Roobarb

For the plant, see Rhubarb.

Roobarb
GenreAnimation
Children's
Created byGrange Calveley
Directed byBob Godfrey (1974 series)
Jason Tammemagi (2005 series)
Voices ofRichard Briers
Theme music composerJohnny Hawksworth (1974 series)
Jon Atkinson (2005 series)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Ireland (2005 series)
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes30 (1974 series)
39 (2005 series)
Production
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time5 minutes (1974 series)
7 minutes (2005 series)
Production companies
  • Roobarb Enterprises, Ltd. (1974 series)
  • A&B TV (2005 series)
  • Monster Animation & Design (2005 series)
Original release
Network
Release21 October (1974-10-21) –
24 December 1974 (1974-12-24)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3][4]

  1. ^ Sheridan, Simon (2004). The A-Z of Classic Children's Television: From Alberto Frog to Zebedee. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. pp. 221–224. ISBN 1903111277.
  2. ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 258. ISBN 9781476672939.
  3. ^ "Richard Briers, The Good Life star, dies aged 79". BBC News. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Bob Godfrey obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2013.