Brum (TV series)

Brum
Brum at the Cotswold Motoring Museum
Developed by	Ragdoll Productions for BBC Television
Starring	Brum
Narrated by	Toyah Willcox Tom Wright Sarah Wichall
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	67
Production
Executive producers	Tom Poole Vic Finch
Running time	10-15 minutes
Production companies	Ragdoll Productions Hit Entertainment
Original release
Network	BBC One CBeebies
Release	26 September 1991 (1991-09-26) – 4 November 2002 (2002-11-04)

Brum (/ˈbrʌm/) is a British children's television series about the adventures of a small, intelligent, self-driven car.

Set in Birmingham, England and produced by Ragdoll Productions, Brum was first broadcast in 1991. It was initially directed, written and produced by Anne Wood and initially narrated by Toyah Willcox. The show was first aired on BBC One, and also aired in the United States on Discovery Family, and on ABC in Australia (6 October 1993 - 26 December 2008).

Plot and setting

Brum is the story of a small replica car who ventures out into the 'Big Town' when his owner isn't looking. Brum gets up to all manner of adventures around The Big Town. Each episode begins and ends in the same way - with Brum leaving the other cars in the motor museum when the owner's back is turned and heading out to explore the "Big Town" before always returning back to his place.

The car can express himself in various mechanical ways including opening and closing his doors and bonnet, "bobbing" his suspension, and flashing and swivelling. The actors in Brum do not speak - mime and off-screen narration help propel the story. Therefore it was easy to prepare episodes for airing in other countries and Brum has been broadcast in many parts of the world and in many languages.

The programme was set in the city of Birmingham in England, since in addition to its onomatopoeic nature of a car engine revving, 'Brum' is a common colloquial name for Birmingham. Although later series make no direct mention of Birmingham, calling it the "Big Town", many of the city's streets and landmarks can be seen in each episode.

The show was written by a range of writers. Anne Wood primarily wrote all the first series, whilst the second was written by Tom Poole, Dirk Campbell, Andrew Davenport and Morgan Hall. The last two series were written by the existing Ragdoll team.

"Brum" ceased production in 2002, and the car - a half-scale replica of a late-1920s Austin 7 "Chummy" convertible - is now housed at the Cotswold Motoring Museum. This museum is also where the opening and closing sequences of the programme were filmed.

The car itself was designed and built by Rex Garrod.

Characters

• Museum Owner (Roy Greenslade) - The owner of the car museum where Brum lives. He is the only human character who appears in every episode, and the only character who is apparently oblivious to Brum's adventures - despite finding items in the seats at the end of each episode. Mike Cavanagh was the real owner of the museum at the time.
• The Lollipop Lady (Shirley-Anne Bohm) - A lady who helps people, and Brum, cross the road safely.
• The Big Town Robber (Andrew Davenport) - Always up to mischief, this robber's antics include stealing the trophy for the big race. Brum is usually the one that foils his plans.
• Mr and Mrs La-Di-Dah - A posh married couple who regularly featured in season 2.
• Mr and Mrs Doolally (Mark Barnsley) - A friendly if slightly absent minded couple who were regularly featured in season 2.
• Vicky Spoon - A regular cast member of the second series, Vicky is Brum's special friend.
• Micky Mender - a handyman, a regular cast member of the second series.
• Granny Slippers (Linda Kerr Scott) — She wears slippers wherever she goes.
• Mr Brillo (Rob Thirtle) — Lives next door to Granny Slippers. His favourite picture is the Gnoma Lisa. He has loads of gnomes in his garden.
• Scruffy - Brum's friend, a dog who loves burying things.
• Big Town Manager (John Woodford) — the town manager.
• Mrs Posh (Iona Kennedy / Carole Davies) - A posh lady who lives in the town.
• Traffic Policeman (Mark Powlett) - A 'knock-about' policeman. He owns a horse called Arrow.
• Gorgeous Gordon (Enoch White) - A self-centered, full-of-himself hairdresser.
• Bob & Job (Kevin McGreevy & Adam Schumacher) — These two comically clumsy men wear green dungarees and yellow T-shirts and help the town in a Laurel and Hardy style slapstick way.
• Rob & Nick - A bumbling pair of thieves also known as the big town baddies (Dan Carey and Jason Segade)
• Policewoman (Lisa Allen)
• Sally - A girl in Big Town who got her cake stolen by teenagers.

Episodes

Series 1 (1991)

• Brum to The Rescue - 26 September 1991
• Brum and The Kite - 3 October 1991
• Brum and The Scrapyard - 10 October 1991
• Brum At The Opera - 17 October 1991
• Brum and The Mower - 24 October 1991
• Brum Goes To The Seaside - 31 October 1991
• Brum and The Little Girl Lost - 7 November 1991
• Brum's Wheels - 14 November 1991
• Brum and The Stilts - 21 November 1991
• Brum and The Removal Van - 28 November 1991
• Brum and The Robbers - 5 December 1991
• Brum and The Runaway Pram - 12 December 1991
• Brum and The Safari Park - 19 December 1991

Series 2 (1994)

• Brum and the Helicopter - 6 October 1994
• Brum and the Big Crane - 13 October 1994
• Brum is an Ice Skating Star - 20 October 1994
• Brum and the Big Chase - 27 October 1994
• Brum and the Wedding - 3 November 1994
• Brum and the Big Town Race - 10 November 1994
• Brum Goes Shopping - 17 November 1994
• Brum and the Very Windy Day - 24 November 1994
• Brum and the Surprise Party - 1 December 1994
• Brum and the Naughty Kitten - 8 December 1994
• Brum and the Little Drummer Boy - 15 December 1994
• Brum and the Flood - 22 December 1994
• Brum Goes House Painting - 29 December 1994

Series 3 (2001)

• Brum and the Airport Adventure - 3 September 2001
• Brum and the Naughty Dog - 10 September 2001
• Brum and the Pizzeria - 17 September 2001
• Brum and the Gymnast - 24 September 2001
• Brum and the King of Thieves - 1 October 2001
• Brum and the Skateboarding Bride - 8 October 2001
• Brum - Chasing Balloons - 15 October 2001
• Brum and the Stolen Necklace - 22 October 2001
• Brum and the Pantomime Cow - 29 October 2001
• Brum and the Runaway Train - 5 November 2001
• Brum and the Birthday Cake - 12 November 2001
• Brum and the Mobile Phone - 19 November 2001
• Brum - Bushes on the Run - 26 November 2001
• Brum and the Diamond Dog - 3 December 2001
• Brum and the Runaway Statue - 10 December 2001
• Brum and the Music Box - 17 December 2001
• Brum and the Snow Thieves - 27 December 2001

Series 4 (2002)

• Brum and the Kitten Rescue- 8 April 2002
• Brum and The Splash and Grab- 15 April 2002
• Brum and the Golden Loo - 22 April 2002
• Brum and the Golf Buggy - 29 April 2002
• Brum the Soccer Hero - 6 May 2002
• Brum and the Rampant Robot - 13 May 2002
• Brum and the Shop Window Dummy- 20 May 2002
• Brum and the Bowling Alley - 27 May 2002
• Brum the Basketball Star - 3 June 2002
• Brum and the Gorilla Caper - 10 June 2002
• Brum and the Runaway Sofa - 17 June 2002
• Brum and the Kidnapped Garden Gnome - 24 June 2002
• Brum and the Runaway Ball - 1 July 2002

Series 5 (2002)

• Brum and the Stunt Bike Rescue - 2 September 2002
• Brum and the Stopwatch Botch - 9 September 2002
• Brum and the Cream Balloon - 16 September 2002
• Brum and the Pickpocket - 23 September 2002
• Brum and the Daring Gnome Rescue - 30 September 2002
• Brum and the Mischievous Mouse - 7 October 2002
• Brum and the Bank Robbers - 14 October 2002
• Brum and The Runaway Rickshaw - 21 October 2002
• Brum and the Paint Pandemonium - 28 October 2002
• Brum and the Crazy Chair Chase - 4 November 2002

CGI reboot

On 1 February 2016,WildBrain, a subsidiary of DHX Media, revealed a new CGI reboot of Brum. It now takes place in a white world rather than the Big Town. Brum has new friends which are Baa the Sheep, Moo the Cow, Quack the Duck, Woof the Dog, Giddy the Horse, Oink the Pig and Tweet the Bird. The first episode, "Brum's Car Wash Adventure", premiered on the 4 March 2016 on the official Brum YouTube channel.

External links

• Brum at IMDb