Torchy the Battery Boy

Torchy is no ordinary toy. Built by Mr. Bumbledrop, he has a battery inside him and a magic light that can find missing things across extraordinary distances. When toys and Bumbledrop's dog Pom-Pom are lost, that light points the way to the twinkling star and a world called Topsy Turvy Land.

Created by Roberta Leigh, Torchy the Battery Boy followed The Adventures of Twizzle in AP Films' early television work. Gerry Anderson directed the first series, bringing a growing team of puppet filmmakers into another world of talking toys, magical journeys and mischievous children.

Torchy's rocket takes him to a place where toys can live independently of the children who once owned them. Animals talk, cream buns grow on trees and enormous pieces of fruit can become homes. Frutown gives the characters a community as distinctive as the inhabitants themselves.

Among those inhabitants are Flopsy the Rag Doll, Pilliwig the Clown and the spaceboy Squish. King Dithers is as indecisive as his name suggests, while Bossy Boots and other visiting children discover that treating toys badly can have consequences.

There is one limit to Torchy's independence: his battery. However magical the surroundings become, he still needs power to keep moving. That vulnerability makes his trips between Earth and the twinkling star more than simple sightseeing.

Torchy first aired in the UK on 11 January 1959. The complete programme comprises two series of 26 thirteen-minute episodes, but AP Films made only the first series. The second continued under a different production arrangement.

For the AP Films series, Roberta Leigh produced and wrote the music and lyrics, Gerry Anderson directed, Arthur Provis handled photography and Reginald E. Hill served as art director. Barry Gray arranged and conducted the music. The voice cast included Kenneth Connor, Jill Raymond, Olwyn Griffiths and Patricia Somerset.

Torchy belongs to the period before AP Films developed its own Four Feather Falls, Supercar and Fireball XL5. Seen in that sequence, it offers a chance to follow the company's expanding confidence with puppets, miniature environments and fantastic vehicles.

Explore the television chronology to see where these early productions sit alongside Gerry's later work.

1. Pom-Pom And The Toys
2. Topsy Turvy Land
3. Torchy And Squish
4. The Building Of Frutown
5. Torchy And The Broken Rocket
6. King Dithers
7. Torchy Goes Back To Earth
8. Bossy Boots Goes To Topsy Turvy Land
9. Bossy Boots Is Taught A Lesson
10. A Bell For A Penny Farthing
11. A Trick On Pom-Pom
12. Torchy Is Stolen
13. King Dithers Loses His Crown
14. Pilliwig Gets A Present
15. Bad Boy Bogey
16. Torchy And The Strange Animal
17. Bossy Boots Forgets To Be Good
18. Hungry Money Box
19. The Naughty Twins
20. The Twins Learn A Lesson
21. King Dithers Goes Down To Earth
22. Torchy Escapes At Last
23. Torchy And The Man In The Moon
24. Bogey And The Statues
25. The Moon Falls Asleep
26. Torchy’s Birthday

These episodes continue Roberta Leigh's world, but were not produced by Gerry Anderson's AP Films team.

1. Flopsy Goes On A Picnic
2. Torchy Gets A Surprise
3. Banana Bridge
4. King Dithers And Daffy
5. The Toys Get The Collywobbles
6. Bogey Learns Another Lesson
7. The Pollikan Bird Is Stolen
8. Torchy Has An Accident
9. Sparky The Dragon
10. Bogey Is Naughty Again
11. Pilliwig Cleans The Chimney
12. Pongo The Pirate
13. Pongo And The Gold Mine
14. King Dithers’ Birthday
15. Washing Day In Topsy Turvy Land
16. Gluebell Wood
17. Squish Falls Down A Well
18. Flopsy In Trouble
19. The Big Storm
20. Daffy’s Birthday
21. Flopsy Makes A Christmas Pudding
22. Gilly Golly In Trouble
23. King Bumble Drop
24. A New Suit For Pilliwig
25. The Obstinate Donkey
26. Pom-Pom Gets The Hiccups