Mary, Mungo and Midge

Mary, Mungo and Midge is a British animated children's television series, created by John Ryan and produced by the BBC in 1969.[1]

Mary, Mungo and Midge
GenreAnimated
Voices ofRichard Baker
Isabel Ryan
Theme music composerJohnny Pearson
Opening themeMini Walking (from The Mini Suite)
Ending themeMini Movement (from The Mini Suite)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
ProducerJohn Ryan
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time15 minutes
Production companyJohn Ryan Studios
Release
Original networkBBC1
Picture format4:3
Audio formatMonaural sound
Original release7 October (1969-10-07) –
30 December 1969 (1969-12-30)

The show featured the adventures of a girl called Mary, her dog Mungo, and her pet mouse Midge, who lived with Mary's parents in a tower block in a busy town. BBC newsreader Richard Baker narrated the episodes, with John Ryan's daughter Isabel playing Mary. The theme tune and other music for the series were provided by Johnny Pearson.

This show was one of the first children's shows in the UK to reflect urban living. The programme showed Mary having adventures in a busy town, as opposed to in a wood, forest or other rural setting, apart from in the 'Garage' episode, in which the family had a picnic in the countryside. The two featured animals were likely to be familiar to town dwellers, as opposed to the array of talking wildlife usually seen in children's television.

In each episode, the three of them would descend in the lift from their flat in the tower block. After their adventures they would return home, Midge would press the button for the lift back to the correct floor, by standing on Mungo's nose.

Mary, Mungo and Midge was a production of John Ryan Studios, who also produced the earlier Captain Pugwash and the later The Adventures of Sir Prancelot series, both with a similar drawing style.[2]

The Complete Mary, Mungo and Midge was released on DVD on 5 April 2004.

Episode guide
Title of episode Air date Summary
1. The Crane7 October 1969Mary, Mungo and Midge notice a crane outside and the two animals go on an adventure inside.
2. The Letter14 October 1969Mary allows Mungo and Midge to post a letter for her to Grandma but Midge falls inside the letterbox and goes on a wild journey.
3. The Boat21 October 1969Midge sails Mary's boat in the pond.
4. Printing28 October 1969Mary and Mungo are printing and then go to the shops, whilst Midge travels with them to a printing factory.
5. Clocks4 November 1969Midge breaks the clock in the hall so men are hired to fix it, whilst he climbs aboard.
6. Mungo Lost11 November 1969Mungo thought he could go and see Mary where she went to see her aunt who had just moved to a new house, but Mungo got really lost so he decided to ask a policeman to take him home while Midge was looking for him.
7. Machines18 November 1969Midge wonders where cows fit in the machine, but he causes chaos with all the milk coming out of the machine.
8. Toy Shop25 November 1969Midge climbs inside Mary's broken doll when she and Mungo go to the toy-shop for it to be mended.
9. The Fair2 December 1969The family goes to the funfair.
10. Flying9 December 1969Midge flies in a balloon in the park whilst Mary flies her kite.
11. The Garage16 December 1969Midge is left in the garage whilst the rest of the family go into the country for a picnic.
12. Hospital23 December 1969Midge secretly follows Mary into the hospital after she harms her leg.
13. Seaside30 December 1969The family go to the seaside and Mary, Mungo and Midge go their separate ways. Midge goes to sleep whilst he waits to use his flute.

References
  1. Sheridan, Simon (2004). The A-Z of Classic Children's Television: From Alberto Frog to Zebedee. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. pp. 160–162. ISBN 1903111277.
  2. Mary Mungo and Midge at IMDb
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