"Charlie Chalk, Charlie Chalk,
     Got a funny way of walking
     and a funny way of chalking...."  
  

    Charlie is indeed a funny-walking circus clown who falls asleep one day in his row
    boat and finds himself drifting towards the uncharted desert island of Merrytwit.
    This tropical shangri-la is home to a motley crew of eccentrics, amongst them
    Captain Mildred who lives with Mary the Hover Fairy onboard her washed-up boat
    The Buttercup, Louis T Duck, Trader Jones, a snoozy shuffling monkey-dog-thing
    called Edward, Arnold the clumsy pink elephant ("Sorry!"), Litterbug and a
    bizarre teddy-bear-mouse-head-thingy called Bert...

           

    Here is another of those classic shows which one assumes was a "long-stayer"
    but whose notoriety is actually based on one season of episodes being frequently
    repeated. That single season is actually very tidily book-ended. The first episode,
    "Shipwrecked Charlie" depicts his arrival, whilst the last "Goodbye, Hello"
   concerns his decision to leave Merrytwit and return to the circus on the
    mainland.

    Interesting to note that Charlie's voice wasn't actually as funny as the title
    song implied. He was voiced rather normally by Michael Williams. His friends
    were the ones with funny vocal inflections. He did have a funny way of walking,
    though. On occasion he would tumble in an acrobatic-circus-stylee through
    frame, around obstacles, or just to show folks how happy he was. And he
    could do a little magic too. In "Arnold's Night Out" he magically rustles up a
    camping stove and kettle from out of Louis' straw hat.

    This is another bright and jolly show from Ivor Wood and his Woodland Animations.
    Merrytwit has some fab fun foliage and the characters are typically "Woodian"
    and hugely appealing. In the 'noughties Charlie featurexd on the children's
    menus and play area equipment at the Brewsters and Brewers Fayre pub
    restaurants found all round Britain - and fun rides, too. Before that, in the
    1990s, he had his own comic strip in the pages of "Postman Pat Weekly".
    With remakes currently all the rage, isn't it time we returned to Merrytwit?

 

    Broadcast info

     The series premiered on BBC1, on 20th October 1988...

 

    Episodes

    Shipwrecked Charlie               The Feast
    Arnold's Night Out                  There are no Roads on Merrytwit
    Coconut Harvest                    Mildred's Day Off
    The Sneezes                         Bert's Boring Day
    Jumping Bananas                    Return of the Litter
    The Mountain that Moaned      Goodbye, Hello
    Edward Keeps Fit

 

     Charlie Chalk on DVD


       Charlie Chalk - The Complete Collection
                 Region 2 / all 13 episodes / 4 Front / August 2005

     Postman Pat / Bertha / Gran
                Region 2 triple bill box set / 4 Front Video / September 2005

 

    produced by Woodland Animations Ltd 

    created by Ivor Wood

    dir of animation:    Derek Mogford
    writer:                   Jocelyn Stevenson
    music & lyrics:       Mike Redway
    sung by:                Ken Barrie
    film editor:            Martin Bohan
    props:                   Brian Driver
    voices:                  Michael Williams
                                John Wells
                                Barbara Leigh-Hunt

 

      On the web


      No links right now...

 
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