Bernie Newnham, Barry Bonner
Who is this girl with Steed?
It’s Julie Stevens – who was really the first “Avengers” girl (then “Play School” beckoned!)
Roger Bunce
I discussed her “Avengers” and “Carry On Cleo” roles with her at the Play School reunion. She may be 77, but she’s no less cheeky.
Julie Steven with some of the Play School toys
Play School’s Humpty Dumpty expected to fetch £1.2K at auction
David Brunt
As I understand it, there were far more than three Humpties used over the course of the series. After they started to show signs of wear the toys were replaced (apart from Hamble, of which there was only one ugly doll). The final toys used at the time the series ended are at the Museum of Television in Bradford: there are others in the possession of various presenters and production staff.
And that’s before you get onto the duplicate ones used in the overseas versions…
Ian Dow
I am so sorry to hear criticism of “the ugly” Hamble.
Hamble was purchased on site on a Play School OB from Hamble in Hampshire when they forgot to bring one of the toys. Quite right that there was only one Hamble!
Roger Bunce
The Humpty I met had a slight singe on his back, as though he had been left too close to a lamp once. Could that help to identify which one he was?
By the way, Humpty was a ‘Gonk’.
Alastair Lawrance
“Gonk” was a trade name in this context. “Wonk” (careful, now…) is in common usage in a slightly derogatory way in the Westminster village, as in ‘policy wonk’, a member of a think-tank. Gonk is still a good word.
Doug Coldwell
Doing a weeks run of “Play School” in the 1970s, that naughty Humpty sneaked home with me one night to be cloned. We used velvet and stuffed him with old tights.
From the “Daily Mirror” 20th May 2014:
One of the original Humpty Dumpty toys from Play School has fetched a massive £6250 at auction.
BBC News
Play School Humpty sells at auction for £6,000
20 May 2014
A soft toy of Humpty Dumpty, used in the BBC series Play School, has been sold for more than £6,000 at an auction house in Oxfordshire.
The 53cm-high (20in) toy is one of three made for the show. Based on Humpty Dumpty from the nursery rhyme, it first appeared in April 1964 and was then in nearly every programme.
