T. Bag and the Sunstones of Montezuma S8E6 (1992) - FULL EPISODE

Ra Ra Rasputin. Doctor Popov is tricking everyone - including the Russian Queen - into thinking that the next sunstone has some sort of healing powers, and is using his position to line his pockets. Will Penny be able to stop him and get her hands on it, or will T-Bag and T-Shirt get there first? This episode was first broadcast on Monday, 10th February, 1992. As usual, the writing throws up numerous great silly gags that probably couldn't have been pulled off by anyone else. The "Cossasks!"/"I'm sure it will be" exchange, the "uprising in the Urals" joke, and even the aside about the cost of private healthcare... these aren't lines you expect to hear in children's television, but that's what makes this show such glorious fun. It does lead me to wonder whether they were aiming the show at a slightly older audience by this stage, or (pure speculation) they always intended to pitch it at that higher level, but previous director Leon Thau wouldn't stand for it. The reason I say that is because the change seems to coincide with Glyn Edwards taking over for the seventh series. Who knows? Meanwhile, "The day it started raining brains, you had your brolly up" is yet another one-liner I've filed away mentally and hope to be able to shoehorn into conversation one day. The role of Doctor Popov is filled by Peter Woodthorpe (sadly no longer with us), making the last of his three appearances in T-Bag, having previously been Leonardo the series before and a count in T-Bag's Christmas Ding Dong. More interestingly, Tsarina is played by Brenda Longman. Does that name ring a bell? Perhaps, perhaps not. But what if I told you that as of 2016 she's still in the same prominent role of a children's television character that she's been in since 1981 - any guesses? Well, our Brenda here is actually the voice of Soo, and it's great to get to see her here in a rare in-person part away from Sooty and Sweep. I had to look twice at one point because I thought T-Shirt was playing with his smartphone a couple of decades ahead of every other teenager, but it turns out it's just a Game and Watch (or similar). Which, of course, is even better. Oh, and keep an eye out for Tommy Boyd presenting the Children's ITV continuity at the beginning and end. I'd love to know what he was talking about as the recording cuts in... Many thanks to Grant for providing this recording. (This is a transfer from an old videotape, so please don't expect full HD quality. To the best of my knowledge, this material is not available commercially anywhere in the world, and has been uploaded for its historic interest. That said, if you are a copyright holder and object, please don't hesitate to contact me.)