Magic Roundabout returns on digital TV

Dylan the dopey rabbit, Dougal the sullen shaggy dog and Ermintrude the pink cow are returning to British screens in a new series of The Magic Roundabout.

An updated computer-animated version of the cult 1960s series will be shown on the pre-school digital channel Nick Jr, which belongs to Nickelodeon.

The announcement came as the estate of the late French author Serge Danot, who created the original show, granted permission for a re-make.

The new series of 52 episodes will use the same character models as the recent animation film The Magic Roundabout, voiced by stars including Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams and Sir Ian McKellen.

Danot produced some 500 five-minute episodes in a derelict house in Paris where the fuses kept blowing because of the amount of electricity used by their lights. The set with its psychedelic colours featured a park centred around an enchanted carousel.

But it was the British version, shown daily just before the evening news on BBC1, that turned the series into a cult hit watched by eight million people at its peak. Instead of translating Danot's scripts, English narrator Eric Thompson (father of actress Emma Thompson), made up his own dialogue to mirror what he saw on screen. His world-weary humour, embodied in Dougal the dog's Terry Hancock-style remarks, appealed to adults and children alike.

At the time the guitar-playing rabbit Dylan's spaced-out appearance, reminiscent of his namesake Bob Dylan, sparked rumours that each character was addicted to a different hallucinatory drug. Yet Thompson's widow Phyllida Law denied the theory.

In 1992 Channel Four bought the rights to a further 52 French shows not seen in Britain. As Eric Thompson had died by this time, the Young Ones star Nigel Planer stepped in to adapt the script.

Like the movie and the original French episodes, the new series will not have a narrator. Each character will have its own voice.

"The original Magic Roundabout TV series was a charming cultural phenomenon which entertained generations of children," said Nickelodeon UK managing director Howard Litton. "We're delighted to bring back Dougal, Zebedee and the rest of the Magic Roundabout cast to British TV screens.

"The beautiful CGI animated adventures are sure to be a big hit with today's discerning young viewers."