The Gublins (TV series)
British children's TV series (1977–1979)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gublins (also known as The Gublin Legends[1]) is a stop-motion children's television show broadcast between 1977 and 1979. It was the final animated series made by British animator Gordon Murray, the creator of Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley[2] and was shown as part of the Saturday morning children's TV show Multi-Coloured Swap Shop on BBC One.[3] Each episode was 5 minutes long with Murray introducing each one directly to camera.[1]
| The Gublins | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Gublin Legends |
| Created by | Gordon Murray |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 5 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 24 December 1977 – 1978 |
The series related various folk tales told in verse.[4] The Gublins themselves were chimp-like creations[4][5] (the word "Gublin" is a pun on the humanoid creature "goblin") that featured in a series of Tall Stories, narrated in rhyming couplets to a simple acoustic soundtrack provided by Freddie Phillips.
Episodes
There were thirteen episodes filmed although only twelve are known by name.[3][6] The folk tales came from a variety of traditions, including Cornish, Bohemian and Arabic sources.[3] The first episode, Obadiah and Flo, was broadcast on 24 December 1977.[7] The named episode titles are:
- Obadiah and Flo
- Bessie O'the Glen (or the Inversneekie Doonie)
- The Barber of Cartina
- Mr Dilley's Mermaid
- The Prince Frog
- The Magic Tree
- The Kendal Candle
- The Emperor's Willow Warbler
- The Honey-Coloured Hat
- The Dancing Princess
- Charley's Feather
- The Prudent Prince[6]
Associated merchandise
Three of these stories appeared in the BBC Swap Shop Books (2,3 & 4) as photostories. There were also five photostory books published separately titled "Young Gublins Picture Storybooks". They were completely new stories called:
- The Lost Drum
- The Surprise Present
- The Wishing Well
- Grandpa's Mistake
A VHS entitled "Children's Seventies TV Favourites" featuring episodes of The Gublins was released by Contender studios in 1998.[1]
