The Wombles is set for a TV return 50 years after it first aired: Uncle Bulgaria and co will be wombling free on Wimbledon Common once again with modern remake of hit children’s show from team behind ITV’s The Ipcress File
- ‘Underground, overground, wombling free’ creatures revived by hit writer
- Wombles legend Mike Batt says time is right for eco-friendly creature comeback
Beloved British children’s TV show The Wombles is being recycled for a third time – 50 years after the Wimbledon Common burrowers first appeared on screen.
The fuzzy, environmentally minded creatures – who lived by the slogan ‘make good use of bad rubbish’ – are being revived for a new TV series written by Will Davies, whose credits include How To Train Your Dragon and the Johnny English series of spy spoofs.
First introduced to the world in 1968 in a series of children’s books by Elisabeth Beresford, the Wombles live underground in south-west London, collecting and making use of the rubbish left out by human beings.
But the cuddly creatures shot to global fame in 1973 with a BBC series of stop-motion animated shorts, narrated by Bernard Cribbins.
The show came with an accompanying novelty band, led by musician Mike Batt, which performed the theme tune Remember You’re a Womble – and elevated the litter-pickers to the status of timeless British icons.
The Wombles were created by Elisabeth Beresford in 1968 – but shot to global fame with the BBC series five years later (above)
Elisabeth Beresford pictured with Great Uncle Bulgaria, one of the most beloved Wombles characters
ITV rebooted the series in the late 1990s (above). The revival lasted for three series before the Wimbledon Common dwellers were retired again
The original Wombles: Madame Cholet, Tomsk, Bungo, Wellington, Great Uncle Bulgaria, Orinoco and Tobermory
CGI versions of the Wombles have been appearing on the official Facebook page for a number of years
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Deadline reports the family of subterranean fuzzy eco-warriors is due for a comeback under the guidance of screenwriter Davies and Altitude Television, which produced 2022 spy thriller series The Ipress File, based on the Len Deighton novel.
Altitude has not specified how the show will be modernised – though the Wombles’ official Facebook page has featured clips of the creatures rendered in CGI for a number of years.
This is the third time that the Wimbledon residents have been the subject of a revival.
Wombles returned to British living rooms in the 1990s after three series’ worth of new episodes were produced by a Canadian TV company and screened on ITV, with Beresford and Batt returning to write the show and oversee its output.
Beresford died on Christmas Eve in 2010 at home on Alderney in the Channel Islands; Batt subsequently tried to reboot the show again in 2015 with a cast including Cribbins and Ray Winstone.
But the musician’s attempts to get the CGI series off the ground ended in failure after he sold the rights to the show amid financial troubles; he declared himself bankrupt in 2017.
Two episodes had been produced and screened at Cambridge Film Festival the year before but the programme was ultimately cancelled.
Word spread of a ‘woke’ Wombles remake three years ago when businessman Craig Treharne, who bought Batt’s share of the Wombles rights, sought to take the series in a new direction.
But Elizabeth Beresford’s children, including son Marcus, lashed out at the plans – and they were quietly shelved.
Original episodes of The Wombles were remastered to mark the show’s 50th anniversary earlier this year; they can be watched on the official Wombles YouTube channel.
Musician Mike Batt – who fronted the novelty band The Wombles and wrote the show’s catchy ‘Remember You’re a Womble’ theme tune – has welcomed the reboot
The Wombles have become a staple of British culture 50 years after first appearing on TV screens (Pictured here in an open top bus as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022)
Elisabeth Beresford’s daughter Kate (pictured) planted the seed of the Wombles in her mother’s head after mispronouncing Wimbledon Common as ‘Wombledon Common’
The Wombles, as a band led by Mike Batt, notched up four gold albums and four Top 10 singles
READ MORE: The Anguish of Mr Womble as he is shut out of ‘woke’ remake: Songwriter reveals his sadness at being shut out of a controversial 21st Century remake
Speaking to The Times about the new announcement, Batt – who no longer has no involvement in the show after selling the rights – said the time was right for a revival.
He said: ‘They wanted to upcycle the stuff they found to make things. When we started it, being environmentally friendly was important but now it has become vital.’
Batt added that Cribbins – who died last year aged 93 – would have been delighted by the idea of the Wombles making a comeback.
Elizabeth Beresford invented the Wombles after taking her children for a walk at Wimbledon Common in December 1966 after one of her children, Kate, mispronounced the green’s name as ‘Wombledon Common’.
Beresford, who had already written a number of children’s books, jotted down in her diary that day: ‘We had a wonderful time in the morning up on Wimbledon Common and I think I’ll invent a new race called the Wombles.
‘They are in my head, rather like tubby little bats — there’s something there.’
She based the characters – beloved icons such as Great Uncle Bulgaria, Orinoco and Madame Chloet – on members of her own family, giving them names from around the world.
The books were a sleeper hit, but it was only when the BBC showed an interest and the Wombles were made real that they found fame, after Bernard Cribbins was drafted in to replace the early narrator – Jimmy Savile.
The Wombles, as a band, notched up four gold albums and four Top 10 singles.
But Beresford’s personal life was plagued by her marriage to journalist Max Robertson – known to many as the voice of Wimbledon tennis for decades – who had a string of affairs and a long-time mistress.
The author had a string of extramarital liaisons herself after learning of her husband’s straying – but found herself threatened with blackmail after Robertson learned of her infidelities.
He photocopied pages of her private diary and threatened to take them to the press unless she signed over £75,000 of life savings. The couple divorced in 1984.
Robertson died in 2009, and Beresford ultimately had the last laugh when Batt contacted her about the 1990s TV reboot of the Wombles.
Her daughter Kate, writing in the Mail on Sunday earlier this year, said that a character from the reboot, the angry Cairngorm MacWomble the Terrible, was inspired by the broadcaster.
She wrote that Cairngorm was ‘a short-tempered bully who was very full of his own importance’.
Kate added: ‘There was no mistaking who that Womble really was — her pompous, blackmailing ex-husband, Max.’
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