We've all been through a nostalgic phase where we have an all-new respect for our childhood days. Of course, some of the things we loved back then, we look on with scorn or ridicule now. But, for this list, I'll be looking at the shows from my childhood that hold up the best, the ones that I can watch again as an adult and still totally enjoy.
Now, some of these shows are still on today, but obviously I'm an old-school fan.
So, get ready for the inner child in me to paint a big bright target on itself! :) These are my top ten favourite nostalgic kids' shows.
Looking back, I realise this is the stupidest idea in the entire world. I mean, just listen to how random the back-story in the opening of every episode is (http://youtu.be/A1lTt1jZekw)! If you'd never heard of the show before, you'd swear you were high listening to that! But, like all good kids' shows, it manages to turn this very silly premise into some pretty damn good adventures. It's also pretty funny how, in every single episode, the villain is invariably Texas Pete; the whole show is basically a parody of comic book superheroes, and I think that's one of the satire's more subtle layers.
This is another one that just seems like it was inspired by an illegal substance! :) It has a very bizarre visual style, with white ground, brightly coloured cardboard trees and all the strange stop-motion characters. But the English dub (because it seems it was originally a French show) has one thing going for it: a dry sense of humour that means just as many adults love it as children do. Just the fact that the RAF actually named a squadron of aircraft after characters from this show is a testament to that! Either way, it has plenty to keep all ages coming back.
This is one of the most intelligent kids' shows I've ever seen (for the most part). It's about a man who visits a magic costume shop, and each costume he tries on leads to an adventure appropriate to that apparel. In every adventure, Mr Benn is faced with some kind of problem that he has to use intelligence and logic to solve, be it a circus crew working together to cross a chasm or outsmarting Indians in a game of hide-and-seek. Smart stories like this can only be good for children, so this is definitely a show I'd recommend to my own kids.
This is easily one of the darkest of Gerry Anderson's puppet-based shows. Right from the opening credits: they're far darker and less triumphant than contemporaries like Thunderbirds and Stingray. After all, it's a tale of an ongoing war with the deadly Mysterons from Mars. It does get goofy and implausible at times, but it's still a deliciously dark (pardon the repetition), epic story – helped all the more by the puppets' heads being correctly proportioned to the bodies for the first time, making them look more human than ever before. Plus, the first episode gets my vote as the best opening episode of all time.
As the theme song says, firemen are heroes living right next door, and this animated show does a great job at letting kids know that. I especially love all the gadgets packed into the fire engine, and how the firemen use them on the job. It's great how the characters are actually professionals: that sets a good example. :) Maybe the show doesn't accurately represent what a dangerous job firefighting is, but some episodes do get pretty intense as kids' shows go. Either way, these animated escapades are still cool to watch. And of course, need we forget the catchiest theme song of all time?
This is one that I really underestimated. Not only does it really hold up for me personally: I think it's one of the best kids' shows ever made! It may not really have a plot to speak of – it's just the daily lives of these toys in the playroom – but the characters are what makes it worthwhile. I especially love the Christmas episode, where they aren't concerned about materialism like you'd expect, but instead they genuinely want to do something nice for others. Everything about this show is charming, and Anton Rodgers as the narrator layers the whole thing in class and dignity.
This is one show I just couldn't get enough of as a kid! :) It had action, it had gadgets, it had rockets, it had awesome vehicles, it had explosions – it was the ultimate combination of everything that boys love! Watching it today, it's still awesome. Though it is hilarious watching it in retrospect, especially how it's supposed to be set in 2065 and yet everything still runs on tapes! :D But still, with all the advanced technology dedicated to saving people in perilous situations, how can you not root for International Rescue? Plus, of course, there's Barry Gray's unforgettable theme tune.
Here's an animated show that really treated us like adults. Much like the film version of Watership Down (with which, now that I think about it, it shares a very similar plot!), it wasn't afraid to shy away from the cruelty of nature. These animals are on a long journey to find a new home, and innumerable dangers face them along the way. The show is dark, sometimes bleak and occasionally violent, but it never feels gloomy. The animals all have distinct and appealing personalities, so we're always along for the ride, rooting for them, willing them to make it okay.
This is another show that paints a very appealing image of a particular job, a familiar figure that people see every day. So why is it so high on the list? One reason: Postman Pat is funny as hell! :) I found plenty to laugh at as a kid, but there's even some humour that adults can laugh at too. The first series was obviously made on a very low budget, with jerky stop-motion and one narrator also singing the theme song, but that just adds all the more charm to it. It just overall brings endless delight, and it's still one of my favourites.
This was quite possibly the first show I ever saw, and it was definitely the one that most dominated my childhood; I was downright obsessed with this show! And it was the show that triggered my nostalgic phase years later. I'm not entirely sure why, though. In many ways, it is the perfect kids' show: it's bright and colourful, has well-written characters and sound morals. But aside from that, there's just something fascinating about focusing on steam engines. The Reverend Awdry said he wrote the original books because he used to live near a railway yard, and the engines always sounded like they were talking to each other; here, that idea's taken literally. It's also really clever how, unlike Pixar's Cars, the vehicles aren't the people in this world; they may be able to talk, but they still need crews to work them. It's just an all-around wonderful kids' show, and I'm glad it still continues to delight children even to this day.
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