Hi Woodsie, we were talking about Supethunderstingcar and the possibility that one of the props had ended up in my toy box.
A bit of due diligence in Moonbase's archives proved that idea to be a false childhood memory, but it was based on a real event...
I remember watching a John Bird comedy on BBC1.
Barnaby Spoot and the Exploding Whoopee Cushion from 1965. Written by Marty Feldman and Barry Took, it featured a (presumably robotic) walking, talking cheese!
I was absolutely taken by the concept, so I wrote to the BBC (at 8 years of age) to ask them how to make one. I had seen it being destroyed on screen, so I was amazed when a hardboard box arrived on my doorstep containing the actual prop!
There was also a letter (sadly lost to time) which explained it would be far too difficult for me to make one of my own!
Here is the actual prop, still in my possession in all it's plywood and polystyrene foam glory! Inside is a Meccano clockwork motor and an eccentric front wheel with a rubber band for a tyre that gave it it's distinctive wobbling movement.
I wonder if those Prop makers suspected that they were inspiring me to follow in their footsteps..
Lewis
OZ
That is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a great item to have in your collection. A real BBC, screen-used prop. That was very generous of the BBC to send it to you. Fantastic that it has survived all these years, well done.
ReplyDeleteThats really cool!
ReplyDeleteI love the way the'yve used Meccano as the motor too. A memory I have is of Ray Allan, the ventriloquist and his tv show Tich and Quackers. It featured a wisecracking dummy and a duck. One Xmas show they were 'at home' waiting for santa and there was a knock at the door. Ray Allan opens it and an object has been left on the step. The object was a cross between a dalek and a flying saucer, with a dalek head and a wide circular saucer base. I cant recall where it went from there, but the three of them speculated that it had come from outer space. Try as I might I cant find any evidence of it online. Does it ring any bells ? Bill
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't the Selcol Dalek spinning top seen in this catalogue Bill was it? http://thespacemuseum.net/1965-gallery
Deleteunfortunately no - it was about 2' in diameter, white and a large torus with a dalek head on top
DeleteBrilliant, well done for hanging on to it, Lewis.
ReplyDeleteA great cheesy tale Looey! How did you get all your childhood stuff like this over to Oz? In crates?
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned in an out of place reply on my Mike Hazard post, everything came from Blighty in a shipping container when we emigrated from England. Most of it was my parent's scavenged antique furniture. Most of my toys got left behind with friends.
DeleteMaybe I should document the two smallish boxes that remained?
What a wonderful story Lewis! Sounds like a fairytale for a budding collector - or an upcoming professional!
ReplyDeleteWell Lewis.
ReplyDeleteAs you may know, I was a member of the BBC Visual Effects department for several years.
I do not know for certain, but It seems likely that this would have been built by my old department, in the 60s, when Bernard Wilkie was in charge.
Looking at your pics, the slotted screws and metal Meccano seem authentic.
Also, the sides of the cheese look like plaster, or plaster bandage, also accurate to the 60s.
The reddish top looks like plaster bandage or some kind of muslin scrim, which fits the period as well.
And finally, the 'Heath Robinson' type of mechanism appears right for that department, at that time.
In short, if an original screen used prop, and the original BBC letter you got with it would have confirmed this, it is an amazing piece of British TV history.
I'm amazed it still exists.
Guard it with your life !
Wow Mish! What did you work in the Beeb's Visual Effects Dept?
DeleteSorry, that last message was from me.
ReplyDeleteHi Mish! Given my propensity for building "fake" objects, I can see your caution in accepting this at face value! But as you carefully note, it's all genuine period construction and really, if I was going to so much trouble to create a counterfeit, it would be something sexy like "Hey! Did you know they built a stand in Zero-X and it wasn't desyroyed during fulming?"
DeleteBTW, the sides are actually thin polystyrene foam sheet and they have suffered the most over the years. After I took this photo I mixed up my wife's artist's acrylics and touched up the damage. Future historians will easily detect that restoration. But a walking talking Cheese? Who is ever really going to care?
ReplyDeleteI wasn't doubting it's authenticity Lewis, just looking for clues to back up what you were saying.
ReplyDelete