1 9 5 7 – 1 9 5 9 (UK)
52 x 15 minute episodes
This early Gerry Anderson puppet series pre-dated classics such as Stingray, Supercar and Thunderbirds and was aimed at a slightly younger audience.
When the children playing in Mr Bumble-Drop’s garden decided to tie the toys that he had just made them to the strings of their kites, they didn’t expect a strong gust of wind to carry them away along with Bumble-Drop’s toy poodle, Pom-Pom.
Two of the children, Bossy Boots and Bogey Meanymouth, refused to play in the lonely man’s garden again unless he found their toys.
And so, the old toy-maker made a wind-up puppet boy to search for the missing toys and named it Torchy because of the magic torch built into him that projected a beam onto any lost object.
Torchy located the missing toys and Pom-Pom on a twinkling star, so Bumble-Drop built Torchy a rocket out of cardboard, and our hero flew to the star where he discovered Topsy Turvy Land, where cream buns grew on trees, puddles were filled with chocolate, and lollipops grew in fields.
In this magical land, the toys could walk and talk and Torchy made lots of friends, including Squish the space-boy and Sparky the baby dragon.
They all eventually decided to stay and build a village called Frutown, named because all the houses were made of giant pieces of fruit.
Torchy returned to Earth every now and then, helping Mr Bumble-Drop with his problems and teaching naughty children how to behave themselves.
26 episodes were filmed – like The Adventures of Twizzle – in the small ballroom of a large mansion house (Islet Park) on the banks of the River Thames at Maidenhead.
Three-dimensional sets were introduced for the first time on this series and the puppets were fitted with moving mouths and eyes.
Romantic novelist Roberta Leigh (pictured below and at the head of this page) created Torchy and went on to make a second series of 26 new episodes with Associated British Pathe.
Gerry Anderson and AP Films were not involved in the production of these later episodes.
Torchy
Olwen Griffiths
Mr Bumbledrop
Kenneth Connor
Flopsy
Jill Raymond
King Dithers
Kenneth Connor
Bossy Boots
Jill Raymond
Narrator
Jill Raymond
Audio
Episodes
Pom-Pom And The Toys | Topsy Turvy Land | Torchy And Squish | The Building Of Frutown | Torchy And The Broken Rocket | King Dithers | Torchy Goes Back To Earth | Bossy Boots Goes To Topsy Turvy Land | Bossy Boots Is Taught A Lesson | A Bell For A Penny Farthing | A Trick On Pom-Pom | Torchy Is Stolen | King Dithers Loses His Crown | Pilliwig Gets A Present | Bad Boy Bogey | Torchy And The Strange Animal | Bossy Boots Forgets To Be Good | Hungry Money Box | The Naughty Twins | The Twins Learn A Lesson | King Dithers Goes Down To Earth | Torchy Escapes At Last | Torchy And The Man In The Moon | Bogey And The Statues | The Moon Falls Asleep | Torchy’s Birthday || Flopsy Goes On A Picnic | Torchy Gets A Surprise | Banana Bridge | King Dithers And Daffy | The Toys Get The Collywobbles | Bogey Learns Another Lesson | The Pollikan Bird Is Stolen | Torchy Has An Accident | Sparky The Dragon | Bogey Is Naughty Again | Pilliwig Cleans The Chimney | Pongo The Pirate | Pongo In The Goldmine | King Dithers’ Birthday | Washing Day In Topsy Turvy Land | Gluebell Wood | Squish Falls Down A Well | Flopsy In Trouble | The Big Storm | Daffy’s Birthday | Flopsy Makes A Christmas Pudding | Gilly Golly In Trouble | King Bumble Drop | A New Suit For Pilliwig | The Obstinate Donkey | Pom-Pom Gets The Hiccups
