Chockablock is a British series for young children created by Michael Cole and Nick Wilson, first broadcast on The BBC in 1981.
The series stars Fred Harris and Carol Leader (two British children's television presenters of the time) as Chockabloke and Chockagirl respectively, though they never both appear in the same episode. Instead, the episodes alternate between those featuring Chockabloke and those featuring Chockagirl. Fun fact: Harris and Leader actually recorded their episodes in two separate blocks, with Harris recording his episodes first. The transmission order was mixed so that no two consequetive episodes featured the same presenter.
Each episode features Chockabloke or Chockagirl interacting with Chockablock, a large yellow computer. Most of these interactions are in the form of rhyming games which are contained on "blocks", one of which is inserted into a slot on Chockablock's mainframe near the beginning of the episode. Chockabloke or Chockagirl then presses a button which causes a picture to appear on a screen, saying out loud what the picture shows before pressing the button again to change the picture. The new picture is always something which rhymes with whatever was in the previous picture and, if this is correctly named, Chockablock responds by chiming. However, if the answer given doesn't fit the rhyme around which the episode is themed, he'll make a sound like someone blowing a raspberry. note Next, Chockabloke or Chockagirl records themself singing a song (usually a Nursery Rhyme) only to find when the recording is played back that Chockablock has replaced any words which fit the episode's rhyme with a random sound effect, so the recording has to be played back again and the audience is asked to fill in the missing words. After a game of Rockablocks (similar to a picture matching game, only you're looking for things which rhyme with each other) and a song accompanied by a short film, it's time for Chockabloke or Chockagirl to "check out."
The series, which consists of thirteen fifteen-minute episodes, was repeated regularly throughout the 1980s, with the last scheduled broadcast being in 1989. The master tapes of eight episodes were wiped by The BBC in the 1990s, but off-air recordings of these episodes still exist.
Several episodes are available to watch on various YouTube channels.
Chockablock contains examples of:
- Animal Species Accent:
- The sheep from the "Farmer Jake" segment in Episode 3 has an accent that makes it sound like it's bleating.
- The Rhyming Cat from Episode 8 speaks (or rather sings) in an accent which sounds like a cat meowing and also uses Trrrilling Rrrs to imitate purring.
- Artistic License – Biology: In the "Bee at the Sea" segment from Episode 12, Bumble Bee asks Queen Bee for permission to go to the seaside. She says he may go on condition that he finds three things that rhyme with "bee", and summons King Bee to act as referee in Bumble's task. However, as anyone who knows anything about bees will tell you, there's no such thing as a "king bee". A queen bee is the breeding female in a colony and all male bees are drones.
- Artistic License – Geography: Episode 4 includes a segment where a train is being driven to Spain, presumably from England. This would have been rather difficult at the time the episode was made, which was more than a decade before the Channel Tunnel opened.
- British Brevity: Only thirteen episodes of this British kids' show were made, but they were re-aired on a regular basis for nearly ten years.
- Cats Are Lazy: After spending most of its segment complaining about how boring it is to only be allowed to do things which rhyme with "cat", and wishing it was some other kind of animal so it could do things which rhyme with that animal, the Rhyming Cat settles down to sleep on its mat. It does briefly consider chasing a rat which appears on the scene, but decides that it is too tired. Chockagirl even comments that the Rhyming Cat "sleeps a lot" when she introduces the segment.
- Clip-Art Animation: The animation sequences used in the series were created by moving static images across an equally static background.
- Computer Equals Tapedrive: Chockablock's mainframe includes a tapedrive at the bottom right-hand corner. The spools spin round when Chockabloke or Chockagirl is recording something, when the tape is being rewound, or when Chockablock is playing back something previously recorded.
- Couch Gag: The closing titles for each episode always feature something which appears in the episode, such as Joe Crow from Episode 2 or the cake-stealing snake from Episode 11. Usually, whatever it is pops up between the credits, but Episode 5 has the ball from Chockablock's game of skittles bouncing across the bottom of the screen.
- Counting Sheep: Episode 3 features the story of Farmer Jake who, when he can't get to sleep one night, starts counting sheep, only for the last sheep to refuse to jump the gate unless he can name eight different words that rhyme with "sheep". After some thinking, Farmer Jake comes up with his eight words, the sheep jumps the gate and Farmer Jake is finally able to fall asleep. However, "watching all those sheep" also causes Chockabloke to nod off while leaning against Chockablock, who responds by letting off a series of alarms to wake him up.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: One episode has Chockabloke whistling the theme tune as he gets out of the Chockatruck.
- Every Episode Ending: Each episode ends with Chockabloke or Chockagirl "checking out", before pressing a button on Chockablock's mainframe, getting into the Chockatruck and driving off as the credits begin to roll. The last thing shown is a (post-credits) shot of Chockablock powering down in an empty studio.
- Fake Interactivity: Occasionally, Chockablock's habit of missing out words in the songs recorded by Chockabloke and Chockagirl causes (or appears to cause) something to go wrong with the picture which is on Chockablock's screen at the time. The kids watching at home are then told that, if they fill in the missing words, the picture will be put right. (For example, Old King Cole will become "a merry old soul" again.) However, the part where the picture gets fixed is pre-recorded, so it makes no difference whether the missing words are filled in by the audience or not. Also, the audience will be asked to fill in the words Chockablock missed out even if there is nothing wrong with the picture.
- Fly Crazy: One episode has a fly buzzing around. Despite Chockagirl's attempts to catch it, this fly gets into Chockablock's mainframe through his Block Slot and starts appearing in the pictures on his screen. It takes Chockagirl shouting "Shoo!" into Chockablock's microphone to get rid of it.
- Happy Circus Music: During the Rockablocks segment, a jaunty tune reminiscent of circus music plays while Chockabloke or Chockagirl cranks the handles to "rock the blocks."
- It Kind of Looks Like a Face: Chockablock's tapedrive was deliberately designed to resemble a face, with the spools as the "eyes" and the lights below as a "mouth" and "nose".
- Losing Horns: Chockablock mades a sound like someone blowing a raspberry if Chockabloke or Chockagirl gives an answer which doesn't rhyme with the previous answer. This also happens if anything which doesn't rhyme with the top picture is spun in during the Rockablocks game.
- Names Given to Computers: Chockablock is the name of the titular computer. This is a reference to the fact that he is "chockablock with sounds."
- Nursery Rhyme: Each episode has Chockabloke or Chockagirl record a song for Chockablock's "stock". Usually, this will be a traditional nursery rhyme such as "Hickory Dickory Dock" or "Dame Trot and Her Cat".
- Percussive Maintenance
- Attempted by the owner of the grandfather clock that "lost its tock" in Episode 1, who in a bid to get it to start tick-tocking again tries hitting it, rocking it back and forth, and even comes close to kicking it. Turns out all he needs to do is say eight words that rhyme with "clock".
- Downplayed in Episode 5. When as occasionally happens one of Chockablock's sound buttons gets stuck, causing the same sound effect to play over and over, Chockabloke raps on Chockablock's mainframe, muttering about how he thought he'd "fixed that". However, he doesn't hit Chockablock very hard; it's more of a light tap.
- Rhyming List: When the talking sheep from Episode 3 asks him to name eight words that rhyme with "sheep", Farmer Jake comes up with the following:I'd like a sleep that's really deep
If I don't sleep, about the town I'll creep
The slightest thing will make me weep
The harvest is ripe, so tomorrow I must reap
To keep me awake like this is a bit steep
I'll drive my tractor and go beep-beep - Signature Sound Effect: Chockablock produces a two-tone chiming noise (referred to as his "Rhyme Chime") whenever anything rhymes.
- Signing Off Catchphrase: The last words said before the credits roll at the end of each episode are either "Chockabloke checking out" in episodes featuring Fred Harris or "Chockagirl checking out" in episodes featuring Carol Leader. Sometimes, Chockabloke will follow this up by shouting "chocks away!" as he drives off in the Chockatruck.
- Still Sucks Thumb: Farmer Jake can be seen sucking his thumb in his sleep at the end of his segment.
- Thememobile: The Chockatruck (the electric buggy which Chockabloke or Chockagirl drives into the studio at the beginning of each episode) is predominently yellow with a green border, the same colour scheme as Chockablock.
- Tick Tock Tune: In the "clock that lost its tock" segment from the first episode, the clock in question (a grandfather clock) can be heard ticking in the background as its owner sings about how he has tried (without success) to fix the problem, and his grandfather suggests that saying words that rhyme with "clock" might help. The clock's owner then starts saying rhymes for "clock", causing the clock to chime with each word. It takes eight such words for the clock to start tick-tocking again.
- Wraparound Background: Episodes 2 and 4 include a variation on this trope where the background doesn't repeat endlessly, but is still clearly moving while the thing which is supposed to be moving against the background remains in one place.
- In the segment where Joe Crow is supposed to be flying over the countryside, he never moves far from the left hand side of the screen, making it obvious that the background is moving while the Joe puppet (mostly) stays still.
- The "Chockatrain" segment has Carol Leader (as Jane the train driver) in a mock-up of a train cab, which remains stationary as the background moves behind it in an attempt to give the impression that the train is actually being driven.
