OH no! Beauty has fallen down a mine-shaft, been stolen by gypsies, may have rabies (no really).

In the 1970s that well-known theme tune (da-da dah, dada dada dah-da) heralded another adventure for the black horse and girl-in-a-smock Vicky. Little horse-mad pre-teens wished they could throw themselves up into the saddle and gallop off to stop nasty, lowly types spoiling life in picturesque Victorian England.

Now it's apparent that the adventures aren't all that much and children today are unlikely to identify with Vicky and her family and the cast of assorted baddies, who also include two itinerant Irish railway workers and an ambitious gamekeeper! But for some pure-bred horse action, you can't go wrong.