In 1973, Magpie adopted a steam railway locomotive, 'Black 5' 44806, which was given the name 'Magpie' ( Blue Peter already had a locomotive with the same name as that show). The rhyme refers to an old English superstition concerning the portent of the number of magpies seen together in a flock, and an older version of the ending runs:Įight for Heaven Nine for Hell Ten for the Devil himself Steam engine and boat

The main lyric is an old children's nursery rhyme One for Sorrow: One for sorrow Two for joy Three for a girl Four for a boy Five for silver Six for gold Seven for a secret never to be told Eight's a wish and Nine a kiss Ten is a bird you must not miss. The theme tune was played by the Spencer Davis Group under the alias of The Murgatroyd Band, and composed by Eddie Hardin (lead voc., keyb.), Ray Fenwick (harm. The show's mascot was a magpie called Murgatroyd.

Unlike the BBC programme, Magpie was unscripted and the presenters were free to improvise the presentation of the show. The cash totaliser was a long strip of paper which ran out of the studio and along the adjacent corridor walls. Unlike its rival programme, however, it asked for cash donations rather than stamps or secondhand goods, familiar on Blue Peter. Like Blue Peter, Magpie featured appeals for various causes and charities. This lineup remained until 1977, when Tommy Boyd replaced Rae. Brady left the show in 1971 to be replaced by Douglas Rae, and Bastable left his presenting role to become the show's producer in 1972, being replaced by Mick Robertson. The first presenters were the former BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Pete Brady, Susan Stranks and Tony Bastable. Approximately 1,000 episodes were made, each 25 minutes in duration. It was not fully networked to all other ITV companies until the autumn of 1969. It was shown weekly until 1969, after which, until it ended on 6 June 1980, it went out twice a week. The programme, made by Thames Television, was first transmitted on 30 July 1968, Thames Television's first day of broadcasting. The show's creators, Lewis Rudd and Sue Turner, named the programme Magpie, as a reference to the magpie's habit of collecting small items and also because of 'mag' being evocative of ' magazine' and 'pie' being evocative of a collection of ingredients. It was a magazine format show, intended to compete with the BBC's Blue Peter, but it attempted to be more 'hip', focusing more on popular culture. Magpie was a British children's television programme shown on ITV from 30 July 1968 to 6 June 1980. Eddie Hardin, Ray Fenwick & Spencer Davis

The magpie lord series