Publicity
photograph of Christian Rodska as Ron Stryker from Follyfoot astride his trusty Triumph Tiger Cub motorbike, which appeared on the
front cover of the weekly British TV magazine Look-In for 26 June 1971, an issue that also contained the first
installment of a Follyfoot
comic-strip serial (© Look-In/Independent
Television Publications Limited/Yorkshire Television/TV München/ITV/ZDF –
reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for
educational/review purposes only)
Following yesterday's journey from
MovieLand to TVLand in order to investigate the lost children's TV show Oliver in the Overworld (click here
to read my Shuker in MovieLand blog article on this subject), today I am
remaining in TVLand in order to reminisce about another children's TV show, one
that isn't lost (it can be bought in its entirety as a DVD box set), but which
changed my entire life. Let me explain.
Much as I loved horses, as an 11-year-old
boy watching the first series of a then brand-new children's TV show here in
Britain and swiftly realising that its equine stars were being totally
overshadowed by what in my view seemed a singularly drippy and clearly doomed
romance, between a young woman named Dora Maddocks (Gillian Blake) given to
weeping oceans of tears and a young man named Steve Ross (Steve Hodson,
replacing Robin Stewart, who'd played this role in the unaired pilot episode) who
stared devotedly at her with big spaniel eyes despite being routinely spurned,
I saw little reason in continuing to watch it. But then along came the show's
rebel character, Ron Stryker (Christian Rodska), riding the motorbike of my
dreams, and a dramatic, unforgettable theme song began playing that still
haunts me to this day. Nothing more needed to be said – I was instantly,
inescapably hooked! But first, some background details regarding Follyfoot the TV show.
The
cast of Follyfoot, with Monica
Dickens (standing on the right) (© Yorkshire Television/TV München/ITV/ZDF –
reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for
educational/review purposes only)
Produced jointly by Yorkshire TV in the
UK (for screening by ITV) and by TV München in the then West Germany (for
screening by ZDF), Follyfoot was a
children's show inspired by Cobbler's
Dream, a children's novel written by Monica Dickens (who subsequently
penned others inspired in turn by the TV show) and first published in 1963 (but
in which the farm was not actually named, Follyfoot being thought up specifically
for the TV show). Follyfoot ran for
three series from 1971 to 1973, with each series containing 13 30-minute
episodes. It centres upon Follyfoot Farm, a sanctuary for retired and
mistreated horses, which is initially run by a somewhat eccentric but kind,
elderly man named Colonel Geoffrey Maddocks (Desmond Llewellyn, also famous for
playing Q in the James Bond movie
franchise) but known to everyone in the area simply as the Colonel. When his
niece Dora arrives and he sees how devoted she is to looking after the horses, however,
the Colonel eventually makes over the farm to her.
Coming to live with the Colonel after her
disinterested parents move to South America, Dora soon settles very happily
into her new home with the horses, the Colonel, and his two farm helpers –
retired boxer Slugger (Arthur English) and his second-in-command, the young,
rebellious, but deep-down good-natured biker Ron Stryker (the afore-mentioned
and above-depicted Christian Rodska). And then into their lives comes Steve
Hodson, a young man hired by the Colonel after he had been unfairly dismissed
from his previous job looking after the local Squire's horses at another farm,
and what must surely have been one of the most diffident and dawdling romances
ever seen on the small screen duly begins between him and Dora, spanning the
entire 39 episodes in a saga of soulful soul-searching but little else.
Ron
posing with his beloved, creatively-customised Triumph Tiger (© Look-In/Independent Television
Publications Limited/Yorkshire Television/TV München/ITV/ZDF – reproduced here
on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes
only)
During the show's three series, the
mercurial Dora releases Niagara-proportioned torrents of tears at the slightest
provocation, leading poor Steve such a merry dance of frustration at only ever
being thought of by her as a friend, nothing more, that in the very last
episode of the final series he departs Follyfoot Farm for pastures new, in
every sense, leaving Dora behind to stare mistily into the distance, tear ducts
filling yet again, ready to gush forth at any moment, no doubt. But enough
about rural Romeo and Juliet, what about Ron's motorbike?
I can still readily recall, 50 years
later, the first time that I saw it. I was watching Follyfoot through somewhat bored eyes if truth be told, when
suddenly a veritable vision rode into view – causing me to snap out of my
desultory daydreaming. There was Ron, wearing his usual scruffy jeans but not
his usual matching denim jacket. Instead, he was wearing an awesome black
leather biker jacket that was quite simply the coolest item of clothing I'd ever
seen, and was riding an even more awesome red and gold motorbike. Something
stirred deep within me that I now realize was my hitherto-sleeping inner biker,
suddenly awake and unleashed!
A
selection of snaps featuring Ron enjoying his motorbike (© Yorkshire
Television/TV München/ITV/ZDF – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial
Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)
As far back as I can remember, animals
had always been my greatest passion and still are today, but, prior to watching
Follyfoot, as far as vehicles were
concerned I'd always been drawn to the four-wheeled variety, and like many
other boys back then I was the proud owner of a decent collection of Corgi,
Dinky, and Matchbox toy cars (seeing the phenomenal prices that they sell for
nowadays, I wish that I still were!). Motorbikes had seemingly never even registered
on my consciousness, or so I thought – until my reaction to Ron's mean machine readily
demonstrated otherwise!
From the first moment that I saw it, my
interest in cars vanished into thin air and was instantly replaced by what became
an unwavering, enduring love for motorbikes and biking. Moreover, the fact that
Ron's motorbike, a Triumph Tiger Cub, had been extensively customized increased its
attraction for me even further.
Ron, his motorbike, and Slugger (© Yorkshire
Television/TV München/ITV/ZDF – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial
Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)
Ron had clearly wanted to make it look as much
like a rebel riding machine as his meager wages could afford. So in addition to
adding a tall metal triangular back-rest that straight away gave it a very
chopper-like appearance, he had also fitted its mirrors to incredibly tall
vertical stems that once again imitated the ape-hanger handlebars of bona fide
chops, and the horn was a klaxon horn that looked somewhat incongruously like an
old-fashioned ear-trumpet. Nevertheless, the overall effect was irresistibly
exciting to my youthful eyes, as was its loud, deep-throated roar!
Interestingly,
Ron's motorbike was actually one that in reality had been abandoned in a barn but
was rebuilt and repainted by Christian Rodska, adding all of its eyecatching extras
too, including the klaxon horn, which Christian had found in a junk shop. Moreover, according to a recent book on Follyfoot, Christian still owns Ron's bike today, although it's been in bits in boxes for some time now after he sent some parts away to be chromed but never received them back, thereby hampering his plans to rebuild it.
The
full Follyfoot-themed front cover of my
own long-retained, greatly treasured copy of the 26 June 1971 issue of Look-In, which, as you'll see, also
includes mention of an Oliver in the Overworld competition! (© Look-In/Independent
Television Publications Limited/Yorkshire Television/TV München/ITV/ZDF –
reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for
educational/review purposes only)
As for adopting Ron's biker attire: like
most of my mates, scruffy levis were standard gear for me once I became a
teenager, but it took several years of arm-twisting before my mother would
consent to my stepping out in a black leather biker jacket in order to complete my rebel
biker streed cred.
Once I'd done so, however, the inevitable
motorbike purchase soon followed – in my case it was a blue Honda CG125, the
first of many motorbikes that I've gone on to own and ride down through the
decades, sources of immense pleasure and relaxation. And all of this – a major,
defining turning point in my life, in fact – was due entirely to Ron Stryker
and his truly terrific Triumph Tiger! Thanks Ron!
Astride
my much-loved Honda CG125 motorbike during the early 1980s (© Dr Karl Shuker)
Now for The Lightning Tree. This was the
title of the uniquely memorable, and mesmerizing, theme song that played over
the opening and closing credits of every Follyfoot
episode (click here
to listen to it on YouTube, accompanied by photos of the cast and scenes from Follyfoot). Its lyrics told the thrilling
tale of a tree that had defiantly survived being struck by lightning, in spite
of its trunk and branches being burnt and bent "where the lightning
went", and urged the listeners to "never give in too easily".
Its direct relevance to Follyfoot Farm
was never overly clear to me, unless its message was referring to the horses
there having defied their previous ill-treatment elsewhere under other
ownership, living on to enjoy their greatly-deserved retirement at Follyfoot
and their kind care received there. Nevertheless, it is an iconic, intrinsic
part of the show – so much so that even today, half a century later, 'The
Lightning Tree' is still very much remembered and associated with Follyfoot.
Ron
on left, Steve on right, with ne'er-do-well Lewis 'The Louse' Hammond (Paul
Guess), centre, astride Ron's motorbike – a friend of Ron's, The Louse is also
the unscrupulous leader of The Night Riders, a thuggish biker gang (© Yorkshire
Television/TV München/ITV/ZDF – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial
Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)
So popular did the song become, moreover,
performed by an English folk-music group named The Settlers (sometimes confused
with their comparable Australian contemporaries The Seekers, but hailing from
my own West Midlands stamping ground), that when released as a single in 1971
it reached #36 in the UK singles charts. This was the highest-placed chart
entry for The Settlers, who can be viewed here singing
it on a TV show (possibly Morecambe and Wise?) from that same time period.
So now you know what ignited my passion
for motorbikes (not to mention my subsequent habitual attire of black leather
jacket and levis!), and spurred me on to becoming a biker. And just to prove
this, here I am in 2011, my teenage years and my humble little Honda CG125 long
gone but my favoured gear still evident, together with my latest motorbike
incarnation, a Harley-Davidson Heritage Soft-Tail Classic 1500 cc. Some things
never change!
Alongside
my Harley (since sold, sadly) in 2011 (© Dr Karl Shuker)
Last but definitely not least, click here to watch an awesome collection of the best motorbike-themed clips from Follyfoot
(including what for me was the above-described life-changing one!), and suitably featuring that classic mid-1970s song Motorbikin', by the incredible
Chris Spedding, one of my early rock heroes. [UPDATE: sadly, this collection of clips is no longer present on YouTube.]
Speaking of whom: click here to watch Chris performing Motorbikin' (his biggest UK chart hit) on Top of the Pops in 1975.
How I'll always remember him - Christian Rodska as Ron Stryker astride his awesome customised Triumph Tiger Cub motorbike in Follyfoot (© Yorkshire Television/TV München/ITV/ZDF –
reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for
educational/review purposes only)
UPDATE, 17 July 2024: Today I was very sad to learn that less than four months ago, on 21 March 2024, Christian Rodska had died, aged 78, after succumbing to cancer. Another of my childhood heroes gone, but never forgotten. RIP Christian, and thank you for inspiring me via your iconic screen character Ron and his awesome customised Triumph Tiger Cub to become a biker myself and enter into the exciting motorbike world that has afforded me so much pleasure down through the decades ever since.
To view a complete chronological listing of all of my
Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film/TV reviews and articles (each one instantly
accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a
complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.
Chris Spedding (© Look-In/Independent
Television Publications Limited –
reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for
educational/review purposes only)
