My Childhood TV Heaven Trivia Quiz

Answer: Judy

The chimp that played Judy was trained to respond to 75 hand signals. She was also toilet trained and enjoyed using toilet paper! "Daktari" (Swahili for "doctor") aired from 1966 to 1969, and was a spin off from the film "Clarence the Cross Eyed Lion", released in 1965.

Cheeta was the chimp in the "Tarzan" films. He was born in 1932 and at the time of writing this quiz (August 2008) is currently the world's oldest chimp. He has outlived all of the human stars of the "Tarzan" films.

Peggy was the name of the chimp who suffered the indignity of co-starring with Ronald Reagan in the 1951 film "Bedtime for Bonzo".

Bubbles is the name of Michael Jackson's pet chimp. Once Bubbles matured, he became difficult to deal with and bit several people. He is apparently now living on a ranch in California. I think it's highly possibly that Bubbles engineered this himself in an attempt to disassociate himself from Michael Jackson.

Answer: Basil Brush

The charming Basil was created in 1963 for the children's show "The Three Scampies". He then appeared with magician David Nixon on "The Nixon Line" and then was given his own show in 1968.

He was updated in 2002 and appeared in a children's sitcom, The Basil Brush Show. He retained his "posh" voice and his "Boom Boom" catchphrase. There is no puppeteer shown in the credits of the show. However, there are credits for Basil's fitness instructor and/or personal assistant.

In March 2008 Basil was investigated by Northamptonshire police for racism, after a member of the public complained about a scene in which a Gypsy tried to sell Basil some pegs.

Answer: Bernard Cribbins

Bernard Cribbins made 111 appearances on "Jackanory." Kenneth Williams appeared 69 times. Prince Charles appeared once, reading from his own book "The Old Man of Lochnagar". Alan Bennett appeared several times and read the last story in 1996 - "The House at Pooh Corner".

Answer: Ramsbottom

Sooty first appeared on TV in 1952. His creator, Harry Corbett, bought the puppet in 1948 as a present for his young son Matthew. The original puppet was all yellow, but Corbett coloured his ears and nose with soot for a better appearance on black and white TV.

Sooty holds a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the star of the longest running children's television show.

Answer: The White Horses

"The White Horses" was a joint Yugoslavian/German production. The theme song was credited to "Jacky", one Jackie Lee, who also sung the theme tune to "Rupert", which reached No. 14 in the UK charts in 1971.

Answer: Elephant

"Blue Peter" first aired in October 1958. Lulu was a young Asian elephant, who appeared on the show in 1969. Biddy Baxter, the show's producer, had requested that her keeper abandon the stick he usually used to control her. The result was chaos, with Lulu's leavings turning the set into a skating rink as she dragged her keeper around! Presenter John Noakes took a careless step backwards and his closing words on the show were "Oh dear, I've trodden right in it".

Answer: Johnny Morris

Johnny Morris had previously appeared as "The Hot Chestnut Man" - a series whereby he played a chestnut seller, who would tell a children's story as he waited for his next customer.

"Animal Magic" ran from 1961 to 1982. It was eventually retired as anthropomorphism became less acceptable.

Answer: Ivor the Engine

"Ivor the Engine" was shown in black and white from 1958-1963. In the mid seventies the series was updated to a colour version.

Answer: Lenny the Lion

Lenny the Lion was part of a ventriloquist act. He couldn't pronounce his 'R's - a feature that was added as the original act was considered too frightening for young children. He appeared sporadically on television from 1956 to 1963.

Ollie Beak and Fred Barker were glove puppets in the form of an owl and a dog, who appeared on the TV programme "Small Time".

Answer: Hoppity

"Sara and Hoppity" was based on the books by Roberta Leigh. Sara's parents ran a toy hospital and Hoppity was bought in with a broken leg. Sara adopted him and was frequently in trouble for Hoppity's naughty behaviour. The series was originally aired in 1961.

Torchy was "Torchy the Battery Boy" and Twizzle was a doll who ran away from a toyshop. Both programmes aired in the early sixties.

"Bagpuss" was a later addition to children's television, first airing in 1974. Bagpuss was described as "an old, saggy cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams". Hmm, sounds a bit like my real cat!