Betcher? Betcher!
The title of this very short Children's Film Foundation film, also from 1971, feels old-fashioned (surely 'betcher' is spelt 'betcha' these days?)
Ah, those cycling proficiency days. I'm still bitter about being thrown off mine for being rumbled by a member of teaching staff freewheeling down a Buckinghamshire street on my BMX, and failing to indicate a left turn with my gangly arm. Soz, I was too busy being much too cool for that, and in any case, whoever heard of throwing a kid off a safety course because she was spotted not playing safe? The mind boggles.
Anyway, an iccle Keith Chegwin stars in this film which is basically a propaganda piece for safety on the road. Don't do as a suspiciously wimpy Butch does; in fact, do the exact opposite because he doesn't stop at junctions or indicate. in other words, he's just a normal kid but still, nonetheless, headmasters across the land were trying to turn us all into weird conformist cyclists.
The film is based on a bet between two kids about who knows most about life on the road, but this is just a smokescreen for a light lecture hell-bent on modelling good road behaviour.
You can see for yourself here:
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