''Tube Mice'' is a British children's

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

for television produced in 1988 about the adventures of

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

who dwell in the tunnels of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

, the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

system locally referred to as 'the tube'. The real life mice themselves are often referred to as 'tube mice' by Londoners. The series was created by Sara and Simon Bor at

Honeycomb Animation Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (often nicknamed ''Grizzly Tales'') is the generic trademarked title for a series of award-winning children's books by British author Jamie Rix which were later adapted into an animated television series of the s ...

for

Television South West Television South West (TSW) was the ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from studios at Derry's Cross in Plymouth, Devon. History Origins and Launc ...

and was screened on

Children's ITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...

. It later aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

on cable television and on

Tiny Pop Tiny Pop (styled as tiny POP) is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. Broadcast on many of the major digital television platforms in the UK, Tiny Pop, which was launched on 8 September 2003 as ...

on free to air satellite television. ''Tube Mice'' was also broadcast in several countries around the world such as

SABC2 SABC 2 is a South African free-to-air television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The channel was createdin its current form on 4 February 1996, due to the restructuring of the three national SABC networks. As ...

in South Africa,

BFBS The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselv ...

and SSVC Television in Germany, M1 in Hungary, Channel 5 in Singapore and TV One (as well as once on Channel 2) in New Zealand. It also features the voices of George Cole and

Dennis Waterman Dennis Waterman (24 February 1948 – 8 May 2022) was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including ''The Sweeney'', ''Minder (TV series), Minder'' and ''New Tricks'', singing the ...

of ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'' fame.

Overview

The four main characters were mice living at Oxford Circus Underground station. They use the Tube to get around London, taking them to wherever their latest adventure was supposed to take place. The mice had their own society, using rubbish thrown away by humans (the mice had a strict code prohibiting theft). They had their own compartments on Underground trains and decorated their tunnels with reused junk. This society included mouse businessmen, mouse underground supervisors and even mouse Members of Parliament.

Characters

The characters were all based on recognisable

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

"types". The main characters were: *Bubble – A streetwise and confident female

Rastafarian Rastafari is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much ...

mouse, originally from a

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

. Voiced by Sheila Hyde. *Squeak – An

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...

fieldmouse who initially comes to London seeking his inheritance, but who decides to stay at Oxford Circus. His and Bubble's names are a pun on the English dish

bubble and squeak Bubble and squeak is an English dish made from cooked potatoes and cabbage, mixed together and fried. The food writer Howard Hillman classes it as one of the "great peasant dishes of the world".Hillman, pp. 62–63 The dish has been known sinc ...

. Voiced by

Rupert Farley Rupert Charles Farley (born 4 August 1957) is an English actor and voice over artist. He has had various roles in movies such as ''From Hell'', '' The Young Poisoner's Handbook'', ''Shakespeare in Love'' and ''Mrs Brown ''Mrs Brown'' (al ...

. *Vernon – A wheeler-dealer of a mouse, dressed as a

teddy boy The Teddy Boys or Teds were a mainly United Kingdom, British youth subculture originating in the early 1950s to mid-1960s and then revived in the 1970s who were interested in rock and roll and Rhythm and blues, R&B music, wearing clothes part ...

. His greed and schemes would often form the basis of the adventure – often because he was rarely as clever as he thought he was. He was voiced by George Cole, and his character was remarkably similar to

Arthur Daley ''Minder'' is a British comedy-drama series about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television, and shown on ITV for ten series between 29 October 1979 a ...

, Cole's character in the popular television series ''

''. *Toaster – Vernon's dim-witted sidekick. He dressed like a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

. Although he would follow Vernon anywhere, his stupidity and love of food would often scupper any plans they had. He was voiced by

, also enjoying success in ''Minder'' at the time. Geraldine and Adrian Powell’s beloved cat was named after this character. Other characters included: *Bo Heemy – A mouse artist. Her name is a pun on "

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

" *Mickelmouse – An MP at

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, sitting in the Mouse of Parliament. *Rapper – A mouse who talks only in the form of

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

. *Derby – A mouse Underground attendant, usually found leaning on his broom, asleep.

Episodes

*We Are the Tube Mice (05.09.1988) *Escape from the 31st Floor (06.09.1988) *The Riddle (07.09.1988) *Break Out (08.09.1988) *Mouses Of Parliament (12.09.1988) *Take Away (13.09.1988) *High Fliers (14.09.1988) *Catastrophy (19.09.1988) *Hank's in Town (20.09.1988) *No Tea For Two (21.09.1988) *Mice on Ice (22.09.1988) *Tails From The Crypt (26.09.1988) *The Last Post (27.09.1988) *Phantoms of L'Opera (28.09.1988) *Defective Detective (29.09.1988) *Waxworks (03.10.1988) *Art Show (04.10.1988) *Grated Cheese Robbery (05.10.1988) *Earthquake (06.10.1988) *Best Kept Station (10.10.1988) *Rap That Rat (11.10.1988) *What a Difference a Day Makes (12.10.1988) *Marathon Mice (13.10.1988) *Library (17.10.1988) *End of the Line (18.10.1988)

Style

Unlike the later ''

Underground Ernie ''Underground Ernie'' is a 2006 British animation, British-animated children's television series produced by Joella Productions for the BBC on both CBeebies and BBC Two, and sold internationally by BBC Worldwide. It is set in ''International Und ...

'', this series was set on a rather true-to-life version of the London Underground, right down to litter and graffiti. The style of animation was very distinctive, using strange angles and perspectives, and using

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

backgrounds. The series made heavy use of the

ransom note effect In typography, the ransom note effect is the result of using an excessive number of juxtaposed typefaces. It takes its name from the appearance of a stereotypical ransom note or poison pen letter, with the message formed from words or letters c ...

where writing appeared on screen, giving the series a very punk feel.

Transmission guide

*Series 1: 26 editions from 5 September 1988 – 18 October 1988

External links

Toonhound article
* {{Honeycomb Animation 1988 British television series debuts 1988 British television series endings 1980s British animated television series 1980s British children's television series Animated television series about mice and rats British English-language television shows ITV children's television shows Nickelodeon original programming Television shows produced by Television South West (TSW) TVNZ 1 original programming Works set on the London Underground ITV animated television series