The Bisto Kids... two boys, or a boy and a girl?

[myrebelcat.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm new and I'm jumping in with a discussion topic right off the start. *waves*

Here's the thing. I always thought the Bisto kids were brother and sister. However, a British friend of mine believes they were both boys - two little street urchins.

I went off and googled images of the Bisto kids and found these original ads, which are pretty ambiguous if you accept that little boys did once upon a time wear tights and poofy shorts and heels.

( So, which one's Bodie and which one's Doyle? )

But then I came across this ad, which... well, if those are two little boys, then someone's been pilfering stuff from Mother's closet.

( Bodie says, 'Heh, I know which one's Doyle!' )

And then the eighties came and someone decided the Bisto kids needed updating to make them more appealing to today's youth. The red-headed one became a unisexual blond... um, leprechan, I think. Because leprechans are magical creatures beloved by little children everywhere.

( Okay, he's probably really just meant to look mod... )

And then after that they ditched the kids altogether, reasoning that they no longer appealed to their target audience of modern work-stressed moms.

So, what do YOU think? Boy and girl? Two boys? Siblings or not?

Who are the Bisto kids?

EDIT: Is that a flash of tummy I see on the yellow-haired leprechan, in that last picture?

EDIT: Thanks to taverymate, we have a definitive answer! The Bisto Kids were originally intended to be a brother and a sister.