Come on, we've all done it; you're by the bar with your friends when the topic inevitably swings round to the one subject everyone has a love for:

Wasn't kids' TV great when we were little? Hey, d'you remember Bagpuss?

At which point, half of the group starts yawning like the loveable pink cat, while the other half start singing in the falsetto stylings of the world's most industrious toy mice.

Nostalgia is something that comes to every generation. Whether it be old music, the glories of old sports teams or just a different way of life (although how anyone can be nostalgic about rationing is just mad!). But the love of television characters from our childhood is the thing that really marks us out and shows just how old we are. If you remember Andy Pandy, chances are it's not from the recent stop-motion revival but the 'oh-so-Alexandra Palace' string puppet series that first aired in the late 1950s.

Maybe you're the one in your group who knows all the words to Champion the Wonder Horse ('Like a streak of lightning flashing 'cross the sky'). Or perhaps you ruin everyone's fun by pointing out that, actually, there were no rude-named characters in Captain Pugwash (spoilsport).

So, this week, it's a time to reminisce with Rainbow¹, chatter over Camberwick Green, gab about Grange Hill and burble about which Blue Peter presenters were going when you were a nipper.

And for you non-UK residents (you poor things!), tell us about your favourite shows. What enthralled you and your friends during those long summer holidays and weekends?

And by the way, if any residents of the Republic of Ireland can tell us anything about the Doctor-Who-lite extravaganza Forty-Coats, we'll be more excited than you could possibly imagine!