Brum (TV series)

Brum

Created by Frank Beattie
Developed by Ragdoll Productions for BBC Television
Starring Brum
Narrated by Toyah Willcox
Tom Wright
Sarah Wichall
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 5 + 3 revival
No. of episodes 67
Production
Executive producer(s) Tom Poole
Vic Finch
Running time 10-15 minutes
Production company(s) Ragdoll Productions
Hit Entertainment
Release
Original network BBC One
CBeebies
Picture format 4:3 (1991–1994)
16:9 (2001–2002)
Original release 26 September 1991 (1991-09-26) – 4 November 2002 (2002-11-04)
Chronology
Related shows Other Ragdoll Shows

Brum (/ˈbrʌm/) is a British children's television series about the adventures of a small, artificially intelligent, self-driven car.

Set in Birmingham, England and produced by Ragdoll Productions, Brum was first broadcast in 1991 and the last live action series was broadcast in 2002. It was initially directed, written and produced by Anne Wood and initially narrated by Toyah Willcox. The show was first aired on BBC One, and also aired in the United States on Discovery Family, and on ABC in Australia (6 October 1993 – 26 December 2008). A new CGI-animated series, aimed at young pre-school children, was produced in 2016.

Plot and setting

Brum is the story of a small replica car who ventures out into the "Big Town" when his owner isn't looking, and gets up to all manner of adventures. Each episode begins and ends in the same way, with Brum leaving the other cars in the motor museum when the owner's back is turned and heading out to explore the Big Town, before eventually returning to his place.

The car can express himself in various mechanical ways including opening and closing his doors and bonnet, "bobbing" his suspension, and flashing and swivelling. The actors in Brum do not Talk – mime and off-screen narration help propel the story. It was therefore easy to prepare episodes for airing in other countries, and the series has been broadcast in many parts of the world and in many languages.

The stories are set in the city of Birmingham, England, since in addition to its onomatopoeic nature of a car engine revving, "Brum" (as a contraction of "Brummagem") is a common colloquial name for Birmingham. Although later series make no direct mention of Birmingham, calling it simply the "Big Town", many of the city's streets and landmarks can be seen in each episode.

The show was written by a range of writers. Anne Wood primarily wrote all the first series, while the second was written by Tom Poole, Dirk Campbell, Andrew Davenport and Morgan Hall. The last two series were written by the existing Ragdoll team.

The car itself – a half-scale replica of a late-1920s Austin 7 "Chummy" convertible – was designed and built by Rex Garrod. It is now housed at the Cotswold Motoring Museum, which is also where the opening and closing sequences of the programme were filmed.

Characters

Episodes

Series 1 (1991)

Series 2 (1994)

Series 3 (2001)

Series 4 (2002)

Series 5 (2002)

New CGI reboot

February 2016 saw the release of a rebooted Brum, made by American entertainment company WildBrain. The show now takes place in a white world instead of the Big Town and features new friends for Brum. The first episode, "Brum's Car Wash Adventure", premiered on March 4, 2016 via the official Brum YouTube channel.[1] A total of 25 CGI episodes were produced, with a second series currently airing.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKneAlAbacw
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