Jamie and the Magic Torch was a British children’s drama animated television series, made by Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television and shown on the ITV network, running from 1976 to 1979. It ran for three seasons of 39 episodes. It was shown again in the 1980’s to a new audience of children. The series was written and narrated by Brian Trueman (Danger Mouse, Count Duckula) and the uncredited Kate Murray-Henderson as the voice of Jamie’s Mother and the character Nutmeg.
The programme was based around Jamie and his torch which he would shine on the floor (usually at bedtime) in order to open a helterskelter bridge into a fun dimension called Cuckoo Land.
The beginning of each episode had Jamie’s mother tucking him into bed at night and saying, “Sleep well, Jamie.” Then from under his bed, his pet dog Wordsworth would appear holding the torch in his mouth. Jamie would take the torch and shine it on the floor, opening up a portal to Cuckoo Land (which Wordsworth always got stuck in).
When they reached the end of the helterskelter slide, they would fly out into Cuckoo Land from the bottom of a tree trunk and land on a trampoline. All of this was accompanied by a song, written by Joe Griffiths. Once in Cuckoo Land, Wordsworth would be able to talk and the pair would see what adventures they could get up to.
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