h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is a lost episode of the wombles. It was deliberately lost, incidentally. Bernard Cribbins stuffed it down the back of his sofa in an effort to protect the innocent from irreperable harm. Here's how the story goes:

Tomsk, back from a hard day's collecting rubbish, goes to consult Great Uncle Bulgaria in his study, about where to leave the newspapers. But Tomsk gets a surprise when he enters the study, for Great Uncle Bulgaria fixes him with a 5000 yard stare and tells him to stuff the newspapers in a place that Tomsk didn't even realise he owned.

Worried about GUB's sanity, the other wombles hastily convene a meeting. They are about to pass a resolution when they are all disturbed by the sound of hammering coming from GUB's study. Orinocho, ever the pragmatist, blows open the door of the study with a mixture of placistine and nitro-glycerine. The other wombles, armed with home made kalashnikov's and stun grenades, pour into the study to surround GUB and see what he has built. It is only at this point that they realise he has in fact built a high powered rocket out of yoghurt pots and string. In fact, this is the last thing they realise, for GUB presses the ignition and lifts off, and all the other wombles are incinerated.

GUB flys through space for forty years before engaging in a laser war with the HobNobs of the Thironjingan star system. He destroys a couple of moons before settling down on an isolated planet and building a small allotment for his retirement.

If you haven't seen this episode, I recommend you don't. Mike Batt appears at the end, all wired up on mescalin and screaming something incoherent about coyotes. The genius film genius George Lucas III was apparently so impressed with the laser effects in the episode that he nicked them for his Star Wars films. He pays homage, however, in "The Empire Strikes Back". If you look closely during the sequence when the Millenium Falcon is escaping during a fire fight, you can see that a womble appears in the background and chucks an orange at Harrison Ford.