Jackanory is a long-running BBC children's television series that was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, the first story being the fairy-tale Cap-o'-Rushes read by Lee Montague. Jackanory continued to be broadcast until 1996, clocking up around 3,500 episodes in its 30-year run. The final story, The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne, was read by Alan Bennett and broadcast on 24 March 1996. The show returned on 27 November 2006 for two one-off stories.
The show's format, which varied little over the decades, involved an actor reading from children's novels or folk tales, usually while seated in an armchair. From time to time the scene being read would be illustrated by a specially commissioned still drawing, often by Quentin Blake. Usually a single book would occupy five daily fifteen-minute episodes, from Monday to Friday.
The series starred Milton the Monster, a Frankenstein-looking monster with a flat-topped, seemingly hollow head which emitted various quantities of white steam or smoke based on his mood or situation. In the show also appear Fearless Fly, Flukey Luke, Stuffy Durma the Millionaire Hobo, Muggy-Doo Boy Fox and Penny Penguin. There were 26 episodes with three cartoon shorts each.
Operating out of his private anthill, the formidable Atom Ant picks up distress calls via his built-in antennae and heads out to battle a fearsomely delightful array of dastards including Bug Fat Dynamo, Crankenshaft, M.D. and his arch-nemesis Ferocious Flea. Sharing screen time with our hero are Precious Pupp, a rascal of a mutt who hides his antics from the kindly Granny Sweets and the Hillbilly Bears, the most ridiculous bears to ever come from the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey is a Hanna-Barbera animated television series that premiered September 16, 1964. It was presented as a segment of The Peter Potamus Show, along with Breezly and Sneezly and Peter Potamus.
Peter Potamus is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The main segment featuring Peter Potamus and his diminutive sidekick So-So the monkey. Peter is big, purple, and friendly, dressed in a safari jacket and hat. Episodes generally consisted of Peter and So-So exploring the world in his hot air balloon, which was capable of time travel at the spin of a dial. When faced with a precarious situation, Peter uses his Hippo Hurricane Holler to blow away his opponents. The second segment, Breezly and Sneezly, featured a polar bear named Breezly Bruin and his friend Sneezly the Seal who used various schemes to break into an army camp in the frozen north, while trying to stay one step ahead of the camp's leader Colonel Fuzzby. The final segment, Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey, featured three dogs named Yippee, Yappee, and Yahooey who work for the King, a short, complaining ruler who is often on the receiving end of their antics.
Breezly and Sneezly is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon series first broadcast on September 16, 1964, as part of The Peter Potamus Show. From 1964 to 1966, 23 episodes were produced, 14 of which were aired on Peter Potamus with the remaining nine aired on The Magilla Gorilla Show.
Vi på Saltkråkan is a Swedish TV series in 13 25-minute episodes from 1964. The script for the series was written by Astrid Lindgren, who later re-wrote it as a book, also titled Vi på Saltkråkan. Astrid Lindgren was closely involved in the filming and editing of the series, which took place on Norröra in the Stockholm archipelago. The series was produced and directed by Olle Hellbom.
Taking place in a Wild West setting, Ricochet Rabbit works as a sheriff in the town of Hoop 'n' Holler. Ricochet bounces off stationary objects yelling "Bing-bing-bing!" His deputy and foil Droop-a-Long Coyote is not as fast and is very clumsy.