The Woodentops

I grew up in a large family and all my Aunties and Uncles would buy me videos of the programmes they liked when they were younger and I loved all of them. I remember being completely enthralled by Watch With Mother and the wooden tops were one of the best parts on them. It was always introduced in that same beautiful narrative voice with "There's mummy woodentop and daddy wooden top..." and so on finishing with "and the biggest spotty dog you ever did see!" Like Larry the Lamb and Andy Pandy the joy of this world is it's innocence. To truly enjoy it you must put to the back of your mind any modern cynicism and the ideas we form about how film should look 'real' and look at it the way you would as a small child. It is deeply enjoyable.

I used to watch this as a child back in the 50's on a great big tv that had a 9" screen. That was back in the days when everything was in 405 resoution and in black and white but even then you could still see the strings. It was part of a daily series called "Watch with Mother" which went out (I think) around lunchtime. I still remember Sam and the twins and their dog spotty, who had a most peculiar walk.The acting was very wooden. Great fun in the fifties although I suspect today it would be seen as amateurish in it's production values. Closing scene was always a montage of all the characters waving goodbye. Quaint but charming.

'The Woodentops' is another one of those shows watched in my childhood on videotapes of very old shows (long after the show first aired), some of them with puppetry, that left a big impression on me at the time for its unique characters and ahead of the time atmosphere. Also one of those shows that was forgotten about for a while after it started to fade into relative obscurity. Then saw pictures of the characters somehow by chance when researching old puppet shows and decided to relive those fond memories.

Despite not holding up as well or as timelessly as 'Andy Pandy' and 'Flower Pot Men', 'The Woodentops' is still a gem and deserves to be much better known in a time where shows like it are hard to come by. It does sadden me that shows like this that show effort and the charm factor with good values and will appeal to people of all ages are so little known today, other than the odd recommendation from anybody that grew up with it. While vastly inferior shows with very little quality and charm air regularly on accessible time slots on channels that have not been the same for a long time.

While it is very interesting to see all the different family values for the family and their roles they play and to see attitudes to those family values were at the time, they are very 50s compared to a time now where family values and roles have significantly progressed, more equal and in a lot of cases the opposite of what is seen here. Hence what is meant by it not holding up as well as the other two.

However, a lot is great about 'The Woodentops'. It still looks good visually, have always found old puppet animation incredibly charming to watch and affectionate. Old-fashioned yes but beautifully crafted, the backgrounds throughout the show are meticulously detailed and there is nothing stiff or primitive about the puppet designs or movements that are also quite cleverly used.

The music is easy on the ear and is never overused or bombastic. The theme tune is another catchy and charmingly written one. All the characters are endearing and charmingly quaint and don't come over as one-dimensional.

Furthermore, the writing has a good deal of charm. It is very easy for younger audiences to understand, but does so without resorting to juvenile or dumb humour or using over complex terminology. Older audiences shouldn't find it a problem either, and find plenty to be amused by and be charmed by its simplicity. The stories are full of quaint charm and wisely keep things simple, they don't come over as too slow either.

Overall, great. 9/10.