Diddle-de-deewww, diddle-de-dewwww, de-de-de-dum-de-de (Roobarb & Custard)

Member Name: mreyre

Product:	Roobarb & Custard
Date:	31/10/01 (280 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: brilliant pioneering felt-tip animation technique, expertly narrated by Richard Briers, You can buy it on video!

Disadvantages: only occassionally on tele these days, try Channel 5 for repeats, Official website needs more information

Diddle-de-deewww, diddle-de-dewwww, de-de-de-dum-de-de, etc….
So started the theme tune for the classic animation “Roobarb and Custard.” We all enjoyed the pair’s antics, growing up in the 1970’s, wondering what the daft dog would get up to next. I managed to find an old Roobarb and Custard video at a car boot sale, and I love re-watching the classic episodes! My three year old daughter managed to find it one day, and she loves it too. When I asked her what it was about, she replied, “a cat and a dog”, so she’s certainly got the idea.

I then decided to trawl the internet (as always) for some inspiration for this review. A search on “Yahoo” immediately found the official website www.roobarbandcustard.co.uk (I should have guessed!), but unlike some official sites, this one is quite poor. It only really gave details of a “new fangled” Roobarb and Custard. Reading between the lines, I get the impression that the writer, George Calevely, wants to bring back Roobarb and has invented lots of new characters. There is even an opinion poll for you to e-mail him personally to tell you his views. However, although there were some very good pictures of Roobarb and gang, there was very little in the way of background information.

A far better tribute site can be found on: http://www.sausagenet.freeserve.co.uk/roobarb/inde x.htm

The site welcomes us with a superb background of Roobarb running in the style that only he could and reminds us that the series was Produced and Directed by Bob Godfrey, who was also responsible for Henrys Cat. The series was narrated by Richard Briers, (of The Good Life, and Ever Decreasing Circles fame) a typical episode would find a bored Roobarb (a mental green dog) inventing something pointless in his shed, much to the amusement and derision of Custard (a pink Cat) and the Birds.

The site also gives some great screen shots of Roobarb, Custard
and the rest, including the Sun (which always used to amuse me for some reason), as well as an opportunity to download the Roobarb theme tune for you to sing along to!

Roobarb is also mentioned on the TV Cream website, which is a very popular one if you can’t quite remember what certain programmes were all about!

The programme even came a respectable 27th in the recent Channel 4 Top 100 children’s TV programmes.

Finally, you can even download that great theme tune for your mobile phone! Copy and paste the below link into your browser window, and let me know if it doesn’t work!

http://uk.srd.yahoo.com/goo.uk/%22Roobarb+and+ Custard%22/8/*http://ringtones.f reeserve.com/freeserve/ericsson/ringtones_top20wee kly.ASP

Summary: