''Pob's Programme'' is a

children's television programme Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

which was broadcast in the United Kingdom on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. The programme is presented by a puppet named Pob (played by puppeteer Robin Stevens), who speaks with a speech impediment and who supposedly lives inside the viewer's TV (the casing and red, green and blue

electron gun An electron gun (also called electron emitter) is an electrical component in some vacuum tubes that produces a narrow, collimated electron beam that has a precise kinetic energy. The largest use is in cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), used in nearl ...

s visible behind him). Music was composed and performed by Mike Stanley. The opening titles of the show consist of the character breathing on the camera lens (this breathing was often mistaken for spitting, given the loud noise accompanying it and the thick condensation appearing on screen), and tracing his name in the

condensation Condensation is the change of the state of matter from the gas phase into the liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporization. The word most often refers to the water cycle. It can also be defined as the change in the state of water vapor ...

. Each week on the programme, a celebrity guest visits Pob's garden, and entertains him — though Pob and the guest never appear on screen together. ''Pob's Programme'' was created by Doug Wilcox and Anne Wood of

Ragdoll Productions Ragdoll Productions is a British television production company founded in 1984 by Anne Wood, who had previously worked for Yorkshire Television and TV-am. It is located in Stratford-upon-Avon, and has produced a number of children's progra ...

, which also created '' Rosie and Jim''. Wood went on to create the ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on t ...

''.

Series Overview

Content

In a typical episode, the celebrity visitor to the show finds a label attached to a piece of string on the gates of Pob's garden; :''If in my programme you would be,'' :''Wind the wool and follow me.'' :''Follow where the wool is led first the Yellow then the Red'' The celebrity guest then follows the

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

len string, winding it as they go, and encountering a second label; :''Wind it slowly, wind it fast,'' :''A secret you will find at last.'' Ultimately the wool is found to be Pob's unravelled jumper, and he is awoken to trace his name on the screen. Over the course of the programme, the celebrity guest reads a story, and solves a word puzzle with Pob. Over 28 celebrity visitors appeared on ''Pob's Programme'' like Nigel Hayes, some appearing twice. The visitors, many of them well known as actors, included Roy Castle, Jan Francis, Charlie Williams, Madhur Jaffrey, Brian Blessed,

Brian Patten Brian Patten (born 7 February 1946) is an English poet and author. He came to prominence in the 1960s as one of the Liverpool poets, and writes primarily lyrical poetry about human relationships. His famous works include "Little Johnny's Confessi ...

Hannah Gordon Hannah Campbell Grant Gordon
Film reference website (born 9 April 1941) is a Scottish actress and presenter ...

, Su Pollard, Kathy Staff, John Duttine, Ross Davidson,

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...

, Toyah Willcox. Bill Pertwee, Anni Domingo, Josette Simon, Tony Armatrading, Rupert Frazer, Kjartan Poskitt, Bernard Hepton, Peter Howitt,

Cheryl Campbell Cheryl Campbell (born 22 May 1949) is an English actor of stage, film and television. She starred opposite Bob Hoskins in the 1978 BBC drama '' Pennies From Heaven'', before going on to win the 1980 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' Testam ...

Susan Gilmore Susan Gilmore (born 24 November 1954 in London) is an England, English actress with a number of television credits to her name, including Elizabeth Fitt in the BBC hospital drama ''Angels (TV series), Angels'' and Avril Rolfe in ''Howards' Way' ...

, Pat Coombs and Patricia Hodge. One episode was filmed on location at

Birmingham Children's Hospital Birmingham Children's Hospital is a specialist children's hospital located in Birmingham, England. The hospital provides a range of specialist services and operates the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for the city. The serv ...

with Barry Foy as a patient. Various celebrities had recurring segments on ''Pob's Programme'', including Nigel Kennedy (who would attempt to teach Pob to play the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

), Dick King-Smith (who would follow nature trails based on clues that Pob would send him), Alan Dart (who would be seen, hands only, doing a different handicraft project each episode) and

Rod Campbell Rod Campbell (born 4 May 1945) is a Scottish author and illustrator of several popular children's books including the classic lift-the-flap board book ''Dear Zoo''. Born in Scotland in 1945, he was brought up in Zimbabwe and returned to Britain ...

(who would devise different ways to open a mystery box). Pob was often accompanied in his mischief by a silent teddy bear called Teddy, operated by Bob Berk and Wanda Szajna-Hopgood.

Recognition

In 2001, ''Pob's Programme'' was number 60 on

's ''100 Greatest Kids' TV shows''.

References

External links

* {{Ragdoll Productions 1985 British television series debuts 1990 British television series endings 1980s British children's television series 1990s British children's television series 1980s preschool education television series 1990s preschool education television series British children's fantasy television series British preschool education television series Channel 4 original programming British television shows featuring puppetry Television series by DHX Media Television series by Ragdoll Productions English-language television shows