External links
- Gus at Flambards
- Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine South West Film & Television Archive
Gus Honeybun was the station mascot for Westward Television, and later Television South West, from 1961 to December 1992. [1] A puppet rabbit, and star of Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays, he achieved a longevity for a TV puppet second only to the Sooty characters. [2]
The clips were filmed at Westward/TSW's Plymouth studios in the Derry's Cross part of the city. There were four different Gus Honeybun puppets and TSW employed a person to create Gus Honeybun's wardrobe. Gus had a theme tune composed by TV composer Ed Welch. A short video was made to accompany it, featuring Gus and several TSW presenters walking around in Plymouth. A 7" picture disc single of the theme song was released in 1987 to several local record shops. Other Gus merchandise available included cuddly toy puppets, keyrings and car stickers. One car sticker said "Watch Gus on TSW!" and had his face and the TSW logo on it.
The character was devised to fill unsold advertising slots during children's TV broadcasts. Several ITV franchise stations at one time had a regional birthdays slot (often following Children's ITV or the previous incarnation of the children's television slot) with a continuity announcer and puppet announcing children's birthdays. With Gus, the announcer would read out a birthday card and the puppet would give a jump, known as a bunny hop, for each year of the child's life. Alternatives to bunny hops were ear waggles, head stands, winks and later "putting out the lights" and a colour-distorting "magic button". Gus appeared with virtually every Westward/TSW presenter, including the late Ian Stirling, Fern Britton, Judi Spiers, David Fitzgerald, Ruth Langsford and Sally Meen. The character was given the full name Augustus Jeremiah Honeybun by some continuity announcers, and was said to have been found under a gorse bush on Dartmoor in 1961 by the founders of Westward Television.
During the TSW era, Gus was broadcast twice a day on weekdays (before and after Children's ITV), and usually once a day at weekends. The show usually lasted about 2 or 3 minutes per episode. From 1987 to 1990, TSW used to often opt out of showing the first and last Children's ITV in-vision continuity links of the day so it could fit in Gus' birthday slot on weekday afternoons.
There was also a TSW-/Gus-branded Hoppa bus, made by local bus and coach company Western National. It was in regular use on most service routes until TSW's demise in 1992.
Gus Honeybun attracted a cult following and it was not unknown for adults to write in requesting "bunny hops" etc. 12 was the official age limit for having a birthday read out on air, so people of 40 were presented as being 4 and so on. [3]
Gus Honeybun was so identified with regional television in the south-west that when TSW's managing director Harry Turner presented the station's ITV franchise renewal in 1991 he took Gus with him. [1] However, Gus's Magic Birthdays series and his career at the station were ended at the start of 1993, when Westcountry Television took over from TSW after winning the franchise.
The last-ever Gus Honeybun programme aired on 31 December 1992, at the tail end of the final TSW Today , which paid tribute to the station's 11 years of service. The programme saw Gus returned to the moor and reunited with his rabbit family with the help of continuity announcers Ruth Langsford and David Fitzgerald. The successor ITV franchise Westcountry provided a programme called Birthday People , but this was cancelled in 2004.
The puppet was spoofed on Victoria Wood As Seen On TV by Susie Blake's continuity announcer character accompanied by 'Wally Wallaby'. Terry Wogan for some time referred to Gloria Hunniford (whose show preceded his on national BBC Radio 2) as Gloria Honeybun.
In the post-apocalyptic novel by Jasper Fforde entitled Shades of Grey , which is set 1500 years into the future, Devon and Cornwall are known as 'The Honeybun Peninsula'.
In 2024, Gus Honeybun's story featured in several episodes of the BBC Radio 6 Music weekend programme, Radcliffe and Maconie , in which listeners recalled their experiences of the rabbit.
ITV1 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for the central and northern areas of Scotland where STV provides the service.
ITV Westcountry, formerly known as Westcountry Television and Carlton Westcountry, was the ITV franchise holder for the South West of England, covering Cornwall, Devon, Isles of Scilly, southern and western Somerset and western Dorset. The company replaced its predecessor, TSW, from 1 January 1993. The station was owned and operated by ITV plc under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited.
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Television as a single entity, but the two companies are still separately licensed. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc under the licensee of "ITV Broadcasting Limited". Carlton has been branded on air as "ITV1" since 28 October 2002. Carlton Television Ltd, the original holder of the licence, has since been dissolved. Carlton UK Television Limited however is now known as ITV Consumer Limited and legally operates ITV plc's websites. As Carlton's name has no relation to its region, its on-screen identity has been completely removed. Other regions have kept their original company name as a region name and in their local news name.
Westward Television was the first ITV franchise-holder for the South West of England. It held the franchise from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. After a difficult start, Westward Television provided a popular, distinctive and highly regarded service to its region, until heavy competition led to its franchise not being renewed by the IBA. Westward launched the career of many broadcasters who became well known nationally, won numerous awards for its programming, and heavily influenced its successor, TSW.
Television South West (TSW) was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from studios at Derry's Cross in Plymouth, Devon.
The history of ITV, the United Kingdom and Crown Dependencies "Independent Television" commercial network, goes back to 1955.
Ruth Wendy Langsford is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows, including This Morning (1999–2022), of which she is the longest-serving presenter, Gift Wrapped (2014), How the Other Half Lives (2015–2019), and Ruth Langsford’s Fashion Edit (2017–present). Since 1999, Langsford has been a regular panellist on the ITV talk show Loose Women, becoming a presenter in 2013. In 2017, she took part in the fifteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, in which she finished in ninth place.
TSW Today was the news programme on Television South West, the ITV licensee for South West England.
Birthday People was a British children's television programme that ran for several years on south-west England's regional channel Westcountry Television. The programme, showcasing children's birthday cards and messages, was Westcountry's replacement for the highly successful Gus Honeybun slots aired by the company's predecessors TSW and Westward and was a considered a very poor replacement by viewers.
ITV West Country is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the South West England franchise area on the ITV network. Previously, between 2009 and 2013, the area was a non-franchise region, branded with the same name, incorporating the former ITV Westcountry franchise area and the ITV West sub-region of the ITV Wales & West franchise. The two companies which make up the new region - ITV Wales & West Ltd and Westcountry Television Ltd - each still legally exist; the former holding company for ITV Wales and West was however dissolved on 7 February 2023.
Jerry Foulkes is a former presenter of Children's ITV in the United Kingdom. He is also an ex-radio disc jockey and has successfully worked in the UK television industry for many years.
Richard Coombs is a British puppeteer who has worked extensively on television shows, feature films, commercials, and music videos. From 1987 to 1988, he worked on the ITV Saturday morning children's show, Get Fresh, where he operated the puppet Gilbert the Alien, alongside fellow puppeteer John Eccleston, with the character's voice performed by Phil Cornwell.
Ian Stirling was a British actor and television presenter, best known for his work with Westward Television and TSW.
Helen McDermott is a British radio and television presenter, best known for her work at Anglia Television.
This is a timeline of the history of the British television network ITV.
This is a timeline of the history of the British broadcaster Television South West (TSW) and its predecessor Westward Television. Between them, they provided the ITV service for the South West of England from 1961 to 1992.
This is a timeline of the history of the British broadcaster Westcountry Television. Westcountry provided the ITV service for the South West of England from 1993 to 2009, after which the service name "ITV West Country" has been used across the West and South West of England.
This is a timeline of the history of regional news on the British television network ITV.
This is a timeline of children's programming on the British ITV network and ITV Digital Channels. The timeline starts in 1980 when ITV launched its first branding for children's programming, although programmes for children had been broadcast on ITV from the earliest years of the network.