The Raggydolls ( TV Series 1986 - 1994 )
Plot
The Raggy Dolls is a 1980s British cartoon series for children, following the adventures of a motley collection of rejects from a toy factory, who live in the reject bin.
The series was produced for Yorkshire Television from 3 April 1986 to 20 December 1994. Created by: Melvyn Jacobson Scripts, narration & music by: Neil Innes Executive Producer/Director for Yorkshire Television / ITV: John Marsden Produced by: Jo Kemp & Neil Molyneux Production Company: Orchid Productions
Yorkshire Television produced the first two series (26 programmes) of 'The Raggy Dolls' before awarding the commission to Orchid Productions Limited in 1987. This was the first programme ever to be commissioned by Yorkshire Television from an independent production company and Orchid Productions went on to produce over 100 more episodes.
The Raggy Dolls still holds the record for being the longest running childrens series of the genre. In celebration of the 50th episode the producers of the series enlisted self-professed fan, ex-Beatle George Harrison, to perform the opening sequence. Harrison agreed and the introduction was used for the remaining episodes. It involves Mr. Grimes Toy Factory where, unless the doll is perfect, it is thrown into the Reject Bin. When no-one is looking, the dolls come to life and climb out of the Reject Bin and have literally hundreds of adventures.
The Raggy Dolls was a delightful and innovative childrens programme designed to help children overcome their own handicaps and/or prejudices as well as teaching kindness, tolerance and humility towards others. Neil Innes (of Monty Python and Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band fame) played a pivotal role by writing great stories, injecting humour and pathos throughout.
There are seven principal Raggy Doll characters representing some kind of disability or fault; Back-to-Front whos head is on the wrong way, Hi-Fi who got dropped and therefore stammers, Sad Sack who, due to his size, was not viable for manufacture, Claude (whos French) was rejected because one too many were made, Princess who was accidentally dressed in rags as opposed to riches, Lucy who was sewn with faulty thread so her limbs keep falling off and finally Dotty who was perfect, except that she then got splashed with paint.
In addition there is Mr. Grimes himself, a host of secondary characters who came along as the years went by and finally Cynthia, who married Mr. Grimes.
The initial animator was Roy Evans, and consequently (vision only) animation director was Mark Mason, before being replaced by Peter Hale.
Characters
Sad Sack, a sample of a design that was deemed too expensive to mass-produce; his appearance is somewhat different from that of the others. He is the oldest in the Reject Bin.
Dotty, who had paint spilt on her hair and clothing.
Hi-Fi, "wired up wrong", with a "crackle" to his voice (actually sounds more like a stammer).
Lucy, with poorly-attached limb.
Back-To-Front, with a backward-facing head.
Claude, who fell out of a box of dolls to be shipped to France; he speaks with a French accent.
Princess, whose manufacturer ran out of material and used odds and ends to finish her off; her voice is characterised by H-adding. She's the youngest of the seven, as proven in the intro.
Ragamuffin, introduced in the fifth series, a wandering traveller doll who'd lost his owner and decided to spend his life taking in new sights and experiences.
Episode Guide
1st Series 1986
1. 1- 1 3 Apr 86 The Flying Machine
2. 1- 2 10 Apr 86 The Big Top
3. 1- 3 17 Apr 86 The Pigeon Race
4. 1- 4 24 Apr 86 The War of the Wizards
5. 1- 5 1 May 86 The Special Offer
6. 1- 6 8 May 86 The Litter Bugs
2nd Series 1986
7. 2- 1 20 Nov 86 The Dark Wood
8. 2- 2 27 Nov 86 The Funfair
9. 2- 3 4 Dec 86 Too Many Cooks
10. 2- 4 11 Dec 86 After the Storm
11. 2- 5 18 Dec 86 Christmas Dolls
12. 2- 6 19 Feb 87 The Trouble with Claude
13. 2- 7 26 Feb 87 Happy Birthday
3rd Series 1987
14. 3- 1 13 Nov 87 The Genius
15. 3- 2 20 Nov 87 Speaking French
16. 3- 3 27 Nov 87 The Winter Swan
17. 3- 4 4 Dec 87 The Terrible Twins
18. 3- 5 11 Dec 87 Sports Day
19. 3- 6 8 Jan 88 To the Rescue
4th Series 1988
20. 4- 1 19 Aug 88 Spring Toys
21. 4- 2 26 Aug 88 A Trip to the Sea
22. 4- 3 2 Sep 88 The Royal Tour
23. 4- 4 7 Sep 88 Onion Soup
24. 4- 5 14 Sep 88 Moving House
25. 4- 6 21 Sep 88 Factory Mice
26. 4- 7 28 Sep 88 A Trip to France
5th Series 1988
27. 5- 1 16 Nov 88 Hot Air Balloon
28. 5- 2 23 Nov 88 Ghosts
29. 5- 3 30 Nov 88 The Tree House
30. 5- 4 7 Dec 88 The Memory Machine
31. 5- 5 14 Dec 88 Doll Overboard
32. 5- 6 21 Dec 88 The Unlikely Hedghog
6th Series 1989
33. 6- 1 19 Jul 89 Easter Bunny
34. 6- 2 26 Jul 89 In Days of Old
35. 6- 3 2 Aug 89 The Old Clock Lady
36. 6- 4 9 Aug 89 Peace and Quiet
37. 6- 5 16 Aug 89 We are Not Amuse
38. 6- 6 23 Aug 89 The Lost Puppy
39. 6- 7 30 Aug 89 Horse Sense
40. 6- 8 11 Dec 89 The Terrible Storm
41. 6- 9 18 Dec 89 The Stolen Parrot
42. 6-10 8 Jan 90 Crazy Golf
7th Series 1990
43. 7- 1 28 Jun 90 Pumpernickles Party
44. 7- 2 5 Jul 90 So Safari
45. 7- 3 12 Jul 90 Making Faces
46. 7- 4 19 Jul 90 The Old Windmill
47. 7- 5 26 Jul 90 The Little Carthorse
48. 7- 6 2 Aug 90 Making Jam
49. 7- 7 9 Aug 90 The Teddy Bears Picnic
50. 7- 8 16 Aug 90 Mr Maramalade
51. 7- 9 23 Aug 90 The Treasure Hunt
52. 7-10 30 Aug 90 Rupert the Roo
53. 7-11 6 Sep 90 Witch is Which?
54. 7-12 13 Sep 90 Bonfire Night
55. 7-13 20 Sep 90 Rainbows End
56. 7-14 27 Sep 90 Lost in Space
57. 7-15 4 Oct 90 Roman Ramblers
58. 7-16 11 Oct 90 The Great Expedition
59. 7-17 18 Oct 90 The Twitcher
60. 7-18 25 Oct 90 Too Bossy
61. 7-19 1 Nov 90 The Toy Fair
62. 7-20 8 Nov 90 Ragamuffin
63. 7-21 15 Nov 90 Grand Prix Dolls
64. 7-22 22 Nov 90 Fond Farewells
65. 7-23 20 Dec 90 Doctor Dolls
8th Series 1991
66. 8- 1 6 Sep 91 Old Fashioned Dolls
67. 8- 2 13 Sep 91 Lady Luck
68. 8- 3 20 Sep 91 Invisible Dolls
69. 8- 4 27 Sep 91 The Great Outdoors
70. 8- 5 18 Oct 91 The Lonely Echo
71. 8- 6 25 Oct 91 Homeward Bound
72. 8- 7 1 Nov 91 Railway Dolls
73. 8- 8 8 Nov 91 Windy Weather
74. 8- 9 15 Nov 91 Purple Diamonds
75. 8-10 22 Nov 91 The Giant Bumblebee
76. 8-11 29 Nov 91 The Return of the Roo
77. 8-12 6 Dec 91 The Boomerang Games
78. 8-13 13 Dec 91 Down on the Farm
79. 8-14 20 Dec 91
9th Series 1992
80. 9- 1 8 Sep 92 The Royal County Show
81. 9- 2 15 Sep 92 Open Day
82. 9- 3 22 Sep 92 The Town Carnival
83. 9- 4 29 Sep 92 Cave Dolls
84. 9- 5 6 Oct 92 Barbeque Ball
85. 9- 6 13 Oct 92 High and Dry
86. 9- 7 27 Oct 92 Smugglers Cave
87. 9- 8 3 Nov 92 William the Conker
88. 9- 9 10 Nov 92 Bonnie Scotland
89. 9-10 17 Nov 92 On the Town
90. 9-11 24 Nov 92 Danger Men at Work
91. 9-12 1 Dec 92 Sight Seeing Dolls
92. 9-13 8 Dec 92 Dolls on Wheels
10th Series 1993
93. 10- 1 28 Sep 93 Robot Canteen
94. 10- 2 5 Oct 93 Mister Mole
95. 10- 3 12 Oct 93 The Empty House
96. 10- 4 19 Oct 93 Mon Repose
97. 10- 5 26 Oct 93 The Runaway Monkey
98. 10- 6 2 Nov 93 Lucys Greenhouse
99. 10- 7 9 Nov 93 The Horrible Princesses
100. 10- 8 16 Nov 93 The Town Gala
101. 10- 9 23 Nov 93 Mr Grimes in Love
102. 10-10 7 Dec 93 Wedding Bells
11th Series 1994
103. 11- 1 11 Oct 94 Off on a Honeymoon
104. 11- 2 18 Oct 94 A Mediterranean Cruise
105. 11- 3 25 Oct 94 Stormy Weather
106. 11- 4 1 Nov 94 When in Rome
107. 11- 5 8 Nov 94 Just a Minotaur
108. 11- 6 15 Nov 94 The Eyes of Rani
109. 11- 7 22 Nov 94 Elephants Do Forget
110. 11- 8 6 Dec 94 Whats the Time
111. 11- 9 13 Dec 94 The Russian Doll
112. 11-10 20 Dec 94 Bored
