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"The Flaxton Boys" was a perennial presence throughout my childhood in the 'eighties with unfortunately not endless repeats making many a rainy day more Spiffing, as the lads of Flaxton Hall and their mates went gallavanting across the cold, wet, it's-grim-up-north countryside on their way to defeat the Cunning Plans of smugglers and such like fiends. Each generation (1854, 1890, 1928 and 1945) had its own historical setting and colourful fashions from which to draw for inspiration, so that the Victorian series had their false moustachios, bad wigs and imperial clobber, while the WWII series had its chocolate rations, gas-masks and black-out curtains. Perhaps most Thrilling of all was the opening sequence, where the Flaxton Boys galloped to the strains of Prokofiev's "Classical" Symphony - an inspired choice, containing both the ebullience of the lads and the elegance of spooky old Flaxton Hall (Ripley Castle). The dear old boys are fading into dusky memory now, and, as they are not available on video, are likely to remain there, alas (and alack). Three cheers for the "days when kiddies' television had a bit of Spunk about it" ! Comparing "the Flaxton Boys" and other Ripping Yarns of the past with today's beige, politically-correct pap, it's no wonder kiddies watch "South Park".