Roobarb (also known as Roobarb and Custard) is a British animated children's television series, created by Grange Calveley and originally shown on BBC1 just before the evening news. Each cartoon of the original series, written by Calveley and directed by Bob Godfrey, was about five minutes long. Thirty episodes were made, and it was first shown on 21 October 1974. The theme is that of the friendly rivalry between Roobarb, a seven-year-old green dog with an overactive imagination, and Custard, the mischievous eight-year-old pink cat from next door. The series later spawned a revival in 2005, which aired on Channel 5's Milkshake block. The narration of both series was provided by the actor Richard Briers. On 17 February 2013, Briers died, followed four days later by animator Godfrey.

Original series

Roobarb is a green dog, and Custard is a pink cat. Roobarb is always involved in some kind of misadventure which he approaches with unbounded enthusiasm. Custard is cynical and sets out to sabotage Roobarb's fun. Which one comes out on top varies from episode to episode. Other characters in the series are the birds, who watch the antics of the other two from the safety of a nearby tree, often making snide remarks, and siding with whoever is winning. There is also a rather timid, pink mouse as well as the Sun and the Moon, who are depicted as sentient and able to talk to the other characters. The series is animated in a deliberately rough style, using marker pens and a very sketchy drawing technique, so that the pictures are constantly "shaking". This effect, known to animators as "boiling", gives an energetic character to the show, and was a contrast to the slick, smooth colouring of the American Hanna-Barbera shows that were being shown on British television. The series was voiced by actor Richard Briers and the theme tune was written by Johnny Hawksworth for de Wolfe Music. It was the first fully animated television series to be made in the United Kingdom. The series was later shown in reruns on the American children's television series Eureeka's Castle on Nickelodeon, with an American dub. The cartoon was a success, greatly loved by children and adults alike, and winning numerous awards. The series was also known for its eccentric use of quirky word play and sight gags.

2005 series

A new series titled Roobarb and Custard Too debuted on Channel 5 on 8 August 2005. Like the original series, it was written by Grange Calveley and narrated by Richard Briers, though Bob Godfrey did not return for this series. The revival introduced a large number of other animal characters who also got involved in Roobarb's schemes. It was produced by Adam Sharp and Bernadette O'Riordan for A&B TV, and directed by Jason Tammemagi; the animation was by the Irish company Monster Animation & Design (now Monster Entertainment). The revival used computer animation, but kept the "wobbly" look and plain white backgrounds from the original series. The music for the revival was by Jon Atkinson. 39 episodes were made and clocked in at 7 minutes.

Characters

Roobarb A green dog with a shaggy tail, two hairs each on the side of his head and a wild imagination. He's fond of bones, adventure, inventing and also seems to eat various things like coal, paper, books, chairs, shoes, holes in carpets, trees. Despite being short-tempered, Roobarb is usually very good-hearted and seems friendly to everyone he meets. He loves performing shows and is often helpful. His rival is Custard, his next door neighbour. Roobarb lives in a small cosy house, sleeps in a basket and seems to get on well with his rent free life. He's not always very bright, but is always curious. Although anthropomorphic, Roobarb does usually run and walk on all fours, barks like a dog and even has his own dog bowl for water. Roobarb is always deep in thoughts, usually for long hours until a plan has been thought. Roobarb thinks he's brave and handsome. Custard A chubby pink cat and Roobarb's friendly rival and sometimes best friend. Custard usually likes to sabotage Roobarb's fun and plays pranks on him and often looks for the biggest laugh of the day. Although malicious and sarcastic, Custard has been shown to care about Roobarb and has even helped him out a few times and enjoys his company. Examples include when he dressed up as Santa Claus for Roobarb's Christmas party to help save it from being a disaster. Another example is when he helped Roobarb spook a group of tramps who retired to bed in Roobarb's house. Custard lives behind a large white wooden fence where he also takes his naps on top of it. Being a cat, Custard has a fondness for fishing, always trying to find his way to catch the fish, most of the time failing, he also envies Roobarb in competitions.

Episode list

Roobarb

Roobarb and Custard Too

UK VHS/DVD Releases

Between 1988 and 1990, Channel 5 released two videos of the 1974 series with ten episodes on each one. The first video was re-released by Entertainment UK Ltd and PolyGram Video (Cat. No. EUKV 2006) in October 1991, until it had a new re-release by 4 Front Video (Cat. No. 6356043) on 24 April 1995, until it was reissued by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (UK) Ltd (Cat. No. 0463463) on 16 June 1997. In 1993, 4 Front Video released a single video containing 20 episodes of the 1974 series consisting of ten episodes from each of the two Channel 5 releases together in one video. In 2000, Contender Entertainment Group Ltd released a single video with the first eight episodes of the 1974 series on it. In 2024, digitally restored versions of the original, alongside the revival, have been released by Fabulous Films in the 'Fabulous Films Kids Collection' range of children's DVD and Blu-ray releases.

In popular culture

The Noah and Nelly in... SkylArk episode "During a Picnic" features a pirate ship called The Nutty Dog, the figurehead of which looks exactly like Roobarb. The Streets' song "Turn the Page" mentions "Roobarb and Custard verses". A sampling of Roobarb episodes and theme song made up the basis for the 1992 single of the same name by the UK group Shaft. The end bit of the theme tune could be heard at the end of each of 3 adverts for Ambrosia flavored custard. Roobarb and Custard were featured in the music video for "The Official BBC Children in Need Medley" by Peter Kay, which contained many other popular cartoon characters. They appeared via a televised monitor as they were in 2-D animation, as opposed to the stop-motion style of the video and characters. Roobarb and Custard became the stars of a series of children's books based on the TV series by Mogzilla Publishing in 2009. The Roobarb theme tune appears in the Channel 4 comedy "Spaced" (Season one, Episode 4: "Battles") in a flashback as Tim is chased by a pack of dogs, and also as Daisy chases the pack itself. Roobarb and Custard were used as mascots for the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals charity in the UK from 2011 to 2015. They were voiced by Ian Swann.

Music by "Roobarb"

In 1975, singer-songwriter duo Sandy Davis and Paul Travis were commissioned to write and record an album for the Roobarb TV series. A single, "Roobarb's a Star" was released in 1976, closely followed by the "Roobarb" album. All releases feature original artwork by Grange Calveley, and was funded/released by Bell Records.

Broadcast history