Retro Children's TV on Amazon Instant

Firstly, I'd just like to say that I'm not promoting Amazon Instant Video, or Prime or Lovefilm Instant or whatever the hell it's called now. In fact I've gone off it quite a lot since it's changed from Lovefilm as the new layout is rubbish. However, it does have an amazing selection of retro children's TV shows that have given me a huge dose of nostalgia.

I know this makes me sound really old, but they just don't make them like they used to. I don't have kids, but what I have seen of children's TV nowadays, Waybaloo and whatnot, makes me feel like I want to bang my head against a wall.

So when I discovered Amazon't selection of old TV shows I was in heaven. Here are a few of my favourites. If you don't have Amazon Prime I'm sure you'll be able to find them on YouTube somewhere.

Huxley Pig

I can't say Huxley Pig without saying oink oink straight afterwards. I love the cheerful narration by Martin Jarvis and the imaginative but simple adventures of Huxley Pig and Sam the Seagull.

Thomas and Friends

I never realised at the time that Ringo Starr narrates Thomas and Friends, a frigging Beatle! I don't really have to explain why Thomas the Tank Engine is a classic; the books were great and the TV show built on this. Every character is perfect, especially the Fat Controller.

The Wild Thornberrys

Speaking of not realising celebrities voiced characters, The Wild Thornberrys has loads of famous voices; Eliza is Lacey Chabert from Mean Girls (presumably before Mean Girls fame), the great Tim Curry voices Nigel Thornberry and, randomly, Flea from The Red Hot Chilli Peppers voices Donnie. Amazing TV programme, even if Eliza was a bit too much of a goody two shoes sometimes.

Rocko's Modern Life

I never actually realised that Rocko was a Wallaby, I thought he was some kind of dog. Rocko's Modern Life has got that simple but surreal comedy that always wins in kids shows. Especially love Heffer.

The Shoe People

I'm so glad I found this. The Shoe People was one of my favourite shows and I had a much watched video of it when I was younger. I just loved when all the dust cleared and the shoes started to come to life.

The Angry Beavers

I distinctly remember my dad laughing at this programme and saying that "somebody has a dirty sense of humour." Didn't get it at the time. Even though I do get it now Angry Beavers still reminds me of a more innocent age.

Charlie Chalk

I just love all the stop motion children's programmes; Postman Pat, Fireman Sam and more. Charlie Chalk was another great one about a clown who finds himself on a strange island.

Round The Twist

I don't think I ever worked out what Round The Twist was about, something to do with a lighthouse and a ghost? But it has the catchiest theme tune ever. Worth a watch just for the eighties/nineties fashions.

The Herbs

Finally I have The Herbs, this show is from the seventies and is one that my parents used to watch. The fact that it is still being watched shows how great the characters of Parsley the Lion and the other herbs are. I'm a very friendly lion called Parsley...


There are loads of other great old children's shows on Amazon but I can't be bothered to write any more. Instead I'm going to be a grown woman watching children's television on a Saturday night. I'm owning it.

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If I Were A Rich Wo(Man): Cracking Crockery

Lovely Tableware Sets to Get Your Mouth Watering

There's something about January that makes me want to nest and clean the house. It's probably the stereotypical new year new start thing; it makes me do a massive clean out in January. The only problem is that I then get a huge urge to buy all new homeware.

Last week I was dreaming about new bedding, this week I've been looking at tableware sets.

I'm spectacularly broke this month so I won't be purchasing any of this lovely crockery, but I can still wish.

The Blue Set

There's something so classic about blue and white, in all sorts of homewares, not just dining. I like the delicacy of the design of the Blue Hand-Painted Ceramic set by David Pantling from Iapetus, especially when contrasted with the chunkiness of the pottery.

This teapot is amazing, very Alice in Wonderland.

I feel this is a mug I could have a proper cup of tea in.

Unfortunately the mug alone is £19.95.

Pieces priced from £12.50

The Ethnic Set

The Wanderer crockery collection from Creative Tops is inspired by travel and Far Eastern markets. I like that the dinner set is full of colour and you can mix and match pieces instead of having all the same shades and pattern. It's very eclectic.

The set isn't available until February 2014. The pieces are actually quite reasonably priced, but I'd want to buy them all, which would definitely set me back.

Pieces priced from £4.99

The Luxury Set

The Butterfly Home Range by Matthew Williamson from Debenhams includes a lovely peacock tea set. Including a teapot, cake stand, cups, saucers and more, the collection has a vintage feel and is colourful but muted.

The tableware range also has a slight Oriental look, with the peacocks and the detailing.

Pieces priced from £22.50.

The Cartoon Set

The Moomins, who doesn't love them? The classic cartoon is iconic and easily identifiable. Cloudberry Living has a fun range of Arabia Moomin Adventure tableware which I would love to have in my kitchen.

I like the limited use of colour; it highlights the main black and white images.

Pieces priced from £16.


That's all folks.

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Important News

Apologies, I dropped off the face of the planet a bit there. I've been pretty busy doing real-life things, see my actual real-life blog for more information.

But I have returned to make a very important announcement.

CatDog is on LoveFilm!

This is very exciting news.

I mainly remembered the theme tune, of which I could only sing the CatDog chorus. The rest I sung like Peter Griffin.





It's always dangerous to watch something you liked when you were little; often it doesn't turn out to be as good as you remember. However, CatDog is just as good if not better as I actually understand a lot of the jokes now.

The only thing is that I still don't know the answer to the ultimate question as posed by Peter Griffin...

Where does the poop go?


I'll be back with some more serious and ground-breaking posts soon.


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