JULY 18 - 20: 'WHAT really happened to Rainbow?' asks The Rondo Theatre in Bath.

'In Over the Rainbow, Geoffrey dishes the dirt on the fantasy and reality of children's TV, revealing what happened when the curtain finally fell on a television institution.

'It is tale of treachery, lechery and lust, a pink hippopotamus and a camp six foot bear, the story of Geoffrey's shattered dreams and, more importantly, his quest for a happy ending. After all, Rainbow always finished with a smile...'

Which it would since Geoffrey Hayes, the classic children's TV presenter and lifelong friend of Bungle, George and Zippy, is frankly no different off camera.

A hugely personable, pleasant and enthusiastic man, he is that rarest of creatures a children's favourite who's actually proud of his 20 years playing to an under-five audience.

Rainbow ran on ITV for 20 years from 1972 and was created as a rival to BBC's Playschool. The show was axed in 1992 when Thames Television lost its ITV franchise, although the format was revived twice for brief periods in the 1990s.

Geoffrey, who was 31 when he first started chatting to Zippy and is now 60, said: "I happened to be down at the Thames studios one day, where I had a one-off part in a soap opera, and I bumped into a couple of friends who said the producer of a show called Rainbow was looking for a presenter. So I went along, auditioned and got the job. And everything felt right from the word go.

"I was employed initially for four or five weeks, and once I got over that, they wanted to renew the contract. Personally, I was enjoying it so much, I just kept on renewing the contract.

"Do I regret having done it? No. If I had my time over again, I'd still do it. I'm very proud of what we did. It did make its mark and was a very happy 20 years for me."

Over The Rainbow is a one-man show in which the main action takes place in 1992 at a 20th birthday party for the show.

Geoffrey said: "I do a little bit of reminiscing about how I didn't always used to be on Rainbow and then I describe George, Zippy, Bungle and how I could have met them.

"Then I get a letter saying the show has been axed and the rest of the show is me exploring why that could have happened."

And just in case you were wondering if Geoffrey felt typecast, his ambition he says is to star "in a raw, gritty British movie, a type of East End gangster film."

Over the Rainbow at the Rondo Theatre, Bath, runs from July 18 to July 20, starting at 8pm. Tickets are £10 (concs £8) from Bath Festivals Box Office, (01225) 463362.