''Timmy Time'' is a British

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...

stop-motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames ...

television programme A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

created and produced by

Jackie Cockle Jackie Cockle (born 1950) is a British stop motion animation specialist, best known as the co-founder of the HOT Animation studio, which specializes in stop motion animation. She is the creator and creative producer of the pre-school animation T ...

for the BBC's

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

and produced by

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...

. It started broadcasting in the United Kingdom on 6 April 2009. It is a spin-off of ''

Shaun the Sheep ''Shaun the Sheep'' is a British stop-motion television series and a spin-off of the '' Wallace and Gromit'' franchise. The title character is Shaun (previously featured as the sheep named "Shaun" in the 1995 short film '' A Close Shave'' and t ...

'', itself a spin-off of the ''

Wallace and Gromit ''Wallace & Gromit'' is a British stop-motion comedy franchise created by Nick Park of Aardman Animations. The series consists of four short films and one feature-length film, and has spawned numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The series ce ...

'' film ''

A Close Shave ''Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave'' is a 1995 British stop-motion animated short film co-written and directed by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations with Wallace and Gromit Ltd., BBC Bristol and BBC Children's International. It is ...

'' (1995). The first two series ran for 26 episodes. In the United Kingdom, its most recent run began in September 2011 on

. In Australia, season one started in May 2009 on

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

and season three in May 2011 on

ABC 4 Kids ABC Kids is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's part-time channel, broadcasting shows between the hours of 5am and 7:30pm for children under 6 years old in each local Australian channel. It shares the same bandwidth as ABC TV Plus which ...

. The series also on

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Tel ...

, later called

Disney Junior Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven ...

, beginning on 13 September 2010, but later ended its run in May 2014.

Premise and format

In this series, Timmy and his friends have to learn to share, make friends and accept their mistakes. They are supervised by two teachers, Harriet the Heron and Osbourne the Owl. The show is aimed at pre-school-aged children, which the company described as "a natural next step for Aardman". The show is made up of ten-minute episodes, which do not feature much dialogue, much like ''

'', ''

'' and ''

''. Shaun, his friends, Bitzer and the Farmer did not appear. A filming of one episode was featured on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

's ''

How It's Made ''How It's Made'' (''Comment c'est fait'' in French) is a Canadian documentary television series that premiered on January 6, 2001, on the Discovery Channel in Canada and the Science Channel in the United States. The program is produced in th ...

''. During the show's development, the series was simply called ''Timmy''.

acquired UK-broadcast rights to the series in October 2007. In 2018, Aardman collaborated with the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

to create "Learning Time with Timmy", a show to encourage children aged 2–6 around the world to learn the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

, along with a YouTube-exclusive series and three apps. In October 2019, Aardman announced a new "rebooted" version of the existing 78 episodes for CBeebies titled ''It's Timmy Time'' that began broadcast later on in the month. These versions feature narration from a selection of pre-school children, and are 5-minutes in length when compared to the original 10-minute episodes.

Episodes

Characters

Children

* Timmy is a

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

who is the titular character and enjoys being in the spotlight. He is 3 years old in sheep years and later turns 4 in the episode Timmy's Birthday. In many of the episodes he gets into trouble; however, he learns from his mistakes, and often tries to help the other characters out when he can. He is best friends with Yabba, and is very close to Finlay. He also appears in ''Shaun the Sheep''. Timmy's noise is baa. * Yabba is a duckling who wears blue goggles and is very similar to Timmy in personality and is best friends with him. Yabba's noise is quack. * Paxton is a piglet who is characterised by his appetite for apples and his weight. He wears a blue sweater and is never seen without it. Paxton's noise is oink. * Mittens is a

kitten A kitten is a juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are totally dependent on their mothers for survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. After about two weeks, kittens develop q ...

who is like other kittens: she does't like getting wet or dirty and is rather sensitive. In some episodes, she seems to have feelings for Timmy. She always loves playing with picnics. Mittens' noise is mee-eew. * Ruffy is a

puppy A puppy is a juvenile dog. Some puppies can weigh , while larger ones can weigh up to . All healthy puppies grow quickly after birth. A puppy's coat color may change as the puppy grows older, as is commonly seen in breeds such as the York ...

who is energetic but can be, sometimes, mentally slow, and he is good friend, too. Ruffy's noise is ruff. * Apricot is a

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introductio ...

who is very quiet and skittish. When startled or frightened by someone or something she rolls up into a ball. Apricot's noise is hicoo, although she rarely speaks. * Stripey is a

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...

cub who is a bit sleepy and slow as badgers are nocturnal. Stripey's noise is honk. * Kid is a

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

who has a large appetite like Paxton, and chews anything in sight. If the thing he is chewing is taken from him he does not mind; he just moves on to something else. Kid's noise is mep mep. * Otus is an

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

et who enjoys helping and looks up to Osbourne. He can be typically found reading and is very sensitive, sometimes copying Osbourne. Otus is commonly confused to be female due to his feminine voice tone and pink and purple feathers. Otus' noise is too-wit, too-hoo. * Finlay is a fox who is excitable and full of energy. Finlay's noise is yip-yap.

Teachers

* Harriet is a

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...

who speaks through caws and clicks. She is one of the two teachers. Harriet's noise is cluck. * Osbourne is an

who is the other teacher of the class. Osbourne's noise is hoot-hoot.

Side characters

* Bumpy is a

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sy ...

who is not part of the class but has many background appearances in the show. Bumpy's noise is blee blub. * Timmy's Mother is a

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...

who is also not part of the class, but does appear in the opening sequence, "Timmy's Christmas Surprise" and the end credits. She is the only known parent in the show and also appears in ''Shaun The Sheep''. Timmy's Mother's noise is baa.

References

External links

* * * *
Timmy Time on Disney Junior
{{Shaun the Sheep Television series by Aardman Animations 2000s British animated television series 2000s British children's television series 2000s preschool education television series 2009 British television series debuts 2010s British animated television series 2010s British children's television series 2010s preschool education television series 2012 British television series endings Animated preschool education television series Animated television series without speech BBC children's television shows British children's animated television shows British preschool education television series British television spin-offs CBeebies Clay animation television series English-language television shows Shaun the Sheep Television series about sheep