Rod, Jane and Freddy were a singing trio who appeared in children's programming on the British TV channel

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. They starred both in the long-running series ''

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

'' and their own 15-minute show. The trio have also made guest appearances in other children's TV shows, including ''

The Sooty Show ''The Sooty Show'' is a British children's television series, created by Harry Corbett, and produced for the BBC from 1955 to 1967, and then for ITV from 1968 until 1992. The show, part of the ''Sooty'' franchise, focuses on the mischievous adv ...

''. The original trio consisted of Rod Burton,

Jane Tucker Jane Tucker (born 20 October 1949) is a British actress, singer, songwriter, musician and keyboardist. She is best known for being part of the musical trio Rod, Jane and Freddy who appeared in many TV series, notably ''Rainbow''. She was born ...

and

Matthew Corbett Peter Graham "Matthew" Corbett (born 28 March 1948) is an English actor, singer, comedian, magician, puppeteer, television presenter and writer, best known for presenting ''The Sooty Show'' and later ''Sooty and Co''. He is the son of Sooty's ...

, when they were known as "Rod, Matt and Jane". Matthew left the trio in 1976 to continue hosting ''

'' after his father retired. Matthew was replaced by actor Roger Walker, whereupon the trio became known as "Rod, Jane and Roger". When Walker left in 1980 to continue his career in acting he was replaced by

Freddy Marks Frederick Marks (10 September 1949 – 20 May 2021) was an English actor, singer and entertainer. He was best known for being part of the musical trio Rod, Jane and Freddy which appeared in children's programming in the 1980s and 1990s. Earl ...

, leading to the best-remembered incarnation of the trio. During their three decades working on children's television they managed to write over 2,500 songs on various themes using many different music styles. Most were comedic but others had deeper meanings. Overall they have written and produced 10 albums and 24 videos, and have conceived and performed jingles for commercial radio, theme and title music for TV, and songs for

pantomimes Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

''Rod, Jane and Freddy''

Due to their popularity on ''

'', Rod, Jane and Freddy were approached by

in 1980 to make their own show, ''Rod, Jane and Freddy'', which aired its first episode on 15 January 1981. Rod, Jane and Freddy appeared in both their own show and ''Rainbow'' until 1989, when they left their position as musicians on ''Rainbow'' to focus solely on their own series. Their show often followed a certain format: * Opening with a big song, giving an idea of the particular show's topic (music and song, pets, moving house, etc.) * Rod, Jane and Freddy would usually have solo songs * There was often a sketch, but these were generally rarer than songs * They would close with a final song * As the credits rolled, the first or last song would be sung again.

Episode list

The following is a list of episodes. Fremantle archive episode list use master tape titles where available, if unavailable they use the episode titles as they appeared in TV guides. Many episodes from 1981 to 1982 no longer exist due to the then British TV policy of

wiping Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...

Touring

Rod, Jane and Freddy toured the UK until 1996; their stage show followed the same format and the 15-minute

show, filled with songs, dancing, mime and comedy. In 1996 they won a Gold Badge Award from The British Academy of Composers and Songwriters.

Videos

The trio released a number of videos in the late 80s and early 90s. These include:

Present-day

Following the end of the ''Rod, Jane and Freddy Show'', the trio no longer regularly appeared on television, instead appearing in British children's theatre and pantomime. The trio also appeared in

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

's video for his 2007 Comic Relief release of ''

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" is a song written and performed by Scottish duo the Proclaimers, and first released as the lead single from their 1988 album '' Sunshine on Leith''. The song reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart on its initial re ...

''. In June 2008 Rod, Jane and Freddy appeared on the show ''50 Ways to Leave Your TV Lover'' on Sky and talked about newspaper claims that they were involved in a love triangle. They explained that Rod and Jane had been married then divorced. Jane partnered with Freddy some time after he had joined the trio, a relationship that lead to their eventual marriage in May 2016. Jane Tucker appeared on ''The Justin Lee Collins Show'' on ITV2 on 19 March 2009. She was in the part of the show called 'A Blast From The Past' and also appeared at the end of the show dancing with Justin. Freddy Marks died on 27 May 2021.

References

External links

Rod, Jane and Freddy
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Rod, Jane and Freddy Official Fan Page

Rod, Jane and Freddy Unofficial Facebook Fan Page

Rod, Jane and Freddy Songs

Official Episode List

British Film Institute Screen Online Episode List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rod, Jane And Freddy ITV children's television shows British television shows featuring puppetry British television spin-offs Internet memes 1980s British children's television series 1990s British children's television series 1981 British television series debuts 1991 British television series endings Television series by FremantleMedia Kids & Family English-language television shows Television shows produced by Thames Television