Sara and Hoppity (partially found children's puppet TV series; 1962-1963)

The show's title card.

Status: Partially Found

Sara & Hoppity was a children's puppet television series created by Roberta Leigh, who had previously created The Adventures of Twizzle and Torchy the Battery Boy, both of which were directed by Gerry Anderson. Produced by Roberta Leigh and directed by Arthur Provis, Sara and Hoppity was the first production by Leigh and Arthur Provis after Anderson had gone on to create other puppet series such as Supercar under AP Films. The show was based on a series of children's books by Leigh written in 1960-1961 and was commissioned by Associated-Rediffusion. Certain puppets from the series would later be revamped for use in Provis and Leigh's next series, Space Patrol.

Premise

The series revolves around Sara Brown, who lives with her parents, above their Toy Repair Shop, "The Toy Hospital." One day an old man brings in a broken windup toy, called Hoppity, to sell. He found the toy in a goblin ring and is a magic toy. The toy, called "Hoppity," can sing and dance, but it is a "falling over dance" as the toy only has one leg. Her parents want nothing to do with the toy, but Miss Julie, who lives up in the attic and makes clothes for all the toys, gives Sara the money to buy Hoppity.

The old man accepts sixpence, and Sara washes the dirty toy while her father finds a leg for the toy, but it is a bit shorter than his other leg. When wound up, the toy dances and sings his annoying: "Tiddlee-tum, tiddlee-tee" song which Sara somehow understands and, being very naughty, Hoppity's ideas often lead Sara into trouble. Though she tells them that Hoppity told her to do it, naturally, no one believes her.

Availability

The show ran for 52 13-minute episodes on ITV, running from February 27th, 1962, to February 26th, 1963, though the series copyright date dates back to 1961. The series was syndicated at least until the early 1970s. Since then, the series' original tapes have disappeared from the archives of the Associated-Rediffusion archive. They were most likely destroyed or wiped and used for other programming.

A 16mm print of the pilot episode of the series discovered in the 1990s under the possession of Leigh herself was found along with the 16mm reels of the complete series of Space Patrol. This version would appear to be the pilot produced to sell the series and not the actual first episode seen on television. The copyright given is 1960, not 1961, which is when it was among the first three completed and delivered to Associated-Rediffusion. Comments made by Head of Programme Clearances, Joan Elman, regarding the first episode of Sara & Hoppity (among other unflattering comments on the series) also suggest there were other elements in the televised version that are not in the pilot. The pilot episode was included as an extra on the Space Patrol: The Complete Series DVD set.

In 2002, a 35mm print of another episode was discovered in possession of the British Film Institute/National Film Archive. This episode was "Gorgey Georgie Goes Visiting," the 46th episode of the series. Apart from this, a small audio-less bit of footage from the episode "Aunt Mathilda's Hat" exists, along with private sound recordings of the show, none of which are available online.

List of Episodes

No.	Title	Airdate	Prod No.	Current Status
N/A	Sara and Hoppity (Pilot Version)	N/A	0	Found
1	Sara and Hoppity	2/27/1962	1	Lost
2	Hoppity Is Stolen	3/6/1962	2	Lost
3	Sara and Hoppity Bake A Cake	3/13/1962	3	Lost
4	Sara and Hoppity and the Shaggy Dog	3/20/1962	4	Lost
5	Sara's Friend has an Accident	3/27/1962	5	Lost
6	Shaggy Is Taught Some Tricks	4/3/1962	6	Lost
7	Sara and Hoppity Go Skating	4/10/1962	7	Lost
8	Washing Day	4/17/1962	52	Lost
9	Sara and the Broken Toys	4/24/1962	8	Lost
10	Shaggy in Trouble	5/1/1962	9	Lost
11	A Present for Miss Julie	5/8/1962	10	Lost
12	Gorgey Georgie Comes to Stay	5/15/1962	11	Lost
13	Aunt Mathilda's New Dress	5/22/1962	13	Lost
14	Gorgey Georgie Is Naughty Again	5/29/1962	14	Lost
15	Sara and Hoppity Get Lost	6/5/1962	15	Lost
16	Sara's Birthday	6/12/1962	16	Lost
17	Sara Does The Spring Cleaning	6/19/1962	17	Lost
18	Gorgey Georgie Comes To Tea	6/26/1962	18	Lost
19	Sara And The Junk Man	7/3/1962	19	Lost
20	Sara and Hoppity Help Mummy	7/10/1962	20	Lost
21	Hoppity Does Something Wrong	7/17/1962	21	Lost
22	A New Hat For Mummy	7/24/1962	22	Lost
23	A New Kite	7/31/1962	23	Lost
24	Fun on the Sands	8/7/1962	24	Lost
25	A Present for Jimmy	8/14/1962	26	Lost
26	Shaggy and the Flowers	8/21/1962	27	Lost
27	Sara and Hoppity Clean the Shop	8/28/1962	28	Lost
28	Sara And Hoppity Do The Wallpapering	9/4/1962	29	Lost
29	Pancake Day	9/11/1962	31	Lost
30	Aunt Mathilda's Hat	9/18/1962	32	Lost
31	Jimmy Comes To Tea	9/25/1962	33	Lost
32	The Goldfish Pond	10/2/1962	35	Lost
33	The Coalman Comes To Call	10/9/1962	36	Lost
34	Mummy Loses her Ring	10/16/1962	37	Lost
35	A Visit to the Seaside	10/23/1962	38	Lost
36	Sara Goes To School	10/30/1962	39	Lost
37	A Day at the Beach	11/6/1962	40	Lost
38	The Lonely Junk Man	11/13/1962	41	Lost
39	The Brass Band	11/20/1962	42	Lost
40	The Painting Competition	11/27/1962	43	Lost
41	A Day in Bed	12/4/1962	44	Lost
42	Sara and Father Christmas	12/11/1962	12	Lost
43	Father Christmas and the Presents	12/18/1962	47	Lost
44	A Birthday Cake for Daddy	1/1/1963	25	Lost
45	The Snowman	1/8/1963	30	Lost
46	Sara and Hoppity Quarrel	1/15/1963	45	Lost
47	Gorgey Georgie Goes Visiting	1/22/1963	46	Found
48	The Fancy Dress Party	1/29/1963	51	Lost
49	Sara is Naughty	2/5/1963	34	Lost
50	Hoppity and The Jelly	2/12/1963	48	Lost
51	The Grandfather Clock	2/19/1963	48	Lost
52	The Windy Day	2/26/1963	50	Lost

External Links

• Wikipedia page on Sara and Hoppity. Retrieved 11 Apr '15
• Archived Sara and Hoppity fan website. Retrieved 11 Apr '15
• IMDb page on Sara and Hoppity. Retrieved 11 Apr '15