Andy Pandy
| Andy Pandy | |
|---|---|
 The 1952 Andy Pandy title card. The card was not actually a card as the blocks turned to reveal the title one block at a time. |
|
| Format | Childrens |
| Created by | Freda Lingstrom |
| Starring | 1950 Maria Bird Gladys Whitred 2002 Tom Conti Vera McKechnie |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | David Boisseau Peter Thompson |
| Running time | 30mins |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC Television Service 1950 CBeebies 2002 |
| Original run | 1950-1970 – 2002-2005 |
Andy Pandy is a British children's television series that premiered on BBC TV in June or July 1950. The original series of programmes was shown until 1970, when a new series was made. A third series was made in 2002. The show was the basis for a comic strip of the same name in the children's magazine Robin.
Contents |
[edit] Original 1950–52 series
The original version of Andy Pandy premiered on BBC TV in 1950, on either 11 July[1][2] or 20 June,[3] as part of the For the Children strand (later Watch with Mother). A marionette who lived in a picnic basket, Andy was later joined by Teddy, a teddy bear, and Looby Loo, a rag doll, who would appear when Andy and Teddy weren't around. Looby Loo had her own special song "Here we go Looby Loo".[4] All three lived in the same picnic basket.
Each episode ended with a variation on the famous song: "Time to go home, Time to go home, Andy is waving goodbye."[5]
All the 1950s originals had narration by Maria Bird.
In one episode Andy Pandy sees how high he can go on a swing. This episode was released on the 1987 compilation by BBC Video. Initially the programmes were transmitted live.[3] Then it was realised that if the programmes were filmed, they could be repeated. Twenty-six fifteen-minute episodes were filmed on 16mm;[3] they were repeated continuously until 1970.
It is claimed that the design for the character was based on Paul Atterbury, the then young son of puppeteer Audrey Atterbury.[2]
A comic-strip version was published in The Robin.
The prouction staff for the original series were:
- Producer: Freda Lingstrom.
- Writer/composer: Freda Lingstrom[3] and Maria Bird.[3]
- Singers: Gladys Whitred, Julia Williams[6]
- Puppeteers: Audrey Atterbury,[3] Molly Gibson,[1] Martin Grainger.[3]
[edit] 1970 series
By 1970 the black and white films were almost worn out and so 13 new episodes were filmed in colour and transmitted from 5 January 1970.[7][8]
[edit] 2002 series
Another set of 52 episodes were made in 2002, now using the stop-motion technique instead of string puppeteering. The original nursery and garden were expanded to an entire village, with Andy, Teddy and Looby Loo now owning individual houses, and four new characters were introduced: Missy Hissy, a snake, Tiffo, a dog, Bilbo, a sailor, and Orbie, a yellow-and-blue ball. Whereas the emphasis of the original series was on music and movement, the emphasis of the 2002 series was on making and doing.
[edit] Series 1: 2002
1. March 28, 2002 2. April 4, 2002 3. April 11, 2002 4. April 18, 2002 5. April 25, 2002 6. May 2, 2002 7. May 9, 2002 8. May 16, 2002 9. May 23, 2002 10. May 30, 2002 11. June 6, 2002 12. June 13, 2002 13. June 20, 2002
[edit] Series 2: 2003
1. January 16, 2003 2. January 23, 2003 3. January 30, 2003 4. February 6, 2003 5. February 13, 2003 6. February 20, 2003 7. February 27, 2003 8. March 6, 2003 9. March 13, 2003 10. March 20, 2003 11. March 27, 2003 12. April 3, 2003 13. April 10, 2003
[edit] Series 3: 2005
1. February 10, 2005 2. February 17, 2005 3. February 24, 2005 4. March 3, 2005 5. March 10, 2005 6. March 17, 2005 7. March 24, 2005 8. March 31, 2005 9. April 7, 2005 10. April 14, 2005 11. April 21, 2005 12. April 28, 2005 13. May 5, 2005
[edit] UK VHS Releases
| VHS Title | Release Date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Andy Pandy (BBCV 4205) | 1988 | Red Engine, Sailing Boats, Trampoline, Hobby Horses |
| Andy Pandy 2: Tales from the Toybox (BBCV 4361) | 1990 | Jack in a Box, Looby Loo has a Cold, Tea Party, Tricycle |
| The Very Best of Andy Pandy (BBCV 5107) | 1993 | Trampoline, Jack in a Box, Red Engine, Tea Party, Hobby Horses |
[edit] References
- ^ a b Watch with Mother
- ^ a b Audrey Atterbury on Telegoons.org
- ^ a b c d e f g TV studio history Lime Grove
- ^ WATCH WITH MOTHER at televisionheaven.co.uk
- ^ Andy Pandy : Classic Children's TV of the 20th Century at wwwk.co.uk
- ^ Evans, Jeff (1995). The Guinness Television Encyclopedia. Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Publishing. pp. 23–24. ISBN 0851127444.
- ^ Watch with Mother site reference
- ^ Watch with Mother episode guide
