That show...you know...

[tattuchu]

When I was in middle school...I dunno, this would be when I was about ten years old or so, so it'd be the mid 70's...we watched these short movies in class. I've no idea why. It's just, occasionally it'd be movie day for no apparent reason. Not that we ever complained, mind you. Anyway, I remember my teacher showing us these short films (maybe it was a TV show? ) featuring these British kids. The kids would get into various adventures I guess, though I don't remember what. But it was captivating for an American kid such as myself to see these things. Here were kids my age or thereabouts, who spoke English, but spoke it in the most peculiar way. And they lived in an area that looked very much like my home, and yet...not quite. It was like a surreal alternate reality. I think the films may have been in black and white, too, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, I know this is very vague. But does this sound at all familiar to any of our English friends here? I've been wondering all these years just what the hell those things were.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Hmmm... A TV show (or maybe a series of short films) that feature English kids. Can you give me just a little more information? Only there are at least 2 or 3 or maybe 10,000 that fit that template!

[tattuchu]

Hmmm... A TV show (or maybe a series of short films) that feature English kids. Can you give me just a little more information? Only there are at least 2 or 3 or maybe 10,000 that fit that template!

No

Throw out some ideas and I'll check them out and see if any look familiar

[ficklefiend]

Something enid blyton perhaps? Famous Five?

[tattuchu]

Something enid blyton perhaps? Famous Five?

Interesting. I looked this up and thought for sure it must be it. But the time frame is wrong. The first TV series is from 1978, and that's a little late. I would have seen these in the early to mid 70's, so I'm assuming they must have been made before then, maybe in the 60's.
Thank you, though. I may pick up some of these books.

[Mysturji]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d9QZFdW8uQ
???

[Rum]

Tat - this must be the origin of your fascination with all things British! I have often wondered!

There was something called the British Children's Film foundation which just might fit the bill. I used to watch some of these as a kid and they went on making folms as you will see below for a lot of years. Here's a clip from Wiki

"The Children's Film Foundation was a non-profit-making organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom, typically running for about 55 minutes. It was founded in 1951. For 30 years it was subsidised by the Eady Levy - a tax on box office receipts, but this was abolished in 1985. It made a few further films in the mid-1980s, by which time it had been renamed the Children's Film and Television Foundation. Many of its films, dating back to the 1960s, were shown on the BBC in the 1980s, as Friday Film Specials. It has made no films of its own since the mid-80s, but it still exists under its revised name, and in recent years it has provided funding for other projects".

And here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%2 ... Foundation

[Bella Fortuna]

I thought tat said at one time that he was British and had moved to the States... must be misremembering...

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Something enid blyton perhaps? Famous Five?

That was my first thought.

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Here come the Double Deckers?

They talk a bit peculiar. And the set looks a bit Sesame Street-ish.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Yes, that is the Peter Firth. And Brinsley Forde went on to become the guitar/vocalist with Aswad!

[tattuchu]

Tat - this must be the origin of your fascination with all things British! I have often wondered!

You may be right. In fact I was wondering about that very thing, and these film shorts were my earliest glimpse of British life.
I followed your link though and I don't think that's it, but it's hard to be sure. These shorts that remember featured regular kids getting into adventures around town. And "adventures" may be too strong a word. One episode came to me today, assuming I'm not confusing it with something else, which could easily be the case. In it, one of the kids invents his own toothpaste and goes door to door selling it with limited success. This seemed very odd to me, since you can't just put whatever the hell you want in toothpaste. It has to have certain ingredients in it in order to be effective, but the movie didn't give you any sort of message like that.
Like I said, I could be confusing the toothpaste thing with something else. But still, the English show that I remember wasn't exactly educational or anything. Like, the whole bit about the toothpaste didn't seem to be instructional in any way, no lessons learned from it. It was just a show about kids getting into mischief, or fucking around, or maybe solving some minor mysteries (though memory is very hazy). That's why it confused me as to why it was being shown to us. It was interesting, but I didn't see the point in it. And of course my teacher, like most adults, never bothered to explain anything to us. It was just, "We're going to watch a movie today," and that was it.
I wonder if it was meant to introduce us to another culture. No clue. But in my case, I do think it may have been the origin of my interest and fondness for everything British.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

I wonder if it's this one?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kids_from_47A

[tattuchu]

Here come the Double Deckers?

They talk a bit peculiar. And the set looks a bit Sesame Street-ish.

Good lord. No, that's not it, and thank goodness for it. That would've turnt me right off anything British
No, the show I'm thinking of was just regular kids doing stuff, no phony this-is-us-acting-and-aren't-we-adorable affectations.

[tattuchu]

I thought tat said at one time that he was British and had moved to the States... must be misremembering...

Well, I used to pretend I was British over at RDnet. It seemed like harmless fun at the start, just a little white lie, but I didn't want to perpetuate the lie forever. When I left that forum, it seemed like a good time to come clean and make a fresh start.

So, anyway, no, never a Brit. Just a Brit wannabe