Talk:The Magic Roundabout

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I've removed the line:

The French thought that Dougal in the series was a reference to De Gaulle, the collaborating general in the Second World War.

• a) because I'm not sure whether they did think that, but mostly
• b) De Gaulle was most certainly not a collaborator in WW2.
• c) In any case, surely the French would have referred to him as the President, which he was for most of the time the Roundabout was in production?

Arwel 20:10 21 Jul 2003 (UTC)

In answer to this.

• a) You can't know everything.
• b) I apoligise in thinking that De Gaulle was a collabarator but I thought that was why the French people thought that was why the English were having a go at him.
• c) This was after De Gaulle was in power. In the same way we don't call the Duke of Wellington Prime Minister Wellesley we tend to think of him as General De Gaulle rather than President De Gaulle.

Adrian

---

This article should probably treat the original french version first, and then discuss the english variant. Morwen - Talk 15:07, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Dougal/De Gaulle

I've updated the text to cite directly the 1968 Joan Bakewell interview with Serge Danot on Late Night Line Up, which I have on VHS recorded on January 6th 1992 from Channel 4's The Return Of The Magic Roundabout. Danot appeared with an associate, Jean Biard (or perhaps Billard - I have to rely on Ms. Bakewell's French accent, the name is not shown in any caption), who translated for him. Biard at one point said to Bakewell "Can I tell you something about the French reaction about the Dougal name?" He then turned to Danot and said (in French) "I'm telling her the story that is told of De Gaulle." He continued "We all thought that when you spoke of Dougal we are very afraid about our, er, I mean, our Ministry, our Foreign Ministry, and we thought it was Mr. De Gaulle, the President, you know." He and Bakewell laughed briefly, and he continued, as the image cut to an image of De Gaulle overlaid by the caption DE GAULLE RESIGNS, "Yes, we were afraid about that, but it's alright."

Professor Eugene Q Thrung III (talk) 09:35, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

Dillon

"Dillon" has been consistently mispelled as "Dylan" in this article. -- Derek Ross | Talk 02:13, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

So I've fixed it... -- Derek Ross | Talk 02:19, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Dylan

Dylan has not been "mispelled" Please cite your source before making any further revisions Lion King 02:44, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Fair enough. Radio Times back issues circa 1970. And perhaps you could cite your source for the rabbit's name being Dylan. -- Derek Ross | Talk 04:46, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Radio Times is not accurate, they were unaware that Eric Thompson had named him after Bob Dylan. They only heard the name being said during the narration because there were no scripts as he made it up as he went along. Try typing The Magic Roundabout into Google, you will only find Dylan, not Dillon. Plus I still have books from my childhood that name him as Dylan.Lion King 05:20, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

<Grin>, so the BBC was lying to us all those years ago! Well, well. I see that they have now changed their minds about the spelling. So "Dylan" is the spelling we should be using after all. However rightly or wrongly, Google will return you a couple of sites which use the Dillon spelling if you type in magic roundabout... -- Derek Ross | Talk 06:55, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

It's Dylon.. just look at the film! -- 9cds^(talk) 14:03, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

• LOL. Lion King 14:51, 20 February 2006 (UTC) P.S. "Dylon" is a spelling mistake it happens. After all, we all make mistook's, we're onley humon. Lion King

Definitely Dylan. DJ Clayworth 16:41, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Time of the news

IIRC The Magic Roundabout went out at 17.35, before the BBC's main evening news which was always at 17.40. The BBC news moved from 17.40 to 18.00 some time in the eighties. From 1969, the main news, starting at 17.40, was followed by a magazine type programme called "Nationwide". The first part was local news from your BBC regional studio. At 18.20, it went "Nationwide" from Lime Grove in London, looking at stories and bringing in reports and contributions from presenters around the regions. Nationwide ran until August 5th 1983. This may be when the main evening news moved from 17.40 to 18.00. Alternatively it moved to 18.00 in February 1985, coinciding with the launch of Wogan and East Enders at 19.00 on alternate weekdays. I may be nit picking (apols) but when invoking strong childhood memories these little details count!

Uh-uh. The news went out at 17:45 originally, before they added 5 minutes to the beginning. -- Arwel (talk) 00:38, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

• "Sort it out you two", said Zebedee! Lion King 10:45, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Drug Reference Theory

Despite the denial of there being any drug references in The Magic Roundabout, to the best of my recall it runs something like this:

Dougal

Hippyish long hair, has "dreams" after eating sugar cubes. (LSD)

Brian

Red nose, flighty attention span, aggressive personality, delusions of grandeur. Snails leave white lines behind them. (Cocaine or Amphetamines)

Ermintrude

Finds everything funny, constantly hungry - and cows eat grass. (Cannabis)

Zebedee

Flushed red, constantly twitching, hyperactive, looks like a pill. (Uppers, Poppers or Amyl nitrite)

I always reckoned it was for Zebedee read CBD but maybe just my addled mind. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ‎90.254.149.122 (11:10, 9 October 2018 (UTC) (talk)

Presumably you mean CBD-DMH? Martinevans123 (talk) 12:22, 9 October 2018 (UTC)

Dylan

Dopey, unfocused; in Dougal and the Blue Cat he utters the line "Man, you're right. I'm watching these crazy mushrooms grow". (Possibly Magic Mushrooms)

Obviously this is no more than idle speculation, which is why it's in the talk page.

Astatine 10:45, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Obviously true: "Magic Roundabout star homeless and broke after years of drug abuse"! But see also this 2005 article which says this: "Interviewed last year, Danot's widow, Martine, was aghast at the idea. "On drugs? No, absolutely not. They were all sweet characters created entirely for children, Of course, they were products of their age, the 1960s, but drugs? No, maybe that's the way you saw it in Britain, but I can assure you that here in France nobody thinks or thought that." Martinevans123 (talk) 12:24, 9 October 2018 (UTC)

Traffic roundabouts

The stuff at the end about traffic roundabouts should be mostly merged into Magic roundabout.Ben Finn 20:41, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

I agree, and have made a reference to the main article, Magic Roundabout. --Portnadler 09:11, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

French article

There is surprisingly little reference to the UK version in the French Wikipedia article. Jooler 07:52, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Dougal's Breed

"The main character was Dougal or Pollux, (a Maltese dog, albeit of a non-standard colour)."

I think the reason for the non-standard colour would be that he's not a Maltese. I always thought he was intended to be a Puli. -Pennoir 21:42, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

While he does slightly look like a Maltese, he does more closely resemble a puli. Maybe a source for the breed (if any) could be obtained? Antisora 12:03, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

I always thought he was a Yorkshire terrier! This definitely needs sourcing. Rissa (talk) 18:27, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Am I the only one who wants a DVD release?

Nowhere can I find anything about the original series of The Magic Roundabout getting a DVD release, and nor can I find a campaign to support. Annoying when so many of its contemporaries are available. The market must be there, surely? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.157.212.77 (talk) 15:15, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Differences between the French and English version?

The article mentions that the two shows have different narration but doesn't go into any details. Could anyone expand on the difference between the two versions? Ke11ett 15:10, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

It's said that Eric Thompson just watched what was happening and made the stories up as he went along live, and his narration was not recorded, hence there being no scripts for Nigel Planer to follow. Hope this helps. Lion King (talk) 13:40, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, Lion King, but that just makes things more confusing… For a start, there is nothing to suppose that Eric Thompson just sat and narrated over the top without a script - he wrote them to fit the on-screen action, without knowing what the original French script had said, so the story needn’t be the same, but he didn’t make them up as he went along. They are too finely crafted for that. He later adapted his scripts as children’s books. Secondly, I don’t know why that would have had anything to do with Nigel Planer; he replaced Eric Thompson as narrator (who had died some years previously), but he was dealing with episodes which Thompson had never had anything to do with, he wasn’t re-dubbing Thompson’s episodes. Jock123 (talk) 19:55, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Zebedee reference in media

The character Zebedee was referenced in this newspaper article here: [1] in regards to these new poweriser/powerbocker things which are spring-footed much like Zebedee. I found it referenced in the article. I'm not sure if this news website is notable enough to mention for media exposure regarding Zebedee? Tyciol (talk) 03:22, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Remake

• I've seen a remake of The Magic Roundabout on Australian TV. Are there any official sources that comply with this (not the movie). Kausill (talk) 12:34, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Lost episodes

This can only be partially correct:

Of the 441 episodes that were made, 25 are currently missing. Three episodes from series 2 and seven from series 3 were wiped and the tapes reused for reasons of cost.

The series was stop animation and could only have been made on film. "Wiped" must be a minomer, and I have removed this passage. Philip Cross (talk) 22:45, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

The original French masters were on film, but the English-dubbed shows could easily have been on tape, either as supplied by the French TV company to the BBC that way for broadcast, or to allow Eric Thompson’s new narration to be added; so it isn’t possible to say that because it was stop-motion animation that episodes weren’t indeed wiped, and thus now lost to us. Jock123 (talk) 19:59, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

The BBC would have been sent film prints, this was the norm, not until mid 80's early 90's were series supplied on VT, at around the time they phased out the standard practice of transmitting directly from the film prints via telecine, so Philip is more than likely correct, tape copies may have been made, at a later date, of the BBCs b/w and colour prints with Thompsons narrations, which they still have, some of which may or may not have been wiped? But anyway the french would still have all the original films, so technically none of the episodes are missing, possibly?. Also the episodes would have been dubbed on film as VT dubbing of this kind was extremely difficult until around 1973/74. The BBC only bought b/w film copies of the series until 1970 when they started broadcasting the series in colour.

Having now checked, only six of the 441 episodes bought by the BBC are missing and not 25 as the original copy stated. Four b/w episodes first broadcast 19/01/67-20/01/67-23/01/67-29/01/68 and two colour episodes txed 15/03/74 and 31/03/74. 81.111.127.132 (talk) 01:43, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

The BBC actually started exporting programmes in colour VT (PAL and NTSC) quite a bit earlier, around 1973 in fact. Before that, programmes were only exported on b/w telecine. (The BBC never used colour kinescopes, although some ITV companies did.) 2.28.124.15 (talk) 19:55, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

Zebulon/ Zebedee

The line in the section about the German version (“The name of the magician "Zebedee" in German is "Zebulon", a reference to of one of the twelve tribes of Israel”) is redundant because a) the character is named that in the original French anyway, and b) because “Zebulon” is just a boy’s name, albeit one of Joseph’s brothers in the Bible, which could belong to anyone without it being a reference to the tribe of the same name: you wouldn’t expect to find every instance of someone called “Joseph” or “Benjamin” being cited as a reference to the tribes of Israel, so why this one? Jock123 (talk) 20:04, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Sounds reasonable - I've removed it. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 20:03, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

I have seen a version that seem to be computer generated or something

What version could that be. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.208.86.142 (talk) 23:43, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

It could be the 2005 film or the 2006 redub Doogal. Or the TV Series that was on for a short time in 2007. I have also capitalized your words. 109.153.9.10 (talk) 01:18, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

Jasper Carrott and the Magic Roundabout

There is a cite request for Jasper claiming the Funky Moped single sold on the back of the poularity of the Magic Roundabout monologue on the B-side, I don't know if there is printed ref that can be cited but please note the "Carrott in Notts" LP track Local Radio Promotion (DJM 1976) in which Jasper Carrott makes this claim during this comedy track. Sure he did on many TV appearences also, anyone know a printed ref? possibly one of Jaspers books?81.111.126.82 (talk) 00:47, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Magic Roundabout and the RAF

I've added brief info on the Shackleton that crashed (Dylan) in 1990, as it seems relevant. Penfolderoldo (talk) 20:35, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

That one, WR965, actually seems to have been called Dill, after the dog in The Herbs, but it may have been known later as Dylan. (The Magic Roundabout was better remembered than The Herbs by the 1980s.) Seven of the twelve Shackleton AEW2s operated by No.8 Squadron from 1972 to 1991 (reduced to six from 1981) were named after Magic Roundabout characters. Originally, a Shackleton T4 navigation trainer operated by the RAE at Farnborough was given the name Zebedee, because of the Shackleton's tendency to bounce on landing. This became a popular nickname for Shackletons, but when 8 Sqn took up the airborne early-warning role in 1972 they named aircraft after Florence, Mr Rusty, Brian, Mr McHenry, Dougal and Ermintrude. They seem to have run out of Magic Roundabout names and started using names from The Herbs as well. Ermintrude was renamed Parsley, after the green lion, but another aircraft was then given the name Ermintrude; when that one was retired in the '81 defence cuts, Parsley seems to have become Ermintrude again. The names and pictures of the characters were painted on the aircraft, though squadron COs do not seem to have approved of such a practice in peacetime.

Of surviving Shackletons, the one in taxiing condition at Coventry is WR963 Ermintrude, formerly Parsley. The one in the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry is WR960 Dougal. The one at Pima, Arizona is WL790 Mr McHenry. WL747 Florence and WL757 Brian are standing abandoned in the open at Paphos airport, Cyprus, and slowly deteriorating. Khamba Tendal (talk) 14:48, 24 January 2017 (UTC)

Video game

It looks like there is a video game named "The Magic Roundabout" (PC, NDS, Wii), I think it should be mentioned in the article: [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Amazon: [7] [8] —  Ark25  (talk) 12:32, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

It's is a French tv series

The series is not British produced in anyway whatsoever Bob3458 (talk) 14:35, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

Le Manège enchanté is totally French, yes, but The Magic Roundabout is a weird blend - a mash-up, maybe? - that is due as much to British work. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 15:13, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

I understand what you're saying but the series in general was never made in the United Kingdom it was a French produced series Bob3458 (talk) 01:14, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

Yes, it was. It was rerecorded and edited and given new characters and a whole new plot line in Britain - that is a pretty good definition of "made". It is possible to watch both Le Manège enchanté and The Magic Roundabout and they are two different shows.

I'm trying to think of a parallel but nothing exactly the same comes to mind. You wouldn't say that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was written by Shakespeare ... that's about as close as I can get. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 11:01, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

Apparently we're going to disagree on this ... anybody else have an opinion? - DavidWBrooks (talk) 23:52, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

Categories

I am not convinced that this really belongs in Category:British comedy television programmes or Category:Parody television series. It could be argued that there was satirical material and humour (that was in many cases over the heads of the target audience), but I do not see how the series can be described as a parody - the article certainly does not discuss this - and I think calling it a comedy is a stretch at best. Dunarc (talk) 22:24, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

My opinion is that the 1990s version sometimes falls into the category of parody because although it was an attempt at making the revised programmes accessible to a new, young, audience, it occasionally ridicules itself, as was the tendency in British television humour since the 1970s. (Mention of things that couldn't have existed in the 1960s does help to spoil the idea of revising them, if the intention had been to restore them - assuming they actually needed restoring.) David Rule, 6.1.19 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.151.177.201 (talk) 22:14, 6 January 2019 (UTC)

Who was Dylan named after?

This article says that Dylan was named after Bob Dylan. I have read that this was only a rumour and that Dylan was, in fact, named after Dylan Thomas. Vorbee (talk) 18:29, 17 February 2019 (UTC)

The source in the article (www.screenonline.org.uk) says Bob Dylan. Do you have a source that says Dylan Thomas? - DavidWBrooks (talk) 19:50, 17 February 2019 (UTC)

For what it's worth, Bob Dylan named himself after Dylan Thomas.Romomusicfan (talk) 14:04, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

Language links

This page, about the British version, links in the Language bar on the left to the French Wikipedia article Le Manège enchanté on the original French serial. There is also an English Wikipedia article on the original French show Le Manège enchanté. Shouldn't the French article link to the article on the original French series? Also the other language links should be checked to see to which article the different language should be linked.2.28.124.15 (talk) 20:06, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

Fourth wall break - which episode?

"Sometimes, the series broke the fourth wall. At the end of one episode, when Zebedee called his catchphrase of "Time for bed.", Florence asked "Already?", and Zebedee replied that "It is nearly time for the news, and there has been enough magic for one day." The news was broadcast just after The Magic Roundabout. This story was later republished in print from Bloomsbury's 1998 book The Adventures of Brian." What is the name of the episode which had that? 77.98.202.112 (talk) 18:28, 30 May 2019 (UTC)

"A Peaceful Day". 77.98.202.112 (talk) 15:00, 16 August 2019 (UTC)

Books

I have added details of two books by Eric Thompson published in 1971 using the characters from the TV series. Re-reading them, the humour is aimed at adults as much as children - they are actually still very funny. PhilUK (talk) 16:15, 7 June 2020 (UTC)

Netherlands

I've moved this text to here from out of the article.

Whether Wim Meuldijk used the French or the British dialogue scripts or a self composed storyline is unknown. According to the 'Beeld en geluid' database, the second run of 'De Minimolen' started on 17 August 1976 and ended on September the first that year, being on air irregularly. The website www.waarkeekjijvroegernaar.nl ('What Did You Watch At The Time?') reports reruns from 1 June till 30 August 1980. This website should be regarded to as more accurate and better researched than the 'Beeld en geluid' database.

There are problems with it:

1. First sentence ("...unknown") would only be significant if this was truly a piece of vanished history but that's very unlikely.
2. "According to the 'Beeld en geluid' database" is probably referring to Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision but I can't find the database there
3. "started on 17 August 1976 and ended on September the first that year" would mean it only ran for two weeks, which sounds unlikely
4. it says "The website www.waarkeekjijvroegernaar.nl ('What Did You Watch At The Time?') reports reruns" but the link is dead and the page is not archived
5. No evidence or rationale is offered for the claim that "This website should be regarded to as more accurate and better researched than the 'Beeld en geluid' database."

These should be resolved before the text is reinstated but it needs someone who understands the topic a bit more. --Northernhenge (talk) 18:34, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

Television infobox parameters

@DavidWBrooks: I understand what you are saying about dates reflecting different shows. However Template:Infobox television's first_aired/last_aired do not account for this type of entry. The parameters specifically need to use {{Start date}} and {{End date}} and per the template docs, only reflect the date it first aired on it's original network (which in this instance would be the France date). Reverting my change just means this page will continue to show up in Category:Pages using infobox television with nonstandard dates, which we are trying to clear out. Ultimately, if they are truly different shows, then a second infobox is probably needed to reflect the other version. Please reconsider your reversion. ButlerBlog (talk) 21:37, 7 January 2022 (UTC)

We shouldn't mislead or confuse readers just to fit within software limitations. If the current template doesn't allow accurate depiction of this admittedly confusing scenario, then so be it - I don't think it matters that this article shows up in a "bad" category. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 00:19, 8 January 2022 (UTC)

The Magic Roundabout never appeared in Jack and Jill

Why revert my edit? The characters also appeared in TV Toyland, Bonnie, and Playgroup as well. I used a blog as a source so people can navigate to a magazine, then download an issue, and go from there. But I guess that wasn't enough. How am I supposed to use CBR files as a source?

American TV Airings

What were all the channels that the 2007 version of the show aired on? I know I watched it in America when I was slightly younger, but I can't remember the channel. I ask because I don't want to find an American dub, but rather because I've been having a strange cartoon illude me that was paired with The Magic Roundabout, and I'm thinking maybe if I find the channel, I can find out that show's name. If this isn't the best place to ask, please direct me to another place, if it's not any trouble. Triviatronic9000 (talk) 03:34, 21 February 2024 (UTC)