More beguiling "caption" animation from John Ryan and his team. This 
     contemporary series featured young Mary who lived with her dog Mungo and
     a cheeky, chipper mouse called Midge in a splendid "modern" tower block in
     a busy new town. Mary was a "latch key kid", seemingly on her own in that
     flat all day with only the animals for company. Mungo was a rather pompous
     dog, regularly driven to distraction by Midge. Midge liked to play the flute and  
     generally make a nuisance of himself. Stories were simple. And BBC newsreader
     Richard Baker provided the soothing narration. He voiced the animals too,
     whilst John Ryan's daughter Isabel provided the voice of Mary. Like other series
     of the period, there were only ever 13 episodes of this memorable production
     made for the BBC's "Watch With Mother" slot, but constant repeats have
     persuaded folks to remember many more.

          

     Mary, Mungo and Midge's tower block tales were a world away from the
     rumbuctious derring-do of Captain Pugwash, and aimed at a younger audience,
     but the real-time animation is just as captivating, and Ryan's designs sit
     just as comfortably in this high-tech realm. The series captures a particular
     moment in the late sixties, when high-rise suburban living was considered
     to be the exciting answer to modern housing concerns, and there are
     some fantastic street pans and town views to savour.

     Notice the names of long-time John Ryan associates Bura and Hardwick
     credited with the camerawork on the series. They also filmed Captain Pugwash
     and, of course, also brought us the delights of Gordon Murray's Trumptonshire
     series and Toonhound fave Toytown. They teamed up with John Ryan again
     to film Sir Prancelot.

       

     Now here's a discovery. Mungo appears to have direct links to two Old Testament
     dogs, saved from the biblical flooding by Noah and his family. How so? Well, ten
     years after Mary, Mungo And Midge John Ryan wrote and illustrated The Ark
     Stories, tales that were subsequently adapted into a tv series. And there onboard
     the giant vessel, amongst the hippos and the ostriches and the lions are, as you
     can see, two Mungo-like dogs. Great-Great-Grandpa and Grandma Mungo, maybe?

 

     Episode titles

    The Crane                  Toy Shop
    The Letter                  The Fair
    The Boat                    Flying
    Printing                      The Garage
    Clocks                        The Hospital
    Mungo Lost                 The Seaside
    Automatic Machines   

 

     Broadcast info

     "Mary, Mungo and Midge" premiered on BBC1 7th October 1969.
     It played for thirteen straight weeks, concluding 30th December...

 

     Mary, Mungo and Midge on DVD

     The Complete Mary, Mungo and Midge
                Region 2 / Contender / April 2004