Review for Roobarb & Custard - The Complete Collection

The original ‘Roobarb’, as mad as it was, aired in 1974 and ran for 30 episodes. From the moment its mad, bad and crazy electronic theme tune started (come on, sing along - Na-na-na-Nah!! Na-na-na-Nah!!Na-na-na-na-Naaah!), you knew this was no ordinary kids show.


It was a crazy, surreal, anarchic show where drawings were scruffily penned and they wobbled like billy-o. Then there was Richard Briers’ serene voice taking us through often bizarrely surreal flights of fancy as if they were the most natural thing on earth.


Playing out in the traditional pre-news, time for bed slot previously enjoyed by the likes of ‘The Magic Roundabout’ and ‘The Clangers’, the scene had already been set for its ilk. After all, those two shows were similarly mad in some ways. But ‘Roobarb’ brought a fresh sense of messy anarchy to the scene too with its pulsating, wobbly, arguably badly penned scribbles – and it worked.

Watching the show again today it remains thoroughly enjoyable, even to an adult who remembers it vividly first time around.
It was animated by Bob Godfery, a relative unknown for this type of children’s work at the time, who scribbly deployed felt-tips and a deliberately wobbly look and feel – basically doing all the things that traditional animators spent their lives trying to avoid.


Every episode features the irrepressible Roobarb, a scruffy but irrepressible dog, coming up with yet another mad idea – only to be laughed down by a chorus of ugly black crows. Custard was a lazy cat who became a Foyle to Roobarb’s persistant freneticism.

Of course, I should also mention perhaps that Roobarb was also bright green, perhaps the only colour than no dog has ever been before, and Custard, far from being yellow as you would think, was bright pink. For the first dozen or so episodes, Custard is little more than an occasional character but as the series progresses he became more and more a part of the action – so much so that the series is often referred to as ‘Roobarb and Custard’, a name that really only applies to the second series somewhat later.


Roobarb lives in a shed which seems to have a supply of anything he might need to make one of his madcap ideas a reality. Briers does all the voices as well as the narrator’s – and he does a fine job. So good that he was back on board for the remake some 30 years later in 2005.

All 30 episodes of the original series are included here and look in very good shape, all housed on the first of the three disc set.


What’s extra special about this set is that it really is the complete collection because it gathers together all 39 episodes of the 2005 remake, ‘Roobarb and Custard Too’ – a remarkably faithful adaptation which, despite being computer animated, retains much of what made the original so enjoyable. It still wobbles like crazy, it has Briers narrating, and all the original characters (as well as one or two new ones) are here too. The only real difference, apart from technical ‘improvements’ like the white background actually being white, is that Roobarb often uses a computer to help with his schemes. Such things could only have been dreamed about 30 years earlier.


Some concessions have clearly been made. The plots are somewhat more convoluted in the remake and often feature a wider cast. The scruffiness of the original has been somewhat diluted with a stronger palette and more solid blocks of colour, not altogether unpleasant but a bit more restrained. The organic pulsating of the original has been replaced with a more even, and less satisfying, computer generated one. But the intent is there and it’s still highly enjoyable stuff.


We live in a really great age where you can own the entire 69 episodes of a classic series at the mere click of a button. If you remember ‘Roobarb’ with as much fondness as I do then you really owe yourself this trip down memory lane. What’s even better is that it stands the test of time and you’ll find yourself enjoying it as much as you did in the day. As a bonus, who knows, maybe your kids or even your grandkids will enjoy it too. Fabulous stuff!