The A – Z of Classic Children’s TV: The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1964)   Episodes 1 – 4

In this ongoing series of posts I will be reflecting on the TV programmes of my childhood in alphabetical order, broadly speaking, and rewatching them to see how much of their original magic remains.

Pretty much every year during my childhood one programme seemed to reappear during the Easter, Summer or Christmas holidays. In my memory, it was like the first bluebell in Spring, the first butterflies of summer (at least back in the 70s) or the first sight of the new Woolworths advert in November. You knew that school had finished and that you could just relax. That unmistakable theme tune, and some instantly recognisable incidental music meant that once again you were going to sit through all thirteen episodes of The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe!

Note that I said it seemed to be the case. In fact, the first broadcast was weekly on a Tuesday from October 12 1965 to January 4 1966. This format continued through its first three showings before August 1972 introduced the daily episodes that we knew and loved. This would have been the first time I had seen it, and I know that it was when I was staying at my Grandparents’ cottage for two weeks that summer.

Episodes 1 – 4

The first episode shows the storm and shipwreck that led to Crusoe’s stranding on the desert island that would become his home. Given its studio bound filming, the initial scenes are extremely effective, giving a feeling of danger and disaster with very limited resources. However, when he comes ashore you can see that the studio has been left behind and even now there is a real magic to the exploration of the island. That magic would have been even stronger when I was a child given that we hardly ever saw nature documentaries in the early 1970s. It turns out that it was Gran Canaria apparently. The voiceover is very effective from the beginning as Lee Payant gives Crusoe a real character. We see his younger days as a very immature and headstrong man with a despairing father. Robert Hoffman, the actor on screen makes Crusoe a very dashing hero with all too human failings. I appreciate the background more now than I probably did then.

The second episode is a very interesting time capsule with Crusoe praying to God, looking through his tobacco pouch, reflecting on his civilised nature and calling other races ‘savages’! Well, it was very much a product of its time and, given how faithful it is to the original novel, that time was the end of the 17^th Century! As he climbs rocks and tries to find ways to survive the veneer of civilisation starts to be rubbed off. He realises that he must become a different person. I only realised rewatching it today how much silence there was in the episodes. We were very different then with no smartphones, regular closedowns on TV and Sundays that went on for ever, and, consequently, a much higher threshold for silence and reflection than we do nowadays! It’s interesting that it doesn’t shy away from the unpleasant nature of the battle for survival with the killing of a goat being shown in some detail, and the orphaned baby of the goat he killed becoming his responsibility due to his feeling of guilt.

Episode three sees the building of a shelter plus a mother goat who has clearly, and conveniently, been nursing her own kid and is quite happy to nurse the offspring of another goat. We return once again to Robinson’s years as a feckless young man with an increasingly offhand attitude to the law. He decides to go to sea and become the master of many slaves to make his father proud – another sign of very different times! The wreck of the Esmerelda appears on the horizon, and he swims out to see what he can scavenge. Viewers had seen a frightened dog during the storm, and almost certainly assumed that he had died in the wreck, but he has survived! I remember being very happy then, and it turns out I am still happy now!

Episode four continues the slow building nature of this programme which starts with that unmistakable theme tune and develops the story by using flashbacks interspersed with the reality of everyday life on the island. It concentrates on practicality rather than daring adventures and it turns out to be a good guide to survival if you ever find yourself on a desert island. His early attempts to get himself a place on a ship lead to seasickness and attempted robbery respectively. It’s a wonder he didn’t give up and go back to his boring law office – I would! Captain Darrick takes him on board after saving him from the robbers and his adventures begin in earnest. Back on the island, he and his dog discover a cave that will become his shelter for the rest of his time on the island. By the way, it turns out that rum soaked materials set on fire are a very good fuse for gunpowder – in case you ever need to use that nugget of information! You even get rudimentary physics when Crusoe tells you that the explosion has the greatest force where the resistance is greatest!  

Well, that’s the first third of the series over and it is just as fascinating as a piece of archive television and a reflection of prevailing ideas and attitudes as it is in terms of drama. It is curiously grown up in content, requiring the young viewer of yesteryear and the older viewer of now to concentrate and be content to see a story taking its time to develop both the backstory and the drama of life on the island. Next time, it will be Episodes 5 – 8. See you then.