The Newt Family (Farthing Wood)
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| Name: | Mr. Newt / Mrs. Newt / Baby Newt |
|---|---|
| Species: | Newt |
| Seasons: | 1 |
| First Appearance: | Mr. and Mrs. Newt: "The Wood In Danger" (1x01), Baby Newt: "The Journey Begins" (1x02) |
| Last Appearance: | "Through Fire And Through Water" (1x03) |
| Mate: | Mrs. Newt / Mr. Newt |
| Offspring: | Baby Newt |
Mr. Newt, his wife Mrs. Newt, and their son Baby Newt, are a fictional family of Newts from the animated children's television series The Animals of Farthing Wood based upon the books of the same name by author Colin Dann. Mr. Newt was voiced by Rupert Farley, who also provided the voice for Fox, and numerous other characters in the program.
[edit] The Journey to White Deer Park
Mr. and Mrs. Newt are first seen at the emergency assembly of the Farthing Wood animals to discuss the threat posed by mankind's destruction of their woodland home. Mr. Hedgehog was responsible for summoning them there. When Toad is informed that his pond has been filled in, the Newts are seen crying over the loss of their home and water supply at the hands of the humans.
In the second episode, as the animals later meet and prepare to set off on their long and perilous journey to the safety of a nature reserve, the Baby Newt appears for the first time, and is seen suffering from extreme thirst. As the animals travel onwards, the trio find it increasingly difficult to carry on; their need for water becoming more and more desperate, and are finally on the verge of death when Owl spots an outdoor swimming pool nearby and the family are saved; becoming quickly revitalised after a short swim and a drink.
In the third episode, being aquatic creatures the Newts are again feeling the effects of a lack of water, and are also finding it extremely difficult to keep up with the larger animals (as a lot of the smaller ones are), so when the group encounters some marshland on the edge of an army training ground, the family decides to leave the others and stay there because the marsh provides an ideal living environment for them, as Toad states, they won't do any better at White Deer Park. Badger protests greatly at this decision, pointing out that many of the other smaller animals such as Adder are carrying on, and that staying behind is 'not in the team spirit', but the leader Fox reluctantly accepts the family's decision as long as no one else wishes to leave, and after saying their goodbyes the rest of the animals continue their journey without them.
Later in the same episode a grass fire is started by a careless human throwing a cigarette butt out of a car window without first extinguishing it. Chaos ensures, during which Toad and Mole are lost and only just rescued in time by Fox and Badger, but the animals are all eventually able to make it to the safety of a small island via a shallow causeway. During the fire, Toad informs Badger the flames have been blown backwards towards the other side of the marsh, and Badger realises with horror that the Newts are in that direction. At the end of the episode when Mole (who was not present when the family decided to leave) asks where the Newts are, Badger, after stuttering for a few seconds, tells him not to ask, which suggests he assumed the family had been killed by the flames. Their fate is never revealed in the program, and the trio are never mentioned again by the other animals, so it is generally accepted that they died.
