Jamie and the Magic Torch

A close-up of the moon, zooming out to reveal a tranquil street, bathed in a calming blue light. Tinkling piano notes, hints of slide guitar and high bass notes. Distant cats on the prowl. A child's bedroom, Jamie being the child in question, a young lad with an Osmonds blow-wave, yellow pyjamas and a bobble-hatted English sheepdog as his constant companion. "Sleep well, Jamie", says his unseen mother. Then - all hell breaks loose! The calming music gives way to a fierce piano riff and a rocking pub band sounding quite a lot like the Who, as Jamie climbs out of bed, shines his magic torch on the floor and opens the gateway to 'Cuckoo Land', a bizarre parallel universe that's reached by a psychedelic helter-skelter ride. Cue the hoarse-voiced vocalist singing about "the strangest people you've ever seen, and that torch with its magical beam". This was the 1.46 opening sequence to one of the most fondly-remembered and distinctive children's animations ever seen on British television, and chances are if you're about thirty years old, that's got the memory banks working overtime. I need really say no more, except that this made lunchtimes in the seventies and eighties a whole heap of fun, and paved the way for more Cosgrove / Hall classics like Danger Mouse and Count Duckula. Brian Trueman did ALL the voices, brilliantly. Grab yourself the DVD and wallow in this stuff for a whole evening, pausing only to drink Tizer and sugar-rush on Sherbet fountains. You'll feel like a child again.