Memories of the The Den

My earliest memories of the Den are of Zig and Zag, but I don't recall Ian Dempsey. I was six years of age when they left for Channel 4, but I liked how Zag was faintly adrogynous, playing with Barbies and generally blurring gender lines, which was quite something for a children's television show in the early 90s.

However not all my dealings with the Den were so happy. I remember hating their anti-line dancing campaign.

In Summer 1995 I was eight years of age, and there was a major killing of bream on Lough Derg due to pollution, dead fish swept right up to our garden, and some farm animals died from drinking the lake water. Local residents bagan a bumper-sticker campaign began called Save Our Lough Derg (SOLD), which drew nationwide attention.

That same Summer, line dancing had taken over the country, and Dustin and his comerades instituted a copycat campaign called Stamp Out Line Dancing. My sister and I wrote a number of outraged letters to RTE. Combined with the fact that we both liked country music, I'm afraid that was the end of my respect for Dustin the Turkey.

Turns out the tide was turning against The Den anyway, because not long after, Dustin grew overly political, and Ray went to Today FM and somehow morphed into a miserable old man. The show has very happy memories for me though, from Bosco at 2.30pm right up until the Turtles or Captain Planet at 6pm. Happy times.