Tingha and Tucker

Tingha and Tucker were a pair of koala characters who appeared on ITV children's television in Britain from 1962 to 1970. The programme was produced by Associated Television (ATV), the independent ITV station based in the Midlands. Its typical schedule consisted of short shows on weekdays, plus a weekly Sunday special titled The Tree House Family.

History

The characters began as stuffed toy koalas that host Jean Morton spoke to on air. Later, puppets were created to make them appear more lifelike. The show proved very popular and, like many programmes of the time, had a fan club—the Tingha and Tucker Club—which reached a peak membership of 750,000. The club eventually shut down because it could not manage the volume of mail it received.

One of the show's best-known songs was "The Wibbly Wobbly Way". After eight years, the programme was cancelled in 1970. Shortly afterward, the puppets used on air were reportedly stolen from storage and have never been found.

The main characters included host "Auntie Jean" (Jean Morton), the koalas Tingha and Tucker, Willie Wombat, Grandpa Wombat, Kiki Kangaroo, Katie Kookaburra, Ermintrude Emu, Postman Pete Murray (a disc jockey), "Uncle Pat" (Pat Astley, an ATV continuity announcer), and "Uncle Cliff Richard" (the singer Cliff Richard).

Merchandise

Merchandise included an annual children's book released each year from 1967 to 1971, a Bedtime Book in 1967, and several records. Among these were a 1964 Pye Records 7" single "Woomerang Boomerang" b/w "Over the Rickety Bridge", a Century 21 Records LP titled Tingha and Tucker Club Song Book (catalogue A5), and a more unusual "mini album" from Century 21 called Tingha and Tucker present the New Wombaville Band, on which the puppet characters performed covers of several Beatles songs.

The theme tune was written by Tony Hatch, who also composed television themes for Crossroads, Neighbours, and Emmerdale. Tingha's name comes from the town of Tingha, New South Wales, which itself derives from an Aboriginal word meaning "a flat, open land." Despite frequent references to bears in the show's motto and songs, koalas are not bears but marsupials.