Wanderly Wagon
Encyclopedia
Wanderly Wagon was an Irish
children's television series
which aired on RTÉ from Saturday 30 September 1967 until 1982. Wanderly Wagon followed human and puppet characters as they travelled around Ireland visiting interesting locations, rescuing Princesses and generally doing good. The original premise of the show expanded to follow the characters to magical lands of Irish mythology
, and into outer space
.
Don Lennox
and Jim O'Hare
came up with the idea of Wanderly Wagon when Lennox was giving O'Hare a lift home from work. O'Hare was recalling a recent family holiday spent on a horse drawn caravan in County Cork
. Lennox became the first producer of Wanderly Wagon and O'Hare designed the wagon, the flying Sweet shop and the show's costumes.
Various episodes were written by Neil Jordan
, Carolyn Swift, Pat Ingoldsby
, Martin Duffy
and Frank Kelly
, who also played several characters on the show.
The Wagon itself could fly. Using chroma key
special effects, the Wagon was shown hovering in midair, landing in various magical lands, and even traveling underwater.
The series developed a tradition of transmitting a Christmas Day show from a Dublin children's hospital every year.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
children's television series
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
which aired on RTÉ from Saturday 30 September 1967 until 1982. Wanderly Wagon followed human and puppet characters as they travelled around Ireland visiting interesting locations, rescuing Princesses and generally doing good. The original premise of the show expanded to follow the characters to magical lands of Irish mythology
Irish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
, and into outer space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
.
Don Lennox
Don Lennox
Don Lennox was a fictional character in the soap opera Shortland Street. He was the soap's local mechanic and hitman. He appeared in both 2008 and 2009 and was portrayed by Chris Easly. Though Don only appeared in the show a few times, he featured in two prominent storylines and another similarly...
and Jim O'Hare
James Haldane O'Hare
Jim O'Hare is a theatrical scenic and costume designer.-Biography:O'Hare was born in Edinburgh on 4 August 1941. His parents were James O'Hare an accountant for a theatrical company and Helen...
came up with the idea of Wanderly Wagon when Lennox was giving O'Hare a lift home from work. O'Hare was recalling a recent family holiday spent on a horse drawn caravan in County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
. Lennox became the first producer of Wanderly Wagon and O'Hare designed the wagon, the flying Sweet shop and the show's costumes.
Various episodes were written by Neil Jordan
Neil Jordan
Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and novelist. He won an Academy Award for The Crying Game.- Early life :...
, Carolyn Swift, Pat Ingoldsby
Pat Ingoldsby
Pat Ingoldsby is an Irish poet. He has hosted children's TV shows, written plays for the stage and for radio, published books of short stories, and been a newspaper columnist...
, Martin Duffy
Martin Duffy
Martin Duffy, is an Irish filmmaker and writer.Starting as a film-editor at Radio Telefís Éireann in the late 1970s, he expanded into writing children's shows in the 1980s with the Lambert Puppet Theatre, Wanderly Wagon, Fortycoats & Co., Bosco and Scratch Saturday...
and Frank Kelly
Frank Kelly
Frank Kelly is an Irish actor, singer and writer, whose career has covered television, radio, theatre, music, screenwriting and film. He is best known for his role as Father Jack Hackett in the comedy Father Ted. He is the son of the cartoonist Charles E...
, who also played several characters on the show.
The Wagon itself could fly. Using chroma key
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
special effects, the Wagon was shown hovering in midair, landing in various magical lands, and even traveling underwater.
The series developed a tradition of transmitting a Christmas Day show from a Dublin children's hospital every year.
Characters
- Rory - originally the lead character. Played by stage actor Bill Golding. Golding left the series in its middle years.
- O'Brien - a bumbler played by Eugene LambertEugene LambertEugene Lambert was an Irish puppeteer from County Sligo. He was owner of the Lambert Puppet Theatre in Monkstown, County Dublin....
, who was also the puppeteer and ventriloquist for the animal characters. - Godmother - a sensible mother-figure played by Nora O'Mahoney.
- Judge - a dog. He was the voice of reason and good sense, a moral conscience to the rest of them (he also starred in television road safety advertisements). To this day, Judge is held in great affection by people who remember him - many of whom can still sing his song, "I Am the Flying Dog"
- FortycoatsFortycoats & Co.Fortycoats & Co. was an Irish children's television drama series produced by RTÉ and broadcast on RTÉ One during the 1980s. The series was cancelled in the early 1990s.-Premise:...
- a gruff, bearded character in a costume made of ragged swatches of many different materials, he owned a flying sweetshop. An occasional character who later had an eponymous spin-off show. Originally played by Bill Golding and later by Fran DempseyFran DempseyFran Dempsey is an Irish actor most famous for his playing the character of Fortycoats in Wanderly Wagon and Fortycoats & Co..- References :...
. - Mr Crow - a crowCrowCrows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
who lived in a cuckoo clockCuckoo clockA cuckoo clock is a clock, typically pendulum-regulated, that strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo's call and typically has a mechanical cuckoo that emerges with each note...
. Crow was a sarcastic fellow with a cutting sense of humour. - Foxy - a foxFoxFox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
who lived in a barrel on the side of the wagon and spoke with an American gangster style accent. - Four moon mice who lived in the attic.
- Doctor Astro, a recurring villain played by Frank KellyFrank KellyFrank Kelly is an Irish actor, singer and writer, whose career has covered television, radio, theatre, music, screenwriting and film. He is best known for his role as Father Jack Hackett in the comedy Father Ted. He is the son of the cartoonist Charles E...
- Sneaky the Snake, Doctor Astro's sidekick, also voiced by Frank Kelly
- Maeve the Witch, a mischievous witch, whose attempts at villainy always ended in failure
