REDOUBTABLE LUNCHTIME ten-minuter in which MAGPIE’s SUSAN STRANKS was “in command” doing craft stuff with card, paper, tissue, glitter and Gloy Gum. The real stars, though, were Itsy and Bitsy, two squeaky/growly puppet “spiders” (actually just gloves with a pom-pom stuck on the back, operated by NORMAN BEARDSLEY) who came down a woolen web at the start and caused the hapless Stranks much hassle in the “helping” department. Playing second fiddle: oft-forgotten Boris the mute ladybird and Cardew The Caterpillar. Earlier show TINGA AND TUCKER did a similar interfering with presenter act, but this was far superior. Four spin-off books were also available on how to make stuff, such as cardboard castles, Norman swords and helmets etc.
Creamguide's Pick of the Day
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Trad Jazz Britannia
Friday, 21.00, BBC4It always amuses us when we see clips of Double Your Money and notice the category board includes both “jazz (traditional)” and “jazz (modern)”, though it is true that at that point trad really was big news, the nascent Pick of the Pops spinning off from Trad Tavern being just one example of its hold on the nation’s teens in the early sixties, despite it being influenced by music some forty years old at the time.
Considering Itsy and Bitsy were a blokes hands I wonder how Ms Stranks felt about them crawling all over her? And as for the bloke…