When The Magic Roundabout returns to our screens in the autumn, many people’s childhood world will look a little different to how it did when produced finished on the series some thirty six years ago. Zebedee, that fanatical acolyte of the spring, will still be found bouncing around the landscape but now he’s packed with explosive fun, ready to detonate the sense of humour of every child, young or old. Then there’s Ermintrude, the cow with a zany take on the world who is never happier than when chewing on a piece of infected spinal column. Dylan, the hippie rabbit, is just a little older, wiser, and has his own show on BBC Radio Two where he plays middle-of-the-road classics.

But the character who has struggled to adapt to a new generation is Brian Browne, the snail who just can’t make his mind up about anything. A new generation of children will soon be able to watch his crazy adventures as he changes his mind on a daily basis. Some days he even doubts he’s a snail and thinks he’s a British cabinet minister in charge of defence. And who knows what will happen in the world of The Magic Roundabout? Perhaps tomorrow he’ll believe he’s on the back benches and then on his way into opposition.

The new series has the full support of the Prime Minister who was at the BBC TV Centre for its launch. ‘Stories are important to children but they’re also important to adults,’ he said as he posed with Brian on his shoulder. ‘That’s why we wanted our sailors to tell their sides of the story. Then we realised that stories are very powerful things, so perhaps we should have our sailors tell their stories but leave it to proper storytellers such as Iranian State TV. But that’s what’s so wonderful about The Magic Roundabout: it leaves us all feeling very dizzy, so we don’t know if we’re coming or going.’

This entry was posted on Monday, April 16th, 2007 at 4:13 pm and is filed under News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.