| Tweenies | |
|---|---|
Tweenies Logo |
|
| Format | Children's |
| Created by | Will Brenton Iain Lauchlan |
| Developed by | Tell-Tale Productions for BBC Television |
| Starring | UK Body actors Samantha Dodd Simon Grover Jenny Hutchinson Angela Reynolds Voice/Animatronics Justin Fletcher Bob Golding Emma Weaver |
| Opening theme | "Are you ready to play?" |
| Ending theme | "Are you ready to play?" (Instrumental version with something) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 390 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Judy Whitfield Clare Elstow |
| Producer(s) | Kay Benbow Robin Carr Iain Lauchlan Will Brenton Karl Woolley |
| Camera setup | Davy Johnson |
| Running time | 20 minutes |
| Distributor | BBC |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBBC, CBeebies (2002-) (Canada), Nick Jr (2011), Noggin (2003-2006), CBeebies (2011-) (United States) |
| Picture format | Live |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| First shown in | CBBC |
| Original run | September 6, 1998 – September 24, 2003 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Tweenies was a television programme aimed at young children, broadcast on the BBC's Cbeebies channel.
Contents |
The programme was created by Iain Lauchlan and Will Brenton, a pair with a track record of being involved in BBC children's programming. Iain Lauchlan was a presenter on Play School, Fingermouse and Playdays, meeting Brenton, a director, writer and also a presenter, during the latter. Together they started producing two of the Playdays strands before forming their own production companies Tell-Tale Productions and, more recently, Wish Films. They also created The Fun Song Factory, Boo!, BB3B!, Jim Jam and Sunny, Basil Hair The Squirrel and Entertainment Right's The Magical Lives of Toys.
Tweenies was a production of Tell-Tale Productions in association with the BBC. Animation for the show was produced by A Productions, an animation studio based in Bristol, England, with Ealing Animation providing some animation in a few early episodes. Computer animation for the series was provided by Clockwork Digital, with Ben Mars animating Mungo, the computer creature who appears in some later episodes.
The programme is no longer in production however merchendise can still be bought from retailers, DVDs of the programme are available too.
The programme is set in a nursery ('play-group') attended by the four Tweenies themselves: 4-5-year-old Bella, Milo age 4, Fizz age 3-4 and the youngest Jake, 2-3. They are in the care of two adults, Max and Judy, and two dogs, Doodles age 6 and Izzles.
The show includes a "Tweenie Clock", with five circular lights arranged in a pentagonal shape with the lights denoting "news time", "messy time", "song time", "telly time" and "story time". "Surprise time" is a special time determined when all five lights glow. A button at the centre of the clock is pressed to select the activity that will be undertaken next. BBC Kids
It is currently being shown on CBeebies, the BBC's channel for young children. Like a number of other CBeebies programmes, a live stage version of the show has toured in the UK. The most recent tour, Top of the Tots, toured the British Isles during 2009, the series' 10th anniversary. In addition, the tour also played several shows in Hong Kong in late September and early October 2009. The Tweenies are also regulars on the annual CBeebies Live tours around the British Isles. Between 2003 and 2006, there was also a live version of Tweenies shown regularly at Alton Towers in the Cred Street section aimed at younger children, which was removed in favour of Bob the Builder. In 2000, Tweenies won two awards: Best Pre-School Educational Programme and Best Live Action Pre-School Programme.
The original prototypes for the Tweenies characters were designed by Sally Preisig of Mimics Productions; they were later re-scaled into two sizes for the characters shown on the series. In addition, Sally also designed the character costumes and was co-constructor/developer for the Tweenies' full-size puppets. The costume fabric comes from the UK and was imported and dyed into their present colours; it is about the same thickness as fleece jumpers.
The Tweenies are played by one set of actors, while the animatronics and voices are provided by other editors. Please note that unless otherwise indicated, all of the following actors and voice talent were in the show from 1998 to 2003.
| Character | Description | Actor | Voice/Animatronics |
|---|---|---|---|
| The children | |||
| Bella
(born 5 August 1993)Age 18 |
Blue-skinned with yellow hair which is usually accompanied with a red hair ribbon. Very bossy attitude. — the tallest Tweenie[1] | Tamsin Heatley | Sally Preisig (1998–2000) Emma Weaver (2000–2003) |
| Fizz
(born 3 February 1995) Age 16 |
Yellow-skinned with red hair, shy. | Jenny Hutchinson (1998–2000) Angela Reynolds (2000) Francesca Anderson (2001–2003) |
Coleen Daley Niamh Walker |
| Jake
(born 25 July 1996) Age 15 |
Oranged-skinned with a yellow mohawk - the youngest and shortest Tweenie. Has a learning disability.[1] | Samantha Dodd (1998-2001) Esther Collins (2001–2003) |
Justin Fletcher |
| Milo
(born 27 June 1994) Age 17 |
Purple-skinned with black hair. The "black guy". | C.H. Beck Matthew Lyons |
Bob Golding |
| The adults | |||
| Judith (Judy)
(born 15 February 1970) Age 41 |
Pale green-skinned with purple hair, originated from Ireland | Simon Grover | Sinead Rushe |
| Maxwell (Max)
(born 5 January 1937) Age 74 |
Dark pink-skinned, with white hair | Simon Grover | Bob Golding |
| The animals | |||
| Doodles
(born 16 September 1994) |
Dog (red and yellow) | Alan Riley | Justin Fletcher |
| Izzles
(born 14 February 1994) |
Dog (purple and yellow) | Fiona Watkins | Coleen Daley |
Data from AllMusicCharts.com
| Title | Entered Chart (UK) | Peak Position (UK) | Weeks on Chart (UK) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friends Forever | 25 November 2000 | 56 | 4 |
| The Christmas Album | 1 December 2001 | 34 | 5 |
| Everybody Dance | -- | -- | -- |
| Greatest Hits (double CD) |
-- | -- | -- |
Kexin
Data from AllMusicCharts.com
| Title | Entered chart (UK) | Peak position (UK) | Weeks on Chart (UK) | Sent to CBeebies Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 | 11 November 2000 | 4 | 23 | No |
| Best Friends Forever | 31 March 2001 | 12 | 10 | Yes |
| Do The Lollipop | 4 August 2001 | 17 | 8 | No |
| I Believe In Christmas | 15 December 2001 | 9 | 6 | No |
| Have Fun Go Mad | 14 September 2002 | 20 | 7 | Yes |
Many of the above videos have also been re-dubbed into other languages as well. In addition, several of the Tweenies videos were produced in special versions for retailers with additional footage (for example, the "Party Games, Laughs & Giggles" video distributed at Marks & Spencer stores carried 2 additional segments, adding 10 minutes to the video's running time).