Chockablock

1 9 8 1 (UK)
13 x 15 minute episodes

The “star” of this BBC children’s show was a huge yellow mainframe computer known as ‘Chockablock’. The computer was “chock-a-block” with words and pictures and would dispense knowledge through its array of monitors amid a flurry of spinning tape reels and flashing lights.

Chockablock was maintained alternately by Chockagirl (Carol Leader) and Chockabloke (Fred Harris), who travelled in a miniature yellow electric-powered  ‘Chockatruck’. Both presenters had previously appeared on Play School – as their ever-smiling faces and sing-song delivery demonstrated.

To activate Chockablock, his attendants had to take a block from the ‘block stock’ and insert it into the block slot of the computer

This initiated a series of pictures with a rhyming theme for the week (cat, hat, rat etc) being displayed on Chockablock’s monitor. This rhyming imagery segued into a brief song accompanied by illustrations, such as a jaunty ditty about Dame Trott’s chat with her cat.

Occasionally – if Chockablock was in the mood – the Chockapresenter took viewers through simple games, or spun the Rockablock reels to match up similar sounding images such as “log” and “dog”.

A number of these rhyming examples were used to hammer home the rhyming sounds before moving on to another song.

Integrating illustrations and puppets, the Chockapresenter proceeded to sing over (or appear in ) a short vignette played out on Chockanlock’s monitor. These closing sections included Joe Crow flying over a pastoral landscape and Old King Cole struggling to deal with an industrious mole in his lawn.

The Chockapresenter then ejected the themed block from Chockablock, bid farewell to the viewer and hopped onto the Chockatruck to depart until next time.

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