaps one of my old steeds.
I was born in 1968 I always watched this brings me back memories
Absolutely fabulous !!! i was born on 1/12/1966 i loved this show
Cool i was born in 1966 also, use to watch this show on the old black and white telly.
best programe on telly!!! take the X-Factor off the air , put stuff like The Magic Roundabout on, in its place!
Absolutely
yeah. x factor sucks a little.
I agree
Yes Please.......I am so done with 21st Century shite !!
As a young adult in the late 60s and early 70s, my mates and I would rush home to watch this iconic show.The English voice over of the French cartoon was what made it so successful. It was not quite the "South Park" of its day, but the adult messages were not lost on us.Thank you for sharing it.
I have discovered lots of childhood favourites on You Tube!!! Fantastic!!!
Can you believe this classic children's TV series isn't available on DVD!?
Great to see the MR agsin sfter a very long time, and only the 2nd time in colour too!! The golden age of kids' TV!!
I remember the episode when Florence and Dougal are telling each other that they love the other and zebedee springs down to annouce,"Time for bed everybody!"Scandalous stuff!
Watching this as an adult i had no idea how political and satirical they were as a child, it's brilliant. Thank you for adding this.
One of the best theme tunes for childrens tv haha! My brother & me used to watch this many years ago now...Its just weird to be able to look back & see this now we're in our 50's. I just wonder how we perceived it in our little heads way back then...along with The Herbs, The Clangers, Hector's House, Tales of the Riverbank etc. My, how things have changed for little'uns nowadays.(I do remember I always found Play School, the first of the afternoon programs boring but remember fondly Brian Cant).
Play away made me laugh..Mr Cant was funny and entertaining.
To everyone saying "So this is what 'Doogal' is based off. NO. This is what "The magic roundabout is based of," the original and much better version of the movie before it was redubbed and dummed down for American Audiences.
Delta Fox Well that was completely random and uncalled for
Unconventional Jack NOPE
Doogal is terrible. The Magical Roundabout is just boring. It's mediocre, with mediocre jokes, actors, and cohesion. It's competent, but nothing else.
Doogal was such a bad movie that it's unintentionally hilarious.
This TV show is comforting.
Oi Fox: 'mazingly on spot. well phrased. yu gotta pic on that Cowleg Bwoi u wanna step foot into his sphincter? Use sunscreen, doesnt get the neck red
SO THIS IS WHAT BRITISH RAGE IS BASED OF
Unconventional Jack I recommend you check out Dougal and the Blue Cat, it’s a million times better than “Doogal” ever was.
Yes, I'm the same age ~ all these shows bring back so many memories...it's almost like we were living in a different world. I remember racing home from school to watch "Picture Book", The Woodentops and Andy Pandy. So wonderful to see them again! I never realized Eric Thompson was Emma's dad, you're right no wonder she is so talented!
Oh wow flash back to my childhood watching it on black and white tv in the 70s
The good old days of Pinwheel! So many kids, myself being one, were introduced to so many shows that we otherwise may have never known about.
DJCandyManMike Exactly! The good ole days when "Nick" was Nickelodeon. It's been soooo long since I've seen this, as I heard the first few notes it came flooding back to me like it was from a dream.
I remember watching this from 1 am paaast bed tym loved it oh the memorys❤❤
The tune brings me back to the time I was very little (born 1963). I had a record with this, and I played it over and over and over........omg it's so long ago that I heard this melody...
thanks for posting it!
I'm only 17 but a channel used to play reruns of this all night long when I was around 10. I used to sit awake and watch them till daybreak. Good times!
I was talking about the design style the other day, but couldn't remember the name, after 35 years. Having run across a reference to Dougal on a blog, found this.
I had a photo storybook and never saw the show. Thanks so much for posting this! Wouldn't I kill if I could go back to the 70's too!
I love the theme tune to this programme!
my ringtone. always brings a smile to my face 😃
Im 44 and a combination of programs like this and the constant threat of the cold war back then, ah man, the 70s, got a lot to answer for lol:)
Brought back fond memories! Thanks for posting it!
Just discovering this and it's amazing. I love it.
As a kid of the 60s and 70s i just love how good kids tv was then,and the magic roundabout was always the weirdest with some really weird characters, and stories was a 5min french show Eric Thompson then brilliantly makes the stories his and the character of Dylan the hippy rabbit was always my fave
TONY Hemphill I
When I watched this it came on just before the news and why do I always think of stew
I am 57 now and recall this show with great affection. BTW - The writer/narrator Eric Thompson was Emma Thompson's Father. Little wonder she grew up to be an amazing human being and actor
Happy 50th Birthday, The Magic Roundabout!
1964 - 2014 50 years! 1965 - 2015 50 Years!
i was born in 89, but this is fantastic!
i love seeing classics endure through time.
Haha only just came across this for the first time since a child! Back then I didn't realize that it had been dubbed from French without any translation. It is just so brilliant!
It wasn't dubbed. They kept the French animation but made a completely different English script.
...by Emma Thompson's dad Eric, no less.
4:15 This will not do. Do it will not.
Don Key Hungover me @ drunk me who finished the doritos
Ahh to be young again. I used to run like a nut from the school bus to not miss the Magic Roundabout.
Loved it & yeah I grew up & took lots of drugs .... See they knew 😂 Genius
This is so... NOSTALGICAL! Wow I'm amazed, after about 10 years of searching for this cartoon.
My brother and I used to watch this in Australia.
Haven't heard that opening theme in decades.
Me too in 1970
'The Worlds End' gave me flashbacks from this
3:03 is funny "Oh dear, no wonder she was nationalised" (the train) LOL.
As a forty nine year old Aussie brought up in Glasgow and Manchester till 1968, this song and the innocence of those days truly pulls on the heart strings.
I love the Classic Magic Roundabout!
They really should release the classic stories on DVD! They've released other classic childrens TV series for the 60's on DVD, Why not The Magic Roundabout?
The Beatles used to watch this while on breaks from recording at Abbey Road. They declared it 'trippy'. For me it was one of the touchstones of childhood.
The lads and me used to watch this every evening without fail. I was 15 or 16 at the time and aJunior Soldier. Some good comments were made about Förence and Zebadie.
How the heck did this end up in my recomendeds!? I've never looked this up in my life, but my Dad is from England so I know exactly what this is! What are the odds I'm seeing it here and now?
I watched this as a kid.i m from england.:-)
Jeez, remember the 1980s?
@loaflord I own the Eric Thompson narrated episodes on VHS - BBC videos bought long before Nigel Planer started narrating the show. Nigel Planer narrated when it was on channel 4 in the early nineties. I watched my Magic Roundabout videos enough times as a child to be able to tell the difference, which is not at all subtle. The Fruit Party episode on UA-cam is narrated by Nigel Planer. Very different voice.
So Eric Thompson looked at episodes of an obscure French stop-motion show and invented his own stories around them? Respect to the man!
And the the theme tune was marvellous as well.
Thank you so much for posting this! There are old vhs copies for sale online but no proper DVD release. Shame...
Thanks again!
Mary Whitehouse never banned a TV show, she was just a campaigner and largely ignored by the BBC management. Zebedee only occasionally said 'time for bed.' Thompson did base Dougal somewhat upon Hancock though.
i used to watch this when i came home from school, it was great fun
It's incredible that when the BBC bought it off the French, they didn't get any stories so ended up having to write some to match the film.
What was the original story for this one?
Someone told me that in its original form the characters were a spoof of certain politicians there? I've no idea if this is true or not.
Thanks Alan for your great contribution to my nostalgia!
I wish there were more episodes...?? Couldn't you get a petition going for the BBC to re-release it on T.V. or DVD format. Beats the rubbish they're producing these days! I read that there is an audio book of four stories read by Eric Thompson available online. Anyhow, cheers Eric Thompson wherever you may be. Rest in Peace.
"I'm a bus!" :D
I was always brought up by Nigel Planer's voice but it was neat to hear Eric Thompson for a change. Wish they'd release these classics on DVD soon.
I wish network releasing all the episodes of magic roundabout in restored
So Ermintrude wants Dylan to pay before she'll give him a ride?
Hehe - isn't it fun to rewatch this stuff as an adult LOL :D
I think that was the idea, they knew that parents would be around to supervise the kids so they put in all the innuendo to keep them entertained at the same time.
@@Phiyedough - good point! When I heard the crack about trains being nationalised, I wondered what age audience he was aiming at!
Pretty amazing dude, I have been looking for this show but I don't think we have it here in the U.S. but I remember this when I was a kid in England in the days of 1970 when my dad was in the U.S.A.F. at the time. Thanks for posting! A friend of mine just sent this one today.
lovely memories from so many years ago.....
I still love that tune
Used to watch this too, even made some models of it for Foyle's bookshop in London when they had a big fisplay of spin-off books. Lovely stuff - thanks
I watched this as a kid. It explains a lot.
So I've just done a chat show about growing up and this show came up as a childhood memory and for the life of me I couldn't remember it. Until now 🙈😂😂😂
I would love to be able to get the whole back catalogue of Magic Roundabouts. Not the Nigel Planer stuff, but the old UK versions by Eric Thompson.
Thanks for the video, it brought back memories.
I remember some years ago that Channel 4 used to show this at gone 5am. It can have both a wonderful and alarming affect upon the soul at that hour.
In the right (or wrong) frame of mind, simply pondering the significance of the (more than likely innocent) unoccupied horse on the roundabout during the opening sequence can lead you down a very deep rabbit hole.
This was the longest running animated series ever and should be on DVD as it's british classic!
This may sound odd but I remember about ten years ago introducing my niece to this show. Now this is the weird part I am not British I did not grow up with this show never heard about it before then but I love all things British and found the British version of the Mr. Men show and this show was in my suggestions so we watched it. She liked it.
wow, i'd never seen this before but always wanted to, thanks for uploading, it was fab!
Work used to come to a halt in London's Royal Docks when this was airing.
my nan was called Florence & I always used to sing this to her!!
used to love this show, the theme brings back memories!
@Minnowsong Well said... It's a shame all kids your age do not appreciate the brilliance of the classics!
Indeed, the Magic Roundabout really needs to be put on the TV again. It'd go down a storm on Cbeebies.
I'm a American here, and I nerved heard of this show until I rented the movie of it.
lol this takes me back some yrs thanks for posting it x
Right now, I'm making a playlist of old-ish cartoons for my sister, 'cause I don't think she should be missing out.
Plus, the newer series is just plain depressing...
So, thanks for uploading this, sir. :)
"the train wouldn't listen and went off in a huff" classic
Ahhhh that theme tune. Brings back memories.
oh wow oh wow. i remember watching this as a child. i grew up in the 80s though
Wow this brings back memories of Blackburn Lancashire UK in the late 60's.
Just reading about the show & all the original episodes were actually French, the BBC used the video & created English soundtracks that often had nothing at all to do with the original French plots.
Good stuff.
I loved the Magic Roundabout when I was a kid- I seem to remember talking over the TV broadcast of the moon landing about it much to my parents annoyance!
I saw this as a kid and loved it, brings back good memories, i did not see, dougal and the blue cat, which i think was a film.
My puppy is called Florence. People ask if it's 'as in Florence and the Machine'. There have only been a very few people have ever said "The Magic Roundabout!!!"
this music will live forever.....
Nickelodeon had a great series of cartoons including this one. I miss those cartoons.
Legend goes it was animated in France & dubbed in UK .Zebedee was a speed freak Brian the stoner.
36 people didn't have a wonderful 1970's British childhood. I feel so sorry for them :(
Eric Thompson's narration was what made this lovely cartoon extra special. Eric, Phillida, Emma and her younger sister lived just up the road when this programme was being broadcast...my own children loved it.