Wanderly Wagon & The Magic Drawing Finger, Ireland 1977

Strange things happen when O’Brien draws with a crayon Judge found near an old round tower which is supposed to be haunted.
O’Brien discovers that he has an ability to draw but this is due to a magic crayon that is the property of Dr Astro.
Using a crayon that looks like a piece of stone O’Brien started to draw fields and a river but the crayon took control and drew a Viking ship. Suddenly, everything goes misty and Judge and O’Brien disappear in a puff of smoke much to the confusion of Godmother.
They’ve disappeared into thin air before my very eyes.
Speculation as to what has happened spreads through the wagon. Meanwhile, Judge and O’Brien are transferred to a mystery land with a round tower which they proceed to explore.
‘The Magic Drawing Finger’ was written by Frank Kelly.
This episode of ′Wanderly Wagon′ broadcast on 5 March 1977.
RTÉ’s best-remembered children’s programme began broadcasting in 1967. Three adults travelled in a magical horse-drawn caravan with puppets Judge, the dog, Mr Crow, who lived in the cuckoo clock, and Foxy, who lived in a barrel fixed to the outside of the wagon.
Puppeteer Eugene Lambert and his family were the driving force behind “Wanderly Wagon”. Eugene Lambert played O’Brien, a jovial character who loved sweets. Nora O’Mahony played Godmother who was the mother figure in the wagon. Bill Golding played Rory who was the swashbuckling handsome hero who had a wonderful singing voice. All of the Lambert children also worked on the show.
It was originally intended that the wagon would travel around Ireland, to feature in outside broadcasts from different towns and villages.
The arrival of colour television meant that the ‘Wanderly Wagon’ became the first programme in RTÉ to exploit the visual possibilities of chroma key. The colour separation overlay allowed the producers to make the wagon fly or travel under the sea.
‘Wanderly Wagon’ ran until 1982.