Gerry Burrows – General Meeting

The title of this month’s talk seemed familiar but I just couldn’t place it until halfway through when the speaker, Gerry Burrows referred to the BBC radio programme entitled Children’s Hour. Presented and produced by Derek McCulloch better known as ‘Uncle Mac’, it was he who used the phrase ‘Goodnight children everywhere’ as his sign off line; then the penny dropped.
Gerry never actually explained what his talk was about but, as he reminisced, it became obvious that he was giving us a potted history of children’s entertainment through the years starting with early radio broadcasts, some of which then metamorphosed into television programmes. His talk was very well illustrated with photographs of radio broadcasters and television presenters, legendary story and cartoon characters, renowned hand puppets and marionettes along with numerous easily recognisable animated folk from a multitude of TV series. All the snapshots were complemented by the catchy and very familiar theme tunes and songs which accompanied the programmes, many of which aroused the audience sufficiently for them to join in with a mini singalong.
Regardless of your age, something in this talk will have struck a chord, made you smile and chortle whilst bringing back a poignant childhood recollection or two. For me it was ‘Listen with mother’ on the radio followed by Andy Pandy and The Flowerpot Men on the television. I hardly ever missed an episode of The Magic Roundabout or the supermarionation of Thunderbirds but I was too ‘grown up’ by 1992 to want to make a homemade version of Tracy Island as demonstrated by Anthea Turner on Blue Peter.

It was thought provoking to be reminded just how much children’s entertainment has evolved over the years, and Gerry’s talk evoked many happy memories of the heroes and villains I used to boo, hiss, whoop at and drool over in my youth. As cinema and television developed, someone, somewhere realised that children could be targeted as primary consumers of entertainment and entertainment related products. Looking back, whatever we enjoyed listening to or watching seems quite simple and basic in comparison to what’s on offer to children nowadays however, now as was then, their primary purpose of educating, entertaining and empowering continues and Gerry helped remind us of exactly how well it was done.