Pinky and Perky

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the original series. For the 2008 revival, see The Pinky and Perky Show.

Pinky and Perky
Pinky and Perky as they appeared on their original BBC TV show
GenreChildren's television series
Created by
  • Jan Dalibor
  • Vlasta Dalibor
Presented by
  • Jan Dalibor
  • Vlasta Dalibor
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production companyThames Television (1970–71)
Original release
NetworkBBC1 (1957–68)
ITV (1970–71)
Release1957 (1957) –
1971 (1971)

Pinky and Perky is a

computer-animated
adaptation.

Original series

The title characters are a pair of

anthropomorphic puppet pigs, named Pinky and Perky, who were originally going to be named Pinky and Porky but there was a problem registering Porky as a character name. This was solved by Margaret Potter, the wife of their producer, Trevor Hill, who also discovered them, when she woke him up one night announcing "I've got it! Pinky and Perky!"[This quote needs a citation] They were created by Czechoslovakian immigrants Jan and Vlasta Dalibor who moved to the village of Houndhill, leaving the pigs under the cupboard in The Bungalow.[clarification needed] The characters of pigs were chosen because the pig is seen as a symbol of good luck in the former Czechoslovakia.[citation needed
] The puppets, who had only very limited movements, looked very alike. Pinky wore red clothes and Perky wore blue, but this distinction was of little use on monochrome TV, so Perky often wore a hat.

Pinky and Perky spoke and sang in high-pitched voices, created by re-playing original voice recordings at twice the original recorded speed; the vocals were sung by

78 rpm instead of the correct 331⁄3 rpm. Pinky and Perky would often sing cover versions
of popular songs, but also had their own theme song, "We Belong Together".

They had their own fictional TV station "PPC TV" (a play on "BBC"). They also performed comedy sketches usually with a human foil (similar to Basil Brush). Actor John Slater worked with them as a straight man for many years, enduring soakings from water pistols and similar pranks. Other human companions included Roger Moffat, Jimmy Thompson, Bryan Burdon and Fred Emney.

Their show included other puppets such as the Beakles (an avian parody of the Beatles), Topo Gigio, a mouse puppet who appeared in many later episodes, as well as a female pig. Other puppets included Ambrose Cat, Basil Bloodhound, Bertie Bonkers the baby elephant, Conchita the Cow, Horace Hare and Vera Vixen.

Pinky and Perky also performed guest slots on other shows, including several appearances on

Sunday Night at the London Palladium.[2]

The puppets also appeared on TV in the United States on a number of episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show: 532 (14 September 1958), 548 (4 January 1959), 573 (5 July 1959), 740 (10 March 1963), 780 (23 February 1964, where they shared the bill with the Beatles and Morecambe and Wise) and 908 (26 February 1967).

The pigs featured in series, such as Pinky and Perky's Pop Parade and Pinky and Perky's Island, for 11 years until 1968 on the BBC before transferring to ITV until 1972. There were no real people, sketches or stories in the shows at all. Instead, the puppets would be seen lip-synching and dancing to songs by the likes of Petula Clark. In this incarnation, each episode would end with the characters singing the Scaffold's hit "Thank U Very Much". At this point, there would be the only piece of spoken dialogue, which went along these lines:

"Who's going to say it?"
"Oh, let me!"
"No! I want to!"
"All right, then, let's do it together! Ready—MUCH!"

Other shows and appearances

Main article: The Pinky and Perky Show

The Pinky and Perky Show reappeared in an all-new

Doctor Who as "Dr. Roo" and Harry Potter
as "Harry Trotter". The series was produced by Lupus Films, and line produced by Sally Marchant.

A DVD of the new look Pinky and Perky, featuring eight episodes from the new series, entitled Licence to Swill was released in 2009.[3]

Comics

A comic strip based on the TV series was drawn by Jim Turnbull.[4]

Discography

Albums

  • Pinky and Perky's Melodymaster (Columbia, 1963)
  • Pinky and Perky's Hit Parade (MFP, 1968)
  • Christmas with Pinky and Perky (MFP, 1969)
  • Pinky and Perky's Nursery Rhymes (MFP, 1970)
  • Pinky and Perky's Film Parade (MFP, 1970)
  • Pinky and Perky's Hit Parade No. 2 (MFP, 1971)
  • Pinky and Perky Have a Party (MFP, 1972)
  • Pinky and Perky's Hit Parade No. 3 (MFP, 1973)
  • Singalong Party (MFP, 1974)
  • Pinky and Perky's Pop Parade (MFP, 1975)
  • The Pig Attraction (also released on CD) (Telstar, 1993)

EPs

EP cover of Children's Favourites with Pinky and Perky. Photographic illustration: Perky and a blue bird stand alongside Perky (seated) in front of a brick wall.
EP cover of Children's Favourites with Pinky and Perky (1961 Columbia Graphophone Company)
  • Children's Choice with Pinky and Perky (Columbia, 1960)
  • Children's Favourites with Pinky and Perky (Columbia, 1961)
  • Christmas with Pinky and Perky (Columbia, 1961)
  • Pinky and Perky Out West (Columbia, 1962)
  • Pinky and Perky's Pals (Columbia, 1962)
  • Pinky and Perky Down on the Farm (Columbia, 1963)
  • Nursery Romp (Columbia, 1963)
  • Pinky and Perky at the Circus (Columbia, 1964)
  • Pinky and Perky's Beat Party (Columbia, 1965)
  • Pinky and Perky in Outer Space (Columbia, 1965)
  • Playtime (Columbia, 1966)
  • Celebration Day (Columbia, 1966)
  • Pinky and Perky's Summer Holiday (Columbia, 1967)
  • Up, Up and Away (Columbia, 1967)
  • Coming Your Way (Columbia, 1968)

Singles

All singles were released on 7" vinyl format unless otherwise stated.

Cultural references

  • In Nick Hornby's 1998 novel About a Boy, the main character, Will, visits the record shop Championship Vinyl and sees an attractive woman asking for a Pinky and Perky record. She is met with contempt from the sales clerk. A few days later Will thinks he sees the woman again and, trying to make an impression, introduces himself with the line "I like Pinky and Perky", only to suddenly realize that it's a different woman.
  • Pinky and Perky are mentioned in Richard Thompson's song "Let It Blow" which is the first track of his 2005 album Front Parlour Ballads.
  • The two appear in The Goodies episode The Goodies Rule – O.K.? where they sound a buzzer ("Not so fast!").
  • Pinky and Perky are mentioned in The Bank Job, a 2008 British crime film, in reference to two supporting characters.
  • In BBC1's
    Skutters
    as "Pinky and smegging Perky".
  • In BBC1's The Good Life, the pigs adopted by Barbara and Tom Good are named Pinky and Perky.
  • In BBC2's
    The Grand Tour, James May refers to co-presenters Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond
    as Pinky and Perky.
  • BBC1's Call the Midwife, set in the late 1950s, makes several references to Pinky and Perky.
  • Pinky and Perky are mentioned in the 1993 movie In the Name of the Father, when the protagonist is eating pork sausages.
  • In Collett Dickenson Pearce's 1976–1977 award-winning advertising campaign for Wall's, an ad featuring an image of a pork pie carries the headline "Pinky and Porky", a pun on "Pinky and Perky".[5]

Notes

  1. The Independent on Sunday
    , 11 June 2001
  2. ^ One episode, originally broadcast on 13 April 1958, was shown on Talking Pictures TV on 26 January 2020.
  3. ^ "PINKY & PERKY at televisionheaven.co.uk". Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  4. ^ "Jim Turnbull". lambiek.net. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  5. ISBN 978-1-78067-168-0
    .

External links
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