Captain Horatio Pugwash

[Stephen]

Creator John Ryan has died.
I have set the Pugwash tune as my ringtone in his honour
Always watched it as a boy. Always very funny.

[Colin_M]

RIP

[alan refail]

Farewell Mr Ryan

[vivienz]

A very sad loss. This prog was a major part of my childhood viewing and I remember it with great affection. Mind you, I'm sure that many of the cast names that seem to do the rounds now weren't actually in the program itself, given its target audience; the Seaman and young Master are two who spring to mind, metaphorically speaking, of course! I seem to recall Roger the cabin boy, too!
Vivien

[PLUMPUDDING]

I used to have a little giggle when my sons were watching Captain Pugwash. Roger the cabin boy, seaman Stains, and Master Bates very funny.

[Geoff]

They were fine little stories (on a par with Noggin the Nog, the creator of those didn't die too long ago either) but who invented these characters that were never in the stories but everybody remembers?

Extract from BBC website :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8167027.stm

'Smutty innuendo'

But Pugwash would sail into stormy waters - false claims that Ryan's stories were peppered with double entendre dogged his creation.

Browne condemned the "smutty innuendo" that plagued the captain, saw the stories fall out of favour and, eventually, drove the books out of print.

Contrary to popular myth there was no Master Bates or Seaman Staines and the cabin boy was called Tom, not Roger.

Later found this :
http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Jolly-Roger-flies-at-half.5493127.jp
which says

In reality, the names were conjured up by students in the 1970s for university "rag mags", but during the 1980s and early 1990s the idea took hold that the jokes were fact

[PLUMPUDDING]

I think you may be right about Tom the cabin boy, but are you sure the other two are wrong? It was a good programme though. I liked Rhubarb and Custard too.

[alan refail]

The characters were:

The eponymous hero - Captain Horatio Pugwash - sails the high seas in his ship the Black Pig, ably assisted by cabin boy Tom, pirates Willy and Barnabas, and Master Mate. His mortal enemy is Cut-Throat Jake, captain of the Flying Dustman.

OK, Willy might arouse a childish snigger - but what about Willy Wonka

A site for nostalgia freaks:

http://www.hitentertainment.com/captainpugwash/