Jedi's Paradise - Childrens TV - Mary Turner Interview

Mary Turner Interview Mary Turner the Co-Creator & Director of Cloppa Castle kindly gave us an interview, giving us further details of the show and some behind the scenes pictures. Note: This interview took place before any DVDs had been released. We hope you enjoy it. Interview Q: How long did it take to make an episode of Cloppa Castle John Jelly making the set of Cloppa Castle A: The episodes were not made singly, they were done on a breakdown. For the first 26 we spent 3 months making puppets and scenery, 16 weeks filming, and about 16 weeks editing. Q: What was the Castle / Puppets etc made out of (I noticed you could walk around on the upper tier of the castle). A: The Castle was carved out of polystyrene, textured with sand & glue, and painted. Puppets were mainly fibreglass heads & bodies, and rubber hands. Q: How tall were the Castle / Puppets? A: I don't know the Castle height exactly. Q: How long did it take to make them and who did it? A: Puppets designed by me & made by me, Judith, Ann, & Sue. John helped with lip-synch mechanics. Q: Was it easy to film with a two tier castle? A: Only one tier would be on the set at a time. Q: What other shows have you worked on since? A: Meet the Munch Bunch, Adverts connected with Thunderbirds & Capt. Scarlet. Q: Who came up with the names of the characters, as they seem to be quite humorous. A: John Read & me. Q: Was it a stressful time doing the shows. A: It was hard work but we enjoyed it. We did not think about stress in those days. Q: Which TV programme did you like working on the most and why? A: Cloppa, because it was our own idea. Q: Where did you film Cloppa Castle, and did you film all of your shows there? A: An old church hall in Bermondsey. Rupert was filmed in an artist's studio in Chiswick. Q: There was a dragon in the story, that had to be made lifesize. Can you tell me about that, and why it had to be life size? A: The dragon needed to look very big to the puppets. Q: They were very successful at the time, were you surprised about that? A: No. Q: Because they were successful, are you surprised that with the flood of nostalgia that Cloppa Castle seems to have sank without trace? A: Yes. Q: Do you still own the rights to the show, if not who does? A: John and I own the rights to the characters, but the films already made belong to Carlton. Q: What difficulties did you have while filming the show? A: Limitation of money. Q: Do you have any episode breakdowns (descriptions of each episode)? A: I haven't come across any, but will let you know if I do. Q: Will Cloppa Castle fans ever get to see it again on Video / DVD?? A: If anyone can persuade Carlton to market it. Q: Am I missing anymore details on the Site? A: Cloppa was also exhibited at Chichester District Museum in 1984. There was some merchandising; Blue Bird confectionary, a painting set, jigsaw, a set of small figures, an Annual. We did not write the words to the song, and "sitting down to tea" does not really happen. I think it was just to make the rhyme!