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Roobarb and Custard is one of many classic TV series from my childhood, the original of which was made in 1974 when I was just two, so I mostly remember it as it was repeated ad nauseum in the late ’70s and into the early ’80s. Seeing it again instantly reminds me of those classic opening credits when our hapless hero hound struggles to open the door, his ears pricking up, and the bark near the end.
While there was a DVD collection back in 2003, this one gives you much more for your money since, not only does it include all 30 original five-minute Roobarb episodes, but also all 39 seven-minute episodes from its 2005 follow-up, Roobarb and Custard Too.
The first set of episodes begin with When Roobarb Made a Spike, mistaking a bird’s beak for a spike. And noticing that the ‘spike’ was yellow. Erm… aren’t dogs colourblind? But I digress 😉
Roobarb disguises himself as a piece of bread, but soon decides “the idea had gone a bit stale” (groan). He’s quite a resourceful canine, but his exploits are sometimes thwarted by his neighbour’s feisty feline, Custard.
The original 1974 Roobarb series had the charm of the the rudimentary drawings and the patchy colouring-in, which is all here and it’s all looking as amazing as ever. I never saw the 2005 revamp, Roobarb and Custard Too, at the time as I was a bit older than a child then, and it certainly retains the style, as well as Roobard’s shed – this time with a computer that’s controlled by a mouse on a wheel, plus the return of Richard Briers on narration duties.
The original Roobarb was made in a 4:3 ratio, while the 2005 series was designed in 16:9. However, on my discs, the whole image is given an anamorphic squeeze into a 4:3 ratio, and that is put within a 16:9 image, so there’s no way you can stretch it out. I hope that was corrected for the retail version… However, I suspect that, given the menus for that series are also in 4:3, this is how it will remain. And a point about the menus – the main ones all feature the original theme tune.
The collection comes on three discs, with the original series in full on disc one, then 20 episodes of the follow-up on disc two and, finally, the remaining 19 on disc three.
Sadly, there are no extras on this disc, but you’ve got SEVEN HOURS of cartoons on these discs, so what more do you need?
And I know I normally like one chapter every five minutes in my films, when it comes to this collection, chapters are rather an irrelevance given the length of the episodes.
The episodes titles are as follows:
Roobarb episodes:
- When Roobarb Made a Spike
When Roobarb Didnt See the Sun Come Up
When Roobarb Was Being Bored and Not Being Bored
When the Tree Fell to Pieces
When Roobarb Found Sauce
When It Was Night
When It Was Christmas
When the Sun Was Just Right
When the Opera Wasnt a Phantom
When There Wasnt Treasure
When It Wasnt Thorsday
When Roobarb Was Cheating
When Custard Was Sorry
When Roobarb Mixed the Paint
When Roobarbs Heart Ruled His Head
When Youre Going to Fly Fly High
When the Day Didnt Arrive
When Roobarb Did the Lions Share
When Roobarb Was at the End of His Tether (and So Was Custard)
When Custard Stole the Show
When There Was a Dance at Foxes Dale
When Roobarb Wasnt As Pleased As Punch
When Roobarb Turned Over a New Leaf
When There Was Someone Else
When the Day Wouldnt Keep Still
When Roobarb Got a Long Break
When the Pipes Call the Tune
When a Knight Lost His Day
When Custard Got Too Near the Bone
When There Was a Big Mix Up
Roobarb and Custard Too episodes:
- When There Was a Surprise
When Custard Was Grounded
When Custard Wrote a Book
When There Was an Elephant
When Custard Was Very Very Naughty
When the Books Went Bye Bye
When There Was a Wind-Up
When Roobarb Found the Hieroglyphics
When It Ended in Tears
When There Was a Big Band
When the Garden Was Dry
When There Was a Time Warp
When It Was Cool to Be Smooth
When There Was a Pottery Party
When the Computer Went On the Blink
When There Was an Opera
When the Mouse Arrived for Christmas
When Roobarb Went On a Fitness Drive
When Modern Thingumajigs Need Tweaking
When the Wind Blows the Space Age Will Stop
When There Wasnt a Boiled Egg
When Rookie Fell Out of the Sky
When the Laughing Had to Stop
When Roobarb Was Bowled Over
When Walters Web Caught Roobarbs Eye
When There Was a Dance Festival
When There Was Magic
When the Ballet Hit the Skids
When a Dinosaur Broke Loose
When Jeremy Barker Turned Up
When There Was a Country Fayre
When the Molecules Got Loose
When There Was a Duel
When It Was a Wibbling Week
When the Astrognomes Landed
When Everything Went Lumpy
When Communications Werent the Best
When There Really Was a Something
When There Was a Cuckoo
Roobarb and Custard: The Complete Collection is released tomorrow on DVD, and click on the packshot for the full-size image.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
10 7 7 0 |
| OVERALL | If you have kids, buy it! |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 423 minutes
Studio: Simply Media
Cat.no.: 166458
Year: 1974, 2005
Released: May 16th 2016
Chapters: n/a
Fullscreen: 4:3
Sound: Dolby Digital 1.0 (Mono)
Languages: English
Subtitles: None
Disc Format: 3*DVD9
Roobarb:
Director: Bob Godfrey
Producer: Bob Godfrey
Creator/Writer: Grange Calveley
Music: Johnny Hawksworth
Animation: Bob Godfrey and Paul Vester
Narration: Richard Briers
Roobarb and Custard Too
Director: Jason Tammemagi
Producer: Gerard O’Rourke
Creator/Writer: Grange Calveley
Music: Jon Atkinson
Animation: Richard Keane
Narration: Richard Briers
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.