Tingha and Tucker

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Tingha and Tucker were children's television characters on Britain's ATV network from 1962 through 1970. Generally, the show followed a format of short weekday shows, with a Sunday special each week called The Tree House Family.

Contents

[edit] History

Originally, Tingha and Tucker were simply stuffed toy koalas belonging to host Jean Morton, who would speak to them on air. Soon, puppets were made of the characters so that they could be more lifelike. The show was an enormous success, and like many shows of its era had a "club", the Tingha and Tucker Club, which at its height had 750,000 members before it was shut down due to the network being unable to handle the volume of mail it generated. The show was eventually cancelled in 1970 after eight years. The Tingha and Tucker puppets used on the air were reportedly stolen from storage shortly after and have never been recovered.

[edit] Characters

  • "Auntie Jean", Jean Morton - The human host.
  • Tingha and Tucker - Koala bears.
  • Willie Wombat
  • Grandpa Wombat

[edit] Merchandise

Like many British television shows, Tingha and Tucker had an annual children's book release. Volumes were issued for every year from 1967 through 1971. Other book releases included a "Bedtime Book" in 1967. Several records were released as well, such as the 7" single "Woomerang Boomerang" b/w "Over the Rickety Bridge" on Pye Records in 1964. Century 21 records released an LP (cat # LA5)called the Tingha and Tucker Club Song Book. Somewhat stranger is another record release from Century 21, a "mini album" called Tingha and Tucker present the New Wombaville Band, which includes the puppet characters covering several Beatles songs.

[edit] Miscellanea

  • The "magic password" of the Tingha and Tucker Club was "Woomerang Boomerang" and the motto was "Bear in mind to be good and kind"
  • Tingha's name is a reference to the town of Tingha, New South Wales. The town in turn gets its name from an aboriginial word meaning a flat, open land.
  • The theme song was written by Tony Hatch, composer of a number of television theme songs including Neighbours.
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