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''Toytown'' was a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
radio series for children, broadcast for ''
Children's Hour'' on the
Home Service
Home Service is a British folk rock group, formed in late 1980 from a nucleus of musicians who had been playing in Ashley Hutchings' Albion Band. Their career is generally agreed to have peaked with the album ''Alright Jack'', and has had an ...
. The plays were based on a set of
puppets created by
S. G. Hulme Beaman, who also wrote the stories for the series. The first ''Toytown'' plays were broadcast in 1929, and the pool of stories was re-used until the end of ''Children's Hour''. There were 31 plays in all. During the 1970s, most of the plays were adapted as short films which were broadcast on
ITV.
The series starred Larry the Lamb, the central character, and his clever sidekick, Dennis the Dachshund. In each story a misunderstanding, often arising from a device created by the inventor, Mr. Inventor, occurs which involves Ernest the Policeman, the disgruntled Mr Growser the Grocer and the Mayor.
During the early-1950s series on BBC
Children's Hour, Larry the Lamb was always played (at least when broadcast from London) by
Derek McCulloch
Derek Ivor Breashur McCulloch OBE (18 November 1897 – 1 June 1967) was a BBC Radio producer and presenter. He became known as "Uncle Mac" on ''Children's Hour'' and '' Children's Favourites'' and provided the voice of "Larry the Lamb" in '' ...
, Dennis at various times by
Norman Shelley
Norman Shelley (16 February 1903 – 21 August 1980) was a British actor, best known for his work in radio, in particular for the BBC's ''Children's Hour''. He also had a recurring role as Colonel Danby in the long-running radio soap opera ''T ...
,
Ernest Jay
Ernest Jay (18 September 1893 – 8 February 1957) was a British actor.
Selected filmography
* '' My Lucky Star'' (1933) - Press Agent
* '' Tiger Bay'' (1934) - Alf
* '' The Iron Duke'' (1934) - First Orderly
* '' The Phantom Light'' (1935) ...
and
Preston Lockwood
Reginald Herbert Lockwood (30 October 1912 – 24 April 1996), known professionally as Preston Lockwood, was an English radio and television actor.
The only son of bus driver Herbert Lewis Lockwood and his wife Ethel May (née Preston), Lockwood ...
, the Mayor by Franklyn Bellamy and
Felix Felton
Robert Forbes Felton (12 August 1911 – 21 October 1972), known professionally as Felix Felton, was a British film, television, stage and voice actor as well as a radio director, composer and author.
Radio work
In his earlier years Felton cons ...
, Ernest the Policeman by Arthur Wynn, Peter Claughton and Stephen Jack and the Inventor usually by Ivan Samson.
The opening music was "
The Parade of the Tin Soldiers" by
Leon Jessel.
Characters
* Larry the Lamb - The main protagonist and best friend of Dennis. Larry and Dennis are very mischievous and the closest thing Toytown has to
hoodlums
A hoodlum is a thug, usually in a group of misfits who are associated with crime or theft.
Early use
The earliest reference to the word "hoodlum" was in the December 14, 1866, ''San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin'' after the Hoodlum Band was ...
. On one occasion they
vandalized the mayor's statue, and on another they convinced everyone there was a
dragon on the loose (which by coincidence there really was).
* Dennis the
Dachshund. Clever friend of Larry. He speaks with a strong German accent and uses German word-order in his sentences. He is good at turning
barrels
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...
and
spit wheels. He dreams of being an
Alsatian and particularly dislikes being called a "sausage dog".
* Mr. Mayor - Toytown's chief official. He is rather pompous and has had a statue of himself placed in the
town square
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
. He has an inferiority complex about his short stature, and on one occasion asked the magician to make him "big". (The magician misheard him and turned him into a pig.)
* Ernest the Policeman - Keeps "law and order" but rarely ever arrests anyone. He is always threatening to write down people's names and addresses in his notebook. He considers himself the mayor's deputy, and on one occasion set himself up as "mayor" while the real mayor was away on a
rest cure.
* Mr. Inventor - A brilliant engineer, capable of making almost anything. On one occasion however he was stumped at how to make an engine for the Mayor's car, and asked Larry and Dennis to provide the propulsion. He suffered the derision of Mr. Growser when this deception was revealed.
* Mr.
Noah - Keeps a menagerie of animals in his "
Ark
Ark or ARK may refer to:
Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva''
* Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood
* Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses
Hebrew ''aron''
* ...
".
* Mr. Growser - A disagreeable old gentleman who is always finding things to complain about - usually the behavior of his fellow citizens. His favourite phrase is "It's disgraceful, it ought not to be allowed!"
* The Magician - A sorcerer who makes a specialty of granting people's wishes. In one story Larry becomes his apprentice.
Radio plays
The first radio performances were as follows:
#"How Wireless Came to Toytown": 29 Nov 1929
#"The Sea Voyage": 27 Dec 1929
#"The Enchanted Ark": 2 Jan 1930
#"The Arkville Dragon": 30 Jan 1930
#"Larry the Plumber": 18 Feb 1930
#"Toy Town Treasure": 12 Mar 1930
#"The Great Toy Town Mystery! Who Was Guilty?" 3 Apr 1930
#"The Extraordinary Affair of Ernest the Policeman": 1 May 1930
#"The Portrait of the Mayor": 6 June 1930
#"The Great Toy-Town War": 14 Oct 1930
#"The Disgraceful Affair at Mrs. Goose's": 14 Nov 1930
#"The Showing Up of Larry The Lamb": 9 Dec 1930
#"The Kidnapping of Father Christmas": 23 Dec 1930
#"The Babes in the Wood": 13 Jan 1931
#"The Start of the Treasure Hunt": 3 Feb 1931
#"In Which Mr. Growser's Worst Fears Are Realised": 19 Feb 1931
#"The Wreck of the Toytown Belle", part 1: 3 Mar 1931
#"The Wreck of the Toytown Belle", part 2: 19 Mar 1931
#"Toy Town Goes West": 31 Mar 1931
#"Mr. Noah's Holiday": 21 Apr 1931
#"Pistols for Two": 12 May 1931
#"Dreadful Doings at Ark Street": 9 June 1931
#"Disgraceful Doings in Ark Street": 1 Sept 1931
#"Frightfulness at the Theatre Royal": 22 Sept 1931
#"Golf (Toytown Rules)": 13 Oct 1931
#"Tea for Two": 3 Nov 1931
#"Mr. Growser Moves": 1 Dec 1931
#"A Toytown Christmas Party": 22 Dec 1931
#"The Brave Deed of Ernest the Policeman": 2 Feb 1932
#"The Conversion of Mr. Growser": 23 Feb 1932
#"Dirty Work at the Dog & Whistle": 16 Aug 1932
(possibly a repeat of "The Kidnapping of Father Christmas")
Television
A stop-motion television series using titles such as ''Stories from Toytown Featuring Larry the Lamb'' was broadcast on
ITV between 1972 and 1974. Twenty-six of Hulme Beaman's stories were adapted for television by his friend Hendrik Baker. These were released on video by Inter Ocean Video over five volumes in 1981 and 1982.
# "Toytown Goes West"
# "The Tale of Captain Brass the Pirate"
# "The Extraordinary Affair of Ernest the Policeman"
# "The Disgraceful Business at Mrs. Goose's"
# "Golf (Toytown Rules)"
# "The Arkville Dragon"
# "The Tale of the Inventor"
# "The Tale of the Magician"
# "The Theatre Royal"
# "The Toytown Treasure"
# "Tea for Two"
# "Mr. Noah's Holiday"
# "The Toytown Mystery"
# "A Portrait of the Mayor"
# "Pistols for Two"
# "How the Wireless Came to Toytown"
# "The Brave Deed of Ernest the Policeman"
# "The Tale of Ernest the Policeman"
# "The Showing Up of Larry the Lamb"
# "Larry the Plumber"
# "The Mayor's Sea Voyage"
# "Dreadful Doings in Ark Street"
# "The Great Toytown War"
# "Mr. Growser Moves"
# "Mr. Mayor"
# "Dirty Work at the Dog & Whistle"
See also
The
Noddy stories, written from 1949 to 1963 for children by author
Enid Blyton
Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...
, take place in a location called Toyland.
References
{{reflist
External links
Comprehensive article about ''Toytown'' at ukonline
BBC Home Service programmes
British children's radio programmes
British television shows featuring puppetry
ITV children's television shows
Fictional sheep
1972 British television series debuts
1974 British television series endings