This four-part children’s adventure serial aired on BBC1 on Monday afternoons in August and September 1968.
The episodes were broadcast live, and the storyline was constructed from ideas sent in each week by young viewers.
The main characters were Joy, Ernie and Chunky – three teenagers who lived in a towerblock housing estate on the outskirts of London. They had adopted as their hideaway a tumbledown derelict house in Ramshackle Road, a street in a down-at-heel part of London (which gave its name to the series).
They kept their pets there, painted on the walls and made as much noise as they liked – all the things they couldn’t do at home.
Also living in the house was a friendly old tramp called Rosebud, who favoured the boiler room in the basement and grumbled that he never had a square deal out of life.
In the first episode, a Cypriot named Niko appeared at the house, shifty and scared. He tried to tell the children something but apparently could speak no English. A phoney private detective called Mr Piper also arrived, while lurking about was a menacing figure called Tin Chin (Trevor Martin), who protected his face with metal sheeting.
Thus the basic framework was completed on which viewers could construct the rest of the story by sending their ideas to:
Ramshackle Road
BBC
Whiteladies Road
Bristol BS8 2LR
The regular cast included Timothy Bateson, Christopher Benjamin, Malcolm McFee, Denis Gilmore, Trevor Martin, Linda Jolliff and Michael Zorba.
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