Created at the tail end of the 1970’s, but repeated many a time on ITV’s lunchtime kids schedules, Chorlton and the Wheelies was a stop motion animated series with a catchy theme song that was all about the exploits of Chorlton the Happiness Dragon, and his friends the Wheelies from the imaginatively named “Wheelie World”.
Chorlton was a big orange dragon with a multicoloured hat who lived with the Wheelies as their protector from the nasty Fenella, the Kettle Witch. He was called the Happiness Dragon because he was always able to look on the bright side and see the best in people, even Fenella, who was particularly annoyed by this. Chorlton had a great northern accent, and would generally say “Ay-up lad” at least once in every episode. His other catchphrase was “‘Ello Little Ol’ Lady”, in reference to Fenella, who hated it!
The Wheelies themselves were all fairly interchangable for the most part. Basically heads with two wheelies either side and a further smaller wheel at the back, the main two that accompanied Chorlton were Zoomer, the fastest of the wheelies, and Jenny. Other notables were King Otto and Queen Doris, and the Chamberlain, who would always come over and spoil the phone with a lot of legal and political mumbo jumbo.
Fenella was the most hilarious character though. Constantly annoyed, she was green skinned and hook nosed, as a witch should be. She also spoke in a Welsh accent, constantly shouting “Oooh, you stupid dragon” whenever Chorlton innocently wrecked her plans. Fenella lived in Spout Hall, an old metal kettle, with her cronies Reilly the telescope and Claptrap von Spilldabeans the spellbook. She also had a son called Clifford, who was a giant, and you only ever saw his foot and the bottom of his leg. Sadly, we don’t know who Clifford’s father was…
Apart from the think Welsh accent, the best thing about Fenella was the way she travelled around. Instead a walking or perhaps flying on a broomstick, she would disappear straight down into the ground, popping up and back down again in various places until she got where she wanted to be. Each reappearance of Fenella was accompanied by a wonderful sound, which is impossible to describe other than as “Mmmwow”.
Chorlton still makes me laugh today, but you really have to see it to appreciate how weird and wacky it all was. Luckily, all three series are available to buy on DVD, so there’s no reason not to get reacquainted with Chorlton and his chums.
Search for Chorlton and the Wheelies items on Amazon.co.uk
Warning: Declaration of Social_Walker_Comment::start_lvl(&$output, $depth, $args) should be compatible with Walker_Comment::start_lvl(&$output, $depth = 0, $args = Array) in /homepages/40/d211339488/htdocs/childofthe1980s/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/social/lib/social/walker/comment.php on line 18
Warning: Declaration of Social_Walker_Comment::end_lvl(&$output, $depth, $args) should be compatible with Walker_Comment::end_lvl(&$output, $depth = 0, $args = Array) in /homepages/40/d211339488/htdocs/childofthe1980s/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/social/lib/social/walker/comment.php on line 42
[…] the limelight was the witch Grotbags, who predictably was green skinned (just like Fenella from Chorlton and the Wheelies!). She was armed with her bazaza, a golden rod with a hand on the end that had the index finger […]
[…] Kids TV DVD – featuring episodes of Jamie and the Magic Torch, Chorlton and the Wheelies, Dangermouse, Rainbow, Button Moon and Count […]
You forgot to mention Chorlton the Dragon’s other catchphrase!
Ecky-thump!
Well remembered Gwen, you’re quite right, I’d forgotten about Ecky-thump! Now you mention it I think Chorlton quite often preceded the Ay-ups with Ecky-thumps, didn’t he?
[…] at animation house Cosgrove Hall have produced some of my favourite childhood TV series. Â From Chorlton and the Wheelies to DangerMouse they produced some of the shows that people my age look back on with immense […]
Hee Hee! I just found this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGVCHDtD6yo
That’s cool Glenn. I’ve embedded it in the post now.
I love the way Fenella’s teeth go all gappy when she opens her mouth wide, yet she seems to have a perfect smile when she’s gritting her teeth!
Help us out here: Is the Chorlton Christmas Special available on DVD ?
Apparently it is available, but I think you can only get it as part of the Chorlton And The Wheelies 4-Disc Box Set which is a bit annoying if you already own the three individual series discs.
Hmmm. 7 quid to get the special….
I was weak.
Boxset dropped onto the mat today, looks like the 3 old discs (complete with Thames TV logos on the disc opening) plus one new one. Superb.
Anyone want 3 Chorlton DVDs ?
Sadly I too also have the first three DVDs bought individually, so I can’t take them off your hands…