Puddle Lane
Puddle Lane is a 1980s English pre-school children's television programme written by Rick Vanes with animated stories written by Sheila K. McCullagh, author of Tim and the Hidden People. A long series of early readers based on the stories was produced by Ladybird Books, also under the title Puddle Lane.
TV programme
The programme was made by Yorkshire Television in Leeds for ITV and ran on from 1985 until 1989. The main characters were the Magician, and a Spell Dragon named Toby ; the Magician told Toby stories by moving his finger around in a puddle and a bird bath and producing images. He also had a cauldron inside and water barrel outside, both of which could talk. The stories he told were presented as animations, narrated by Kate Lee. The Magician lived in a large house at the end of Puddle Lane, hence the name of the programme.In an interview in 2014, Neil Innes recalled his involvement with Puddle Lane:
Transmission guide
- Series 1: 26 editions from 3 October 1985 – 1 May 1986
- Series 2: 26 editions from 16 October 1986 – 23 April 1987
- Series 3: 24 editions from 29 October 1987 – 21 April 1988
- Series 4: 26 editions from 6 October 1988 – 13 April 1989
Books