A rare trio of characters from the children's television series Rainbow will go on sale at Christie's in an auction for collectors more interested in cultural nostalgia than Titians. A rare trio of characters from the children's television series Rainbow will go on sale at Christie's in an auction for collectors more interested in cultural nostalgia than Titians. Viewers who grew up with the long-running ITV show, presented by Geoffrey Hayes, are expected to bid up to £3,000 for the costume of Bungle bear and the puppets of George the pink hippopotamus and Zippy.Only four or five sets of these characters are known to have survived. The set being sold on 12 July was bought by a fancy-dress shop owner during a studio clear-out in the 1980s.Daniel Agnew, a film and television memorabilia expert at Christie's, said: "We've found that Bond toys and Thunderbird toys from the 1960s have been getting more and more valuable And we're now slowly creeping into the Seventies.". The BBC is joining forces with an advertising agency to make commercials for corporate clients in one of the most aggressive and controversial deals it has yet struck. The BBC is joining forces with an advertising agency to make commercials for corporate clients in one of the most aggressive and controversial deals it has yet struck. BBC Resources, one of the corporation's commercial arms, which has been given the task of increasing revenue, is to go into partnership with BMPtvi ­ an agency involved in interactive television.None of the advertisements will be shown on the BBC, which has shunned commercial advertising throughout its 79-year history. Instead, the companies will work on interactive television advertising, building on work the BBC has already done for British Gas, HSBC and ONdigital.A BBC spokesman said BBC MediaArc, its in-house design agency, had experience in making films and in a range of graphics and website development He said: "If you want a helicopter shot, we'll have done it.

We're just selling that experience."Andrew Howells, the managing director of BMPtvi, said his company had been looking for an interactive television production partner for some time. He said: "We have complementary skills; BMPtvi brings account and media planning and an agency heritage of creating award-winning, effective advertising campaigns over many years."The BBC, setting the standards for television broadcasting since inception, brings design and production across the range of interactive television platforms."BMPtvi was founded last year by three agencies ­ BMP DDB, which is renowned for its creative thinking, OMD UK and Tribal DDB ­ to generate revenue from digital television, working alongside their parent companies.John O'Keefe, executive creative director at Bartle Bogle Hegarty, the agency behind the Levi's and Lynx advertisements, said it was an odd decision for a broadcaster that had always looked down on commercial television.He said: "Obviously someone has decided it's a good business idea or else they wouldn't be doing it, but if I was a marketing director who was putting his multimillion-pound business up for grabs, I would probably be more inclined to stay with the people that have hundreds of years' worth of experience, rather than a broadcaster that has demonstrated a reluctance to muddy its hands with anything commercial."Yet the move is in line with the aim of the BBC's director general, Greg Dyke, of increasing profits from its commercial activities so the corporation can reduce reliance on the licence fee.. For any ageing correspondent whose feet were giving out, the second weekend of the general election carnival was a time for contemplation, stocktaking and summary To put it another way, it was a chance to watch television. Out there on the road you pick up a lot of resonant detail, but the big picture is still on the small screen, because that's where the campaign teams are aiming their efforts if they've got any sense.

Charles Kennedy's team admits it: their man doesn't tour the regions, he tours the television regions. Wherever there is a studio, no matter how far flung ­ Dartmoor, the Lizard, Scapa Flow ­ he will get to it And that's the way he gets to you. For any ageing correspondent whose feet were giving out, the second weekend of the general election carnival was a time for contemplation, stocktaking and summary To put it another way, it was a chance to watch television. Out there on the road you pick up a lot of resonant detail, but the big picture is still on the small screen, because that's where the campaign teams are aiming their efforts if they've got any sense.