That's beautiful. I've got two Rainbow contributions. The first is via my childhood pal Gary, who swore blind in the 80s he'd seen an episode where George said he was a cow. He was suffering a crisis of identity: "Bungle's a bear, Zippy's a Zippy, and I'm just a pink cow." We took this as gospel and I corrected people for years. But better still, Geoffrey married my nan's neighbour, and she was invited to the wedding. An consequently, I have a signed copy of the wedding program. I was in sixth form at the time, but my nan still went ahead and had it signed by all the humans *and* the puppets. Geoffrey caused a mild scandal by walking around the village in leather trousers, and a little while later I caught an episode where the gang were doing odd jobs for local pensioners, and they were all named after old ladies from the village, includng my nan (Mrs. Roberts). But nobody else saw it, so it became my own version of George declaring himself a cow.
@@StuartMillard Thanks for not demanding proof, unlike so many others throughout history. Nevertheless: twitter.com/3lbFlax/status/1638176729733935104?s=20 Sadly I can't prove the cow claim without full access to the Rainbow archives.
I actually spoke to Geoffrey Hayes in the early 2000s when he worked at Sainsbury's he said he had no regrets and he loved that "his kids" remembered him warmly. He was a very positive influence on my childhood which was sadly very shitty. Great video as always.
I completely lost it when you said George was dressed up as Myra Hindley! Only just discovered your criminally underappreciated channel and will be doing my best to bring more people along. Keep it up!
One of my cousins was on Rainbow as a baby. It was an episode about babies. Rod, Jane and Freddy sang him a lullaby towards him the end of the episode, but he was crying the whole way through the shoot, so his muted crying reveals that RJ+F are miming the song, lol. Edited to add: I think it might even be that 'lost' episode shown at 4:09, 'Someone New In The Family'. I'm pretty sure someone in the family has a copy - I'll see if I can digitise it and un-lost-media it for everyone. It might be the 1986 episode 'Looking After Baby' too.
The first literal fever dream I can remember, and one of my overall earliest memories, features a deranged Zippy chasing me to tear my flesh with his rough zipper teeth. Thankyou for this valuable work you're doing.
Stuart. You sir, are an absolute comedic genius. I'm sat here on a nightshift laughing like a deranged madman, my colleagues wondering what the hell I'm watching....
Ernie Wise, struggling for work after Eric Morecambe's death, turned up in a 1989 episode of Rainbow giving Zippy comedy advice. There was also a strange late night channel 4 show in 2005 called 'Zippy and George's Puppet Legends-a top 10 list which firmly fits the 'Rainbow characters being rude' brief!
I remember that Ernie episode fondly. I was ten and still watched it as I had dinner at home. It was brilliant when Zippy asked him if they could be partners and Ern sombrely responds in the negative. A show made for pre-schoolers which never insulted its audience and so popular, got that others were watching. It’s sad to think there’ll never be anything like that again.
An absolute childhood favourite. I always loved Zippy's contempt for his house mates. It's sad what happened to Geoffrey Hayes, but I hope he died knowing he entertained millions of children over the years. Great tribute, with some fabulous clips! Thanks, Stuart. (Ugh, think we need a warning before you show a clip of Jim Davidson, though).
Zippy, originally voiced by Peter 'voiced the Daleks' Hawkins, then by Roy 'voiced the Daleks' Skelton. Nicholas Briggs must be eagerly awaiting a reboot.
What a wonderful tribute. Very funny but perfectly observed. Easy to forget the amount of creative effort that went into Children's programmes. I'm sure we are all the better for it. Great channel, excellent upload.
14:25 I had an imaginary friend too when I was a kid. He was always playing tricks like moving toys around my bedroom and disappearing behind the television set moments before the show I was watching got interrupted by news of a national tragedy.
There are some real elements of Harold Steptoe in Zippy’s voice.. I can’t watch Rainbow without seeing the Thames TV logo. Dum, dum, Daa, daa, daaaaaa, dud dud daaaaaaaa.
Last year, I was watching an old episode of Z-Cars on UA-cam. Now, a lot of these are over 50 years old, so I was prepared to be shocked by the social attitudes, behaviour of the police and general horrible fashion/decor. But nothing prepared me for the sight of Geoffrey Hayes (playing a Detective Constable) leaning against a Ford Cortina outside a dodgy pub. And SMOKING. I was 47 at the time and was glad I never saw that on a clip show as a kid or my childhood would have been ruined. Geoffrey later said he quit Z-Cars because Rainbow offered more regular work. And who's to say he was wrong? He said it was 20 years of pure joy.
One of my favourite videos you've done, I genuinely miss that show. I saw Malcolm Lord play panto dame in Cannon and Ball's last panto before Bobby sadly died back in 2019 and he was fantastic. Have you ever seen the Zipman and Bobbin episode where Zippy and George play the Dynamic Duo and Geoffrey hams it up with a near Nicholsonian performance (right down to the movie accurate costume) as Joker Jeffrey. It was always one of my favourites.
Christopher Lillycrap - that's a name from the vaults! I'd forgotten how sexually neutral Jane always seemed to me. 'I thought that was one of those disgusting close-ups from Ren & Stimpy' - these are the comments I'm here for.
As a child of the 70's, you really didn't care much for the nuances of the show. It was on at lunchtime, having raced home from school, between a shorter 10 minute show and one for grown-ups that lasted until, 'The News at One', and time to go back to school for the afternoon. The theme tune of the latter still instilling a feeling of dread/disappointment in having to leave the house, years later. It was definitely a stalwart of that time, though, outlasting similar shows from other regions by years. Hardly anyone remembers, 'Hickory House', or, 'Mr. Trimble', nowadays. The only other one that still has its cult status is, 'Pipkins', but that met its demise thanks to the franchise changes in the early 80's. Luckily, Thames retained theirs and we got Rainbow for another decade, at least. Watching the show as an adult, of course, you immediately pick up on what's going on in regard to the characters of Bungle, George and Zippy. The gormless one, the annoying one and the shy one. Characteristics we all recognise from our own childhood memories. But now you're grown-up, you can safely be critical of, having lived through it. I always thought Zippy as being some kind of shell-less turtle. A result of some genetic experiment, which would also explain the zip for a mouth, hence the name. Being the annoying one did mean the zip came in useful on occasion and was indeed employed. Something that might be frowned upon, nowadays. Rod, Jane and Freddy were the musical relief that would often be interspersed, in the early days at least, with stop motion type animations accompanied with sound-effects repeated over and over again to try and symbolise the movement of whatever shapes were being shown. A slight distraction when you're busy eating your tomato soup/semolina pudding, but not enough to want to stop entirely. Oh yes, the conundrum of Bungle and his lack of clothing, unless he's doing something specifically that requires them to show what's he's doing. Pyjamas for bed, as the most common example. The bog standard joke of the time, where it's pointed out he spends all day walking around naked.
Sooty shares much of the glory in the same timespan as Rainbow, growing up with video- it was great when he turned up with Matthew Corbett on episode 1000
Im addicted to you. This started the year i was born making it and me 51 years old. What ever happened to Matt who I believe came before Freddy? He was on my first Rainbow LP. Also you didn’t mention the X rated version which I totally understand as it was never part of the actual series but worthy of a mention “Let’s all play with our balls/twnagers etc…” which was never actually an aired episode but was made for fun as an end of series joke for the cast and crew. Im sure it’s on UA-cam somewhere.
It's a privilege to have lived these days. I didn't realise how cringe these days were but I love it. That guy on going live who did magic and expressions was so crap and embarrassing, I love it lol
That's beautiful. I've got two Rainbow contributions. The first is via my childhood pal Gary, who swore blind in the 80s he'd seen an episode where George said he was a cow. He was suffering a crisis of identity: "Bungle's a bear, Zippy's a Zippy, and I'm just a pink cow." We took this as gospel and I corrected people for years.
But better still, Geoffrey married my nan's neighbour, and she was invited to the wedding. An consequently, I have a signed copy of the wedding program. I was in sixth form at the time, but my nan still went ahead and had it signed by all the humans *and* the puppets. Geoffrey caused a mild scandal by walking around the village in leather trousers, and a little while later I caught an episode where the gang were doing odd jobs for local pensioners, and they were all named after old ladies from the village, includng my nan (Mrs. Roberts). But nobody else saw it, so it became my own version of George declaring himself a cow.
Gonna have to use the 'pin comment' function for this, because it's sensational.
@@StuartMillard Thanks for not demanding proof, unlike so many others throughout history. Nevertheless: twitter.com/3lbFlax/status/1638176729733935104?s=20
Sadly I can't prove the cow claim without full access to the Rainbow archives.
Was this a dream?
@@StuartMillard
You have such a warm and safe comment section. I really enjoyed OPs comment. Feels good man.
I actually spoke to Geoffrey Hayes in the early 2000s when he worked at Sainsbury's he said he had no regrets and he loved that "his kids" remembered him warmly. He was a very positive influence on my childhood which was sadly very shitty. Great video as always.
I grew up near that Sainsbury's but I can't recall if I ever saw Geoffrey myself.
@@JagerLangeYou did.
"Zippy's Dirty Sandwich" would be a great name for a band.
Or a specialised service available at certain back rooms in Soho
@@nickmazonowicz511 🤮😆
I lost it at “a felt satsuma gimp”.
And now, 25 minutes later, there’s tears.
Yeah as soon as that piano kicks in at 20 min that’s it 😢
Teared up a bit watching this. Rainbow was genuinely magical to me as a wee guy
Pain was eased for me by Rainbow and forever Floella Benjamin will ever be a saint to me. Memories of a time gone. Better? Worse?
Oh yeah Play Away with Brian Cant …It had Jeremy Irons on it as a guest star one time 😂
We had Trivial Pursuits in the 80s - it enraged me even at 9 or 10 when the answer to 'Name the pink hippo from Rainbow' had the answer 'Humphrey'
"Oh Christ, their faces aren't done the same are they?" That was hilarious lol.
Seeing clips of Rainbow nowadays brings back the taste of the banana butties I used to eat at school lunchtimes when I watched the show.
I completely lost it when you said George was dressed up as Myra Hindley! Only just discovered your criminally underappreciated channel and will be doing my best to bring more people along. Keep it up!
Yes, me too. I had to pause the video as I was drinking tea and was mid dunk on a custard cream. Fantastically hilarious!
I love this Stuart guy , I’m of the right age to remember most of the things he talks of , he makes me laugh out loud , new subscriber ❤😂
I found some of that surprisingly moving...... X
Really funny, and such a beautiful tribute. The familiarity of their faces brings comfort in this crazy, grown-up world.
One of my cousins was on Rainbow as a baby. It was an episode about babies. Rod, Jane and Freddy sang him a lullaby towards him the end of the episode, but he was crying the whole way through the shoot, so his muted crying reveals that RJ+F are miming the song, lol.
Edited to add: I think it might even be that 'lost' episode shown at 4:09, 'Someone New In The Family'. I'm pretty sure someone in the family has a copy - I'll see if I can digitise it and un-lost-media it for everyone. It might be the 1986 episode 'Looking After Baby' too.
Such a lovely tribute.
Stuart, this was wonderful. Very funny as always, but oddly touching too. Really boosted my mood today, thank you :)
Same here bud. :)
another wanker bleating about his mood.
This makes me wonder if you have a vdeo on my other childhood memory. Button Moon!
The first literal fever dream I can remember, and one of my overall earliest memories, features a deranged Zippy chasing me to tear my flesh with his rough zipper teeth. Thankyou for this valuable work you're doing.
Fair do's, Stuart, that final tribute section was genuinely poignant.
Absolutely fantastic, Stu. Possibly my favourite video so far and that's saying something.
Thanks, Ben!
Stuart. You sir, are an absolute comedic genius. I'm sat here on a nightshift laughing like a deranged madman, my colleagues wondering what the hell I'm watching....
Towards the end of this was right up there with Charlie Brooker's Oliver Postgate tribute. Bravo, Sir. Subbed.
In the exercise section, Bungle was really slacking off. Everyone else was feeling the burn, but Bungle seemed like he could bear-ly be arsed.
Genuinely cheered up by this video, like running into old friends I've not seen for years. Cheers Stuart 👍
awwwwwww why were u sooo saaaad?
Awesome documentary there fella. Watched Rainbow from being a tot right up until secondary school in the late eighties, with no shame 😂
Keep making content mate. I love your stuff.
Enjoyed Rainbow from very young right up to the end of the original run. I would have been around 13 or 14 years old by then. 😚
Ernie Wise, struggling for work after Eric Morecambe's death, turned up in a 1989 episode of Rainbow giving Zippy comedy advice.
There was also a strange late night channel 4 show in 2005 called 'Zippy and George's Puppet Legends-a top 10 list which firmly fits the 'Rainbow characters being rude' brief!
I remember that Ernie episode fondly. I was ten and still watched it as I had dinner at home.
It was brilliant when Zippy asked him if they could be partners and Ern sombrely responds in the negative. A show made for pre-schoolers which never insulted its audience and so popular, got that others were watching.
It’s sad to think there’ll never be anything like that again.
Ernie Wise my God I actually thought I dreamed that episode! It was for real
Loved it as a nipper in the 70's and it still has a special place in my old cynical heart.
Magic, as always.
An absolute childhood favourite. I always loved Zippy's contempt for his house mates. It's sad what happened to Geoffrey Hayes, but I hope he died knowing he entertained millions of children over the years.
Great tribute, with some fabulous clips! Thanks, Stuart.
(Ugh, think we need a warning before you show a clip of Jim Davidson, though).
Why what happened to Geoffrey? I have no idea?
Another absolute banger of an episode. Laughed out loud several times.
Zippy, originally voiced by Peter 'voiced the Daleks' Hawkins, then by Roy 'voiced the Daleks' Skelton. Nicholas Briggs must be eagerly awaiting a reboot.
'felt satsuma gimp' This is why I come here.
What a wonderful tribute. Very funny but perfectly observed. Easy to forget the amount of creative effort that went into Children's programmes. I'm sure we are all the better for it. Great channel, excellent upload.
I watched this every day at lunch until I was 18 lol
The shadow man is always watching...always
This is Fantastic and Genius editing. Stuart Millard.. you are the Columbo of old Telly. Bravo and thanks for your efforts! Much appreciated. :)
I died at “George dressed as Myra Hindley”. Holy shit.
I met Hayes in Edinburgh during the Fringe. He came across as a deeply bitter man, upstaged by foam rubber. Swore like a Navvy.
I can relate to Zippys crush on someone at the moment, it is a lady however and not a puppet
That was really lovely stuff, cheers!!
Wow that theme tune is so catchy, in fact i could not get it out my head today! Haha
14:25 I had an imaginary friend too when I was a kid. He was always playing tricks like moving toys around my bedroom and disappearing behind the television set moments before the show I was watching got interrupted by news of a national tragedy.
It's actually impressive how the makers of the rebooted Rainbow found the one man in the country that couldn't do a Zippy impression to voice him.
As ever. Nicely done!
Bungle scared the shit out of me.
I can honestly say I never looked at the thing . Something about him was off .
Love this one xxx
15:00 Horace looks like RatBoy Genius. :D
There are some real elements of Harold Steptoe in Zippy’s voice.. I can’t watch Rainbow without seeing the Thames TV logo. Dum, dum, Daa, daa, daaaaaa, dud dud daaaaaaaa.
An episode about the Mothman 😮
Obviously someone on the crew was reading "The Mothman Prophecies" and thought 'what the hell' 😂
it was a ruse
@@jointgibAh I see. I get it. It was a ruse. A simple ruse. He's rusing me. I've been rused
zippy is your prototype johnny rotten, what a decade
Jane was hot
I'd love to see you cover Sooty in this fashion.
Last year, I was watching an old episode of Z-Cars on UA-cam. Now, a lot of these are over 50 years old, so I was prepared to be shocked by the social attitudes, behaviour of the police and general horrible fashion/decor. But nothing prepared me for the sight of Geoffrey Hayes (playing a Detective Constable) leaning against a Ford Cortina outside a dodgy pub. And SMOKING. I was 47 at the time and was glad I never saw that on a clip show as a kid or my childhood would have been ruined.
Geoffrey later said he quit Z-Cars because Rainbow offered more regular work. And who's to say he was wrong? He said it was 20 years of pure joy.
One of my favourite videos you've done, I genuinely miss that show. I saw Malcolm Lord play panto dame in Cannon and Ball's last panto before Bobby sadly died back in 2019 and he was fantastic. Have you ever seen the Zipman and Bobbin episode where Zippy and George play the Dynamic Duo and Geoffrey hams it up with a near Nicholsonian performance (right down to the movie accurate costume) as Joker Jeffrey. It was always one of my favourites.
Had me proper laughing well done 😅
I had those football boots with ‘safer’ moulded studs, I think they were Gola, and you’re right about Zippy’s sociopathy…..and the ending….MY EYES
Unless I missed it, you didn't mention the fabulous unaired double entendre episode they recorded for shits and giggles.
I alluded to that absolute filth in my Rod Jane and Freddy video.
Christopher Lillycrap - that's a name from the vaults! I'd forgotten how sexually neutral Jane always seemed to me. 'I thought that was one of those disgusting close-ups from Ren & Stimpy' - these are the comments I'm here for.
As a child of the 70's, you really didn't care much for the nuances of the show. It was on at lunchtime, having raced home from school, between a shorter 10 minute show and one for grown-ups that lasted until, 'The News at One', and time to go back to school for the afternoon. The theme tune of the latter still instilling a feeling of dread/disappointment in having to leave the house, years later. It was definitely a stalwart of that time, though, outlasting similar shows from other regions by years. Hardly anyone remembers, 'Hickory House', or, 'Mr. Trimble', nowadays. The only other one that still has its cult status is, 'Pipkins', but that met its demise thanks to the franchise changes in the early 80's. Luckily, Thames retained theirs and we got Rainbow for another decade, at least.
Watching the show as an adult, of course, you immediately pick up on what's going on in regard to the characters of Bungle, George and Zippy. The gormless one, the annoying one and the shy one. Characteristics we all recognise from our own childhood memories. But now you're grown-up, you can safely be critical of, having lived through it. I always thought Zippy as being some kind of shell-less turtle. A result of some genetic experiment, which would also explain the zip for a mouth, hence the name. Being the annoying one did mean the zip came in useful on occasion and was indeed employed. Something that might be frowned upon, nowadays.
Rod, Jane and Freddy were the musical relief that would often be interspersed, in the early days at least, with stop motion type animations accompanied with sound-effects repeated over and over again to try and symbolise the movement of whatever shapes were being shown. A slight distraction when you're busy eating your tomato soup/semolina pudding, but not enough to want to stop entirely.
Oh yes, the conundrum of Bungle and his lack of clothing, unless he's doing something specifically that requires them to show what's he's doing. Pyjamas for bed, as the most common example. The bog standard joke of the time, where it's pointed out he spends all day walking around naked.
Sooty shares much of the glory in the same timespan as Rainbow, growing up with video- it was great when he turned up with Matthew Corbett on episode 1000
5:39 I was expecting to see it.🤣
The best kids show ever
Wicker man bungle 😀
I will never think of Zippy as anything other than a satsuma gimp from now on. 😂😂😂😂
Infact my favourite bit is the advert Jeffrey was in; the taxi car is a peagout 605, my favourite
Always had a crush on Jane. Superb singer and such a beauty
She made me want to pluck my twanger.
Bill & Ben , Rag Tag & Bobtail , Tails of The Riverbank etc was mine. Clean & Good Fun
The Rainbow 🌈 Theme tune 🎵 if you listen to the full version. Sounds very prog rock . Good tune In its own right.
Its a tune thats very catchy, in fact its hard to get it outta my head sometimes haha
Felt satsuma gimp 😂😂😂😂😂😂
really good
Did not know Geoffrey died rest well sir
...."Straight from the parade in the Wicker Man..."
Fantastic 😊 lol so funny watching your videos. Can't wait to watch your next ones.
I think that farmer on the john deere was Fred West
In the jungle with George & Bungle,
Zippy's feeling sick.
Geoffrey's swimming with naked women
& you can see his...
5:30 - Jane, Rod and Freddy getting dirty? Maybe Ben Dover should direct
Man i used to watch this when i was a nipper
Great video
Im addicted to you. This started the year i was born making it and me 51 years old. What ever happened to Matt who I believe came before Freddy? He was on my first Rainbow LP. Also you didn’t mention the X rated version which I totally understand as it was never part of the actual series but worthy of a mention “Let’s all play with our balls/twnagers etc…” which was never actually an aired episode but was made for fun as an end of series joke for the cast and crew. Im sure it’s on UA-cam somewhere.
That last but one bit was genuinely moving.
Also fuck Carlton. Destroyed so many good legacies, and gave us David Cameron in the process
Bungle - where's Geoffrey?
George - he's gone out.
Zippy - well pour some more petrol on him.😂
It's a privilege to have lived these days. I didn't realise how cringe these days were but I love it. That guy on going live who did magic and expressions was so crap and embarrassing, I love it lol
7:58 “Are you the farmer?”
George was SO FUCKING PLAPPABLE. GYAAAATGEORGEEEEEEEEE
You are FUNNY as F**K in comments! even the most cringeworthy makes me laugh!! good work!!
George is adorable
Zippey is a force of nature
Bungle will kill again...
Felt Satsuma Gimp. Sensational.
I’d never noticed they only ever had one arm each at any time… 😮
20:37 an early Stoppit and Tidyup concept?
Is that Brian Blessed getting his mutated feet inspected at about 6:45?
Wallpaper spot is the business. Can we do one?
According to wiki, Stanley Bates ended up in court for a road rage incident. I would have given a months salary to of seen that.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Carlton was one of the worst things ever to happen to British television.
And who was their PR boss for a while...?
Has Brian Blessed been playing footie with a wrecking ball????
😂😂😂 You makes me laugh 😂
My dad insists the Rainbow and Top Gear theme tunes are the same.
Just wait until he hears the theme to Allsorts.
@@StuartMillard Or Give Us A Clue
Just wanted to be first to comment. Thank you for your attention.
Felt satsuma gimp...I'm dying...