Emu's TV programmes

Emu is a British television puppet, modelled on the Australian flightless emu bird and operated by the performer Rod Hull. After appearing on a number of variety shows, he was given his own television series on the BBC, then on ITV.[1]

Emu
GenreChildren's television
Created byRod Hull
Written byRod Hull
Directed byColin Clews (ITV shows)
Presented byRod Hull
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production companiesCentral Independent Television, BBC
Release
Original networkITV Network (CITV), BBC

Cast
  • Rod Hull: Himself, Emu, King Boggle
  • Carol Lee Scott: Grotbags
  • Freddy Stevens: Croc (1982-1984), Robot Redford (1984-1987), Grovel (1988-1989)
  • David Tate: Croc (1984-1987)
  • Glenn Munroe: Croc (suit performer) (1988-1989)
  • Susan Maughan: Princess Hortensia (1984-1988)
  • Carl Wayne: Odd Job John (1984-1988)
  • Murray Langston: Murray (1989)

The Pink Windmill Kids

The Pink Windmill Kids were all students from the Corona Stage School.[2]

Abbie Shilling participated in Emu's shows for the longest, closely followed by Kelly Rossiter.

NameTime activeEpisode countAppearances
Joe Greco1982–198651 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 4, 5, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 1, 2, 3
Debbie Harper1982–198656 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 1, 2, 3
Emma Whitlock1982–198547 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 1 & 2
Hugh Harper1982–198433 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 1
Catrina Hylton1982–198434 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 1
Lorraine Plummer1982–198434 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 1
Anthony Hosier1982–198434 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 1
Sarah Jeffs1982–198434 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 1
Daniel Chamberlain1982–1984, 198630 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 5, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 3
Kate Hayden1982–198426 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5
Emma-Louise Fox1982–198425 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5
Natalie Pennington1982–198425 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5
Aysha Mitchell1982-198425 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5
Natalie Payne1982–198425 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3, 4, 5
Dean Hosier1982–198419 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 4, 5
Aaron Burchell1982-198312 episodesEmu's World Series 2, 3
Julie Wright19826 episodesEmu's World Series 2
Natali Williams19826 episodesEmu's World Series 2
Tuhin Dasgupta19826 episodesEmu's World Series 2
Francesca Gerrard19826 episodesEmu's World Series 2
Spencer Roberts1983–198541 episodesEmu's World Series 3, 4, 5, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 1 & 2
Sarah Stone1983, 1986–198968 episodesEmu's World Series 3, 6, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 3, Emu's Wide World, Emu TV
Cliff Kelly1983-198412 episodesEmu's World Series 4, 5
Deborah Birchenough1983-198412 episodesEmu's World Series 4, 5
Abbie Shilling1984–198990 episodesEmu's World Series 5, 6, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 1, 2, 3, Emu's Wide World, Emu TV
Kelly Rossiter1984–198983 episodesEmu's World Series 5, 6, Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 2, 3, Emu's Wide World, Emu TV
Tammy Smallworth1985–198840 episodesEmu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 2 & 3, Emu's Wide World
Peter Davies1985–198623 episodesEmu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 2 & 3
Alistair Smith198513 episodesEmu's All Live Pink Windmill Show 2
Alex Brennan198513 episodesEmu's All Live Pink Windmill Show 2
Daryl Peck1986–198827 episodesEmu's All Live Pink Windmill Show Series 3, Emu's Wide World
Helen Neil198610 episodesEmu's All Live Pink Windmill Show 3
Gianni Fuccio1987–198952 episodesEmu's Wide World, Emu's World Series 6, Emu TV
Danny Hosier1987–198952 episodesEmu's Wide World, Emu's World Series 6, Emu TV
Claire Stock1987–198830 episodesEmu's Wide World, Emu's World Series 6
Nicholas Pinnock1987–198830 episodesEmu's Wide World, Emu's World Series 6
Cassie Shilling1987-198830 episodesEmu's Wide World, Emu's World Series 6
Tiffany Reed1988–198935 episodesEmu's World Series 6, Emu TV
Roy Merchant198813 episodesEmu's World Series 6
Alani Gibbon198922 episodesEmu TV
Lisa Bennett198922 episodesEmu TV
Natalie Smallworth198922 episodesEmu TV
Rocky Samrai198922 episodesEmu TV

BBC

Emu's Broadcasting Company

Emu's Broadcasting Company (1975–1980) is a children's television series featuring Rod Hull and Emu running their own television station, which parodied many BBC series of the time. Supporting Rod Hull and his emu puppet were Billy Dainty who played a James Bond pastiche called Captain Perceval and Barbara New who played the tea lady.

Transmissions[3]
  • Series 1: 6 editions from 18 November 1975 – 23 December 1975
  • Series 2: 6 editions from 12 November 1976 – 17 December 1976
  • Series 3: 6 editions from 10 October 1977 – 14 November 1977
  • Series 4: 8 editions from 26 October 1978 – 14 December 1978
  • Series 5: 8 editions from 2 December 1979 – 27 January 1980
  • Christmas Special: 24 December 1977

BBC Specials

Rod and Emu became staples of early-evening variety entertainment on or around Bank Holidays, and the following one-off specials were made for the BBC:

  • Emu's Blackpool Walkabout: 29 August 1977 (30 Minutes)[4]
  • Emu's Cornish Walkabout: 28 August 1978 (30 Minutes)[5]
  • Emu's Scottish Walkabout: 27 August 1979 (35 Minutes)[6]
  • Emu's Magical Music Show: 27 December 1980 (35 Minutes)[7]
  • Emu's Magical Christmas Show: 27 December 1981 (35 Minutes)[8]
  • Emu's Magical Easter Show: 12 April 1982 (35 Minutes)[9]

Rod and Emu's Saturday Specials (BBC)
  • Series 1: 6 editions from 1 January 1983 – 5 February 1983[10]

The Rod & Emu Show (BBC)
  • Series 1: 6 editions from 28 January 1984 – 10 March 1984[11]

ITV

Emu's World

In 1981, Rod Hull was offered the opportunity to make a series for younger children by the newly-awarded ITV franchise Central Independent Television. This led to the birth of the Pink Windmill in which Rod and Emu lived, the green witch named Grotbags (played by the singer and comedienne Carol Lee Scott), and her hopeless assistant Croc. The premise of the show was simple: each week Grotbags attempted to steal Emu so that, once captured, (in Grotbags's own words) she would be able to use its "special powers" to control all the "brats" in the world. Children from the Corona Theatre School—referred to collectively as the Pink Windmill Kids—were on hand to offer protection and break into one or two song and dance routines per episode.

The show featured Rod Hull's chanted catchphrase "There's somebody at the door, oh, there's somebody at the door" every time a visitor rang the doorbell of the Pink Windmill—which 'sneezed' loudly when pressed.

Transmission
  • Series 1: 6 editions from 5 January 1982 – 9 February 1982
  • Series 2: 6 editions from 27 October 1982 – 1 December 1982
  • Series 3: 6 editions from 2 March 1983 – 6 April 1983
  • Series 4: 6 editions from 7 September 1983 – 12 October 1983
  • Special: Emu's World at Christmas – 21 December 1983
  • Series 5: 6 editions from 9 March 1984 – 13 April 1984
  • Special: Emu at Easter: 20 April 1984

Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show

The success of Emu's World led to the series being expanded in mid-1984 from 20-minute to 42-minute episodes and re-branded as the Pink Windmill Show. The target age range was broadened, and the programme now featured viewer phone calls, a studio audience, games such as one in Grotbags's grotto based on the format of the "take the money or open the box" segment of Take Your Pick!, the Post Office (for viewers to send their letters and pictures), and Boggle's Kingdom—a mini-series featuring Rod's ancestor who is trapped in Tudor times. A subsequent addition was the Twin Schools section, which aimed to pair British schools with similar ones in Australia, Canada, or the US.

The singing and dancing of the Pink Windmill Kids was retained, extra character Robot Redford introduced, and the show in this format achieved enormous popularity (evidenced by being broadcast in the coveted Children's ITV slot of last thing on a Friday). Three series were broadcast live from 1984 to 1986 (despite the third run dropping "All Live" from the title), and in 1987 two series of Emu's Wide World were made. These followed a similar formula to the Pink Windmill Shows, but were pre-recorded, resulting in the phone-based Spin Quiz being replaced by Emu's Bargain Basement—an obstacle course in a supermarket. A final series of Emu's World aired in 1988, which retained Boggle's Kingdom and introduced an outdoors obstacle course despite being cut to a 20-minute run time. All series were produced and directed by Colin Clews for Central Independent Television and broadcast from the now-defunct East Midlands Television Centre in Nottingham.

A clip from the very first live episode (Friday, 13 July 1984), which saw the Pink Windmill Kids enthusiastically introducing themselves before launching into a rendition of the Village People song "Can't Stop the Music", became an Internet meme in late 2016, and, not long after, all but Spencer, who was unavailable for filming, reunited to remake the segment for 2017's Comic Relief.[12]

Transmission

Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show

  • Series 1: 7 editions from 13 July 1984 – 24 August 1984
  • Emu at Christmas – 25 December 1984
  • Series 2: 13 editions from 12 April 1985 – 5 July 1985

Emu's Pink Windmill Show

  • Series 1: 10 editions from 14 February 1986 – 25 April 1986
  • Emu at Easter – 29 March 1986 (repeat of 1984 special)
  • Emu at Christmas – 26 December 1986 (repeat of 1984 special)

Emu's Wide World

  • Series 1: 9 editions from 3 April 1987 – 5 June 1987
  • Series 2: 8 editions from 3 November 1987 – 5 January 1988

Emu's World

  • Series 6: 13 editions from 12 May 1988 – 4 August 1988

EMU-TV

Following the demise of Emu's World, Rod Hull went to Canada and recorded a single series of EMU-TV, based heavily on his earlier Emu's Broadcasting Company series. His co-stars this time were Murray Langston and Carolyn Scott, while Les Foubracs made regular guest appearances. These episodes were brought back to the UK and re-edited for a British audience by Central Independent Television, with a small number of additional segments featuring Grotbags and the Pink Windmill Kids also being shot.

Episode 5 of this series features future England international footballer Emile Heskey running an obstacle course and accidentally being called "Emily".

Transmission
  • Series 1: 22 editions from 15 March 1989 – 20 September 1989

Rod 'n' Emu
For full details, see Rod 'n' Emu.

Emu

The first episode of Emu's new series, simply called Emu, was broadcast on 8 October 2007. The first series was filmed in Belfast with shots at Queens Street Flats. The plot centres around Emu and his owner, Toby (Toby Hull), a computer games designer. Toby has to keep Emu a secret from Ken Cole, a grumpy security guard. Toby's neighbours, children Charlie and Dani, help him to keep Emu a secret. Toby's other neighbour, Sophie, is the villainess of the show: an air hostess who becomes obsessed with making money off of Emu, but her plans always backfire on her. At the end of the first series, Emu and Toby moved back to Australia.

In June 2009, it was announced that a second series of the show with 26 episodes was produced by the Gibson Group a New Zealand film and broadcast company. Most of the cast was done by New Zealand actors. The plot in the second series is where Toby has a job in a kids' cafe. He meets Kelly (Bryony Skillington), the cafe manager, who is allergic to birds, especially Emu, although she still adores Emu. Cafe kids Sam and Georgia live upstairs above the cafe. They are good friends with Emu. They all must watch out for Leo Leach (Toby Leach), the town inspector who is strict with pest control; he will close the cafe down if an animal is found.

The first episode of the second series was broadcast on 13 September 2009 on ITV1 at 9:45am. The second-series puppeteer was Nick Blake and the director was Danny Mulheron the same director of Paradise Café by the same company. The second episode was broadcast on the same day as well.

It was shown on CITV with repeats until April 2014.

See also

References
  1. Harris M. Lentz, Obituaries in the Performing Arts (Jefferson NC: McFarland, 1998), 106-7. ISBN 0786407484
  2. Chris Perry, The Kaleidoscope British Christmas Television Guide 1937-2013 (Morrisville, NC: Lulu, 2016), 209. ISBN 190020360X; and https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1980s/emus-worldemus-pink-windmill-show/
  3. "Search Results - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  4. "Emu's Blackpool Walkabout". 25 August 1977. p. 26. Retrieved 18 December 2018 – via BBC Genome.
  5. "Emu's Cornish Walkabout". 24 August 1978. p. 28. Retrieved 18 December 2018 – via BBC Genome.
  6. "Emu's Scottish Walkabout". 23 August 1979. p. 33. Retrieved 18 December 2018 – via BBC Genome.
  7. "Emu's Magical Music Show". 18 December 1980. p. 60. Retrieved 18 December 2018 – via BBC Genome.
  8. "Emu's Magical Christmas Show". 17 December 1981. p. 67. Retrieved 18 December 2018 – via BBC Genome.
  9. "Emu's Magical Easter Show". 8 April 1982. p. 37. Retrieved 18 December 2018 – via BBC Genome.
  10. "Search Results - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  11. "Search Results - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  12. "The Dancing Pink Windmill Kids Have Recreated That Viral Video as Adults". www.vice.com. Vice. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
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