The glorious (and somewhat gorgeous) Ben Baker, host of Sunday night's Songs of Reappraise on Noisebox Radio had a slot to fill, so fill it I did (phwoar, etc). You may remember my show Court on Film from Noisebox, and this seemed like an ideal opportunity to revisit it. A Kids TV special I did a while back went down very well, so why not try it again with a twist?
So, I took to social media – Facebook, Twitter (thanks, Tara), BlueSky Instagram, as well as email – to ask a vital question, namely what are you favourite three children’s television themes? An impossible request, I know, with there being so many quality tunes – and with no date restriction, there’s the whole history of telly to choose from.
But choose you did. I was hoping to build a reasonable top 20 but received so many that a top 50 was constructed – airing on Noisebox Radio between 7 and 9 pm on the evening of March 31st 2024, the chart was revealed.
The show opens with a clip from Watch with Mother, the discordant flute intro that always starts every Court on Film - and then it's straight into the top 50.
50. Groovie Goolies (tune taken not from the TV show, but the 1970 RCA album)
49. Star Fleet (the original, not the version taken from the Bryan May Star Fleet Project supergroup)
48. Rentaghost
47. Scooby Doo, Where are You?
46. Ivor the Engine
45. Screentest (also typically used as the intro to Court on Film, but as I got to play it in its entirety here, no need for this particular show!)
44. Stingray
43. Knightmare (spellcasting B-A-N-G-E-R)
42. Hong Kong Phooey
41. Jem and the Holograms (truly outrageous)
40. Bertha
39. Pole Position
38. Supergran (is there nothing that she cannae do?)
37. The Tomorrow People
36. Black Beauty
35. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
34. Monkey Magic
33. The Pink Panther
32. Vision on/Left Bank
31. Around the World with Willy Fogg
30. Battle of the Planets
29. Count Duckula (End credits theme)
28. Thunderbirds
27. Trumpton
26. Bagpuss
25. Bod (The main theme, and an assortment of character introductions)
24. Trap Door (theme and original single)
23. Button Moon
22. The Wombles
21. Fraggle Rock (taken from the most recent version of the show)
20. Pigeon Street
19. The Littlest Hobo
18. Rainbow (The Matt Berry version)
17. The Flumps
16. Chorlton and the Wheelies
15. X Men (from the original cartoon, not X Men '97)
14. Mr Benn
13. Banana Splits
12. Round the Twist (sung by Tamsin West)
11. White Horses (Jackie Lee, saved from her cruel Rupert the Bear snub)
And now to that all important Top 10…
10. Gummi Bears – receiving a total of 2.67% of the overall vote
9. The Raccoons – (a mix of the theme and "Run with Us" by Lisa Lougheed) receiving a total of 2.71% of the overall vote
8. Roobarb and Custard – receiving a total of 2.94% of the overall vote
7. Dogtanian and the Muskerhounds – receiving a total of 3.3% of the overall vote
6. Mysterious Cities of Gold – receiving a total of 4.33% of the overall vote
5. Danger Mouse – the original series, not the recent remake - receiving a total of 5.9% of the overall vote
4. Thundercats – receiving a total of 5.28% of the overall vote
3. Duck Tales – receiving a total of 6.31% of the overall vote
2. Ulysses 31 – the adventures of Barry Gibb in space - receiving a total of 6.88% of the overall vote
Making the overall winner the very worthy:
1. Jamie and the Magic Torch – receiving a total of 7.53% of the overall vote
The show also ends with the end credit music from Jamie and the Magic Torch.
Sadly, the following shows received votes but not enough to grace the top 50 – and it’s a shame, because there are some absolute bangers in there. Still, I might do a follow up show in which I play a selection of the best of these. The also-rans, in no particular order:
The Poddington Peas, Chockablock, Star versus the Forces of Evil, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, The New Adventures of the Winnie the Pooh, Wurzel Gummidge, Metal Mickey, Captain Pugwash, Swap Shop, Mr Dressup, Muppet Babies, Sesame Street, Willo the Wisp, Five to Eleven, The Moomins, T Bag, Down at the Store, Charlie Chalk, Whats New Scooby Doo, Mystery Incorporated, Williams Wish Wellingtons, Megas XLR, Are you Afraid of the Dark?, How, SuperTed, The A Team, Garfield and Friends, Heathcliff, Box of Delights, Sir Prancealot, Talespin, Chocky, Bangers and Mash, Magic Roundabout (a travesty), Johnny Briggs, Byker Grove, Paddington, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, Reading Rainbow, Dastardly and Mutley and their Flying Machines, Teddy Edward, Inspector Gadget, Bionic Six, Blue Peter, Dungeons and Dragons, Sarah and Duck, Grange Hill, Sport Billy, Biskits, Into the Labyrinth, Astro Farm, Sonic Underground, Top Cat, Raggydolls (again, another travesty – quality theme this), Bill and Ben, The Hair Bear Bunch, Clangers, Dinosaurs, Kenan & Kel, Camberwick Green, Flintstones, Bananas in Pyjamas, Bear in the Big Blue House, Tots TV, Catweazle, Terrahawks, Bravestarr, Snorks, Shaman King, Phineas Ferb, Horrible Histories, Drake and Josh, Dexters Lab, Pickwick Papers, Teen Titans, Summer Camp, Finger Bobs, The Wind in the Willows, Sharky and George, Visionaries, Mask, Playaway, Muppet Show, Spartacus and the sun beneath the sea, He Man, Prince Valiant, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Tiswas, Mr Men, Art Attack, You and Me, The Storyteller, Mio Mio, Bucky O'Hare, Botsmaster, and Tales from Fat Tulips Garden.
The tunes used as background to the talkie bits are Achievements of Man by Francis Monkman and The Free Life by Alan Parker, used for Johnny Ball's Think Again and My World, respectively, with snippets of 64 Zoo Lane. Cheers to Andy Taylor for the suggestions; they didn't receive enough votes ot make the top 50, but it was nice to include them somehow.
Thanks for voting in all, and you can listen to the show here.
David Court
March 2024