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Popular puppets Zippy and George along with their slightly scary life-sized bear-friend and Bungle were rounded up by mounted police in Doha today, after repeatedly singing a song said to ‘overtly celebrate and encourage a love of rainbows’.
The 70s children’s TV icons had been enjoying some beers in a local fan zone, celebrating the England victory over Iran, when the incident is said to have occurred.
“I’ll admit we were a bit lively – despite the crazy restrictions on buying beer, the lagers were flowing nicely and we were laying down a few songs,” said Bungle animatedly, although his glass eyes strangely didn’t move at all.
“We’d only just finished the first line of our signature tune – ‘Up above the streets and houses, Rainbow climbing high’ when the heavies moved in on their horses and slapped the cuffs on us for promoting equality and LGBTQ+ rights. And now we’re in a Qatari holding cell. It’s rubbish.”
Syed Al-Williams, a spokesperson for the Qatari police, told us, “First it was rainbow beanie hats. Then it was OneLove armbands, and now you continue to push your luck with your western rainbow-loving ways.
“‘Things really have gone too far this time. These three so-called fans were instructing the good people of Qatar to paint the whole world with a rainbow. This anti-regime vandalism-inciting rhetoric simply cannot stand.
“We told them to be quiet and stop singing, but there was some resistance in the group; though we were able to silence the loudest one of them simply by pulling the zip across his mouth.
‘Strangely, as soon as we had cuffed these three, another trio calling themselves Rod, Jane and Freddy appeared from nowhere in garish clothes and started singing a ballad about respect and diversity.
“To be fair, it was impressive how their song connected with what George, Zippy and Bungle had being banging on about – it was like there was an overall message they were all trying to get across. But we weren’t allowing that, so we banged them up too.”
“We are still actively looking for the ringleader of all this rainbow stuff though,” continued Al-Williams.
“Geoffrey I think they call him. Or Mr Big – don’t worry, I’ve seen the adult version of the show.”
