‘And gallop, and gallop’

Who remembers the days when our animal friends would take us to places far away? In this Christmas episode of Romper Room from 1983, the ‘Come with us and gallop’ song is given a festive twist when Miss Helena takes the kids to the North Pole to see Santa making toys.

The playtimes on Romper Room were quite structured, with established songs and segments (also a firm emphasis on good behaviour and helping Mummy). But Miss Helena had a knack for introducing the kinds of scene-setting and fantasy that kindle children's imaginations. An Arctic journey, swift steeds, rubbing a window with a glove to see inside Santa’s workshop – all are evoked from thin air and a few plastic hobby horses (oh, the evocative knocking sound of that plastic!). The kids are particularly delighted to find that Santa is snoozing on the job.