Bertha Out of all the programmes I remember watching as a child, it's fair to say that Bertha was one of my favourites. Bertha, often referred to as Big Bertha, nowadays, was a big green machine who produced the goods that it was programmed to - often toys. This was made for the BBC by Woodland Animations, in 1986, directed by Ivor Wood and written by Eric Charles and has been repeated a lot since, but sadly is no more. It certainly made working in a factory look attractive. No accidents, strikes or pickets were ever featured here. I think it made me want to work in a factory, until I realised what they were really like. Anyway, best not to stray too much from the point. Characters included Nell and Flo the packing girls; Roy, a packing boy with red curly hair; Panjit, the fork-lift truck driver; Mr Sprott, who designed wacky things which often didn't quite work out; his assistant, Tracy, who reminded me of an Essex girl; Tom, the tea making machine; Mr Duncan; and Mr Willmake the factory owner. The factory in question was referred to as ' the Spottiswood factory.' The theme tune went somewhere along the lines of ' Bertha, lovely Bertha, you are a lovely machine. When we work out what you have to do, you can always get the goods out, always get the goods out, we can depend upon you '. However, somewhat crontary to this, Bertha would often malfunction and go wrong for a short period, producing the goods with bits missing and what not, though things would normally get sorted out after the problem was looked at. This was an animation, which was beautifully done, and is well and fondly remembered by many. Click to return to KIDS' PROGRAMMES OF THE 1980S PAGE