Baby Jake
| Baby Jake | |
|---|---|
 Sibsey Trader Mill in Lincolnshire was the location used in the filming of Baby Jake | |
| Opening theme | "Baby Jake" |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Maddy Darrall |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Production companies | Darrall Macqueen Ltd CBeebies Jam Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBeebies |
| Release | 4 July 2011 – 15 October 2012 |
Baby Jake is a children's television programme originally broadcasting in the UK. It first aired on 4 July 2011.[1]
The programme features Jake, a nine-month-old baby. Jake is the youngest of ten children all living in a windmill with their parents. Each episode features Jake embarking on an adventure with a host of magical characters that may include Pengy Quinn the Penguin, Toot Toot the Tractor, Captain Spacey and the Hamsternauts, Nibbles the Rabbit and Sydney the Monkey.[2] These characters are always doing something related to the adventure that Baby Jake is on.
The show features a child narrator and all ten children are depicted in real life, although Baby Jake is given a multi-angle photographic face on an animated body. Jake's babbling is translated by his 5-year-old brother Isaac. Isaac is voiced by a real-life 5-year-old boy, in a move described by the Guardian as "a risk"[1] since the majority of successful children's television is narrated by adults. The roles of Jake and Isaac are portrayed by real-life brothers Adamo and Franco Bertacchi-Morroni respectively, with Kaizer Akhtar providing the voice of Isaac.[3]
Production
The programme cost £1.85m to produce, and was funded by the Irish Film Board[4] and CBeebies.[1]
Darrall Macqueen Ltd originated the series and produced the animated elements of the programme through JAM Media.[4] JAM Media are an Irish animation studio who also made Tilly and Friends.[5] Maddy Darrall was quoted by the Metro as gaining inspiration for the show from watching her 7-year-old nephew understanding her 1-year-old son.[6]
The series is animated by Jam Media in Dublin and the lead writer is Dave Ingham (Charlie and Lola, Koala Brothers).
Location
The windmill featured in the series is Sibsey Trader Mill just outside the village of Sibsey near Boston in Lincolnshire. In the programme it is shown as a large family home with additional floors, rooms and windows rather than a working mill, although it shows full working sails. Wheat harvesting in fields in and around the mill at the time had to be delayed to allow filming to take place back in the late summer of 2010 so that they had the correct ripened wheat colours.[7]
Series
Series one of Baby Jake ran in the UK each weekday from July to August 2011 and consisted of 26 episodes in total.[3]
Series two began on 10 September 2012 also consisting of 26 episodes.[3]
Series two was the last series commissioned. There has been no request for a further series since. The series has also been shown on Al-Jazeera.[8]
Reception
The show was relatively popular at launch compared to other BBC Children's TV programs, occupying all top five positions on the BBC Ceebies iplayer for a week.[9] In 2013 the show received a UK Broadcast Award.[10]
In 2016 the show was listed as one of the top-ten most irritating children's TV shows in the Australian Daily Telegraph due to its "mind-bending lyrics" and repetitiveness.[11]
Episodes
| Series | Episodes | Start date | End date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | 4 July 2011 | 8 August 2011 |
| 2 | 10 September 2012 | 15 October 2012 |
The naming convention for each episode always begins with 'Baby Jake loves..'
Series 1 (2011)
| No | Title[12] | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Playing Chase | 4 July 2011 |
| 2 | Peek-a-boo | 5 July 2011 |
| 3 | Tummy Sliding | 6 July 2011 |
| 4 | To Wriggle | 7 July 2011 |
| 5 | Tickle Toes | 8 July 2011 |
| 6 | to Say Hello | 11 July 2011 |
| 7 | Cartwheeling | 12 July 2011 |
| 8 | Spinning in Space | 13 July 2011 |
| 9 | To Bumpety Bump | 14 July 2011 |
| 10 | Flappy Clapping | 15 July 2011 |
| 11 | Being Upside Down | 18 July 2011 |
| 12 | Playing Ball | 19 July 2011 |
| 13 | Making Noise | 20 July 2011 |
| 14 | Bouncing Apples | 21 July 2011 |
| 15 | To Copy You | 22 July 2011 |
| 16 | Jumping | 25 July 2011 |
| 17 | To Hum Along | 26 July 2011 |
| 18 | Surprising You | 27 July 2011 |
| 19 | Sticky Fun | 28 July 2011 |
| 20 | To Stompety Stomp | 29 July 2011 |
| 21 | To Roll and Ride | 1 August 2011 |
| 22 | Swinging | 2 August 2011 |
| 23 | Footprints | 3 August 2011 |
| 24 | The Boogie Beat | 4 August 2011 |
| 25 | Party Time | 5 August 2011 |
| 26 | Being Funny | 8 August 2011 |
Series 2 (2012)
| No | Title[12] | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Popping Peas | 10 September 2012 |
| 2 | Stretching | 11 September 2012 |
| 3 | His Spinning Hat | 12 September 2012 |
| 4 | Chasing an Egg | 13 September 2012 |
| 5 | Wobbling | 14 September 2012 |
| 6 | Spinning a Web | 17 September 2012 |
| 7 | Musical Statues | 18 September 2012 |
| 8 | A Picnic Feast | 19 September 2012 |
| 9 | Bath Time | 20 September 2012 |
| 10 | Waving | 21 September 2012 |
| 11 | Space Painting | 24 September 2012 |
| 12 | Building | 25 September 2012 |
| 13 | Jiggle and Shake | 26 September 2012 |
| 14 | Balloons | 27 September 2012 |
| 15 | Pretend | 28 September 2012 |
| 16 | Ballet Dancing | 1 October 2012 |
| 17 | Cuddles | 2 October 2012 |
| 18 | Making Honey | 3 October 2012 |
| 19 | Knock Knock | 4 October 2012 |
| 20 | His Watering Can | 5 October 2012 |
| 21 | Cardboard Boxes | 8 October 2012 |
| 22 | Pushing Buttons | 9 October 2012 |
| 23 | Playing House | 10 October 2012 |
| 24 | Gallopy Gallop | 11 October 2012 |
| 25 | Pretty Lights | 12 October 2012 |
| 26 | Christmas | 15 October 2012 |
References
- ^ a b c Maggie Brown (25 June 2011). "Baby Jake, the real 10-month-old set to be a star of children's TV. | Television & radio | The Observer". London: Guardian. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ "Baby Jake". CBeebies. Archived from the original on 21 June 2012.
- ^ a b c "Baby Jake". iMDb.
- ^ a b http://www.irishfilmboard.ie/irish_film_industry/news/Irish_Animation_Firm_JAM_Media_Announces_22_New_High_Spec_Animation_Jobs/1674[permanent dead link]
- ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/childrens2012/cbeebies/tilly.html
- ^ "Baby Jake set to be the star of new CBeebies show". Metro.co.uk. 26 June 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ "A windmill in Lincolnshire stars in new CBeebies series". BBC News. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ Wolfe, Jennifer (21 November 2012). "Al Jazeera Picks Up 'Baby Jake'". AWN. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ "Shingle dabbles in 'Baby' babble". Variety. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ Courtney, Kevin (5 March 2013). "Drawing inspiration from the Celtic Tigger". Irish Times. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ Parnell, Kerry (10 January 2016). "The 10 kids' TV shows more painful than childbirth". Daily Telegraph (Australia). Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ a b [1] at Internet Movie Database.
