Teddy Edward

there are some teddy Edward postcards available on ebay! me and the wife were looking for the DVD,when we saw the postcards,but we did recognize jasmine the rabbit,next to teddy.happy memories of the TV show. also on you tube,there are a couple of audio excerpts of the show,featuring the wonderful tones of Richard baker,who also narrated "mary mungo and midge". as previously mentioned,it seems likely that the BBC wiped all the episodes,altho there are websites out there that offer DVD-r copies of hard to get TV shows.so don't give up!i seem to remember the episodes were only 5 minutes long,and saw them on the BBC during the Xmas holidays,back in the 1970's.

I never watched Teddy Edward's TV show, so I don't even have a memory to review, and I've neither seen the youtube reconstructions nor listened to the 45 record of Richard Baker's narration, but I do have one of the piccolo books: Teddy Edward in Timbuctoo.

Although there wasn't a 'Teddy Edward in Timbuctoo' episode, as davies-michael54's 9-star review says, the book of the film was pretty much the film, for the film itself played as a book of stills. And I quite like the book, and its photos, so I'm giving the series 10 imaginary stars.

Was Teddy Edward's TV show lost at the whim of a BBC archivist? A 1996 Christie's auction of authors Mollie & Patrick Matthews' Teddy Edward collection listed a 'Complete set of 12 BBC'c 'Watch With Mother' films narrated by Richard Baker'. Were these the Watch With Mother compilaton videos the BBC issued in the late 80s, or are they the Teddy Edward films? Maybe the person who paid 34,500 pounds for the estate knows the answer to this.

I'll write to Christie's and see.

I can only just remember this. No one else has written a review so maybe no else does either. I don't think it was ever repeated. I can't recall the 'plot' to each episode. I say 'plot' as it was one of the simplest concepts in TV history and it was remembered for that reason alone.

Made in 1973 by the BBC who were making big budget spectaculars someone came up with the idea of a story of a teddy bear and a couple of his friends. I can't remember what species his friends were but they cuddly toys too; actually one was definitely a dog. One of those small breeds.

Here's the clever bit: The filming consisted of photographic stills. There was no movement at any time. To overcome this limitation the cameraman used slow zooms and moving the camera at an angle to keep things interesting and it worked. The programme was accompanied with continuous incidental music and the photographs were of mostly outside locations under bright sunlight.

To take the simple idea further the narrator of th shows was Richard Baker, the piercing blue eyed BBC newsreader. Richard was one of the main anchors a serious major news presenter. His voice may be fantastic and soothing but its authoritative and surprise to find such a major figure narrating a children's programme. It can't be imagined that a leading newsreader would be asked to narrate a children's show now. The BBC prefer hyperactive people in their early 20's. This supposedly appeals to children. The 1970's presenters were very different and probably better.

There's no sign of this little gem on DVD and it might not even exist any more. The BBC wiped many programmes from tapes in the 1970's and a programme like this could easily be lost forever being seen as a cheap and insignificant programme. Actually it is important as an example of how so little can be turned into something so charming.