Sam on Boff's Island

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Sam on Boff's Island was a British educational series made by the BBC and aimed at developing the reading skills of 6-8 year olds.

First broadcast in 1972 as part of the Words and Pictures strand, it was one of the first television appearances of Tony Robinson as Sam, who is magically transported to Boff's Island when he is eating his breakfast cereal in the morning. Each episode featured a 'real life' segment designed to encourage young children to read through storytelling.

The Boff characters were puppets, who were portrayed by several voice actors including Charles Collingwood. Miriam Margolyes (later to co-star with Robinson in Blackadder) played Sam's mother.

The scriptwriter for the series was children's author Michael Rosen. In all, 20 episodes were made and the series was repeated throughout the 1970s as part of the BBC's schools service.