Legends of Treasure Island

Action, adventure magic and suspense  now in a tale of loot, piracy and betrayal in The Legends of Treasure Island!

The series was loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson's original story "Treasure Island". Featuring a mysterious and dark storyline, it incorporates magic and many new characters. Unlike the book and most adaptations Long John Silver is not an anti-hero with dubious morality but rather a straight villain.

In "The Quest Begins" young Jim Hawkins is a pup at home in Olde England. Forced to flee for his life with his father's many-riddled treasure map Jim falls in with a sea-dog called Captain Smollett. They are joined by another pooch - Dr Livesey - and Squire Trelawney, a clucking pigeon. They set sail in search of Flint's treasure, although they've yet to fathom the riddle of the island's location. The map says it can be found in "Poseidon's Swirling Eye". But it doesn't matter anyway because they are overrun by a mutinous crew, lead by that old fox Long John Silver. Jim escapes and befriends a vixen called Jane who was kidnapped by Silver as a child (apparently her wealthy parents refused to pay the ransom because she was so spoilt). But the duo are recaptured and in a wild storm our heroes are collectively forced to walk the plank. Fortunately, Jim spies the answer to the map's first riddle in the form of a frothing maelstrom starboard . The five jump into its spiraling heart and emerge on the shores of Flint's secret, mysterious island...

Tickle on the Tum

Specially requested by a fan of the BCC, we have the wonderfully titled Tickle on the Tum!

The series was set in a shop in the fictional village of Tickle-on-the-Tum (the humorous double-meaning of the title was explained obliquely in the theme song). The original presenters were folk-singer Ralph McTell and Danuschia Harwood. From about the middle of the second series, Harwood was replaced by Jacqueline Reddin. In the final series, Reddin became the show's lead presenter and sang the theme song, after McTell returned to his recording career.

Ralph and Danni (or Jacqui depending which series you were in) would be working in the shop when a local resident would come in and recount at length an incident in their week. A song, written and sung with guitar by McTell, would follow based around either the week's story or simply the visiting character. Pet-shop proprietor Bunny was played by Nerys Hughes, while favourite characters amongst children was bumbling odd-job man Barney Bodger, 'Jack The Lad' Mike The Milkman and filthy G.P, Dr Dimple (played by [{Bill Oddie]]), who famously sang the song; Don't mind my hands, they're just a bit cold.

Macross - Do You Remember Love?

Today is the 1st anniversary of the BCC and as a special treat, I give you an animated movie that blew my mind as a kid and was a big catalyst into my love of anime, Macross - Do You Remember Love (aka Clash of the Bionoids)!

The plot revolves around Hikaru Ichijyo (a hotshot pilot) and his love triangle with the coquettish pop-star Lynn Minmay and the fortress' first mate Misa Hayase. This story is framed by a war between humans and the alien Zentradi over possession of the space fortress Macross, which harbors tens of thousands of human civilians after the aliens bombarded Earth. However, it is revealed that the all-male Zentradi are fighting a war against their female counterparts: the Meltlandi; both genders, bred for war, are stricken by their contact with Protoculture (human culture), most particularly music.

Wacky Races

Classic cartoon don't come better than this. A cavalcade of crazy competitors in a high octane charge across America, it's Wacky Races!

Wacky Races is an animated television series from Hanna-Barbera, about a group of 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies, with each driver hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer." The cartoon was unusual in the large number of regular characters, twenty-four in total: the twenty-three people spread among the 11 race cars, plus the unseen (and never identified) race announcer. Another unusual feature of the series is that the stars of the show are the villains as opposed to the heroes.
Attempting to foil the racers' efforts were the show's resident villains Dick Dastardly and his canine sidekick, Muttley. Dastardly would usually gain a large lead, then execute all sorts of elaborate schemes to trap, divert, blow up or stop the other racers, only to see them backfire spectacularly. The intended object lesson may have been that Dastardly might have easily won several races had he only kept his mind on the race and off dirty tricks.

The Foxbusters

One of Cosgrove Hall's later series now on the BCC, loosely based on the Dick King-Smith book of the same name, here is The Foxbusters!!

The show is primarily set on Foxearth Farm, a fictional farm based in the English countryside in the West Midlands which is dominated by a variety of animals, particularly the chickens. The Foxbusters are three chickens, Ransome, Sims and Jeffries, who have the unlikely ability to fly. Each has a different personality; Ransome is the best flyer, Sims is the smartest and Jeffries is the comic relief. The Foxbusters also have the ability to spit grit like machine guns, and drop hard-boiled eggs like they were bombs - and these are used to effect among other methods to keep the hungry pack of foxes in Foxearth Forest at bay.

The arguments and conversations between the chickens makes an effective comedy. The foxes' attempts to get the better of the chickens are often unsuccessful, but they add a lot of humour to the show. The show itself is laden with gags and action, and is of a quality which led to its receiving two major awards in 2000.