Kieran claims that there are no classic Irish public service ads on youtube. So there is one way in which we Brits are culturally ahead of the former colony, what a relief. Green Cross Code man here. Better, though, is a 2-DVD set of the hundreds of British PIFs from the 60’s through the 80’s for only 7 quid. You’ll find Tufty (voiced by Bernard Cribbins I now realise), various instantiations of Dr. Who, and loads more, including several versions of the Green Cross Code man who, as a very public sociologist points out is better known to the wider world as Darth Vader (though someone else did the voice I believe, because Dave Prowse couldn’t shake his West Country accent).

Instantaneous Update. 2 minutes of googling gets me to this and this. Rolf Harris’s command to teach them to swim has special poignancy for me. At the age of 4 I spotted a younger kid floating unconsious and face down in a deserted swimming pool and, somehow, had the presence of mind to exit the dreamlike world in my head that I mostly lived in and fetch help very fast indeed. The kid lived. And I’ve always HATED swimming.