# UK Dopers: Rainbow kids' show innuendo **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-rainbow-kids-show-innuendo/286714 "2005-01-26T05:09:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-rainbow-kids-show-innuendo/286714/1 "2005-01-26T05:09:21Z")
Note this (very funny if sophomric) link (no nudity but not necessarily work-safe owing to spoken innuendo): [link](http://www.rainbow.arch.scriptmania.com/rainbow_tv_episode.html) That there was a TV show called _Rainbow_ I don’t doubt. But these are my questions: Was it _really_ for kids, or was it one of those _Pee Wee’s Playhouse_ winking shows that was really for adults? Did this clip ever make it on the air in the UK, or was it something that the people in the studio did for their own private amusement? Was any of this audio tampered with, or is this the original? If it was for kids, and was aired, did anyone notice the obvious sexual references and was anyone punished? If this is “real,” it just serves to bolster my impression that the 70s were a lot more fun than now… ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-rainbow-kids-show-innuendo/286714/2 "2005-01-26T05:23:30Z")
> [@Crandolph](#): > > or was it something that the people in the studio did for their own private amusement? [Bingo.](http://monkeyfilter.com/link.php/6000) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-rainbow-kids-show-innuendo/286714/3 "2005-01-26T05:30:40Z")
Interesting note from that link > [@](#): > > Incidentally, Roy Skelton, the voice/puppeteer of the two weird things, was also the voice of the Daleks in Doctor Who throughout its original run, over a couple of decades, from memory. If you listen to Zippy, sometimes you can catch a hint of the famous Dalek intonation. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-rainbow-kids-show-innuendo/286714/4 "2005-01-26T06:13:54Z")
Thanks! Now to break the news to my friends… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-rainbow-kids-show-innuendo/286714/5 "2005-01-26T09:01:27Z")
While we’re here, I might as well pre-emptively address another popular myth that often comes up in the same conversation; _Captain Pugwash_. The children’s TV cartoon series _Captain Pugwash_ **ABSOLUTELY DID NOT** contain characters with innuendo-based names such as ‘Seaman Staines’ and ‘Roger the Cabin Boy’. Sorry, but it just isn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-rainbow-kids-show-innuendo/286714/6 "2005-01-26T15:15:43Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > While we’re here, I might as well pre-emptively address another popular myth that often comes up in the same conversation; _Captain Pugwash_. > The children’s TV cartoon series _Captain Pugwash_ **ABSOLUTELY DID NOT** contain characters with innuendo-based names such as ‘Seaman Staines’ and ‘Roger the Cabin Boy’. Sorry, but it just isn’t true. What about Master Bates? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-rainbow-kids-show-innuendo/286714/7 "2005-01-26T15:41:12Z")
> [@Vetch](#): > > What about Master Bates? [Nope](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/pugwash.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-rainbow-kids-show-innuendo/286714/8 "2005-01-26T15:41:21Z")
Nope; it was Master Mate; that’s about as close as the myth comes to reality. Not very. And yet it has actually worked its way into people’s memory and many claim they actually remember watching it and noting the innuendo. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-rainbow-kids-show-innuendo/286714/9 "2005-01-26T15:45:26Z")
Ditto _The Magic Roundabout_; comedian Jasper Carrot made a suggestive parody of this children’s favourite on the B side of his single _Funky Moped_, but again (although to a lesser extent than the Captain Pugwash myth) the parody has wormed its way into memories. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-rainbow-kids-show-innuendo/286714/10 "2005-01-26T16:14:55Z")
Boooooo. Next you’ll be telling me that Kenny Everett didn’t sneak “Cupid Stunt” past the prime time censors for a few years…