Latest memories and comments from DoYouRemember.co.ukhttp://www.doyouremember.co.uk http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=8490 Does anyone remember Appeal orange juice? It was powdered orange juice that you just added water to and one sachet made a jug full. It just reminds me of family camping holidays and being young. There was also another make and I think it was called Squeeze but not sure. I think Birds may have made Appeal. Does anyone remember either of these products and if so do they still exist??Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:14:52 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=4008 Born in 1963 in New Jersey, Houston, Whitney was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 60s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin. So, clearly music was her destiny. She started off singing in gospel choirs and night clubs, before a stint as a model, Then was later signed by Arista Records, with whom she went on to take the global music industry by storm. She achieved 11 Number one hits in the US and is a multi-Grammy award winner. Her total record sales have topped 170 million, putting her on a par with super singers Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. Plus, her best-known song, the 1992 hit originally written by Dolly Parton 'I Will Always Love You' remains the biggest-selling track by a female artist of all time and spent 14 weeks at number one in the US charts. Her success spanned the 80s and 90s mainly, and hits including: 'Run To You', 'Saving All My Love For You', 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' and 'Queen Of The Night' have become classic karaoke numbers. Not only did Whitney become music's golden girl, but she was also a successful actress, starring in blockbuster movie, The Bodyguard opposite Kevin Costner. The soundtrack for this won the 1994 Album Of The Year Grammy. She also went on to act in Waiting To Exhale. Sadly, Whitney's personal life was not destined for such success. In 2007, after 14 years and a daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, she divorced singer Bobby Brown over claims of domestic abuse. She also struggled with drug addiction and financial problems, the former of which really took its toll on her voice. It meant that Whitney's attempt at making a comeback in 2009 with new album 'I Look To You' was met with criticism of her appearance and behaviour, with her voice not being up it any more. And despite undertaking a drug and alcohol rehabilitation programme in 2011, she sadly passed away on February 11, 2012, aged just 48, discovered dead in a Beverly Hills hotel room after reports of heavy drinking earlier in the night.Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:14:51 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=2136 It's been claimed that Conan the Barbarian was the inspiration behind He-Man, however, the former failed to take off in toy form due to its links with the violent, certainly not child-friendly, film, starring Arnold Scwarzenegger. He-Man was altogether more popular - although not with Conan Properties (the makers of Conan the Barbarian merchandise) who sued Mattel (the guys behind the He-Man toy) for copyright infringement. At the end of the day, team He-Man beat team Conan in court, and the rest, as they say, is history... He-Man went through a series of makeovers by Mattel before being released, including toying with the idea of a He-Man soldier or spaceman (!). And he originally sported black hair, a deep tan, being of Middle Eastern origin - before changing to a more American, clean-cut look of blond hair and a California tan. Swoon! Often referred to as "The most powerful man in the universe", He-Man is the fictional hero who appeared on screen in He-Man Masters Of The Universe, The New Adventures Of He-Man and later on She-Ra: Princess Of Power and He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret Of The Sword. He is the super-hero-esque alter-ego of Prince Adam (twin brother of Princess Adora / She-Ra and son of King Randor and Queen Marlena). Having been given his ability to change into He-Man by the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull - all he has to do is hold his sword high in the air and say with great authority: "By the power of Grayskull..." on which note he would transform and then say: "I have the power!". Are there any little boys from the 80s who haven't done this while standing on their bed? Voiced by John Erwin in this series, He-Man's purpose in life is to defend Eternia and the secrets of Castle Grayskull from the dark side, AKA evil enemy Skeletor (who it was later insinuated that he was Prince Adam's uncle). He-Man fights with one half of the Power Sword, while Skeletor owns the other half. It is only when these two halves meet that He-Man will gain the key to Castle Grayskull. In the He-Man figures, you could do this whenever you liked as the two characters had actual interconnecting swords! With the power of his sword and the magical strengths within Castle Grayskull, Prince Adam could also transform his pet tiger, Cringer, into a brave, armoured tiger named Battle Cat - giving him a valuable fighting companion. Although neither Prince Adam nor He-Man had a girlfriend, Adam was close to Teela, who had been adopted by Prince Adam's mentor, Man-at-Arms (Adam's closest friend and creator of new and amazing weapons). However, neither of them knew that she was actually the daughter of the Sorceress, and Teela was oblivious to the fact Adam had an alter-ego, He-Man. She just thought Adam was a lazy, useless boy. Little did she know! In fact, little did most people know, as only Man-at-Arms, Cringer, Orko and the Sorceress know about Adam's little secret. In 1987, Cannon Films produced the film Masters Of The Universe, starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man, but it was a flop. Perhaps because the audience never got to see Prince Adam - and we all know the transformation is the cool bit. In the film version of the 80s TV series, there was a lot more violence, too. In the end, He-Man defeated Skeletor, or so he thought. Because as the credits started to roll, up popped Skeletor saying Arnold Scwarzenegger style: "I'll Be Back" (in a nod to Conan The Barbarian, perhaps?). With the natural waning of the Masters Of The Universe's popularity, Mattel attempted to revive He-Man in the 90s by producing both a new toy line and cartoon entitled The New Adventures Of He-Man. In this, the story had moved on and He-Man and Skeletor had left Eternia and were deep in the realms of space (the toy now sported a space helmet), battling over the planet of Primus, which harboured all kinds of new, useful technological advancement. He-Man has also done away with poor old Prince Adam, after being exposed to Skeletor, and now bases himself in the battleland full time. This new phase of He-Man never found such popularity as the original, so in 2002 the original He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe was revived, with He-Man voiced by Cam Clarke. The old ones are always the best ones! So, for all the new little kiddies who had missed out, the full story was retold from the beginning. And yep, you guessed it, along with this came another re-released toy line, with all the key characters complete with mini biographies to help make sense of it all. Phew!Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:52:22 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=2087 Oh, there we were - giving Agadoo death - and what happens? Only the guy in 3rd year that we all fancied was SNOGGING A GIRL! Weep? The bus home was awash!Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:59:45 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=4106 The Gulf War came about after Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2 1990. The war itself started on January 16 1991. The Coalition forces included troops from 34 countries. The ground war started on February 24 1991, and the war was declared to be officially over three days later after Iraqi troops pulled out of Kuwait. Hundreds of oil wells in Kuwait had been set on fire, and it took until November to put them all out.I remember the oppressing sense of fear during the standoff before the war. Pundits were predicting that it would escalate into World War Three, you'd hear news items about how bunkers were being prepared in case the government had to be evacuated (no plans for evacuating us proles, I noticed...). The town I was living in at the time, about 30km north of Toronto, started to test its emergency sirens once a week. When the war finally started, all radio and TV programming was pre-empted to cover it. On the second night, one idiot commentator (luckily I seem to have wiped the memory of who it was) cheerfully announced that it was only a matter of time before nuclear weapons were used. I started having the same kind of nightmares that I had after watching Threads in 1984, and I actually became physically sick from the stress. Even after the war ended, it was months before I could watch, listen to, or read about it without feeling nauseated.Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:59:30 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=64 Back in November 1989, I remember being delighted when the John Craven's Newsround showed the first images of East and West German citizens joining forces to tear down the infamous Berlin Wall. Of course, as a twelve year old child at that time, I had no real idea what the Berlin Wall was, why it was there, and why it was being torn down now but everyone else seemed to be excited about it so I just joined in the celebration! It wasn't until quite a few years later that I learned that the Berlin Wall had been erected in 1961 as a way to completely separate the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), from the reputedly fascist elements of West Germany. However, in reality, the wall actually served to prevent the mass emigration and defection that saw over 3.5 million East Germans flee into West Berlin during the post Wolrd War II period. The enormous concrete Berlin Wall was 96 miles long in total and was heavily guarded with over three hundred watch towers and bunkers. Along with the much longer Inner German Border, the wall came to symbolise the "Iron Curtain" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. As a direct result of Mikhail Gorbachev's dual program of Perestroika and Glasnost (meaning Restructuring and Openness), a series of radical political changes occurred in the Eastern Bloc with dramatic consequences. In 1989, following several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government made an announcement that all GDR citizens were now free to visit West Germany. Crowds of ecstatic East Germans congregated at the wall as some climbed on top joined by West Germans from the other side. Members of the public began to demolish the wall with hammers eventually breaking through to the other side and eventually people moved freely across the border. The governments later removed most of the rest of the wall and within the space of a year, German reunification was formally concluded on the 3rd October 1990. Shortly afterwards, in 1991, the Cold War was finally concluded.Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:59:23 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=63 Argentine troops seized the Falkland Islands - which they call Islas Malvinas - on April 2 1982. Britain first imposed a blockade around the island, and launched a counterattack on May 1. By the time the war ended, when the Argentine forces surrendered on June 14 1982, 255 Britons, and an estimated 1000 Argentines had died.Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:59:15 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=10495 I well remember the excitement generated when the remains of the iconic superliner were discovered by Dr.Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in May 1985. After several years of hunting, Ballard and his team located the 'Titanic' lying at a staggering 2 and a half mile depth on the bed of the North Atlantic. Using the deep sea submersible 'Alvin', he dived on the ruined hulk and recorded a fascinating series of video films, along with hundreds of still photographs. Far from being the glamorous, magisterial creature that was often imagined by authors and film directors up until then, the actual remains were a pitiful echo of what the great ship had once been. Split in two, and with her stern section devastated, she lay devoid of funnels and bridge in the smothering grey mud, surrounded by a massive debris field of coal, fittings and engine components. Survivors of the catastrophe criticized the research team's apparent lack of sensitivity in exploring what is, in effect, a mass grave- an issue not helped by the fact that the 'memorial plaque' left by Ballard on one of the capstans was mostly in memory of a former colleague of his, with the 1,500 dead added on as an afterthought. Tragically, the location of the wreck site opened the way for a succession of raids by treasure-hunters. A French expedition two years later took hundreds of relics from the vessel, damaging her superstructure during sloppy salvage attempts and outraging global public opinion. The site was eventually protected under US law, and today, explorers are once again restricted to bringing up nothing but photographs. Apart from the moral prohibitions involved, raising the wreck is all but technically impossible given it's condition, so there she will remain for hundreds of years more - a tragic monument to a bygone age, and a mausoleum for the victims of her demise. May they all rest undisturbed from now on.Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:59:04 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=4625 When I was at first school, our class topic in early 1986 had been to study space travel and we spent a lot of time discussing how the Space Shuttle worked. We even went so far as creating a model Space Shuttle out of toilet roll tubes with a balloon propulsion system that whizzed across the classroom on a piece of string. The project was tied in closely with the forthcoming launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger which was due to launch on Tuesday the 28th January 1986 with seven astronauts on board. Along with hundreds of other classes in schools around the world, our class was especially interested in this Shuttle launch since one of the crew was a young female school teacher, Christa McAuliffe, who was the very first to be selected through Ronald Reagan's 'Teacher in Space Project' designed to inspire students in all things scientific and astronomical. On the morning of Tuesday January 28th, the day of the launch, the excitement of all the children in our class was barely containable and we could hardly wait to get home from school to watch the Shuttle launch on television. The school day seemed to drag on forever but eventually we left and raced home in eager anticipation. Just before 5pm that evening we tuned in to BBC1 and waited excitedly as Philip Schofield handed us over to Roger Finn in the Newsround studio. Newsround began with the following words: "Disaster for the Shuttle, an explosion on Challenger" spoken by Roger Finn in a very sombre voice accompanying video footage of the Space Shuttle disintegrating into a horrifying plume of smoke and debris. The camera then cut to a very solemn looking Roger Finn who continued, "Within the last few minutes we've heard there's been an explosion on board the Space Shuttle Challenger". Newsround was the first to break the news in the UK and we eventually learned that all seven of the crew members onboard Space Shuttle Challenger, including our hero, teacher Christa McAuliffe, had been killed in the disaster which was caused by a faulty O-ring seal on the right solid rocket booster. I remember the sickening feeling of absolute horror, disbelief and grief as we learned about the disaster which curtailed not only our own school space project, but also led to Ronald Reagan's cancellation of the entire Teacher in Space Project.Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:58:58 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=9837 January 17, 1994, at 4:31 am, Southern California was hit with one of the most violent earthquakes. It registered 6.1 on the Richter scale. There was a lot of damage. 17 people were killed when their apartment building collapsed. A CHP officer was killed when he rode off a bridge that had just collapsed.Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:58:51 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=2206 What I remember (and will never forget) is what Thatcher did to the Mining Communities. I know it sounds dramatic but she actually ripped the heart out of them and what for - pure revenge on the miners?The Tory government said the pits were uneconomic, they said Tower Colliery in South Wales, was unviable; it was bought out by the workers and it is still producing vast quantities of coal to this day. How many more times did the Tories lie?I remember coming out of school at 11:00 every day to go on the picket line at the Phurnacite Plant in Abercwmboi where one scab had gone into work. He was a hated figure and had to leave the valley to move north where he was given a new identity!Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:58:44 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=5223 It was the worse storm in England since 1703. During the early hours of 16th October 1987 hurricane force winds caused havoc across southern England. Countless buildings were severely damaged and about 15 million trees uprooted. 16 people died in the storm. On the previous night's weather forecast, popular forecaster Michael Fish infamously said "A woman has phoned the BBC this evening and said there is a hurricane on the way, but if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't".Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:58:27 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=10434 One of the British Isles' forgotten disasters, this horrific event took place on the Isle of Mann on the night of 2nd August 1973 and claimed the lives of 51 people, with 8,000 injured. Opened in the Manx capital Douglas in 1971, the colossal Summerland leisure complex was years ahead of its time, with a climatic-controlled interior and state-of-the-art facilities. But at the beginning of August 1973, a fire started in a kiosk in the grounds (where two boys had gone to sneak a cigarette), which spread to the leisure centre and engulfed the entire building. Most of the structure was clad in 'Oroglass' (later dubbed 'horrorglass'), a highly flammable compound which released oxygen as it burned and served to fan the blaze. There was a delay of 25 minutes before the fire brigade was alerted, and even then no attempt was made to evacuate the building. Over 3,000 people were in the complex that night, and it's a miracle that the death toll wasn't much higher. But even so, over 50 people perished in the disaster, crushed, trampled or burned to death. The local sports centre was used as a makeshift morgue; thousands were injured, and left suffering post-traumatic stress for decades afterwards. Although not directly involved, my family and I were on the island at the time staying down the coast road at Port Erin. Even although I was only 4, I well remember the impact that the tragedy had on the community - it was like Aberfan or Lockerbie, the Manx people felt like they had been cursed. I was left with a terror of leisure centres for the rest of my childhood. Sandy Denny's song 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes', which was popular at the time, became an unofficial elegy for the victims. The charred ruins were demolished in 1975; Summerland re-opened in 1978, but the legacy of the horrific fire continued to haunt it and it never did well. Closing in 2004, it was demolished the following year-only the East wall of the original building remains next to the cliff face, above a memorial garden to the dead.Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:56:43 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=10148 On Saturday, 26th April 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear power Plant in Ukraine began a systems test on reactor number four which recorded a sudden power output surge. An emergency shutdown was attempted but this was followed by an even larger power surge which ruptured one of the reactor vessels and led to a series of explosions which ignited the graphite moderator. An enormous plume of highly radioactive smoke rapidly rose from the reactor into the atmosphere and spread over an enormous area causing widespread contamination of the Soviet Union and large parts of Europe. The nearby city of Prypiat, with 50,000 residents was immediately evacuated but the contamination was so severe that several other towns nearby were also evacuated resulting in a total of over 350,000 people being resettled after the disaster. The full extent of the damage is impossible to calculate but it is estimated that thirty-one staff and emergency workers died as a direct result of the accident and the World Health Organisation estimated that 4,000 civilians may have been killed some time after the event as a result of radiation exposure. Other studies have suggested that the long-term effects of the incident could ultimately result in over 200,000 premature cancer deaths altogether. Whilst the majority of the radioactive fallout landed in Ukraine and Belarus, the pollution rapidly spread across Europe and contaminated many areas so badly that slaughter restrictions for grazing animals had to be imposed since their meat was considered unsafe for human consumption. In fact, as of 2011, restrictions still apply to the slaughter of sheep in some parts of the UK and it is expected that that the radioactivity from Chernobyl will still be found in the UK and Norway for more than another 100 years.Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:40:45 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=129 Princess Diana (correctly titled: Diana the Princess of Wales) was, without a doubt, one of the most famous and photographed women of all time. Following her official engagement to Prince Charles on the 24th February 1981, the blushing 19 year old was wrenched from obscurity and thrust into the public spotlight. The Royal Wedding took place at St. Paul's Cathedral in front of a congregation of 3,500 guests whilst 600,000 spectators lined the streets outside. These numbers were dwarfed, however, by the 750 million viewers around the world who tuned in to watch the event on their televisions making it the most popular programme ever broadcast at the time. Just a few months after the wedding, Diana became pregnant and gave birth to her first son William on the 21st June 1982 and later bore a second son, Harry, on the 15th September 1984. Unfortunately, what the public didn't realise at this stage was that Prince Charles' long-running relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles was already putting strain on his marriage to Diana and as the marital relationship broke down, so too did Diana's relations with the rest of the Royal Family. Throughout her marriage to Prince Charles, Princess Diana became heavily involved in charity work making numerous appearances at hospitals, schools and other organisations taking a special interest in charitable work relating to serious illnesses including AIDS and leprosy (something most other celebrities steered well clear of). Diana became well-known for her compassionate nature and demonstrated an apparently fragile and sensitive personality that was troubled by depression and eating disorders. Sadly, after 11 years, her marriage to Prince Charles broke down irrevocably and in 1992 the couple announced their formal separation. Having become the most famous and photographed woman in the world, Diana found it impossible to escape the intrusion of the paparazzi and it wasn't long before her new relationship with Dodi Al-Fayed (son of Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed) hit the headlines along with intimate photos of Diana and Dodi together on holiday. As we all know, the story had a tragic ending when Diana and her boyfriend Dodi were killed in a high-speed car accident in Paris on the 31st August 1997 and the nation mourned the loss of the people's Princess.Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:21:58 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=82 Ronald Wilson Reagan was the fortieth President of the United States of America and he held office between 1981 and 1989. Ronald Reagan was born in 1911 and first began work as a radio broadcaster before becoming a successful actor in films and television, appearing in over 50 movies and becoming a well-known public figure prior to his involvement in politics. In 1967 he was elected the 33rd Governor of California, a role later filled by another movie actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and in the 1980 presidential elections, he defeated incumbent Jimmy Carter taking office on 20th January 1981 as the new President of the United States. As President of the USA, Ronald Reagan introduced some dramatic new political and economic initiatives which included the reduction of taxes to promote economic growth, reduction of government spending and deregulation of the economy. However, after only 69 days as President, Reagan was very nearly killed in an assassination attempt that left Reagan, his press secretary James Brady, Police Officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy seriously injured. Miraculously Reagan survived the near fatal incident, as did all his colleagues, and he came to believe that God had spared his life so that he might go on to fulfil a greater purpose. As it turns out, the incident had a great influence on Reagan's popularity polls which peaked at 73% after the shooting and he went on to complete two terms in office.Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:06:11 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=9783 It's Saturday, mid-morning. The cartoons have finished and now it's time for Wrestling. However, this isn't wrestling as we know it today - waxed hulk hogans, preened and shiny, picture purfect and ready for hollywood. Oh no, this is Wrestling West-country style. Hairy Backs and beer bellies, bald 40 year old men, in man-kini's looking like wolverine's out of shape Uncle. And when this was wrestling - Big Daddy (real name Shirly Crabtree - yes that's right, I wonder what led him into a life of beating people up?) was the largest, fattest and most famous of them all. He reall was a Big Daddy. You cannot compare the joy of watching a severly overweight 40 year old man called Shirly jumping on other farmer-types, pushing people over with his belly, and altogether acting the bully. It was a joy, an innocent, "my god-did-those-programs-really-happen" memory. He was also notoriously popular and kind - giving a lot of money to charity. You tube Big Daddy and treat yourself to a bit of nostalgia that will never come back as retro-cool.Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:04:49 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=4181 Yeaaah RatFans! Roland was a TV presenting Rat basically! Roland's best friend was called Kevin (the Hamster).Roland was very popular in the 80s and even released a pop record and music video which can still be seen today playing regularly on the Tiny Pops channel! He had a regular TV-AM slot, where you would visit Roland beneath King's Cross railway station in The Ratcave - yes Ratcave. He had an infant brother called Little Reggie , his friends included a technical whiz-kid called Errol the Hamster (who was welsh), and "number one ratfan" Kevin the Gerbil, who supposedly came from Leeds and loved pink buckets. This was an absolutely brilliant show - totally left field, ( I mean who comes up with an idea of a gerbil who's obsessed with pick buckets?) you can see why it caught children's imagination, and why there were so many merchandising off-shoots from the brand. A whole subtext about the show that I had no idea of at the time was the fact that Roland Rat was introduced to a failing breakfast television network TV-AM and was pretty much it's savior. After a couple of months, Roland took the audience from 100,000 to 1.8 million! He was described in the papers at the time as "the only rat to join a sinking ship"!! Roland, and all his friends were essentially big puppets, and were created, operated and voiced by David Claridge. David had worked for the brilliant genius that was Jim Henson (he of the Muppets), He then worked in the second series of The Young Ones! So quite a CV! Roland then actually got his own show - on the BBC in 1985, Roland Rat the Series, a chat show set in Roland's sewer home. It had a whole bunch of new characters and was more like the Muppet show in a lot of ways. But I never really got into that, the new characters couldn't match the heights of Kevin the Gerbil.Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:51:30 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=10459 This toy, and well whole merchandise brand was huge in my life growing up. I had the Roland Rat soft toy, mugs, and even the Roland Rat glasses (!) made by Dolland and Aitchison. Yes, real, working glasses! I always knew him from his TV-AM slot, you see Roland beneath King's Cross railway station in The Ratcave - yes Ratcave. He had an infant brother called Little Reggie, his friends included a technical whiz-kid called Errol the Hamster (who was welsh), and "number one rat-fan" Kevin the Gerbil, who supposedly came from Leeds and loved pink buckets. This was an absolutely brilliant show - totally left field, ( I mean who comes up with an idea of a gerbil who's obsessed with pick buckets?) you can see why it caught children's imagination, and why there were so many merchandising off-shoots from the brand. A whole subtext about the show that I had no idea of at the time was the fact that Roland Rat was introduced to a failing breakfast television network TV-AM and was pretty much it's savior. After a couple of months, Roland took the audience from 100,000 to 1.8 million! He was described in the papers at the time as "the only rat to join a sinking ship"! Roland, and all his friends were essentially big puppets, and were created, operated and voiced by David Claridge. David had worked for the brilliant genius that was Jim Henson (he of the Muppets), He then worked in the second series of The Young Ones! So quite a CV! Roland then actually got his own show - on the BBC in 1985, Roland Rat the Series, a chat show set in Roland's sewer home. It had a whole bunch of new characters and was more like the Muppet show in a lot of ways. But I never really got into that, the new characters couldn't match the heights of Kevin the Gerbil. Fairly recently Roland Rat has even tried to instigate a few come backs - in the late 1990s he could be seen on Channel 5, in "LA Rat", which had him and his friends touring Los Angeles. And in 2004 he actually appeared on Big Brother UK. Still, I will always just remember him from early morning TV, hugging my Roland the rat cuddly toy, while Kevin the Gerbil obsessed about his pink buckets.Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:51:07 +0000 http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.php?memID=4389 This was the original Ghostbusters! And it was a completely different Ghostbusters experience! It was a cartoon, and it was ace! It was a cross between what eventually came to be the film Ghostbusters and an original TV series from 1976 of the same name. The cartoon ran from September 8 to December 5, 1986 in daytime and there were 65 episodes in all. It was repeated a fair bit and I remember it well. However, the original show "The Ghostbusters" was a live-action television show in 1975-1976 The basic plot involves Jake Kong, Eddie Spenser and Tracy the Gorilla are Ghost Busters - they live at *1 Ghost Command which was a haunted mansion nestled between a number of tall skyscrapers (It almost feels like "Trap door" in some ways) there are other characters like Ansa-Bone, a talking skull phone; Skelevision, a talking skeleton television; Belfrey, a pink talking bat. All fun ideas, and completely different from the film Ghostbusters as well! It goes in all manner of strange places, there is an evil ghost wizard called "Prime Evil" and his cast of followers who is located in The Fifth Dimension. There is also a famous Ghostbuster from the future who comes back and helps them fight Prime Evil. The film Ghostbusters had the catchphrase, "Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!", Filmation's Ghost Busters had a different catchphrase: "Let's Go, Ghost Busters!"Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:49:19 +0000