Grotbags tries out her new book of spells and casts one that sucks all the colour out of the world, turning it all drab and grey. Can Rod, Emu and the gang find a way to undo it all? Or will audience member Dan be required to come to everybody's rescue? This episode was originally broadcast on Friday, 28th February, 1986.
The first song in this one is mostly Body Work (originally by Hot Streak), but with bits of It Makes You Feel Like Dancin' (Rose Royce), Everybody Get Up (UK Players), Instant Replay (Dan Hartman), and D.I.S.C.O. (Ottawan) thrown in to make up one of the best medleys they ever did on the show. Great routine. The other song, though... Does anyone reading this know its origin? "Have yourself a Technicolor day" seems like a really recognisable lyric, but I just can't place it. Please leave a comment if you can help.
Other things to look out for include what I think is the only glimpse of the Hovergrot in the Pink Windmill Show era (whether "All Live" or not), Rod having trouble with a different device that ends in "phone", the closest Grotto Game ever (Rebecca was robbed), and a Toshiba MSX HX-10, I think. As a side note, for all the laughing we do at things that constantly went wrong on the programme down the years, just stop and marvel at how effortlessly Rod fills for 30 seconds at the end after the Spin Quiz has unexpectedly and inexplicably gone right, leaving them running short. Despite his reputation for anarchy, when it came down to it, he was supremely slick and professional wherever necessary.
If you went to Davidson Park Primary School in St Ives, Australia, back then, you'll be interested in what happens at 13:10, while the mini-saga of Sybil the Spider being missing starts in this episode. King Boggle's still in trouble with Victor Spinetti and his band of pirates, and now I think about it, the structure of the whole episode is probably unique, but it's none the worse for it. I really enjoyed this one.
One last thing: listen out for the intersecting lines "Long streak of..."/"Pssst" from Grotbags and Croc, which makes me wonder whether they were trying to slip something a little naughty in there. I wouldn't put it past them, but maybe it's just me.
There's some Children's ITV continuity at the beginning (which is unfortunately interrupted) and end of this one, presented by Nino Firetto from Splash and including his goodbye (they changed every month back then).
Many thanks to Joe for lending me this tape.
(To the best of my knowledge, the contents of this video have never been available commercially anywhere in the world. Please also note that I don't monetise any of my uploads. Nevertheless, if you are a copyright holder and have an objection, please don't hesitate to contact me.)
1 дек 2017
