Andrew Newton takes a trip back to the 1980s to revisit a selection of 8-bit computer games based on popular British kid’s TV shows…
The children’s television programmes of the 1980s were wonderful, they had to be back in the day as quality was essential. There were no all day children’s channels back then, no BBC iPlayer or Disney Channel to come home to so teatime television was crucial entertainment for children and for the main TV competing channels (BBC and ITV) as well.
With such quality kid’s programming it may come as no surprise that many of these programmes were made into games for the likes of the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad and Commodore 64, some even made it onto the 16 bit systems. Below are some of those great kid’s programmes that did make it to our computer screens…
The Trap Door – Piranha Software
The Trap Door title screen on the CPC
“Don’t you open that Trap Door, you’re a fool if you dare!”, were the opening lyrics to the theme to The Trap Door but in this game, being the fool and opening the titular door was the key to great entertainment. The programme was a plasticine animation that followed the misadventures of Berk, a blue friendly creature who worked as a servant, as he went about preparing meals for the bad-tempered Thing Upstairs. Who this Thing Upstairs was, we never saw, but his booming, angry voice often was the cause of Berk’s interaction with the Trap Door. Berk had two companions, Boni the sensible skull and Drutt, the mischievous spider-like creature.
Everyone smiles for the camera in the C64 version.
In the game, players would take control of Berk and help him fulfil the demands from the Thing Upstairs. This mostly involved opening the Trap Door to let various creatures, such as worms and strange flying creatures, come through and use them in a certain way with a certain item found around the kitchen. Berk would then have to put these items into the dumb waiter and send it up to the Thing. Boni and Drutt would help or hinder tasks but all the time the ire of the Thing Upstairs would be ever increasing.
A freaky monster from the Trap Door chases Berk off the screen – Amstrad CPC.
The Trap Door featured lovely chunky graphics, well designed puzzles and all the charm of the TV series, the only downside was the lack of Willie Rushton doing the West Country voice of Berk.
After receiving praise and high scores (well deserved) from practically all the magazines of the time, a sequel was released called Through the Trap Door, and we’ll look at this one at a future date.
Postman Pat – Alternative Software
Postman Pat does a suspiciously fascist salute while a dog rides a bike in the background. Amstrad CPC.
Back in the days before posties wore un-ironed red polo shirts and an assortment of casual leg wear (I saw one wearing jorts once, shocking), there was Postman Pat in his smart blue uniform. Starting on the BBC back in 1981, children would follow the titular Pat as he went around on his rounds in the little village of Greendale. Accompanied by his black and white cat Jess, Pat would deliver his letters and help out his neighbours with whatever little problem they happened to have. With such a simple premise to the show, Pat’s postie adventures easily transferred to the computers of the time (after all, mundane jobs had proved very successful with the likes of Paperboy and Trashman).
Pat avoids an oil spill on the road, which would have moved him a whole millimetre to one side. ZX Spectrum.
The first Postman Pat game (yes, there were more later) had Pat driving the most wobbly van ever around Greendale, collecting letters and parcels from Mrs Goggins at the post office and making the deliveries. While making these deliveries, Pat will be interrupted by people asking for help (as in the programme) and players will be required to help him herd some lost sheep or deliver some medicine to Miss Hubbard. Players can also encounter Miss Hubbard on the road as she is the dangerous cyclist that appears in front of Pat’s van at corners and junctions. Besides the cyclist hazard on the road, players will also encounter oil spills, and plenty of them. These do nothing at all on the game’s easy mode but on hard mode it can cause Pat to crash his van, and players only get three vans.
Pat talks to Mrs Goggins the post-mistress about the Post Office Horizon Scandal. C64 screen.
Players have a time limit in which to finish all deliveries, it’s a very generous time limit so there should be no problem in carrying out the tasks. In fact, it’s too generous and before the time is up players will do at least all tasks at least twice. The biggest difficulty is the game’s hard mode. This mode makes crashing Pat’s van exceptionally easy to do, even by clipping a grass verge can write off the van (though going by how it wobbles it wouldn’t pass an MOT).
Postman Pat is quite an enjoyable game with its nice chunky graphics and a decent enough rendition of the Postman Pat theme.
Count Duckula: No Sax Please, We’re Egyptian – Alternative Software
Count Duckula intro screen on the Spectrum
British animation studio Cosgrove Hall created a huge amount of programmes that hooked children to the TV, Jamie and the Magic Torch, Chorlton and the Wheelies and Danger Mouse to name but a few, however only very few got their own computer game (or videogame as we call them now). One of those that did get their own game was the most likeable vampire in the world, Count Duckula. Not only was Duckula a vegetarian vampire, he also was voiced by the wonderful David Jason. Each week, Duckula would have various adventures, numerous mishaps while being accompanied by his loyal butler Igor and a loving nanny called Nanny.
Which direction to take? ZX Spectrum screenshot.
Lucky Duckula finds a key in front of a locked door on the C64 version.
In the game (named after the title of the first episode), Count Duckula, Igor and Nanny head to Egypt in the teleporting Castle Duckula to find the Mystical Sax which is located in the pyramid of the great Pharaoh Upanatem (a pun on ‘up and at ’em’). Players will have to make their way to the top of the pyramid by collecting keys and items and solving puzzles if they want to have a chance of getting the magical saxophone before time runs out and the castle teleports back to Transylvania. Duckula will have to be careful of the mummies, bats and other nasty creatures that call the pyramid home.
Count Duckula: No Sax Please, we’re Egyptian scored fairly highly in many games magazines of the time and genuinely deserved them.
Sooty & Sweep – Alternative Software
This very basic title page on the Spectrum is the best drawn of all the 8bit versions.
Sooty, a little mute yellow bear, has been a staple on children’s television since the 1950s. As time went on he was joined by his dog friend Sweep (who made adorable squeaky noises) and then Soo (a human speaking panda), together they would have fun, cause mischief and watch Sooty do magic with their human presenter.
A brown Sooty narrowly avoids a beetle in the hallway on the C64.
In the game, Matthew Corbett (the human presenter during the 80s) has gone out and left the three characters alone, unfortunately, Sweep has been out into the garden and brought all his mucky old bones in and left the door open so all the insects have got into the house. Sooty must journey around the house collecting the bones and use his magic wand to stun the insects. The game also features a 2 player mode that allows a friend to control Sweep who is armed with his water pistol. Keys could be found to open locked doors and there were also recharge boxes to charge up the wand and water pistol weapons.
Sooty & Sweep received very average scores which is a bit of a shame as the gameplay is great for younger players. The Spectrum version intro music isn’t good for the ears, so a bit of a warning there if you go to look up a gameplay video.
The Sooty Show is still available to watch now on Youtube and ITV channels should you feel the need to see if it is as good as you remember.
Sooty heads to his room for a kip but finds Soo, some insects and Sweep’s muddy bone. Spectrum screen.
SuperTed: The Search for Spotty – Alternative Software
SuperTed was one of those programmes for younger children and centred around the adventures of a cuddly teddy bear with super powers. He even had his own tragic origin tale; a toy factory marked him as a reject and threw him out but an alien called Spotty brought him to life using cosmic dust. Spotty then took Ted to Mother Nature who gave him super powers that he could use when he said the magic word. Alongside his friend, SuperTed would fight against the villainous Texas Pete and his henchmen Skeleton (a literal skeleton played by the magnificent Melvyn Hayes of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum) and Bulk (the fat and stupid sidekick played by comedy actor Roy Kinear) and foil his dastardly deeds which would often harass the local wildlife.
Not only has Texas Pete kidnapped Spotty, he’s also stolen his spaceship. Amstrad CPC screenshot.
SuperTed: The Search for Spotty (also known as ‘SuperTed: The Search for Spot‘) is like a horizontal shooter but without the shooting and has SuperTed chasing after the evil Texas Pete, who has kidnapped Spotty. In order to rescue Spotty, players will need to fly through the air and punch his way through all the forces that Texas Pete sends their way, this is repeated through several levels but in different locations with the first being on Earth. Players will have to fight Bulk and Skeleton throughout the levels, but to rescue Spotty at the very end it will be necessary to beat Texas Pete himself.
There claims to be two difficulty levels but there doesn’t seem to be much difference between the two, the ‘bosses’ are quite easy to beat on both and the enemy forces don’t seem to present any problems as you fly along.
SuperTed: The Search for Spotty is wonderfully colourful (even on the Spectrum), runs smoothly on the Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 but a bit jittery on the Spectrum and is a nice little game for the age group who would have liked the TV programme. Would die-hard players of the likes of R-Type have been happy? Probably not, but little Billy who had just come home from infant school would like it.
In the final battle, SuperTed rescues Spotty by punching Texas Pete in the shins. C64 screenshot.
So there we have it, 5 classic children’s programmes that were turned into 8bit games. Some were excellent, some mediocre but all provided great entertainment for the budget price of £1.99/£2.99. Until next time my retro friends, I am going to think wistfully of those days when computer games were available in newsagents, supermarkets and even chemists.
What are your favourite 8-bit games ‘As Seen on T.V.’? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Andrew Newton
