"Bertha, lovely Bertha, you are a lovely machine
     And anyone who works with you will know just what I mean...."
 

     Bertha was a big green engineering machine, a marvellous mechanical production
     engine with a big toothy face who could be programmed to manufacture just about
     anything you wanted. She was housed at the busy Spottiswood Factory, owned
     by Mr Willmake. Her Chief Designer was Mr Sprott. Sprott was ably assisted by
     young Tracy, who indeed, often sorted out flaws and problems with Mr Sprott's
     work. Other Spottiswood employees included Mr Duncan the foreman, Ted
     Turner who was Bertha's operator, young Roy Willing his kenn-but-slow
     assistant, Nell and Flo who packed and stacked items, Panjid the fork-lift driver,
     Mrs Tupp the tealady, and Miss McClackerty who was Mr Willmake's secretary.
     
     In the very first episode, "The Great Painting Job" we witness the construction
     of a minitaure robot designed by Tracy to act as a decorating machine.
     This is T.O.M. - short for Talk Operated Machine. T.O.M. isn't a particularly
     effective decorator, but he proves himself most able and becomes a regular
     member of the Spottiswood team...

     A charming little series this, with familiar Ivor Wood/Woodland Animations
     figures and sets and a theme song by Brian Daly, who would go on to write
     and sing that song for Postman Pat and Tom & Vicky's theme tune too...

      

 

     Bertha makes

     windmill money boxes    garden gnomes      beach balls        
     365 springs                 plastic bears          cuckoo clocks    
     Jack-in-the-Boxes        jigsaw puzzles        watering cans

 

    Bertha episodes

     The Great Painting Job                 More Speed, Less Work
     The Windmills                             The Big Order
     A Mouse in the Works                 The Burglars
     The Best Machine Competition       Bertha's Birthday Party
     TOM Gets Lost                            The Big Sneeze
     The Flying Bear                           Tom's New Friend
     The Tea Nurse

 

   Broadcast info

    The series premiered with "The Great Painting Job" which aired
    on BBC1, 1st April 1985 at 3.55pm.

    Scheduling of the first seven episodes was a bit stop-start, due to
    interruptions for the Easter and May Day holidays. Episodes eight to
    eleven were tagged on to the end of an Autumn rerun. Similarly, the last
    two episodes premiered in the midst of a third outing in 1986.
    Here are dates that each episode premiered:

   Ep 2 - 15th April 1985 at 3.55pm    Ep 8 - 5th Nov 1985 at 3.55pm 
   Ep 3 - 22nd April 1985 at 3.55pm    Ep 9 - 12th Nov 1985 at 3.55pm 
   Ep 4 - 29th April 1985 at 3.55pm    Ep 10 - 19th Nov 1985 at 3.55pm
   Ep 5 - 13th May1985 at 3.55pm     Ep 11 - 26th Nov 1985 at 3.55pm 
   Ep 6 - 20th May 1985 at 3.55pm    Ep 12 - 16th April 1986 at 1.47pm
   Ep 7 - 3rd June 1985 at 3.55pm     Ep 13 - 18th June 1986 at 1.32pm

 

    Bertha books

     Fans may want to check out the tie-in storybooks, adapted
     from the series by Eric Charles, and illustrated by Steve Augarde
     (he of Bump fame). They were originally published by Andre Deutsch
     in 1985/1986 and later, as Scholastic editions. Here are the titles:

     Bertha and the Great Painting Job
     Bertha and the Windmills
     Bertha and a Mouse in the Works
     Bertha and the Best Machine Competition
     Bertha and the Lost TOM
     Bertha and the Flying Bear

 

     Bertha on DVD

     Bertha
                Region 2 / 4 episodes / Four Front / April 2004

 

    designed and produced by Ivor Wood

    dir of anim:           Derek Mogford
    writer:                  Eric Charles
    editor:                  Martin Bohan
    music & lyrics:       Brian Daly
     title song vocals:   Guy Fletcher
    sound:                  Clive Pendry
    voices:                 Roy Kinnear (+ narrator)
                               Sheila walker

 

      On the web


      80sNostalgia
      You'll find shiny Bertha in the Classic TV section...

      Little Gems
      The Gems have a scrolling page of screen grabs
      and info for you....


 
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