Jimbo and the Jet Set

JIMBO AND THE JET SET
Made by: Peter Maddocks
Shown on: BBC
Years shown: mid-80s

When a factory got the dimensions of an order wrong, and mistook inches for centimetres, the result was Jimbo, a mini red and yellow aeroplane with serious ‘cute’ factor. This was the premise behind press cartoonist Maddocks’ creation, who lived at an airport run by the ginger, moustachioed Chief Controller (the aeroplane, not Maddocks, obviously.) Jimbo was actually a living, breathing piece of air transportation, a bit like Thomas the Tank Engine with lower production values, and he had other, similar friends to help him out: Tommy Towtruck, Sammy Steps and the comely Amanda Baggage, with enormous red lips. Jimbo was always raising the Chief Controller’s blood pressure with his antics, (remember the opening titles with the sheep singing a high-pitched “Jimbooooo!”?), but he always saved the day in the end, of course. When I was five this was my absolute favourite cartoon, and people used to whizz around the playground pretending to be Jimbo, but we weren’t the only ones who thought it was a good idea: I wonder where the Duchess of York got her idea for Budgie the Little Helicopter…?

SQUARE EYES RATING: 4/10

(Thanks to www.entertainmentrights.com for the borrowed pic)