Rainbow (TV series)
| Rainbow | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Educational |
| Created by | Pamela Lonsdale |
| Starring |
David Cook (1st presenter) Geoffrey Hayes (2nd presenter) John Leeson (1st Bungle) Stanley Bates (2nd Bungle) Malcolm Lord (3rd Bungle) Paul Nuttall (4th Bungle) Peter Hawkins (1st voice of Zippy) Roy Skelton (2nd voice of Zippy, voice of George) Violet Yeomans (voices of Sunshine and Mooney) Ronnie Le Drew (puppeteer) Telltale (1st musicians) Rod Burton (musician) Jane Tucker (musician) Matthew Corbett (musician) Roger Walker (musician) Freddy Marks (musician) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 23 |
| No. of episodes | 1071 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Teddington Studios |
| Running time | Typically about 15 minutes (occasionally longer) |
| Production company(s) |
Thames Television (1972–1992) Tetra Films (1994–1997) |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV Network (Thames) |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original release | 1 September 1972 – 31 December 1992 |
Rainbow is a British children's television series, created by Pamela Lonsdale, which ran between five times weekly, twice weekly on Mondays and Wednesdays then Tuesdays and Fridays, and finally once weekly at 12:10 on Fridays on the ITV network, from 1 September 1972 to 31 December 1992. It was intended to develop language and number skills for pre-school children, and went on to win the Society of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Children's Programme in 1975.
The show had three producers over its lifetime - Pamela Lonsdale, Charles Warren and Joe Boyer.
The programme was originally conceived as a British equivalent of long-running American educational puppet series Sesame Street. The British series would be developed in house by Thames Television, and had no input from the Children's Television Workshop.
After more than 1000 episodes (a total of 1071 episodes with 23 seasons), the series came to an abrupt end when Thames Television handed its ITV franchise over to Carlton Television on New Year's Eve 1992. Since then, it has gained cult status and continues to get frequent mentions on radio and television. A few DVDs have been produced, including one celebrating 30 Years of Rainbow.
Each episode of Rainbow revolved around a particular activity or situation that would arise in the Rainbow House, where the main characters lived. Usually, it would involve some kind of squabble or dispute between the puppet characters of Zippy, George and Bungle, and Geoffrey's attempts to calm them down and keep the peace. The main story would be interspersed with songs (usually from Rod, Jane and Freddy, although, guest singers would occasionally take their place), animations, and stories read from the Rainbow storybook, usually by Geoffrey. Some episodes would focus on a particular theme, such as sounds or opposites, and would consist mainly of short sketches or exchanges between the main characters, rather than a consistent storyline.
Rainbow featured the following characters, each with their own character style:
A few episodes also include some sort of a Geoffrey-type figure for Zippo called Vince. He seemed to be some sort of a brother to Geoffrey.
Generally speaking, George and Zippy represented two 'types' of child, George being the quiet and shy type, while Zippy represented the hyperactive and destructive type. George was usually vindicated, but Zippy got his comeuppance. While they were apparently young 'children' (aged around 7 or 8), Bungle was an older 'child' (aged around 12–13), and differed from them in being a costume rather than a hand puppet. Geoffrey's relationship to them was unclear, other than being a kind of father figure (although he is referred to as 'Uncle' Geoffrey in at least one episode). Apart from Jane and (in the early days) Sunshine, females rarely appeared on the programme, despite some ambiguity concerning the often effeminate (and permanently pink) George.
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