Season 20

Episode 1

Noah's Ark

Jan 5, 1988

The Rainbow gang act out the story of Noah's Ark. Bungle has a dream about being Noah and he and his wife are told to built a boat for themselves and their animals as there is going to be a bad flood. He has to find all the animals he can and they have to stay inside his boat, so they're safe. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "Two By Two".

Episode 2

Water

Jan 12, 1988

Zippy wants to call both his fish Borris because he doesn't know which one is which, but Bungle disagrees and they both end up aruging. Geoffrey asks Zippy, George and Bungle to collect as many saucepans as they can along with a kettle and a watering can because they're having their water turned off. Zippy can't find his goldfish Boris and Boris and thinks someone's kidnaped them. Geoffrey brings some drinks for Zippy, George and Bungle as they're all thirsty, but it starts raining. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "Open Up Your Umbrella".

Episode 3

Counting On

Jan 19, 1988

Episode 4

Counting Back

Jan 26, 1988

Episode 5

Sharing Out

Feb 2, 1988

Episode 6

Social Behaviour: Self

Feb 9, 1988

Zippy plays some loud music which wakes up Geoffrey, George and Bungle. Geoffrey and Bungle go to have breakfast, but Zippy's eaten all of the cereal, milk and bread leaving Geoffrey very cross. He's also cross that Bungle's not put away any of his toys and that George is reading his rainbow comic and hasn't gotten up out of bed yet. Geoffrey trips over one of Bungle toys and hurts his ankle. Jane offers to do his shopping and goes to practise her song with Rod and Freddy. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "We're Singing Our Little Song", but Geoffrey keeps interrupting them.

Episode 7

Social Behaviour: Others

Feb 16, 1988

Episode 8

Social Behaviour: Group

Feb 23, 1988

Geoffrey takes George, Zippy and Bungle to visit Auntie - played by Carry On actress Patsy Rowlands - who has recently lost her job. Meanwhile, Rod, Jane and Freddy sing us a song about not letting things get us down, and there's a story about camels and their humps. The general theme is all about getting along with and understanding one another.

Episode 9

Music A

Mar 1, 1988

Zippy and George makes shakers and Bungle makes a twanger to make kitchen music. Geoffrey plays a musical tune using some jars. Then they all play their instruments while Zippy sings. Geoffrey reads a story called 'Mr Oompahpah'. Jim plays a sousaphone. Then Zippy and George play their shakers, Bungle plays his twanger, Geoffrey plays the plinky plonker and Jim plays a shaker. Rod plays the spoons, Jane plays the colender and Freddy plays his guitar and they sing "Bits and Pieces".

Episode 10

Music B

Mar 8, 1988

Rod Jane and Freddy sing "Listen To The Rhythm". Geoffrey and Bungle march up and down the garden. George pretends to play the penny whistle and Bungle pretends to play the drums. Rod sings "Feel The Rhythm". George and Bungle dance along to some Reggae music. Geoffrey talks about some slow rhythms such as dancing. Then everyone plays along to a reggae version of the Rainbow theme tune.

Episode 11

Music C

Mar 22, 1988

Episode 12

Learning About Ourselves: Physical Differences

Mar 29, 1988

Freddy brings Zippy's cousin Zippo to visit. Bungle, Zippy and George discover that although Zippy and his cousin look alike, they are very different in other ways. Rod and Jane sing "Ten Feet Tall" and Geoffrey reads a story about twins, Susie and Sarah.

Episode 13

Emotions

Apr 5, 1988

Episode 14

Learning About Ourselves: Interaction

Apr 12, 1988

Episode 15

Wide and Narrow

Apr 19, 1988

Bungle, Zippy and George watch a video of the time when Geoffrey, Rod, Jane and Freddy went on a narrow boat. Afterwards, they decide to make their own pretend narrowboats. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing a funny song about being too wide to fit through the door called 'Imagine You're Enormous'.

Episode 16

Large and Small

Apr 26, 1988

When Jane asks Geoffrey to look after her small dog and Freddy asks Bungle to look after his large dog, they get the food and the bowls mixed up. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing 'So Many Dogs'.

Episode 17

Mazes Tracks and Trails

May 3, 1988

Zippy and George are looking for things using Zippy's magnifying glass and they follow a trail and find a snail. Then they see some tracks on the ground and wonder what animal has made them, and follow them into the house finding an empty sweet tin. They wonder who's been eating all the sweets, so they follow a trail of empty sweet wrappers on the floor and find Bungle reading his comic. Freddy looks for his dog Muffin in a maze. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "We're On The Trail". Then Geoffrey makes a trail for Zippy, George and Bungle to follow and they end up finding a teddy bear.

Episode 18

Whispers

May 10, 1988

Everyone is whispering today because it's Bungle's birthday, and they don't want him to know they're planning a surprise party for him. Geoffrey reads a story called 'Sammy and the Whispering Trees'. Jane sings "Whispers". Zippy thinks Geoffrey's forgotten the snake, so Freddy goes off to find one. Then everyone surprises Bungle and he's happy they didn't forget his Birthday. Freddy gives Bungle a toy snake, but Zippy got mixed up and it was the cake Geoffrey forgot, however Jane's made Bungle a lovely cake and they all have a wonderful time.

Episode 19

Sounds the Same

May 17, 1988

Bungle, Zippy and George discover that some words that sound the same mean completely different things. Geoffrey is upstairs trying to find a pair of socks to put on. He shouts downstairs to Bungle, asking if he can find him a pair, but Bungle and Zippy think he wants a pear to eat. Then Geoffrey tells Bungle to leave the downstairs door ajar, but Bungle thinks he means leave a jar by the door! George tells Geoffrey he has to give Jane the ring he's found when they are ready for the song, but Geoffrey explains that Jane meant to give her a ring on the telephone, not a ring people wear on their fingers. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "It's A Riddle", and Geoffrey reads a story called "Words That Sound The Same".

Episode 20

Rhyming Words

May 24, 1988

Episode 21

Language of Position

May 31, 1988

Episode 22

Problem Solving: Mystery

Jun 7, 1988

Geoffrey, Bungle, Zippy and George are busy sorting through some stuff they've collected for a local jumble sale. Zippy is playing with a red toy car that he found in the jumble. Bungle asks if he can have a turn playing with the toy car, but Zippy won't let him. Then suddenly Zippy notices his toy car has disappeared, so he tries to solve the mystery of who took it. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "Rainbow Street". Zippy asks lots of questions to try to find out who has taken his red toy car. Meanwhile, George sees Bungle playing with Zippy's toy car in the garden. Geoffrey reads a story called "Who Took The Magic From The Magic Box?" George tells Zippy he saw Bungle with his toy car earlier which Zippy is non-too pleased about, but Bungle apologises and he forgives him.

Episode 23

Looking at Things

Jun 14, 1988

Episode 24

Pre-Reading Skills: Auditory

Jun 21, 1988

Episode 25

Pre-Reading Skills: Sequencing

Jun 28, 1988

Episode 26

Pliable

Jul 5, 1988

Bungle, Zippy and George learn all about things that are pliable. Firstly Geoffrey shows them how pliable plasicine can be by making it into different shapes. Then Geoffrey makes some play dough out of flour and water for them to all play with. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "Blowing A Balloon". Bungle, with help from Zippy, George and Geoffrey, makes a cat out of pipe cleaners. Freddy visits a potter and helps him out by making lids for the different sized pots.

Episode 27

Music and Song

Jul 12, 1988

Everyone's singing different songs. Zippy wants George to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" faster and Rod, Jane and Freddy and Geoffrey pretend their on a train while Rod sings "Little Train". Bungle wants to be like the man playing lots of different instruments at once. Then Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "My Song Has Five Notes". George and Zippy sing "Do Re Mi", but then Geoffrey disturbs them playing his bagpipes. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "We're The Singers On The Show". Geoffrey plays his bagpipes again so Zippy makes his disappear using a magic wand. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "Goodbye".

Episode 28

More/Less/Enough

Jul 19, 1988

Episode 29

Zippy's In Love

Jul 26, 1988

Zippy falls in love with television presenter Debbie and sends her a drawing and a poem hes written. Then Zippy dreams about meeting her. Debbie reads out Zippy's poem, but she can't make out who it's from, but then Zippy wants to write Debbie a song and wants to sing it her, if only he could meet her. Rod, Jane and Freddy help him to write his song for Debbie and sing "It Was Love". Geoffrey writes to Debbie and she comes round to meet Zippy's who's so happy and sings her his song. Debbie lets Zippy help her with the letters on Children's ITV and he's so happy.

Episode 30

Lions and Tigers

Aug 2, 1988

Everyone goes exploring in the jungle and they see a lion and a tiger. Terry Hall reads a story called The Lonely Lion. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "In the Jungle".

Episode 31

All Change

Aug 16, 1988

The gang decide to move all their furniture out of the room and into the garden to give Rod, Jane and Freddy more space to rehearse their song. But the table rolls away along the street into the park and Geoffrey, Rod, Jane and Freddy have to chase after it. John Styles tells Bungle, Zippy and George an amusing story about a magical bag he found. Then the gang decide it wasn't such a good idea to put their furniture outside after all and move it back indoors. Geoffrey, Rod, Jane and Freddy manage to catch their runaway table, and then the trio sing "Sardines in a Tin".

Episode 32

Wibbly Wobbly

Aug 23, 1988

Geoffrey is going to make an enormous jelly for tea and leaves Bungle, Zippy and George to watch the TV while he's in the kitchen. But while Geoffrey's gone the TV picture goes off so there's just a lot of wobbly lines. Then to the surprise of Bungle, Zippy and George, a man called Wilbur Wobble, who looks rather like Geoffrey, appears on the TV welcoming viewers to Wibbly Wobbly Television and then reads the Wobbly News. This is followed by The Fluffy Frothy Show presented by a character called Tony Tremble who looks just like Bungle! Tony Tremble introduces Jilly Jelly and the Blamanges (Rod, Jane and Freddy) who sing The Woblies Song. Then Wilbur Wobble is back and reads the story of Wobert's Wonderful Wobbles to two little friends of his, Blibby and Blobby who look just like Zippy and George. After the story has ended, Geoffrey comes in with the enormous jelly he's made for tea and they all tell him about Wibbly Wobbly Television and all the funny characters they've seen, but he doesn't believe them and thinks they imagined it.

Episode 33

Problem Solving: Alone

Sep 6, 1988

Episode 34

Up/Down/Across

Sep 13, 1988

Episode 35

What's Going On

Sep 20, 1988

Episode 36

Nature Care

Oct 4, 1988

Episode 37

Upside Down, Inside Out

Oct 11, 1988

Geoffrey is wearing his sweater back to front, so has to put it on the right way round, but then he puts it on inside out. Geoffrey shows Zippy a drawing of an old man that very cleverly changes to a drawing of a boy when you turn the picture upside down. Jane has trouble with her umbrella when the wind blows it inside out and George is wearing his hat back to front. Geoffrey opens the storybook to read a story but the pages appear to be upside down and back to front. He realises someone has put the book cover on wrongly and then tells a Tat The Cat story. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "Inside Out", Upside Down, Back to Front". Bungle notices a fly walking upside down on the ceiling and wishes he could do the same.

Episode 38

Shapes

Oct 18, 1988

The Rainbow gang make shapes with their bodies. Bungle and Geoffrey race each other to see who can build a tower with the different shapes. Geoffrey builds his tower first but Bungle accidentally knocks it down and he has to start again. Then Geoffrey and Bungle make a boat out of the shapes. Geoffrey, Bungle, Zippy and George talk about the shapes different fruits are. Geoffrey shows them a lemon and Bungle jokes that Zippy looks like one. John Styles tells his "Shapes Story". Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "We've Got Paper, We've Got Scissors". Then Geoffrey and Bungle make a house and a big lorry with the different shapes.

Episode 39

Problem Solving: Together

Oct 25, 1988

Bungle, Zippy, George and Geoffrey want to pick some apples from the tree in their garden, but Geoffrey can't reach up high enough. They all think of different ways of how Geoffrey can reach up high enough to pick the apples. Later, Bungle paints a picture of a house and garden, but can't paint the grass as he doesn't have any green paint. But Geoffrey shows Bungle that by mixing yellow paint and blue paint he can make green paint. John Styles tells the story of "Mr and Mrs Marzipan's Problem". Bungle can't get his painting to stand up on display, but Zippy comes up with an idea to help him. Freddy sings a musical story about "The Enormous Turnip" and the others play the parts of the characters in the song.

Episode 40

Exclamation Sounds

Nov 1, 1988

Episode 41

Fast and Slow

Nov 8, 1988

Episode 42

Apes

Nov 15, 1988

Episode 43

Practical Joking

Nov 22, 1988

Episode 44

Generosity

Nov 29, 1988

Episode 45

Outer Space

Dec 6, 1988

Geoffrey, Bungle, and Rod, Jane and Freddy have landed on a stange planet which they explore. Zippy and George are at the Rainbow Space command centre and see lots of stars and they wonder what sort of picture they'd make if they joined them up. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "We're In Outer Space". Geoffrey tries to contact Zippy and George at the Rainbow Space command centre, but there's no reply. Rod, Jane and Freddy help them and in the end they manage to get to the Rainbow Space Centre.

Episode 46

Just One of Those Days

Dec 13, 1988

Everything seems to be going wrong in the Rainbow house. First of all, Geoffrey oversleeps and is late getting up. Then he discovers there's no cereal left for their breakfast, so he makes some toast instead, but ends up burning it. After breakfast, Bungle helps Geoffrey to clear away the breakfast things but drops them as he carries them into the kitchen. Later, Bungle does a painting, but spoils it by accidentally dripping some yellow paint onto it. Geoffrey thinks that auntie is visiting them, but he gets the days mixed up and discovers she's not visiting until the next day. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "Just One of Those Days".

Episode 47

Ice and Snow: Explorers

Dec 20, 1988

Zippy,George and Bungle want to play outside in the snow, but Geoffrey suggests that they could pretend to go out on a expedition, so they all get everything they need to go exploring in the snow. George can see polar bears, rabbits, seals and whales through his telescope. Zippy, George and Geoffrey are hungry so Bungle shows them the food he's bought, but he's brought all cold food and they want hot food to warm themseleves up. Zippy plays some music so they all start dancing to keep warm. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "Ice Cold Weather". George can see footprints through his telescope and then he sees Rod, Jane and Freddy. They come over to meet Zippy, George, Bungle and Geoffrey and share their hot food with them. Geoffrey takes a photo of everyone and then it starts snowing so they all go home. Bungle leaves some ice hes brought back on the desk, but later on it melts and he thinks someones taken it and isn't happy that there's nothing to remember their trip by, but Geoffrey shows him the photo he took earlier of them all.

Episode 48

Non-Pliable

Jan 6, 1989

Episode 49

Greed

Jan 13, 1989

Episode 50

Problem Solving: Mystery 2

Jan 20, 1989

Episode 51

Sympathy

Jan 27, 1989

Zippy gets the measles and George tries to make him a get well card, but it gets ruined. Rod, Jane and Freddy sing "Look On The Bright Side". Geoffrey, George and Bungle paint red dots on their faces to make Zippy feel better.