Torchy the Battery Boy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Torchy the Battery Boy |
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| Genre | Adventure Children's Fantasy |
| Created by | Roberta Leigh |
| Written by | Roberta Leigh |
| Directed by | Gerry Anderson (s. 1) Vivian Milroy (s. 2) |
| Voices of | Kenneth Connor Jill Freud Olwyn Griffiths Patricia Somerset |
| Composer(s) | Barry Gray |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Roberta Leigh Gerry Anderson (s. 1) |
| Cinematography | Arthur Provis |
| Camera setup | Single |
| Running time | 13 mins approx. per episode |
| Production company(s) | Pelham Films AP Films (s. 1) ABC Weekend Television (s. 1) Associated British-Pathé (s. 2) |
| Distributor | Associated-Rediffusion |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | Black and white |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original release | 1959 – 1961 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Adventures of Twizzle |
Torchy the Battery Boy was a popular British TV show from 1959 to 1961. It was the second series made by AP Films and Gerry Anderson, who later became famous for shows like Thunderbirds. The show was created by writer Roberta Leigh, with music by Barry Gray.
The series used string puppets to tell the stories. It was all about a special boy doll named Torchy. He had a battery inside him and a lamp in his head! His kind owner was Mr. Bumbledrop, whose voice, along with many others, was done by Kenneth Connor.
A second set of 26 episodes was made by Associated British-Pathé. This time, Gerry Anderson and AP Films were not involved. Torchy the Battery Boy is one of the few children's shows from that time that still exists completely, without any lost episodes. Both series have been made new again digitally and are available on DVD.
Contents
What is Torchy the Battery Boy About?
Torchy, the Battery Boy, was created by Mr. Bumbledrop. He was a lonely old toymaker who loved his garden. Torchy had a special lamp on his head. When he pressed a button on his jacket and said a secret phrase, the light would glow. This light gave Torchy amazing ideas and insights! Mr. Bumbledrop also built a simple cardboard rocket ship. This allowed Torchy to fly through the sky on exciting adventures.
The brightest star in the night sky was a magical place called Topsy Turvy Land. This land was home to all the toys that had been treated badly or forgotten by naughty children. In Topsy Turvy Land, toys came alive and animals could talk. It was a strange and wonderful world with lollipop fields, cream bun trees, and even chocolate puddles!
Torchy often flew back to Earth to visit Mr. Bumbledrop. He would get new batteries and sometimes bring naughty children back to Topsy Turvy Land. There, humans would shrink to the size of toys. They would then experience the same problems they had caused for their own playthings. It was a way for them to learn a lesson!
Who Are the Characters?
Sometimes, the names of characters are spelled differently in various Torchy materials.
Earth Characters
- Mr. Bumble-Drop: A kind, older man who lets kids play in his garden. He made Torchy and owns a poodle named Pom-Pom.
- Bossy Boots: A spoiled girl who thinks she's the most important person. She demands that everyone do what she says. She used to own Flopsy the ragdoll and Clinker the money box.
- Mrs. Meanymouth: Bogey's mother. She is not a very nice person and sometimes steals things.
- Bogey Meanymouth: A rude boy who talks back to his mother. He used to own Pongo the Pirate.
- Bobby and Babs: A pair of twins. They used to be well-behaved but decided it was more fun to be naughty.
Topsy Turvy Land Characters
- Torchy: The main character, a battery-powered boy. He has a magic flashlight on his hat. Torchy is kind and always tries to help others. He also finds ways to teach naughty children a lesson.
- Clinker: A money box that used to belong to Bossy Boots. She never put money in him, so he was "starved." In Topsy Turvy Land, he finds a money tree that keeps him full.
- Daffy: A donkey who pulls King Dithers' coach. She has a great memory but is always a bit sad, like Eeyore. She used to belong to a boy named Geoffrey.
- Ena: A hyena who laughs at everything. This makes her a good friend for Pillwig the clown. She loves to knit, but her clothes are always too big.
- Flopsy: Bossy Boots' old rag doll. Bossy Boots treated her very badly. Flopsy doesn't have enough stuffing, which makes her a bit forgetful. She often says "Piggle-poggle" when she can't remember a word.
- King Dithers: The clumsy King of Topsy Turvy Land. People say he lives in an orange-peel palace, but it looks like a normal castle.
- Gillygolly: The tallest Gullywug in the world.
- Man in the Moon: The only person living on the moon. He got tired of lighting up the world every night. He appeared in some Series Two episodes.
- Pilliwig: A clown who loves to make everyone laugh.
- Pollikan: A strange bird who looks a bit like a pelican. Pollikan loves to hide shiny things in his mouth. King Dithers trusts him to guard his crown and jewels.
- Pom-Pom: Mr. Bumbledrop's pet poodle. Her fur grows straight, so she puts curlers in it every night. She loves meatballs in chocolate sauce. Since Mr. Bumbledrop wouldn't let her eat chocolate, she decided to stay in Topsy Turvy Land where she could drink from chocolate puddles.
- Pongo the Pirate: A toy that used to belong to Bogey Meanymouth. Bogey always made him walk the plank and fall into water. In Topsy Turvy Land, he makes a boat from a grapefruit peel and is always looking for trouble.
- Sparky: A young, fire-breathing dragon. At first, she scared the Topsy Turvy residents. Sparky was very lonely until Torchy found out she was friendly. She eats spicy foods like peppers, which help her breathe fire.
- Squish: An American space boy toy. He crash-landed and got stuck in Topsy Turvy Land. He's not as naughty as other Earth children, but he can sometimes be selfish.
- Ting-a-Ling: A bird who chimes and tries to help everyone. The show calls him male, but he seems very feminine.
- Whirly: A humming spinning top. He used to be rusty until Torchy taught him that peanut oil could fix him.
Episodes of Torchy the Battery Boy
The show first aired in the Midlands in 1959. It didn't start in London until 1960, where it ran for 52 weeks as one long series. Roberta Leigh wrote some episodes for the second series to fill gaps in the first season's stories. These were likely shown in the correct order in London. However, on DVD, the episodes are presented as two separate series in the order they were made. Old TV listings are not always clear, so the tables below show the two series as they appear on DVD, without specific air dates.
Series One
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | |
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| 1 | "Pom-Pom and the Toys" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Naughty children tie their toys to kite strings in Mr. Bumble-Drop's garden. A strong wind blows the toys away, and Mr. Bumble-Drop's poodle, Pom-Pom, tries to save them. The children blame Mr. Bumbledrop and leave. The lonely old man then creates Torchy. Torchy uses his magic light to find the lost toys and Pom-Pom on a twinkling star. The next morning, Mr. Bumble-Drop builds a cardboard rocket, and Torchy flies off to get them.
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| 2 | "Topsy Turvy Land" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy lands in Topsy Turvy Land. He tries to get Pom-Pom and the toys to come back to Earth, but they don't want to. Flopsy, the ragdoll, complains about not having enough stuffing. Torchy convinces Pom-Pom to give her some of her fur.
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| 3 | "Torchy and Squish" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy meets Squish, an American boy with a water-pistol raygun. Squish crashed his ship and is stuck in Topsy Turvy Land. Torchy agrees to take him home. Squish is told to wait by the rocket, but he takes it for a ride and breaks it. Torchy uses his magic light to talk to Mr. Bumbledrop, who tells him to find cardboard to fix the ship. Meanwhile, Pom-Pom is upset that Flopsy took her fur and wants it back.
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| 4 | "The Building of Frutown" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy is stuck in Topsy Turvy Land and realizes everyone needs a place to sleep. There are no bricks, but he finds an orchard with huge fruit. The toys hollow out the fruit to make homes for themselves.
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| 5 | "Torchy and the Broken Rocket" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy and Squish look for cardboard to fix the rocket. They find the Ting-a-Ling bird, who suggests digging at the base of a pepper tree. The bird's idea is wrong, but Pom-Pom is happy to find a puddle of chocolate.
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| 6 | "King Dithers" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy finds the King of Topsy Turvy Land, who offers him a cardboard tube to fix his rocket. But King Dithers accidentally gets rolled up inside the tube! Torchy has to figure out how to get him out.
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| 7 | "Torchy Returns to Earth" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy fixes the rocket and plans to go back to Earth, but no one wants to go with him. When his battery runs out, Pom-Pom helps him by flying him home to Mr. Bumbledrop.
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| 8 | "Bossy Boots Goes to Topsy Turvy Land" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Bossy Boots finds out Pom-Pom is back with Mr. Bumbledrop. She demands her ragdoll, Flopsy, back. Torchy offers to take her to Topsy Turvy Land, but she refuses. So, Mr. Bumbledrop tricks her into the rocket. When she arrives, she's shocked to find she's shrunk to Flopsy's size, and Flopsy starts to get her revenge.
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| 9 | "Bossy Boots is Taught a Lesson" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Flopsy makes Bossy Boots experience the bad things she used to do: pushing her, shoving food in her face, taking off her clothes, and locking her outside. Bossy Boots falls into a hole King Dithers dug. The king feels sorry for her, and she promises to be good.
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| 10 | "A Bell for a Penny-Farthing" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy decides to ride his bicycle instead of playing with Squish or taking out Pom-Pom's curlers. He crashes into Pilliwig the clown, who says Torchy can't ride his bike without a bell. While looking for a bell, he finds Whirly, the humming top. Whirly is rusty and can't hum. Torchy suggests he eats peanuts for the oil to fix his gears. At the peanut tree, Ting-a-Ling offers to ride with Torchy and be his bicycle bell.
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| 11 | "A Trick on Pom-Pom" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Pom-Pom's fur has grown back and is curled, making her very vain. She prances around showing off. Torchy convinces his friends to teach her a lesson by tying a dirty sock in her fur and covering her with dirt.
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| 12 | "Torchy is Stolen" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy needs a new battery, so he goes home with Pom-Pom. After Mr. Bumbledrop and Pom-Pom go to the store, Torchy follows, but his battery dies, and he falls on the road. Mrs. Meaniemouth finds Torchy and takes him home for Bogie, even though Mr. Bumbledrop calls out to her. After the Meaniemouths leave to buy a new battery for their stolen toy, Mr. Bumbledrop and Pom-Pom sneak into their house to get Torchy back.
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| 13 | "King Dithers Loses His Crown" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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King Dithers brushes his hair before going to Frutown and forgets his crown. After Daffy the Donkey pulls him into town, the king invites Torchy and Squish to the palace for tea. They find the crown is missing. Using his magic light, Torchy finds Polliken, a strange bird who only makes odd noises. They learn Polliken is hiding the king's crown in his beak. The bird explains he loves shiny objects. The king invites him to guard his crown and jewels.
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| 14 | "Pilliwig Gets a Present" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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The toys are no longer amused by Pilliwig's jokes, which makes the clown sad. Torchy and Flopsy picnic on an island and find Ena the hyena. They bring her back to Frutown, where Pilliwig is happy to meet someone who will always laugh at his jokes.
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| 15 | "Bad Boy Bogey" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy sees Bogey drowning his pirate toy, Pongo, in the pond. He decides to take Bogey to Topsy Turvy Land. There, Daffy makes Bogey fall into the water as punishment. Meanwhile, Pongo loves this new world and doesn't want to leave.
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| 16 | "Torchy and the Strange Animal" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy, Flopsy, and Pom-Pom visit the toys in the mountain caves. They find the caves empty. Gillygully and Whirly are outside, saying a monster has moved in. Torchy and Pom-Pom investigate and find Sparky, a lonely dragon looking for friends.
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| 17 | "Bossy Boots Forgets to Be Good" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy learns that Bossy Boots is being naughty again. She's refusing to feed coins to Clinker, her money box. Torchy tricks her into coming back to Topsy Turvy Land by promising a party. Instead, he makes her feed the starving money box.
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| 18 | "The Hungry Money Box" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Clinker is thrilled to find a huge pile of coins in Topsy Turvy Land that no one needs. But Pongo the pirate decides to take them for himself. Torchy uses his magic lamp to find a gold mine, but it's empty. Luckily for Clinker, a money tree has grown above ground.
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| 19 | "The Naughty Twins" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy returns to Earth and finds Mr. Bumbledrop asleep. He doesn't want to wake him, so he sets the table and does nice things around the house. His battery dies, and he collapses in the garden. Twins Bobby and Babs find him. The naughty twins take him home and lock him in a chicken run. Mr. Bumbledrop figures out what happened and rescues him. The old man and Torchy decide to go to Topsy Turvy Land and trick the twins into the rocket with a bag of toffee. Mr. Bumbledrop is too slow and gets left behind.
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| 20 | "The Twins Learn a Lesson" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy asks King Dithers to lock the twins in his dungeon, but the silly king gets locked up instead. Luckily, Polliken understands the situation and puts the bad siblings in their place.
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| 21 | "King Dithers Goes Down to Earth" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy gets caught in a hurricane that blows him back to Earth. He can't return without his rocket. He asks the toys to send Pom-Pom to get him, but she's sick from eating too much chocolate. King Dithers volunteers to fly the rocket, and Polliken goes with him. But the silly king steers them onto the moon. They find the Man in the Moon is tired of his job and wants to sleep through the night instead of lighting the sky.
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| 22 | "Torchy is Saved at Last" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy uses his magic light to find King Dithers and Polliken. They give the Man in the Moon sunglasses so he can sleep during the day, and they get ready to go to Earth. Mr. Bumbledrop tells Torchy that Bossy Boots has become a good girl, so Torchy decides to reward her with a party in Topsy Turvy Land. However, Bossy Boots has been pretending to be sick for a week to avoid schoolwork. When Torchy finds out, he scolds her and leaves her behind as he and Mr. Bumbledrop fly off.
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| 23 | "Torchy and the Man on the Moon" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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The toys are tired of the food in Topsy Turvy Land. Torchy decides to stop at the moon for some cheese as he takes Mr. Bumbledrop home. Torchy loves the vat of cheese the Man on the Moon is making too much, falls in, and drowns.
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| 24 | "Bogey and the Statues" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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After fixing Torchy, Mr. Bumbledrop gets sick. Torchy goes to Mrs. Meaniemouth's house for cough syrup. Bogey captures Torchy, ties him up, drags him to the park, and makes him watch as he breaks statues. Torchy gets free and pretends to be a statue to trick Bogey. He returns home with the medicine, but Mr. Bumbledrop says he doesn't want it. Torchy has to trick him into drinking it.
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| 25 | "The Moon Falls Asleep" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Sunset falls as the toys return from the beach, and it becomes completely dark. Torchy and Flopsy fly off in the rocket and find the Man on the Moon has overslept. After waking him, the toys get stuck in the cream cheese pond, but the moon man rescues them.
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| 26 | "Torchy's Birthday" | Gerry Anderson | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy feels lonely as all the toys secretly plan his birthday. Whirly overhears Torchy wish for a little brother. Pom-Pom visits Mr. Bumbledrop and asks him to build one.
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Series Two
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | |
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| 1 | "Flopsy Goes on a Picnic" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Flopsy wants to go to the beach by herself. Torchy and Squish are annoyed, so they steal her picnic basket. They hide inside it to scare her.
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| 2 | "Torchy Gets a Surprise" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Bossy Boots wants to take Flopsy back to Earth, but Flopsy refuses. However, Flopsy is lonely, so Torchy returns with Pom-Pom to keep her company. Later, King Dithers gives Torchy a Penny Farthing bicycle.
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| 3 | "Banana Bridge" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Flopsy has lost so much stuffing that Torchy insists Pom-Pom give her some fur. Later, the toys want to use a banana as a bridge, but they can't move it alone. Torchy visits the caves and finds Daffy the donkey.
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| 4 | "King Dithers and Daffy" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy and Pom-Pom miss Mr. Bumble-Drop, who declines their invitation to Topsy Turvy Land. Meanwhile, Daffy feels she has no purpose. King Dithers has just ordered a new coach, so Torchy suggests Daffy pull it.
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| 5 | "The Toys Get the Collywobbles" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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When all the toys get stomach aches, King Dithers tells them they can feel better by eating vegetables.
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| 6 | "Bogey Learns Another Lesson" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Bogey amuses himself by filling Flopsy with nuts and bolts, making her heavy. King Dithers punishes him by making him wear a suit of armor. Whirly mentions a treasure chest in the caves, so Pongo decides to steal it.
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| 7 | "The Polliken Bird is Stolen" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Pongo arrives at the castle and learns Pollikan has the king’s crown in his beak. He tricks the bird onto his boat. Ting-a-Ling figures out what happened and asks Torchy to rescue Pollikan.
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| 8 | "Torchy Has an Accident" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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When he can't find Pom-Pom, Torchy makes a dog whistle from tin, but he swallows it. Now he can only whistle and can't use his magic beam. All the toys gather to find a solution.
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| 9 | "Sparky the Dragon" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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When Whirly gets a stiff neck, Torchy suggests Sparky breathe on him to loosen it. Meanwhile, Pom-Pom gets chocolate paw prints all over Torchy’s house, and she’s not happy when he tells her to clean up.
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| 10 | "Bogey is Naughty Again" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy finds Bogey is still awful, so he and Pom-Pom return to Earth. Bogey ties a tin can to the poodle’s tail. Mr. Bumble-Drop scolds him and tricks him into the rocket. Bogey is unwillingly taken to Topsy Turvy Land, where Squish ties a tail and tin can onto him and makes him walk through town.
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| 11 | "Pilliwig Cleans The Chimney" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Pilliwig tries to be funny but is accidentally rude to Torchy. To make up for it, he agrees to clean the king's chimney.
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| 12 | "Pongo The Pirate" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Pongo wants someone to cook for him, so he decides to kidnap Flopsy.
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| 13 | "Pongo and the Gold Mine" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Pongo steals all of Clinker's money while he's asleep. When Clinker and Squish go into the mine for gold bars, Pongo follows and ties them up. Eventually, Torchy rescues them.
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| 14 | "King Dithers' Birthday" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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King Dithers throws a birthday party for himself and invites all the toys. They bring unusual gifts. Torchy puts too much baking powder in his cake, making it so light it almost carries him away.
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| 15 | "Washing Day in Topsy Turvy Land" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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After the toys hang their washing to dry, an orange juice rainstorm soaks them. Torchy asks Sparky to blow dry them, but the sick dragon only makes sooty smoke, making things worse.
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| 16 | "The Gluebell Wood" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Whirly and Sparky find a fairy who just arrived in Topsy Turvy Land. They invite her to a party and gather flowers for the center. They discover the gluebells are sticky, causing problems for their friends.
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| 17 | "Squish Falls Down A Well" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Squish is confused when his squirt gun is empty, so he looks for water. The king tells him about a wishing well. Squish climbs down in the bucket and gets stuck. Torchy tries to rescue him but also falls into the well.
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| 18 | "Flopsy in Trouble" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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As Flopsy relaxes on the beach, the Ting-a-Ling bird sees what it thinks is a worm. It swoops down and flies away with the "meal," which turns out to be Flopsy's stuffing. Torchy tries to put the stuffing back, but he puts it in upside-down, making Flopsy speak backwards.
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| 19 | "The Big Storm" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy arrives back in Topsy Turvy Land on the night of a big hurricane. As he rushes the toys to safety in the caves, the wind snatches him and blows him back to Earth.
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| 20 | "Daffy's Birthday" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Daffy is tired of pulling the king's carriage, so she runs away on his birthday. Pongo finds her on the beach and harnesses the mule to his ship.
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| 21 | "Flopsy Makes A Christmas Pudding" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy gets some coins to bake inside the king's Christmas pudding. But the greedy Clinker decides to get them and falls into the pot. Flopsy accidentally bakes him.
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| 22 | "Gillygolly in Trouble" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Gillygolly is tired of his afro, so he visits Torchy's home for peanut oil to straighten his hair. Torchy is out, so Gillygolly takes a nap. Pom-Pom is jealous of his naturally curly hair, so she shaves it off and takes it for herself.
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| 23 | "King Bumble Drop" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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During Mr. Bumble-Drop's first visit to Topsy Turvy Land, King Dithers goes crazy with power and makes many new rules. The toys rebel, lock Dithers in the dungeon, and declare Mr. Bumbledrop the new king.
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| 24 | "A New Suit For Pilliwig" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Ena knits a huge sweater for Pilliwig. He has to wear it after Torchy accidentally splatters paint on his suit. Ena washes it, but she uses too much starch, making the garment dance on the clothesline as if it's alive.
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| 25 | "The Obstinate Donkey" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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When Pongo's grapefruit boat leaks, he steals Daffy's umbrella to use as a boat.
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| 26 | "Pom-Pom Gets The Hiccups" | Vivian Milroy | Roberta Leigh | |
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Torchy looks for a cure when Pom-Pom gets the hiccups. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Bossy Boots tries to cheer up Mr. Bumble-Drop by pretending to be his new dog.
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Torchy Toys and Books
When Torchy the Battery Boy was popular, some toys and books were made. The most famous were a series of books by the show's creator, Roberta Leigh. These included a yearly "Gift Book" from 1960 to 1964. Many of the stories in these books were shorter versions of her TV scripts.
Other items included a board game called Torchy's Race to Topsy Turvy Land. There was also a children's playsuit that came with a cardboard Torchy puppet. You could even get a Torchy pocketwatch and a marionette puppet made by the famous toy company Pelham Puppets.
Torchy Books
- Torchy and the Magic Beam (1960)
- Torchy in Topsy Turvy Land (1960)
- Torchy Gift Book (1960)
- Torchy Gift Book (1961)
- Torchy and Bossy Boots (1962)
- Torchy and His Two Best Friends (1962)
- Torchy and the Twinkling Star (1962)
- Torchy Gift Book (1962)
- Torchy the Battery Boy Goes to a Party (196?)
- Torchy Gift Book (1963)
- Torchy Gift Book (1964)
Torchy Comics
Torchy also appeared every week in a comic strip. This was in Harold Hare's Own Paper from August 1960 to August 1961, for 52 issues. Most of the characters from the show were in the single-page comic strip. However, Flopsy was just called Rag Doll (and had normal eyes, not buttons). Mr. Bumble-Drop was not in the comics, and Whirly and Ena never appeared. Torchy sometimes went back to Earth to deal with Bogey and Bossyboots (whose name, like PomPom's, was written as one word).
In 1968, Roberta Leigh was the editor of a weekly comic book called "Wonder." This comic was sold at Esso petrol stations. Each issue had a main story about her next show, Wonder Boy and Tiger. It also included a strip called Bossy Boots. This comic version of Bossy Boots looked different from the puppet (she wore glasses and had a ponytail). But just like her Torchy character, this Bossy Boots loved to tell everyone what to do.
Harold Hare's Own Paper Comics
Roberta Leigh loosely changed her own TV stories for these comic strips. Many of the details were different.
| # | Date | Summary | Notes |
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| 1 | 1960-08-20 | On his birthday, Torchy comes out of his Pineapple home and finds a Penny-Farthing bicycle. His friends wrapped it and left it on his doorstep. Torchy rides it right into Rag Doll, who says he needs a bell. Ting-a-Ling Bird offers to be the bell. | This story was based on the episode "A Bell for a Penny-Farthing." In the TV show, King Dithers gives him the bike, and he crashes into Pilliwig. |
| 2 | 1960-08-27 | Torchy learns that the toys are scared of something in the cave. He goes inside and finds Sparky the dragon. | This story was based on the episode "Torchy and the Strange Animal." This is the only time Gillygolly appears in the comic strip. Instead of Whirly, there are a few teddy bears. |
| 3 | 1960-09-03 | Pilliwig needs a home. Torchy helps him pick an apple from the tree, and PomPom pulls it on a sled to Frutown. There, it's hollowed out and turned into a house. | This story was based on the episode "The Building of Frutown." The comic cover has a small picture of Torchy's head, with his light shining on the words: "Meet Torchy the Battery Boy Inside!" |
| 4 | 1960-09-10 | PomPom agrees to give Rag Doll some hair for stuffing. But only if she gets her remaining fur rolled up in curlers. | This story was based on the episode "Topsy Turvy Land." |
| 5 | 1960-09-17 | King Dithers can't find his gold medal. Torchy uses his magic beam, and they find Pollikan, who has the medal in his mouth. The king decides to make the bird the guardian of the royal jewels. | This story was based on the episode "King Dithers Loses His Crown." |
| 6 | 1960-09-24 | Rag Doll's silver teapot is missing, and so is King Dithers' crown. They soon find that Pongo the pirate has stolen the treasures, along with the Pollikan bird. | This story was based on the episode "The Polliken Bird is Stolen." |
| 7 | 1960-10-01 | As they rocket back to Earth, Torchy and PomPom see Bogey knocking over statues in the park. They decide to scare him. | This story was based on the episode "Bogey and the Statues." |
| 8 | 1960-10-08 | PomPom runs away to avoid giving more fur to Rag Doll. Torchy then makes a dog whistle and swallows it. No one can get the whistle out until Daffy the Donkey comes by. She offers to pull it free with her magnetic hooves. | This story was based on the episode "Torchy Has an Accident." |
| 9 | 1960-10-15 | Pilliwig's suit is dirty. Torchy washes it, and Sparky dries it. But then they find the garment was overstarched. | This was an original story. |
| 10 | 1960-10-22 | Rag Doll knits a scarf for Torchy that's too long. Torchy sees Pilliwig on the swing just before the vines break and the clown falls. He gets the scarf and uses it as a rope to hold the swing. | This was an original story. |
| 11 | 1960-10-29 | Torchy sees Bogey tying a can to a puppy's tail. He brings the boy to Topsy Turvy Land, where Daffy the donkey sews a tail and can onto him. | This story was based on the episode "Bogey is Naughty Again." |
| 12 | 1960-11-05 | Bogey fills Rag Doll with nuts and bolts, making her heavy. So the king weighs the boy down with a suit of armor. | This story was based on the episode "Bogey Learns Another Lesson." |
| 13 | 1960-11-12 | All the toys are sick from eating too many sweets. King Dithers teaches them to grow and eat vegetables. | This story was based on the episode "The Toys Get the Collywobbles." |
| 14 | 1960-11-19 | PomPom insists on going to the beach alone. So Torchy and Rag Doll hide in a fake picnic basket and scare her. | This story was based on the episode "Flopsy Goes on a Picnic." Squish had not been introduced yet, so PomPom takes Flopsy's place, and Flopsy takes Squish's. |
| 15 | 1960-11-26 | Pilliwig falls in a chocolate puddle and gets a stain on his suit. PomPom tries to lick the chocolate off and cover it with flour. Rag Doll offers to sew a patch over it. Finally, Torchy uses his magic beam and finds paint to cover the stain. | This was an original story. |
| 16 | 1960-12-03 | Daffy the donkey doesn't want to pull the king's coach in the hot sun. So Torchy holds an umbrella over the mule's head to shade him. | This was an original story. It combines parts of "Daffy's Birthday" and "The Obstinate Donkey." |
| 17 | 1960-12-10 | As they repaint his house, Torchy, Rag Doll, and PomPom are spilling paint everywhere. They ask Daffy to use her tail to paint the house. Once the donkey is done, they clean his tail and invite everyone over for dinner. | This was an original story. |
| 18 | 1960-12-17 | King Dithers burns his finger on the stove. Without a bandage, Torchy uses his magic beam to find nettles. In his hurry to catch Torchy, the King stubs his toe and needs a walking stick. Torchy asks Pongo to use his oar as a cane. When the pirate refuses, Daffy chases him away. As the King returns to the castle with the oar, he thanks Torchy by giving him an orange. | This was an original story. |
| 19 | 1960-12-24 | On Christmas Eve, Torchy and PomPom convince King Dithers to pretend to be Father Christmas. But the King gets stuck in Rag Doll's chimney. | This was an original story. |
| 20 | 1960-12-31 | Pilliwig asks PomPom and Sparky to perform with him in a circus show. They decide to have it at night. The sky is too dark for the Topsy Turvians to see, so Torchy uses his magic light to brighten the show. | This was an original story. |
| 21 | 1961-01-07 | Sparky is tired of living in the caves. Squish and Torchy build her a house with logs they found in the forest. But they forget to build a chimney at first, and the dragon's breath fills the house with smoke. Torchy's magic beam leads him to King Dithers, who lends him a top hat to use as a smokestack. | This was an original story. First appearance of Squish. |
| 22 | 1961-01-15 | PomPom's mirror falls off the wall and breaks. Squish suggests she use the river water to see her reflection, but the clumsy poodle falls in. As Rag Doll dries her and curls her fur, Torchy uses his beam to find a brass tray. After polishing, PomPom uses the tray as a mirror. | This was an original story. |
| 23 | 1961-01-21 | Rag Doll feels unwell. Pilliwig brings her orange juice and sticky gluebell flowers. The clown then tries to cheer her up by juggling her dishes, but they drop and break. Torchy's magic beam shines on the gluebells. They squeeze the nectar from them to glue the plates back together. | This was an original story. |
| 24 | 1961-01-28 | King Dithers insists Daffy take him into town in the rain. But when the King insists on using his umbrella, the mule bucks him off and right into Torchy's window. Torchy uses his magic beam to find a deck chair. They turn it into a covered wagon so Daffy can keep her umbrella. | This was an original story. |
| 25 | 1961-02-04 | Pongo steals Torchy's bicycle and buries it on the beach. When Torchy's magic beam shines his way, the pirate says he doesn't have the bike. But the tide comes in and washes the sand away, showing the treasured bicycle. | This was an original story. |
| 26 | 1961-02-11 | Everyone is spring cleaning, but there are no brooms. Torchy makes some from sticks and ferns. Rag Doll sweeps so hard that her stuffing falls out. Torchy replaces it with ferns. | This was an original story. |
| 27 | 1961-02-18 | The wind blows so hard that it pushes everyone's homes into the lollipop fields, causing a flood. Torchy is confused when the magic beam points to the bed. But he realizes the sheets can be used to make sails for the houses, to help them glide back to Frutown. | This was an original story. |
| 28 | 1961-02-25 | King Dithers sends the toys on a scavenger hunt. It leads them back to his kitchen, where they find a giant cake waiting for them. | This was an original story. |
| 29 | 1961-03-04 | The summary for this issue is currently unknown. The teaser from the week before said "The Battery Boy helps make such a lovely bonfire." | This was an original story. |
| 30 | 1961-03-11 | Torchy's battery is low, so he returns to Earth with PomPom to replace it. His battery completely dies. As Pom-Pom goes to buy a new battery, Bossyboots finds Torchy and puts him in her toy cupboard, where he gets buried. As PomPom searches the cabinet, a cat jumps on the toys, making them fall out and revealing Torchy. | This was an original story. This is the only appearance of Bossyboots in the comic. |
| 31 | 1961-03-18 | Rag Doll is not at the party at King Dithers' castle. They soon find out why: Her cherry house is on fire! The toys race back to the castle for water and put out the fire before much damage happens. | This was an original story. |
| 32 | 1961-03-25 | Rag Doll is proud of the hollyhocks she's been growing. But Squish and PomPom trample the flowers. Torchy shines his magic light on Pongo, who surprisingly gives his oars to hold up the blooms. | This was an original story. |
| 33 | 1961-04-01 | Squish climbs a tree and uses a hollow stick as a straw to shoot cherries at an unsuspecting PomPom. The poodle asks Torchy for help. Torchy uses a water pistol to flush the space boy out of the branches. | This was an original story. |
| 34 | 1961-04-08 | Squish doesn't realize his own strength and pushes the swing so hard that Rag Doll flies into the field, where she gets covered by lollipops. Torchy makes Squish pull King Dithers' coach to show that the space boy is stronger than he thinks. | This was an original story. |
| 35 | 1961-04-15 | Torchy brings Bad Boy Bogey to Topsy Turvy Land and tells him to paint Rag Doll's cottage. But he paints her face as she sleeps. The doll wakes up believing she has the measles. | This was an original story. |
| 36 | 1961-04-22 | Torchy and PomPom look for nuts to play conkers. But they can't get into the magic wood without crossing a river. So they build a bridge made from lollipops. On their way back with the conkers, the bridge collapses, and PomPom gets wet. Torchy suggests he puts in her curlers, and then they can play the game. | This was an original story. |
| 37 | 1961-04-29 | While scolding Daffy the donkey for oversleeping, King Dithers falls into a hole. Daffy finds Torchy, who ties a rope to his bicycle and pulls his highness back up to Topsy Turvy Land. | This was an original story. Starting with this issue, and for the rest of the comic's run, the Torchy strips were moved to page 5 and made two-thirds of a page. The rest of the space was filled by the paper's weekly "Once Upon a Time" stories by Donald Bisset. |
| 38 | 1961-05-06 | As Rag Doll helps Torchy wallpaper his home, he falls into the bucket of paste, and the doll has to scrub him clean. Then Torchy realizes he's run out of wallpaper. So they go into the magic wood, where they find leaves to decorate the walls. | This was an original story. |
| 39 | 1961-05-13 | Flopsy knits a sweater that's too big for Torchy and Sparky. So they give it to King Dithers. | This was an original story. |
| 40 | 1961-05-20 | The toys never know what time it is. So Torchy rockets back to Earth to get a toy Policeman with a pocket watch from the rubbish bin. | This was an original story. Torchy and PomPom talk to a toy shop owner who looks like Mister Geppetto from Disney's Pinocchio. |
| 41 | 1961-05-27 | Torchy and PomPom create a mailbox from an old log and toadstool. They ask Daffy to deliver it. | This was an original story. |
| 42 | 1961-06-03 | Pilliwig's tooth hurts so badly that he can't go to King Dithers' party. So Torchy uses his beam to find a clove tree to give the clown some pain relief. | This was an original story. |
| 43 | 1961-06-10 | Rag Doll wants an apricot to bake a pie. But the fruit is too big to move. Torchy decides to attach it to a pair of rollerskates and pull it home. | This was an original story. |
| 44 | 1961-06-17 | While playing at the seaside, Sparky gets so wet that she can't breathe fire. Torchy asks Pongo to use his sail to dry her. Pongo refuses, but while they argue, PomPom borrows the sail and dries the dragon. | This was an original story. |
| 45 | 1961-06-24 | Rag Doll is sad about her old dress. So Torchy uses his magic beam to lead them to a pile of shiny leaves. She uses these to make a new frock. | This was an original story. |
| 46 | 1961-07-1 | The toys are bored by the playground equipment. So Torchy finds a ladder and wooden plank to build a slide. | This was an original story. |
| 47 | 1961-07-08 | As Pilliwig and Torchy enjoy their tea, Daffy arrives with many balloons for them to blow up for King Dithers' birthday party. To make it faster, Torchy inflates them with his bicycle pump. | This was an original story. |
| 48 | 1961-07-15 | Rag Doll doesn't have enough fabric to curtain one of her windows. So Torchy picks berries and leaves and helps paste them to the glass. | This was an original story. |
| 49 | 1961-07-22 | Rag Doll puts her hair in curlers. But when it doesn't dry fast enough, Torchy asks Sparky to blow-dry her hair. | This was an original story. |
| 50 | 1961-07-29 | Torchy and Squish play ball at the seaside. When the current pulls their ball away, Torchy uses his bicycle pump to inflate an orange so they can keep playing. | This was an original story. |
| 51 | 1961-08-05 | When the Ting-a-Ling bird gets distracted and flies off Torchy's bicycle, he attaches a cuckoo clock to serve as a bell. Torchy tries to startle Squish with the clock, but his plan fails, and he falls off the bike. Just then, Ting-a-Ling bird returns from his flight. | This was an original story. |
| 52 | 1961-08-12 | Rag Doll can't keep her washing on the line on a windy day. So Torchy borrows PomPom's hair grips to use as clothespins. | This was an original story. This was the last Torchy comic strip in the series. |
