''Andy Pandy'' is a British

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

that aired on

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

in 1950. Originally live, a series of 26 filmed programmes was shown until 1970, when a new series of 13 episodes was made. This series was the basis for a

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

of the same name in the style of children's magazines '' Robin'' and '' Pippin''. The series was followed by a revival with 26 episodes (52 segments) in 2002. In total, 92 episodes were produced.

Original 1950 and 1970 versions

The original version of ''Andy Pandy'' premiered on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

TV in 1950, on 11 JulyWatch with Mother
/ref> as part of the ''

For the Children ''For the Children'' was the umbrella title given to British television programmes and sequences targeted at children of school age, in the early years of the BBC One, BBC Television Service. The title was first used in 1937 at 3pm as the openin ...

'' strand (later '' Watch with Mother'') narrated by Maria Bird who also narrated the black & white 1950s original broadcasts of '' Flower Pot Men'', ''The Woodentops'' and ''Bizzy Lizzie''. Initially it was broadcast live, but it was realised that if the programmes were filmed, they could be repeated. 26 fifteen-minute episodes were filmed on

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

TV studio history Lime Grove
around 1952 and repeated continuously until 1969. In 1970, 13 new episodes were made in colour with Vera McKechnie as narrator. A

marionette A marionette ( ; ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by ...

who lived in a picnic basket, Andy was later joined by Teddy, a

teddy bear A teddy bear, or simply a teddy, is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. The teddy bear was named by Morris Michtom after the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt; it was developed apparently simultaneously in the first deca ...

, and Looby Loo, a

rag doll A rag doll is a doll made from scraps of fabric. They are one of the oldest children's toys in existence. Today, many rag dolls are commercially produced to mimic aspects of the original home-made dolls, such as simple features, soft cloth bodies, ...

, who came to life when Andy and Teddy were not around. Looby Loo sang " Here we go Looby Loo". 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." It is said that the character's design was based on Paul Atterbury, the then young son of puppeteer Audrey Atterbury.Audrey Atterbury on Telegoons.org
A comic-strip version was published in '' Robin''. The production staff for the original series were: * Producer: Freda Lingstrom. * Narrator: Maria Bird and later in the 1970 remakes Vera McKechnie. * Writer/composer: Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird. * Singers: Gladys Whitred, Julia Williams oiced the 'Little Weed'and Maria Bird (in the 1970 colour series). * Puppeteers: Audrey Atterbury, Molly Gibson, Martin Grainger, The Stavordales and Christopher Leith (in the 1970 colour series).

Episode list

The 26 episodes were: # "Tea Party" # "Presents" # "Music" # "Hand Bells" # "ABC" # "Bricks" # "Playing School" # "Play Shops" # "Leaning House" # "Pram" # "Farm" # "Garden" # "Wall and Tortoise" # "Turtles" # "Boats" # "Paddling Pool" # "Horse and Fish" # "Bird and Butterfly" # "Rabbits" # "Kittens" # "Kings and Queens" # "Jack in the Box" # "The Cart" # "Swing" # "Train Station" # "Airport"

1970 series

By 1970, as BBC1 was by then transmitted in colour, 13 new episodes were produced and shown from 5 January 1970. The 13 episodes are: # "Andy Pandy's House" (5 January 1970) # "Hobby Horses" (12 January 1970) # "Scooters" (19 January 1970) # "Trampoline" (26 January 1970) # "Jack-in-the-Box" (2 February 1970) # "A Wall and a Hedgehog" (9 February 1970) # "Cleaning the House" (16 February 1970) # "Tricycle" (23 February 1970) # "Looby Loo Has a Cold" (2 March 1970) # "The Jeep" (9 March 1970) # "Tea Party" (16 March 1970) # "Red Engine" (23 March 1970) # "Sailing Boats" (30 March 1970) The series was parodied by Des O'Connor in his ''Dandy Sandy'' sketches with Harry Secombe and

Britt Ekland Britt Ekland (born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in ''The Double Man (1967 film), The Double Man'' (1967), ''The Night They ...

2002 revival

In 2002, BBC produced a revival of 52 episodes with the use of

stop-motion animation Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

instead of string puppets: the original nursery and garden were expanded to an entire village, with Andy (now voiced by Maria Darling), Teddy (now voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) and Looby Loo (now voiced by Joanna Ruiz) now owning individual houses, as well as four new characters that were introduced in the series: Missy Hissy (voiced by Maria Darling; who has an unseen brother, also a snake); Tiffo, a teal-and-purple dog (vocals performed by David Holt); Bilbo (also voiced by David Holt), a sailor; and Orbie (vocals performed by Joanna Ruiz), a yellow-and-blue ball.

Tom Conti Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor. Conti has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and two Golden Globe Awards ...

narrated the new series. Though the emphasis of the original series was on music and movement, the emphasis of the 2002 series was on making and doing. The series was animated and produced by

Cosgrove Hall Films Cosgrove Hall Films was a British animation studio founded by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall, headquartered in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Cosgrove Hall was a major producer of children's television and animated programmes/films, which are s ...

and Ben Productions (the latter also producing the 2001 remake of '' Bill and Ben'' aka ''Flower Pot Men''). This is a list of episodes in each series with songs every two episodes (if any):

Series 1

Series 2

UK VHS and DVD releases

References

External links