Big Barn Farm

Big Barn Farm
Format Animated television series
Country of origin  United Kingdom
No. of episodes 20
Production
Running time 30 Minutes (UK);
30 minutes (USA);
10 minutes (Canada)
Broadcast
Original channel CBeebies
Picture format 720x576 16:9
Original run 2008 – present

Big Barn Farm is a live-action television series commissioned by Michael Carrington at the BBC, narrated by Ben Fairman in series 1 and Dave Lamb in series 2. The programmes are about four young animals, the Farmyard Bunch - Petal the piglet, Gobo the ‘kid’ goat, Dash the young donkey and Digger the puppy - and their view of life on Big Barn Farm. Their adventures on the farm revolve around their emotions and the situations they find themselves in. As the Farmyard Bunch explore the day to day routine of life on a farm, so they play, discover and have fun.

As the storylines are from the young animals’ point of view there is as much importance placed on whether the farmer has forgotten feeding time as where’s the best place to hide in a game of hide and seek.

In each adventure the Farmyard Bunch explore their friendships and role on the farm. They can be cheeky, often get up to mischief and find themselves in tricky situations. But as a foursome they always find a solution and learn something along the way.

And the Farmyard Bunch aren’t alone on the farm. There are the duck girls who live noisily on the pond; the gossipy Mrs Chickens; a very tall horse called Mack; a flock of wilful sheep and the purr-fectly charming Mrs Paws the cat.

Big Barn Farm is Executive Produced by Sarah Colclough at BBC Children's television for CBeebies, the BBC's children channel aimed at children under 6 years of age.

Created and produced by The Foundation, which is part of the RDF Media group, the programme combines footage of real animals with animation to create the world of Gobo the baby goat, Petal the piglet, a puppy called Digger and Dash the donkey foal. In addition, there are many other characters; many of them older animals as well as the farmer and his family.

Each episode constitutes an individual story, usually involving the main characters getting into some minor difficulty and pulling together to get out of that difficulty. There is no narrative thread to the episodes, each standing on its own without the need for prior understanding or any loose ends at the end. Big Barn Farm is told from the animal's point of view and provides a unique insight into their world.

Before the show airs, the CBeebies presenter may encourage the young viewers to sing along with the theme song, which is sung very fast and provides some basic information about each of the main characters. The closing song is similar, but longer and details all of the animal characters, including the minor ones.

Visual Effects for the series were created by Ian Carley, Mark Holman-Harris and James Kearsley.

A DVD of Big Barn Farm, titled "Welcome to Big Barn Farm" was released on 17 November 2008.

Characters

Dash the Donkey is a young donkey voiced by Ben Fairman. He also fostered is thoughtful, cautious and extremely kind but occasionally a bit stubborn. He is often wary of any new adventure and would prefer watching the others being brave rather than take part himself. But because of his kind nature, Dash will always end up joining in. Dash isn’t as excitable as the others and always likes to think carefully about any new situation. As the tallest of the Farmyard Bunch he can see over the top of things which can be very useful. a catchphrase, 'calm down, calm down.'

Gobo the Goat is a kid voiced by Elly Fairman. Gobo's is clever, very bouncy and eats a lot. Often too quickly which means he burps a lot too! In fact, Gobo thinks about food most of the time and is always happy to nibble on anything! Gobo can be noisy and barges into situations when really he should stop and think first. But if there’s a hay bale that needs climbing or a picnic to be investigated, Gobo will be first in line to give it a go! catchphrase is 'go go Gobo!'

Petal the Piglet is a female piglet. is a cheeky and daring young piglet who likes to think of herself as leader of the four friends. Petal is adventurous and brave and usually the first to go and investigate something new. Sometimes this gets her in to trouble and at other times she sounds braver than she really feels. Petal doesn’t like to be thought of as girly so she’s just as happy splashing in the mud and jumping over hay bales as the others. Her catchphrase is 'piglet power.'

Digger the Puppy is a labrador retriever voiced by Shelley Longworth. the youngest of the four friends and always eager to prove himself. He is very cute, naïve and willing to please. Digger has boundless energy and will always be the first to volunteer for any new adventure. He isn’t very bright and so doesn’t come up with as many ideas as the others and sometimes takes a while to catch on to what’s happening. But Digger is always eager to please and is never happier than when playing with his very best friends Petal, Gobo and Dash. His catchphrase is 'I can do that! I can do that!'

Mack the Horse is a male horse

Madam is a cow

Mrs. Snuffles is a mother pig

Mrs. Chickens are female chickens

Mrs. Paw is a female cat

Duck Girls are female ducks

Old Pop is an Australian shepherd

Ewenice is a female sheep

Lester is a male rooster

Episodes

Premiere point N/o Episodes
Series number
06.04.2009 01 You Can't Teach New Dogs Old Tricks
07.04.2009 02 Lester Loses His Voice
08.04.2009 03 The Grass Is Always Greener
09.04.2009 04 Keeping Quiet
10.04.2009 05 Petal and Gobo Fall Out
13.04.2009 06 To Catch a Thief
14.04.2009 07 The Important Visitors
15.04.2009 08 Greedy Goat
16.04.2009 09 Lester the Leader
17.04.2009 10 Driving Miss Petal
20.04.2009 11 Best in Show
21.04.2009 12 40 Winks
22.04.2009 13 Hot and Sticky Day
23.04.2009 14 He's Got to Go
15 Recycling Proficiency Test
16 Hide & Seek
17 Going Camping
18 Touch the Sky
19 What's Up Ducks?
20 Who's Afraid of the Windy Wolf

Sources