When I was a kid there used to be a little slot before the evening news, some time around 5.45, which was occupied by a brief animation. My favourite and perhaps the best-known of these was The Magic Roundabout. It was supposedly for small children but in fact had a very adult strain of humour and some sophisticated characters: Brian the somewhat bitter snail, the happy-go-lucky Mr Rusty, the phlegmatic Dougal, the fulsome Ermintrude – and Florence who made all their problems go away. And sometimes one of these characters would look directly at the camera and say ‘Waiting for the news, are you?’ It was very funny.
The Magic Roundabout was originally in French and was rendered into English not by a process of translation but by making something up which seemed to fit the pictures:
But this evening we are not so much waiting for the news as waiting for the new – ie the New Year. And we are not allowed to watch TV, even for the few minutes when Big Ben is on, because Mark is convinced that TV detectorists are waiting to swoop down on unsuspecting unlicensed watchers and discombobulate them, even at this time of year. So we shall be forced to watch Big Ben on the radio.
I wish all my readers a very happy 2016. Thank you all for reading and commenting and I look forward to chatting with you in the coming year.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Kirk out
Sarada Gray 
Happy New Year to you and your family too, Captain! And thanks for remembering things in the past in much more detail than I can, “The Magic Roundabout” for example. So will continue to chat, but find it difficult to disagree very often. And I do enjoy a good argument 😦
Spock out
I loved the Magic Roundabout. When that finished it was time for bed for our kiddies………..they were happy to go as we had trained them. The adult humour is something the best kiddies shows have, do you remember captain pugwash and his se(a)men ? hahahahaah………..of course at the time it just flew over my head……………I love the way some picture makers get things past the censor. I recall in the Beatle film (i think it was Hard Days Night) that featured Albert Steptoe actor as McCartneys grandad……….anyway, Lennon put a coke bottle to his nose and sniffed………..hahaha, I did get that one, but apparently the censors didnt……………but I digress………………HAPPY NEW YEAR !
oh, and another thing……….those tv detector vans didnt actually function, they were just there to scare us all…………there is no way to tell if you have your tv on without actually looking at it, and dont forget that radio is paid for via the bbc licenc fee, it isnt just for television, so the idea of YOH that its ok to watch the radio rather than listen to the tv is wrong. OK, so now somebody will come back and tell me Im wrong, but I wont have it unless there is proof.
Ah, happy days!Happy new year to you too
Yes, you’re probably right morally – but legally you can listen to the radio and watch iplayer without having a licence
i knew somebody would say im wrong, so I will just take the moral high ground then………….that alone will do for your OH ………..hahaha………..