Little Robots

Little Robots is a stop-motion animated children's TV series, produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Create TV and Film Limited and broadcast on CBeebies (the BBC's children's channel). The fiction series was based on the eponymous book by Mike Brownlow in 1999, published by Ragged Bears Publishing. It is distributed by BBC Worldwide to over 60 countries.

Cast List

• Morwenna Banks
• Hayley Carmichael
• Emma Chambers
• Martin Clunes
• Mel Giedroyc
• Mike Haley
• Lenny Henry
• Jimmy Hibbert
• Sue Perkins
• Su Pollard

Crew List

• Franc Vose, producer
• Bridget Appleby, Art Director
• Vanessa Chapman, Executive Producer
• Michael Carrington, Executive Producer
• Theresa Plummer-Andrews, Executive Producer
• Bob Heatlie, composer
• Hilary Baverstock, Script Editor
• Mellie Buse, writer
• Jimmy Hibbert, writer
• Neil Arksey, writer

Cast and characters

(In order they were mentioned in the opening)

• Tiny – Hayley Carmichael: The central character of the show. He is turquoise, has a pink antenna on top of his head, and a pink button on his belly which opens the lid of his head, uncovering a couple of tools which he uses for fixing machines and robots. He is also responsible for pulling the Day-Night Lever at the right times. Tiny lives on the Nut and Bolt Tree, right next to the Day-Night Lever. He always has a positive view on things, and always tries to help his friends to live in peace and harmony together.
• Messy – Jimmy Hibbert: The robot dog of the Little Robots' world, he loves things dirty and messy. Scary teaches him tricks and makes shows with him, where he's known as "Messy the Wonderhound". It is possible that much of messy's dialogue may have been recycled recordings from one of Cosgrove Hall's previous shows: Noddy's Toyland Adventures, which Hibbert also recorded lines for.
• Sporty – Lenny Henry: The strongest and fittest who is eldest of all the Little Robots, he's constantly running, playing games and sports, and never gets tired of making himself stronger and fitter. Sporty has his own, private gym with a trampoline and a conveyor belt.
• Stretchy – Jimmy Hibbert: A very organized and efficient Little Robot, he's in charge of sorting the junk that comes from the chute on the junkyard. He's blue, tall and thin and has a long, flexible neck. Though his main worry is to keep the junkyard organized so his friends can use, his workaholism and obsession for organisation sometimes causes problems – on one occasion, he accidentally tied a knot on his neck due to overwork. He lives in the junkyard, inside an abandoned radiator.
• Rusty – Morwenna Banks: A feminine and sensitive Little Robot, she has a red dress, is made of painted rusty metal and wears a funnel-like hat on top of her head. She lives in an old, rusty bucket, and she constantly has new ideas on how to improve and decorate it. She's very impulsive and accidentally prone, though, and tense situations or anything that causes her to get overexcited can make her overheat and release puffs of steam. She also has a notable, childish crush on Sporty.
• Stripy – Martin Clunes: A big Little Robot made with colored stripes of metal, he's practically the complete opposite of Sporty: moves and talks slowly, but he's a deep and introspective thinker, also a specialist in flowers and storytelling. His best friend is Teddy, his metallic teddy bear, and his favourite activities are taking care of his garden, telling stories to his friends and playing games that require little agility and lots of skill.
• Noisy – Su Pollard: A red Little Robot who speaks loudly, has a trumpet for a nose, plays instruments, writes and sings songs, and loves whatever kind of noise he can produce. His house is an old drum, with a xylophone-themed entryway. His passion for loud music and noise can often be bothersome for her friends, but he's also a great entertainer. His laughter is unforgettable, too.
• Spotty – Emma Chambers: A round, heavy, yellow, Little Robot covered in colored spots, wears specs, and can retract all her limbs and roll around like a ball for fast locomotion. She has a strong personality, likes rules and orders, and tends to give orders to her friends (often causing conflicts with her friends). Her dream is to be an artist.
• Scary – Mike Hayley: A purple Little Robot with a black cape. Scary is a great actor with a Donald Sinden-esque voice, likes to scare his friends (though he's often not successful) and stage shows to entertain his friends. He has his own stage, which is also his house.
• Flappy the Bat – Jimmy Hibbert
• The Sparky Twins – Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins: A debatably greenish blue Little Robot couple with different colored belly buttons. The twins are almost identical, are full of energy, love dancing and doing practical jokes on other robots. Sparky One has a pink spot on her belly and Sparky Two has a yellow spot on her belly. They are able to communicate over distances by exchanging electrical rays through the antennae on their heads, and their catch phrase is Gimmie Three, Sparkee! when they high-five. They live in a pair of speakers by an old record turntable.
• Other characters are the Robo-Birds (Jimmy Hibbert), who often play important roles on the show.

Episode list

Number in series	Title	Original air date
1	"The Sound of Music"	7 January 2003 (2003-01-07)
Convinced by Tiny that it'll be impossible play five instruments all by herself, Noisy decides to form a band, but Sporty is horrified to discover that Noisy wants him to be the singer.
2	"The Hiccalots"	14 January 2003 (2003-01-14)
Sporty bumps into Noisy who gets a bad case of robotic hiccups. Everyone tries different ways to cure her.
3	"A Friend for Teddy"	21 January 2003 (2003-01-21)
Rusty is embarrassed when she discovers Spotty's secret affection for her pink fluffy slippers.
4	"Robot Race Day"	28 January 2003 (2003-01-28)
The Robots hold a sports day.
5	"Knock Knock"	4 February 2003 (2003-02-04)
Sporty and Scary keep getting confused about which home belongs to which of the Sparky twins. Upset that they are always being mistaken for each other the twins decide to put shiny things on their doors to identify which is which.
6	"Spotty's Clean Machine"	11 February 2003 (2003-02-11)
Wanting to get all their stuff clean, Spotty tries out Stretchy's new cleaning machine, but it goes out of control.
7	"One Hundred"	18 February 2003 (2003-02-18)
When their artificial moon breaks, Tiny enlists the help of the other robots to make a new one.
8	"Stretchy in a Twist"	25 February 2003 (2003-02-25)
Trying to do too many things at once, Stretchy gets his neck stuck in a knot.Tiny and Rusty try to help.
9	"Stripy on the Ball"	4 March 2003 (2003-03-04)
Stripy makes a new ball, but the Sparky Twins steal it.They get trapped and the other robots rescue them.
10	"Scary Scary"	11 March 2003 (2003-03-11)
Scary has been trying to frighten the little robots, but is unsuccessful until he accidentally gets covered in his magnetic props.
11	"Hole in the Sky"	18 March 2003 (2003-03-18)
Rusty is terrified on finding a hole in the sky above her home.
12	"Noisy's New Song"	25 March 2003 (2003-03-25)
The hatch in Stretchy's junkyard is jammed, no-one can unstick it and Noisy has a new song.
13	"A Bit of Give and Take"	1 April 2003 (2003-04-01)
Tiny needs some help with the Nut and Bolt Tree.

Distribution

BBC Worldwide distributes the series, and licensed it in over 60 countries. In the U.S., Little Robots is part of Cartoon Network's Tickle-U programming block and debuted in 2005. It is also aired on TVOKids in Ontario, Canada, on Okto in Singapore, and on Nick Jr. in Australia (formerly for a short time on Nickelodeon). The BBC website lists further customers: Germany (ZDF and KiKa), Canada (TVOntario, SCN and The Knowledge Network), Norway (NRK), Finland (YLE), Denmark (TV2), Iceland (RUV), Italy (RAI 3), Portugal (RTP), Malta (MEBC), Russia (RTR Kultura) and South Africa (SABC), Mexico (Discovery Kids), Slovenia (TV Slovenia), Japan (NHK and Disney Junior), Poland (CBeebies), Greece (NERIT), Middle East and North Africa (Spacetoon).

Duplo

• • 4195 Tiny's House
  • 4196 Sporty's Sport Room
  • 4197 Stretchy's Room

External links

• Little Robots at IMDb