The original BBC TV series began on 5 February 1973 and had a total of 60 five-minute episodes. They were produced by Ivor Wood and Barry Leith at FilmFair, and narrated by Bernard Cribbins. Here is the official synopsis of each classic episode.
1973
- Orinoco and the Big Black Umbrella – On a blustery day, Orinoco is swept up by the wind!
- The Rocking Chair – Orinoco gets stuck in a tyre but all is well when it’s used to mend Great Uncle Bulgaria’s rocking chair.
- A Sticky End – Sticky toffee papers are just the thing for mending leaky ceilings.
- Great Uncle Bulgaria’s Keep-Fit Lesson – Great Uncle Bulgaria practices kicking a football, but not too successfully.
- A Safe Place – A safe place must be found for a valuable Womble History book.
- Peep-Peep-Peep – Wellington creates a telephone from tins and strings.
- The Purple Paw Mystery – Making purple ink can make a lot of mess!
- Bungo’s Birthday Party – Bungo thinks everyone’s forgotten his birthday but a surprise secret is in store.
- The Invisible Womble – Orinoco decides that if he is invisible, no one will know he’s sleeping instead of working.
- Orinoco Sees the Light – Planting light bulbs in the garden can lead to trouble.
- The Conkering Hero – How to play conkers and learn to count.
- One Pair of Feet – Wellington is rescued by Bungo disguised as a cardboard box.
- Tobermory on Television – Tobermory puts on his own TV show.
- Crossed Lines – Tobermory invents a new interburrow telephone system.
- Blow the Womble Down – A vacuum cleaner blows rubbish – out!
- Madame Cholet Returns – Cake mixing gets out of hand.
- Weighing in Time – After weighing himself, Orinoco decides to go on a diet.
- Musical Wombles – Tin cans and tennis racquets sound just like drums and guitars.
- Wombles and Ladders – A ladder is adapted to Womble size.
- Orinoco and the Ghost – Moonlight can make white shapes look deceptive.
- A Game of Golf – Golf balls sometimes travel in the wrong direction.
- North, South, East, West – Demonstration of a new portable weather vein.
- The Picnic – How to make a picnic basket not so heavy to carry.
- Games in the Snow – Plays for sleighs and how to start a minor avalanche.
- The Snow Wombles – Competition for the best snowman.
- What’s Cooking – A bird’s nest in the ventilation shaft.
- Spring Cleaning Time – An elastic washing line can lead to trouble.
- Marrow Pie – A packet of fertilizer makes a marrow grow and grow.
- The Cement Mixer – Paw prints in wet cement.
- The Circus comes to Wimbledon – The Wombles put on their very own circus act.
1975
- Bungo Up a Tree – Going up a tree is easier than coming down.
- Time and Slow Motion – Tobermory “organises” so more work can be done in less time.
- Tomsk in Trouble – Tomsk gets in a tangle learning to make his bed.
- The Largest Womble in the World – Orinoco finds a huge coat – and tries it on for size.
- Running out of Steam – The Wombles recreate the days of the steam train.
- Orinoco’s Midnight Feast – Orinoco is too hungry to wait until midnight!
- Speak Up – Tomsk joins up the water pipe with the telephone pipe by mistake.
- The Vanishing Pancake – Orinoco is the best judge of pancakes in the whole world.
- Madame Cholet and the Blackberries – Blackberry time and no volunteer pickers!
- The Fruit Machine – The one-armed bandit that does not produce real fruit.
- Portrait of Great Uncle Bulgaria – The painting that comes alive.
- Very Behind the Times – An enormous road to be built causes panic.
- The Burrow Hot Line – Papers and wet laundry get muddled on the washing line.
- Trunk Call – A hidden Womble is mistaken for a talking tree.
- MacWomble the Terrible – A monster in a kilt turns out to be quite friendly.
- A Single Piper – Peace at last when a musical instrument is broken.
- Porridge for Breakfast – The Scottish Womble who likes salt on his porridge.
- Highland Games – The Wombles try sword dancing and hammer throwing.
- Home Sickness – Womble poetry is always entertaining to other Wombles.
- Goodbye MacWomble – Cousin MacWomble takes his bagpipes home and he leaves the others in peace.
- Hic-Cups – Tomsk and Bungo get hic-cups.
- Film Show – A film all about the Wombles – but some of it turns out upside down.
- Pirate Gold – Following a pirate treasure map.
- Warm and Cosy – Another experiment in the workshop goes wrong.
- Autumn Leaves – Tomsk discovers knitting needles pick up leaves very quickly.
- The Womble Times – The Wombles make their own printing press.
- Operation W.R.A.P. – Learning first aid for an operation.
- The Secret Snorer – Orinoco falls asleep when he should be scaring crows away.
- Womble Fool’s Day – Great fun with a rubber hammer.
- Womble Summer Party – Demonstration of magical vanishing tricks.
1990
Central Independent Television, part of the ITV network, bought a controlling share of the European branch of FilmFair in the early 1980s. After showing repeats of the original 1970s Wombles episodes on ITV, they made two half-hour specials, still narrated by Bernard Cribbins.
- World Womble Day (30 August 1990)
- Wandering Wombles (20 December 1991)