Funnybones
Also known asSgerbyde (Welsh)
Created byJanet Ahlberg
Allan Ahlberg
Written byJocelyn Stevenson
StarringRay Gravel (Original Welsh Narration)
Griff Rhys Jones (English Narration)
Music byErnie Wood
Country of originWales
United Kingdom
Original languagesWelsh
English
No. of series1
No. of episodes12
Production
ProducerNaomi Jones
EditorRobert Francis
Running time5 minutes
Production companiesWilliam Heinemann Ltd.
BBC Enterprises
S4C
Original release
NetworkS4C (Wales)
BBC One (UK)
BBC Two (When Repeated)
Release29 September (1992-09-29) –
15 December 1992 (1992-12-15)

Funnybones (Welsh: Sgerbyde) is a Welsh-British children's television comedy series, which originally aired on S4C in Wales, and on BBC One with BBC Two showing repeats elsewhere in the United Kingdom from 29 September to 15 December 1992.

It was based on the eponymous series of nine storybooks, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, which were illustrated by André Amstutz, and focused on the adventures of a pair of skeletons who were the eponymous Funnybones, in the book of the same name, which was released in 1980. There was Big Funnybone (whose catchphrase was "good idea"), Little Funnybone (the brains of the group), (White, White) Dog ("These Bones") Funnybone (whose catchphrase was "Woof.") and (Black, Black) Cat (whose catchphrase was "Meow."). Each of the show's episodes was five minutes in length.

The English voices were provided by popular comedian Griff Rhys Jones, who also sang the theme song as the Moon Man whilst the original Welsh voices were provided by Ray Gravel, who also sang the theme song as the Moon Man.

Main characters

  • Big: The larger skeleton brother (who wore a mini red bowler hat in the TV series and who wore various hats in the storybooks and in his wishful ideas). He admitted "good idea" on every idea he approved of from Little.
  • Little: The smaller skeleton brother (who was without a hat), but came up with many ideas for the crew to do in every episode.
  • Dog: The pet dog of the skeleton brothers who loved bones, digging holes, and found everything that the skeleton brothers need.
  • Cat: The pet black cat of the skeleton brothers, who always got chased by Dog. Unlike other characters, she was not a skeleton.
  • Moon Man: The Crescent-moon-shaped character who was always the narrator in each episode. Unlike other characters, he was also not a skeleton.
  • Mr. Bonehead: The skeleton owner of the pet shop (who wore a bigger hat called a flat cap with a pencil and an apron), who Big and Little took Dog into with a view to swapping him for another pet etc. in the episode "The Pet Shop" and everything else in other episodes.
  • Dr. Bones: The skeleton doctor (who wore a doctor's coat and glasses with a first aid kit, a stethoscope and a leg tapping hammer) who helped Big and Little to stop them from bumping in the night and everything else etc. in the episode "Bumps in the Night" and everything else in other episodes.

Episode guide via storybook comparison

On the television series of Funnybones, six episodes have the same title based on the storybooks, but three had different titles of storybooks based on the same episode, and the other three never had a storybook as source material. The final episode of the television series, however, was based on the first storybook of Funnybones, while the first episode was based on the second storybook called "The Pet Shop". All twelve episodes were originally shown on BBC One and repeated on BBC Two as part of the Children's BBC strand, as it was known before 1999, on Tuesdays at 4:00pm.

Title of episode Title of storybook based on Air date Summary
1. The Pet Shop2. Same title29 September 1992[1]Big and Little decide to swap Dog for another pet, because all he does is bark and dig holes. But after Big and Little could not find a perfect pet as the goldfish, the parrot, the hippopotamus and a family of rabbits caused nothing but problems, they decided to finally swap the family of rabbits back for Dog.
2. Bumps in the Night4. Same title6 October 1992[2]It is a particularly dark, dark night tonight, and Big and Little keep bumping into each other, making them fall to pieces, and there is only one thing to do: send in Dr. Bones, who does a great job of patching them up to stop them from bumping in the night.
3. Give the Dog a Bone5. Same title13 October 1992[3]Dog is having his favourite dream, the one about a big, juicy bone. After Dog wakes up from his favourite dream he chases after other animals that have got the big, juicy bone including Cat.
4. Dinosaurs6. Dinosaur Dreams20 October 1992[4]Dog gets left behind when Big and Little decide to visit the dark, dark dinosaur museum. When Dog follows Big and Little to the dinosaur museum, he thinks a huge, huge dinosaur wanted to hurt them.
5. The Ghost Train7. Same title27 October 1992[5]Big, Little and Dog are invited to take a trip on the Ghost Train full of ghosts and monsters to the dark, dark seaside and back again. The envelope containing the ghost train tickets were delivered by the Skeleton Postman.
6. Skeleton Crew8. Same title3 November 1992[6]The Funnybones are on a boat holiday on the dark, dark sea. The Skeletons saw an Octopus, Skeleton Pirates and a Gorilla before a dark, dark thunderstorm takes them home from a desert island on their raft.
7. Mystery Tour9. Same title10 November 1992[7]The Funnybones receive an invitation to a party at the end of a Mystery Tour. The Mystery Tour begins with a huge party cracker.
8. WishboneN/A17 November 1992[8]The Funnybones find a huge wishbone, and try to decide which one of them has the best idea for what to wish for. Ideas Included Being Firefighters, Flying like Birds, Being Kings, Going to Live on the Moon, Being a Famous Rockstar, Being Invisible etc.
9. Shake, Rattle and RollN/A24 November 1992[9]The Funnybones decide to put on a show and Cat keeps getting told to go away each time she was carrying a poster that advertised the show. The 2 ports of call were Mr. Bonehead at the Pet Shop followed by Dr. Bones at the Skeleton Surgery of the dark, dark hospital.
10. Cat Chase3. The Black Cat1 December 1992[10]The white, white Dog disappears in the white, white snow and the black, black Cat disappears in the dark, dark shadows. At the Pet Shop Big and Little ask or tell Mr. Bonehead that they need a lead of Dog.
11. City NightsN/A8 December 1992[11]Little gets bored with the quiet life on the dark, dark hill. So he decides to go to the city before he gets worried about Big and Dog getting lost. "There are too many skeletons" says the Big Skeleton in the city and even the underground has them.
12. Night Fright1. Funnybones15 December 1992[12]Cat gets left behind when the skeletons decide to go out and frighten anybody they come across. When Dog falls to pieces Big and Little also put Dog back together again after playing on the swings.

A BBC video, entitled, Funnybones – Bumps in the Night (Cat. No. BBCV 4871), which contained all twelve episodes, was released soon after the series ended, but this is now out of print. The VHS tape was also released in Bulgaria and Australia, respectively by the companies Proxima Entertainment and ABC Video (but in the former case, it was dubbed into Bulgarian).

Miscellaneous

This was one of several cartoons dubbed by the then-new Irish post production company Telegael, to demonstrate children's programming possibilities for a proposed television station in Irish. The result, entitled Smior agus Smiortán (translated to the English language as Marrow & Little Marrow), was broadcast on Ireland's two national television stations, RTÉ1 and 2, in 1993.

The series also aired on ABC in Australia, from 1 February 1994 to 28 January 1999 as well as airing on the channel in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, SABC2 in South Africa, as part of a block for children called Mini-TV, the military television network BFBS in Germany and West Germany as well as being shown on the channel in Cyprus and Falkland Islands, TVO in Canada, Yle TV2 in Finland, TVNZ 2 in New Zealand and Cartoon Network, as part of a block for preschoolers called Small World and FOX Family Channel, as part of Mister Moose's Fun Time, a spinoff from The All New Captain Kangaroo in the United States.

References

  1. ↑ "BBC One London - 29 September 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "BBC One London - 6 October 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "BBC One London - 13 October 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "BBC One London - 20 October 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "BBC One London - 27 October 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  6. ↑ "BBC One London - 3 November 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "BBC One London - 10 November 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  8. ↑ "BBC One London - 17 November 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  9. ↑ "BBC One London - 24 November 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  10. ↑ "BBC One London - 1 December 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  11. ↑ "BBC One London - 8 December 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "BBC One London - 15 December 1992 - BBC Genome". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
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