Round the Bend facts for kids

Round the Bend! was a funny and clever British children's television series. It ran on Children's ITV for three seasons from 1989 to 1991. The show was made by Hat Trick Productions for Yorkshire Television. It was later shown again on other channels like Channel 4 and Nickelodeon UK. The show was even nominated for an RTS Award!

The show was created by the same people who made the comic Oink!: Patrick Gallagher, Tony Husband, and Mark Rodgers. Patrick Gallagher also designed the puppets, animated characters, and the main sewer set. The puppets were made by the same team who created the puppets for Spitting Image. Round the Bend! was a funny imitation of Saturday morning TV shows. It had a host who introduced cartoons, music videos, and news reports. All of this happened in a sewer! The show's wild and funny style was similar to the comic Viz.

The show's title, Round the Bend!, had two meanings. It referred to a toilet U-bend, which is why the opening credits showed the camera going down a toilet and into a sewer. The phrase "round the bend" also meant someone was a bit silly or crazy at the time.

Main Characters in the Sewer

The show featured a fun cast of characters who lived and worked in the sewer.

• Doc Croc: He was the show's host, a grumpy and bossy crocodile. Doc Croc ran everything in the sewer. He made the rats work for him without pay. Enn Reitel did his voice. In one episode, Doc Croc started his own political group called the "Greedy Party." He wanted to win an election but lost because the rats forgot to vote!

• Jemima Wellington-Green: She was the smartest of the three rats. Jemima often complained about working in a sewer. She also wished she had a boyfriend. She spoke with a fancy accent, making fun of a famous TV person named Janet Street-Porter. Kate Robbins was her voice. In early episodes, she popped out of toilets to interview famous people. These included actor Tony Robinson, band Aswad, and footballer John Fashanu. But they all flushed her away!

• "Vaudeville" Vincent Vermin: This rat was from London and always tried to be positive. He was the show's comedian and told jokes. The jokes were meant to be bad, which made them even funnier! After his jokes, Doc Croc would ask a talking barber's pole for its opinion. The pole always said, "Rubbish!" Jon Glover voiced Vincent. In one episode, Vincent was sent into space in a shuttle. Doc Croc had stolen it to broadcast the show to the whole world.

• Luschetti "Lou Brush" Bruschetti: He was an Italian rat and the show's artist. Luschetti was not as smart as the other rats. Doc Croc often took out his problems on him. Jonathan Kydd did his voice. In one episode, Luschetti made a drink for Doc Croc to cheer him up. But when Doc Croc drank it, he shrunk!

In some episodes, the characters were bothered by a small teddy bear wearing sunglasses. This teddy bear would give them a hard time! Once, the teddy's much bigger father visited. He had a boxing match with Doc Croc. Luschetti helped Doc Croc win by making a giant cardboard crocodile. Jemima then used Doc Croc's voice to scare both teddy bears away.

Other Fun Characters and Parodies

Round the Bend! also featured many other characters. Many of them were funny imitations of real celebrities or other TV shows.

• The Oddbod Family: This was a cartoon about a family of five. It focused on their three children: Bouncing Benny, Loud Lucy, and Nancy's Nose. Each child had special, unusual abilities.

• Transformaloids and Transformabots: These were funny cartoon versions of Transformers. One character was "Octopus Slime," an octopus-headed robot. His name was a joke on Optimus Prime. He often fought his enemy, "Armadillotron," a joke on Megatron.

• Pzycho the Magnificent (Series 1–2): This was a stop-motion cardboard animation. It was about a crazy German magician. He tried to use magic for his own gain. But the police always caught him and sent him to jail.

• Doc Croc's Nursery Spot (Series 1): This section had animated funny versions of popular children's shows. These included "The Couldn't-Care-Less Bears" (from The Care Bears) and "Clarence the Crank Engine" (from Thomas the Tank Engine). Later seasons had "Nursery Crimes" and "Fairytales of the Unexpected," which made fun of nursery rhymes and fairy tales.

• John Potato's Newsround: This was a funny version of a real news show called John Craven's Newsround. The news was presented by a potato named "John Potato." He had eyes, a nose, and a mustache like a Mr. Potato Head. The sports news was given by "David Colemole," a mole puppet. He sounded like a famous sports commentator, David Coleman.

• Rubbish Rock Spot: This was a music video part of the show. It featured puppets with funny names like "Kylie Manure" and "Paul Muckartney." These names were jokes on famous singers like Kylie Minogue and Paul McCartney. The puppets would sing along to funny versions of pop songs. The rats even formed their own band called "The Rattles," a joke on The Beatles.

• False Teeth from Beyond the Stars, Attack of the Atomic Banana, and False Teeth from Beyond the Stars Meet Atom Banana: These were three clay-animated mini-movies. They were funny versions of old, low-budget movies. The first was about alien false teeth trying to eat the world. The second featured a giant banana causing trouble in New York City. The third movie brought both the false teeth and the giant banana together! These cartoons were made by Aardman Animations.

• Wee-Man and the Masters of the Looniverse and O.A.P.-Man: These were funny cartoons based on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Wee-Man fought against "Skeleton Face." His father, O.A.P.-Man, fought against "Grandad Skullface."

• Thunderpants: This cartoon was a funny version of ThunderCats. It featured "Y-Fronto" fighting against "Bumm-Ra."

• Karate Kiddie (Series 2): This cartoon was a funny version of The Karate Kid. The main character accidentally destroyed his old master's house with his super strength.

• Vegetables (Series 2): This was a live-action funny version of the show Neighbours. All the characters were vegetables with Mr. Potato Head parts and Australian accents.

• Botman and Fatman (Series 2): These were funny cartoons based on Batman.

• Tommy's Magic Time Trousers (Series 2): This cartoon was about a boy who could travel back in time. He did this by pulling on his talking trousers! He would witness famous historical events. Many jokes were made about trousers.

• Starry Trek (Series 2): This cartoon was a funny version of Star Trek: The Original Series. It was set on the "Starship Rent-A-Prize."

• Kenny McTickle and his Magic Kilt (Series 3): This stop-motion cartoon was about a Scottish boy. He could make anything appear from under his kilt!

• Woolly the Wonder Sheep (Series 3): This stop-motion cartoon was a funny version of shows about heroic animals. Woolly thought he was an "excellent sheep." But he often caused trouble for the people he tried to save. They would then chase him away!

• Old-Age Useless Nitwit Tortoises and Teenage Mutant Ninja Toilets (Series 3): These cartoons were funny versions of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.

Show Merchandise

Because the show was so popular, a special Round the Bend! magazine was published in 1990. A video game based on the show was also made in 1991. It was called Round the Bend!: Doc Croc's Outrageous Adventures! and was available on several computer systems.

Where the Show Was Broadcast

Round the Bend! was shown in many countries around the world.

• United Kingdom
  • ITV (1989-1991)
  • Channel 4
  • The Children's Channel
  • Nickelodeon
• Australia
  • ABC (1990-1996)
• Republic of Ireland
  • RTÉ One (1990)
  • RTÉ Two (1992-1993)
• Germany
  • BFBS
  • SSVC Television
• Cyprus
  • BFBS
  • SSVC Television
• Bosnia & Herzegovina
  • BFBS
  • SSVC Television
• New Zealand
  • TV2
• Belize
  • BFBS
  • SSVC Television
• Falkland Islands
  • BFBS
  • SSVC Television
• Gibraltar
  • BFBS
  • SSVC Television
• Papua New Guinea
  • ABC (1990-1996, via broadcasting transmissions from Australia with the ABC as the only Australian television channel being shown in Papua New Guinea)
• Vanuatu
  • ABC (1992-1996, via broadcasting transmissions from Australia)