Pinky and Perky is an animated children's television series first broadcast by the BBC in 1957, revived in 2008 as a CGI animation.
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The title characters are a pair of anthropomorphic puppet pigs, named "Pinky" and "Perky", created by Czechoslovakian immigrants Jan and Vlasta Dalibor. The puppets, who had only very limited movements, looked very alike. Pinky wore red clothes and Perky wore blue, but this distinction was little use on black-and-white TV, so Perky often wore a hat.
Pinky and Perky spoke and sang in high-pitched voices created by re-playing original voice recordings at twice the original recorded speed; the vocals were sung by Mike Sammes[1] while the backing track was played at half normal speed (Sammes did the same job for Ken Dodd's Diddymen, as Ross Bagdasarian did for the original Chipmunks in the early 1960s) - hence the expression "Pinky and Perky speed", when an LP record is played at 45 rpm or 78 rpm instead of the correct 33⅓ rpm. Pinky and Perky would often sing cover versions of popular songs, but also had their own theme song, "We Belong Together".
They had their own TV station "PPC TV". They also performed comedy sketches usually with a human foil (similar to Basil Brush). Actor John Slater worked with them as a straight man for many years, enduring soakings from water pistols and such pranks. Other human companions included Roger Moffat, Jimmy Thompson, Bryan Burdon and Fred Emney.
Their show included other puppets, such as The Beakles (an avian parody of The Beatles), Topo Gigio, a famous mouse puppet who appeared in many later episodes, as well as a female pig. Other puppets included Ambrose Cat, Basil Bloodhound, Bertie Bonkers the baby elephant, Conchita the Cow, Horace Hare and Vera Vixen.
Surprisingly, the puppets also appeared on TV in the USA on a number of episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show: 532 (14 September 1958), 548 (4 January 1959), 573 (5 July 1959), 740 (10 March 1963), 780 (23 February 1964, where they shared the bill with The Beatles and Morecambe and Wise) and 908 (26 February 1967).
The pigs featured in series, such as Pinky and Perky's Pop Parade and Pinky and Perky's Island, for 11 years until 1968 on the BBC before transferring to ITV until 1971. There were no real people, sketches or stories in the shows at all. Instead, the puppets would be seen lip-synching and dancing to songs by the likes of Petula Clark. In this incarnation, each episode would end with the titular porcine characters singing The Scaffold's hit "Thank U Very Much"; at the end of every episode, they would sing "Thank you very, very, very". At this point, there would be the only piece of spoken dialogue, which went along these lines:
The characters enjoyed a brief revival in the 1990s, on the short-lived children's series The Pig Attraction. A children's annual was also produced in the sixties featuring their adventures.
The Pinky and Perky Show reappeared in an all-new CGI-animated television series on CBBC, beginning in November 2008 on BBC One. There are 52 episodes, each 13 minutes in length. Some of the old characters remained in the show, such as Vera Vixen (who often hatches schemes to try and get rid of the two pigs) and Morton Frog (who works in the production control room). Alongside them, there were a host of new characters, such as K.T. the studio manager cat, Wilberforce the tortoise security guard (who comes up with impractical ideas for new acts or games for the show), and a pair of poodle receptionists called Tara and Tamara (who, in a recurring gag, often get Pinky and Perky's names wrong). There is also a steady stream of special 'celebrity' guests, many of which spoof better-known franchises, such as Doctor Who as "Dr. Roo" and Harry Potter as "Harry Trotter". The series was produced by Lupus Films, and line produced by Sally Marchant.
The first DVD of the new look Pinky and Perky, featuring eight episodes from the new series, entitled Licence to Swill was released in 2009.[2]
All singles were released on 7" vinyl format unless otherwise stated:
Pinky and Perky are mentioned in Richard Thompson's song "Let It Blow" which is the first track of his 2005 album "Front Parlour Ballads".
Pinky and Perky are mentioned in The Bank Job, a 2008 British crime film, in reference to two supporting characters.
In BBC1's Red Dwarf episode "Better Than Life", Rimmer refers to the Skutters as "Pinky and smegging Perky".
In BBC1's The Good Life, the pigs adopted by Barbara and Tom Good are named Pinky and Perky.
In BBC2's "Top Gear", James May refers to co-presenters Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond as Pinky and Perky.
In Nick Hornby's 1998 novel About a Boy, the main character, Will, visits the record shop Championship Vinyl and sees an attractive woman asking for a Pinky and Perky record. She is met with contempt from the sales clerk. A few days later Will thinks he sees the woman again and, trying to make an impression, introduces himself with the line, "I like Pinky and Perky," only to suddenly realize that it's a different woman.