cogs. This turns into a parody of The Lost World where the explorers encounter monstrous cranes and excavators rampaging through a jungle, using sped-up film footage of real machinery. The sketch ends with the explorers producing a captured specimen, a full-size excavator, in the studio. The logistics of placing this in front of a studio audience taxed the production crew to the limit. The show anticipated Monty Python's Flying Circus in its concepts and sketches, including Bentine's newsreader device for continuity and officialdom was mocked via a Ministry of Holes instead of a Ministry of Silly Walks. In cartoon sequences, the characters interacted with real people. These inserts were produced by Biographic Cartoon Films Ltd. The actors were seen in many different disguises and Dick Emery began to develop some of his characters in the series, like the old codger, and developed his funny voices. Episodes The series was revived for one colour episode in 1977 for BBC 1 called Michael Bentine's Square World. In total 57 black and white episodes (including the pilot) were produced by the BBC. Of this total, 11 episodes are thought to no longer exist. Cast The cast included: Michael Bentine Ronnie Barker Clive Dunn Dick Emery Frank Thornton Deryck Guyler John Bluthal Bob Todd Benny Lee Andria Lawrence Louis Mansi Leon Thau Freddie Earlle Joe Gibbons Len Lowe Janette Rowsell Anthea Wyndham Other versions An LP was released by Parlophone in 1962 (produced by George Martin) of sketches including "Football Results", in which the newsreader gets increasingly excited as he appears to be about to win a fortune on the football pools. There was a follow-up series in 1966 for ATV called All Square which tried to repeat the former series' success. For this series, Bentine was located in the capital city, Filthnik, in the fictitious country of Ozonia. In the 8 October 1966 episode, Bentine tries to turn Ozonia into a Mecca for tourists. This episode also featured the Jack Parnell Orchestra. References External links It's a Square World at BFI Screenonline BBC television comedy 1960s British television sketch shows 1961 British television series debuts 1964 British television series endings