Search on for real-life Jamie

The helter-skelter took Jamie to a strange new world

The search is on for a child actor to star in a film version of 1980s TV cartoon Jamie and the Magic Torch.

FremantleMedia, which owns the rights to the programme, says it is looking for "an adventurous red-headed boy" aged between five and nine.

A dog to play Wordsworth, Jamie's trusty canine sidekick, has already been found.

The six-year-old show dog from Suffolk, called Pebbles, will don Wordsworth's nightcap.

Jamie and the Magic Torch was first transmitted in March 1977 by former ITV company Thames Television - which is now owned by Freemantle.

Wordsworth always accompanied Jamie

Last year, Jamie was voted 29th in Channel 4's list of viewers' 100 favourite children's TV programmes.

Jamie's adventures would begin after his mother tucked him up in bed each night.

He had a magic torch, which he switched on and pointed at the bedroom floor

Wordsworth, who seemed to be the guardian of the torch, appeared from under Jamie's bed in the programme's title sequence.

Suddenly, Jamie found himself transported down a brightly coloured helter-skelter into a magic realm inhabited by around half a dozen regular characters.

There was generally some trouble going on - and Jamie and Wordsworth would end up saving the day.

Jamie and the Magic Torch was made by Manchester-based company Cosgrove Hall, makers of Dangermouse, Count Duckula and other many other animated children's shows.

The hunt for a real-life Jamie comes as the company prepares to release the second series of Jamie and the Magic Torch on VHS and DVD.