The Adventures of Rupert Bear

The Adventures of Rupert Bear
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	156
Production
Running time	11 min.
Release
Original network	ITV
Original release	28 October 1969 – 24 August 1977

The Adventures of Rupert Bear was a live-action, puppet television series, based on the Mary Tourtel character, Rupert Bear, produced by ATV Network, and aired from 28 October 1969 to 24 August 1977 on the ITV network, with 156 11-minute episodes produced over four series. Of the 156 episodes made, only 75 are known to exist in their original colour film format, while there are a further 16 duplicated on black and white 16mm film. The remaining episodes were, for many years thought to be missing. As of the 21st April 2017, it was announced by Network Distributing that all 156 episodes have been found on their original film elements and will be released on DVD in 3 volumes, the first comprises of the first 52 episodes.

The characters were all puppets, although the opening sequence featured a toy version of Rupert Bear sitting in a live-action child's bedroom. Rupert's friends and flying chariot appeared straight from the Daily Express pages, although he was joined by some new friends, including a sprite called Willy Wisp. One of the most remembered elements of the series was the catchy theme song, which was written by Len Beadle and Ron Roker, sung by Jackie Lee, which reached No.14 in the United Kingdom charts in 1971. The song includes the erroneous lyric, "Rupert the Bear", even though Rupert has never had the definite article in his name.

on the 21st April 2017 Network Distributing made the announcement the first 52 Episodes from Series 1 and 2 would be released on dvd http://networkonair.com/shop/2626-adventures-of-rupert-bear-the-volume-1-pre-buy--5027626469047.html

...
Wikipedia