Andy Pandy
| Andy Pandy | |
|---|---|
 From the 1952 Andy Pandy opening titles. The blocks turned to reveal the title one letter at a time. | |
| Created by | Freda Lingstrom |
| Starring | 1952 Maria Bird Gladys Whitred 2002 Tom Conti |
| Production | |
| Producers | David Boisseau Peter Thompson |
| Running time | 30mins |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Television Service 1950 CBeebies 2002 |
| Release | 1950 – 2002-2005 |
Andy Pandy is a British children's television series that premiered on BBC TV in June or July 1950. Originally live, a series of 13 filmed 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.
The live and 1952 versions
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) narrated by Vera McKechnie. Initially the programmes were transmitted live, but it was realised that if the programmes were filmed, they could be repeated. Twenty-six episodes of fifteen minutes duration were filmed on 16mm,[3] and were produced around 1952; they were repeated continuously until 1970. This version had narration by Maria Bird. In one episode Andy Pandy sees how high he can go on a swing, an episode featured in the 1987 compilation by BBC Video. Under the umbrella title Watch With Mother as well as the Andy Pandy episodes, there were also The Woodentops, 'Bill and Ben', all having a similar format-filmed marionettes, there was also an animated drawn character called 'Busy Lizzy' incorporated into the Picture book series. All the filmed black and white 1950s original transmissions were narrated by Bird, who was to become a co-producer, with Freda Lingstrom, who worked for the BBC. Bird was a prolific writer of books for the very young, notably Andy Pandy, but it was for her distinct 'BBC English' enunciation that she is best remembered.
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 song: "Time to go home, Time to go home, Andy is waving goodbye."[5]
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.
- Narrator: Maria Bird
- 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]
1970 series
By 1970 the black and white films were almost worn out, and as BBC 1 was by then transmitted in colour, 13 new episodes were produced and shown from 5 January 1970.[7][8]
the 13 Episodes of the 1970 series are
- Andy Pandy's House (5th January 1970)
- Hobby Horses (12th January 1970)
- Scooters (19th January 1970)
- The Trampoline (26th January 1970)
- Jack-In-A-Box (2nd February 1970)
- A Wall And A Hedgehog (9th February 1970)
- Cleaning The House (16th February 1970)
- Tricycles (23rd February 1970)
- Looby Loo Has A Cold (2nd March 1970)
- The Jeep (9th March 1970)
- Tea Party (16th March 1970)
- Red Engine (23rd March 1970)
- Sailing Boats (30th March 1970)
2002 series
Another set of 52 episodes was made in 2002, 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.
Series 1: 2002
1. 28 March 2002
2. 4 April 2002
3. 11 April 2002
4. 18 April 2002
5. 25 April 2002
6. 2 May 2002
7. 9 May 2002
8. 16 May 2002
9. 23 May 2002
10. 30 May 2002
11. 6 June 2002
12. 13 June 2002
13. 20 June 2002
Series 2: 2003
1. 16 January 2003
2. 23 January 2003
3. 30 January 2003
4. 6 February 2003
5. 13 February 2003
6. 20 February 2003
7. 27 February 2003
8. 6 March 2003
9. 13 March 2003
10. 20 March 2003
11. 27 March 2003
12. 3 April 2003
13. 10 April 2003
Series 3: 2005
1. 10 February 2005
2. 17 February 2005
3. 24 February 2005
4. 3 March 2005
5. 10 March 2005
6. 17 March 2005
7. 24 March 2005
8. 31 March 2005
9. 7 April 2005
10. 14 April 2005
11. 21 April 2005
12. 28 April 2005
13. 5 May 2005
UK VHS Releases
| VHS Title | Release Date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Andy Pandy (BBCV 4205) | 14 November 1988 | Red Engine, Sailing Boats, Trampoline, Hobby Horses |
| Andy Pandy 2: Tales from the Toybox (BBCV 4361) | 9 July 1990 | Jack in a Box, Looby Loo has a Cold, Tea Party, Tricycle |
| The Very Best of Andy Pandy (BBCV 5107) | 5 April 1993 | Trampoline, Jack in a Box, Red Engine, Tea Party, Hobby Horses |
References
- ^ a b Watch with Mother
- ^ a b Audrey Atterbury on Telegoons.org
- ^ a b c d e f 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 0-85112-744-4.
- ^ Watch with Mother site reference
- ^ Watch with Mother episode guide