8.6 /10 1 Votes
Voices of Barry Smith Country of origin United Kingdom First episode date 12 March 1973 Number of episodes 129 | 8.5/10 IMDb Theme music composer Derek Hilton Original language(s) English Final episode date 1 July 1977 Number of seasons 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Presented by Alan RothwellNicolette ChaffeyLouise Hall-TaylorAmanda BarrieJulia North Similar Pipkins, Animal Kwackers, Mary - Mungo and Midge, Paperplay, Jamie and the Magic Torch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hickory house
Hickory House was a British television programme aimed at pre-school children. It was produced by Granada Television from 1973 to 1977 and broadcast on weekday lunchtimes.
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Each programme was usually hosted by a pair of presenters, most often including Alan Rothwell. The setting was a normal house, but in Hickory House household objects were brought to life through puppetry. The puppet characters included Humphrey Cushion (a sleepy grey cushion with a fondness for bananas), Dusty Mop (a bad-tempered mop with a long red nose) and the Handle Family. The puppets were created by Barry Smith's Theatre of Puppets.
All 129 episodes survive in Granada's archive, although none has yet been released on DVD.
The animated opening title sequence of Hickory House began with Granada Television's "G" logo transforming into a house. This innovation was used again in 1978 with the game show 3-2-1, when Yorkshire Television's "Y" logo was worked into an animated title sequence. Curiously, this later programme also featured a character named "Dusty" based on a household item (in this case, a dustbin).