"Woomerang, Boomerang- Look over there!
    It's Tingha and Tucker, the two little bears!"
 

   Tingha and Tucker were a pair of puppet koala bears who found fame in the
   hands of "Auntie Jean" Morton. Jean was an ATV continuinty announcer
   and part of her role involved her introducing ATV's children programming each day.
   The story goes that Jean had in her possession a soft toy koala bear which
   her parents had given to her. Whilst she was on air one afternoon, an engineer
   made it appear over her shoulder, like a puppet. The koala enamoured the viewers,
   many of whom wrote in to let ATV know this. They were subsequently asked
   to suggest names for a new bear family, and Tingha and Tucker were the
   ones that were chosen. New koala hand puppets were constructed and
   eventually, Jean and her koala pals opened the doors to The Tingha
   and Tucker Club...

   Over time, many more antipodean pals joined the club. The Tree House
   Family of Willie Wombat, Grandpa Wombat, Wibble and Wobble, Wendy
   Wombat and Cousin Wanda, and the likes of Katie Kookaburra, Ermyntrude
   Emu and Kiki the Kangaroo all contributed to the fun and games, under the
   matronly supervision of "Auntie Jean", who never let things get out
   of hand. Most importantly, all the animals had a role to play in what
   was, in fact, a very real Kids Club because The Tingha and Tucker Club
   was something those ever-keen viewers were all invited to join. It had
   a club badge, and rules, and its own club song and even a special
   greeting (index finger aligned along the nose, as you bowed your head).
   And the viewers joined in their thousands. Nay, tens of thousands. At its
   peak, there were 750,000 members of this tv club and the massive volume
   of mail it generated completely overwhelmed both ATV and the Post Office.
   Indeed, its ridiculous success actually hastened its closure!

   "Tingha and Tucker Club" was broadcast monday to friday, and depending
   on the schedule, would run anywhere between ten and twenty minutes. It also
   garnered its own Sunday spin-off "The Tree House Family" (more on that
   here). It's often forgotten that another ATV announcer, Pat Astley regularly
   appeared on the show.

   Looking back now, we can see that Tingha and Tucker were the forerunners
   to all those stars of the BBC Broomcupboard, and those Saturday Morning
   puppets. Gordon the Gopher, Otis the Aardvark, Ed the Duck and the rest
   all owe a debt to our marsupial pals...

   » The series is simply billed as "Tingha and Tucker Club". There's no
       "The" in the title!

   » Tingha comes from an aboriginal word meaning "flat" or "level".
        It's also the name of a mining town in New South Wales.

 

   See also

   The Tree House Family

 

   Tingha and Tucker Club info

   magic password:             club motto:
   Woomerang Boomerang       Bear in mind to be good and kind

   president:                            chairbears:
   Jean Morton                     Tingha and Tucker

   treasurer:                       secretary:
   Kiki the Kangaroo               Willie Wombat 

   overseas members:         committee members:
   Tree House Family                 Katie Kookaburra
   Willie Wombat                    Ermyntrude Emu
   Wibble and Wobble             Ossie Octopus
   Grandpa Wombat                Porky Possum
   Wendy Wombat
   Cousin Wanda

   underwater
   correspondant:
   Petunia Platypus

 

    theme:          Tony Hatch
    presenters:    Jean Morton
                         Pat Astley
                      
 

     On the web


    No links right now...
     

 
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