What is "round the bend"

a. (context idiomatic English) crazy, mad or insane

adj. informal or slang terms for mentally irregular; "it used to drive my husband balmy" [syn: balmy, barmy, bats, batty, bonkers, buggy, cracked, crackers, daft, dotty, fruity, haywire, kooky, kookie, loco, loony, loopy, nuts, nutty, around the bend, wacky, whacky]

Round the Bend was a satirical British children's television series, which ran on Children's ITV for three series from 1989 to 1991. The show was a Hat Trick production for Yorkshire Television. The show was later repeated on Channel 4, The Children's Channel and Nickelodeon UK and was nominated for an RTS Award.

It was created by the team behind the comic Oink! - Patrick Gallagher, Tony Husband and Mark Rodgers. The puppets, animation characters and main set were designed by Gallagher, who was also the show's graphic designer. The puppets were made by the team who made the puppets for Spitting Image. Round the Bend was a satirical parody of Saturday morning magazine shows — with a host providing linking material between cartoons, music videos and news sections - albeit set in a sewer. The anarchic tone of the show and its parody cartoons was similar to that of Viz. The animated segments were done by Aardman Animations (famous for doing Chicken Run, Angry Kid, Rex the Runt, Creature Comforts and Wallace and Gromit) and Catalyst Pictures.

The title of the show is a double meaning. It is a reference to a toilet U-bend, with the opening titles beginning with the camera being flushed down a toilet and ending up in a sewer. It was also a popular saying at the time to describe someone who was insane.

Round the Bend is a 1951 novel by Nevil Shute. It tells the story of Constantine "Connie" Shaklin, an aircraft engineer who founds a new religion transcending existing religions based on the merit of good work.

The book explores themes that would later be reflected in Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Richard Bach's Illusions (1977). It deals with racism, including the White Australia policy, and also with the importance of private enterprise. It was one of the first novels Shute wrote after emigrating from Britain to Australia in 1950.

Round the Bend is an album by American jazz saxophonist Rob Brown recorded in 2001 and released on the French Bleu Regard label. It features a trio with bassist William Parker and drummer Warren Smith.