Andy Pandy

Image: Children watching Andy Pandy in March 1950

Andy Pandy made his television debut on 11 July 1950. His appearance - later with his friends Teddy and Looby Loo - was an acknowledgement of the hold that television had on the very young, and an attempt to provide tailor-made programmes for them. Andy Pandy was initially seen as an experiment, but its success was such that the Watch With Mother strand was made, which added The Flowerpot Men, The Woodentops, and Rag, Tag and Bobtail over the following years.

Andy Pandy was created by Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird. Bird wrote and presented the programme, coaxing Andy out of his basket to dance and play, and encouraging the children at home to join in. Andy himself never spoke. Audrey Atterbury operated Andy via his very visible strings, and songs were sung by Janet Ferber. Every programme ended with the song "Time to go home", as Andy waved goodbye and returned to his basket.

The few original programmes were repeated until 1969 and are remembered with fondness by several generations. In 1970 some were remade in colour. Andy Pandy was revived as a stop motion animation in 2002, voiced by Tom Conti and shown on the BBC's channel for young children, CBeebies.