Television TV

Billy Bean And His Funny Machine

> > Billy Bean And His Funny Machine

This was a programme on in the late 50s about a puppet and his job looking after a machine. There was a cuckoo involved called Yoo-Hoo (voiced by Ivan Owen, who later provided the voice of the much-loved Basil Brush), which laid eggs from time to time and they came down a sort of shute system of the machine. The song went something like this: "Billy Bean built a machine to see what it could do. He built it out of sticks and stones, and nuts and bolts and glue. The motor ran, chuttle-a-bang, ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-torator, and all of a sudden a picture appeared on the funny old cartoonerator". I have only ever met one person who remembered it and that was almost 50 years after it's viewing. Until she explained what she remembered, I thought I must have dreamt watching it! 

Suggest an update

Author of this article:



Contributors to this article:

Message boards

Discuss Billy Bean And His Funny Machine on the message boards

Do You Remember Billy Bean And His Funny Machine?

Do You Remember Billy Bean And His Funny Machine?

  • Anonymous user
    on
    The thingy that stuck with me was the signature tune...which I occasionally sing, much to my wife's mystification. My Dad bought our television just after the coronation; we'd watched that on someone else's 9" television. I also remember Whirligig, Hank (Whoa there Silver King!) with Mexican Pete the bandit..and Meet the Penguins. Anyone remember 'Meet Fufu' ?
  • Anonymous user
    on
    Yes, it was on BBC tv in the 1950's. just wonderful, and all the others at that time - whirlygig, HL (Humphrey Lestocq), Mr Turnip et el. I often sing Billy Bean to my friends who are too young too remember it. They think I've gone nuts, but there's nothing wrong with my memory. Only one BBC tv channel, came on at 5pm (Childrens Hour), and finished at 10pm. Beats Playstation every time.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    It was broadcast in 1954, not 60s/70s.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    Yes I do remember the show, now I can show people what is was as they used to think I made it up. Thank you
  • Anonymous user
    on
    I remember the song and once I saw an egg roll down the ramp. One of my oldest tv memories. The programme was on tv early to mid fifties.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    I remember Billy Bean. My Grandparents ran the Bell Inn in Chichester and had a TV set for the Coronation. I remember the grainy images and the first line of the song has stayed locked in my mind since then! We went to Malta with the Navy end of July 1953 so I must have seen the first programmes.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    We as children, never thought of the inventiveness and imagination of the backstage people who designed and built these fantasy machines, such as the one used by Billy Bean and other characters in children`s television at the time. They must have had a slightly off the wall humour, to do what they did.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    I remember watching it on my neighbour's tv in the 50s before we had one. I can remember the words of the song. My favourite feature was when YooHoo would lay an egg and it would roll down a succession of chutes. This made me want to construct a chutes-set with my Meccano set but it never quite worked.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    Do I remember it ? Yes I can and I still know the tune and the words to the song. My wife thinks I`m crackers and perhaps she`s right. I am after all, at an age where things start to droop just prior to crumbling away.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    We had our first TV like so many people in 1953, and who ever I have spoken to about Billy Bean they have never heard of the program. I am so glad someone else remembers. Does any also remember, Whirligig and Mr Turnip witch was introduced by Humphrey Lestocq. This on the BBC Childrens programmes around the same time. Do people remember a childrens Soap of that time called the Appleyards. Again no I have spoken to cannot remember either of these.
    • Anonymous user
      on
      Yes I also remember Billy Bean and his funny machine, Humphrey Lestock, Mr Turnip and Whirlygig and the Appleyards. I guess not many people remember because not so many people had TV's in those days. I remember ours was a floor standing one with a nine inch screen. When the coronation was on TV our neighbours came round to watch it. I also used to watch Muffin the Mule with Annette Mills, and my favourite was Hank and his horse Silver King and their antics with Big Chief Dirty Face, a cartoon cowboy and indian show.

Do you remember these?