Teletubbies

Teletubbies
Created byAnne Wood
Andrew Davenport
Developed byRagdoll Productions (original series)
Darrall Macqueen (revival series)[1]
Written byAndrew Davenport
Catherine Williams
Directed byDavid G Hillier
Vic Finch
Nigel P Harris
Bob Jacobs
Martin Scott
Paul Gawith
Nicky Hinkley
Jack Jameson
Richard Bradley
Dermot Canterbury
Iwan Watson
Matt Rene
StarringOriginal series:
Dave Thompson
Simon Shelton
John Simmit
Nikky Smedley
Pui Fan Lee
Mark Dean
Jess Smith
Robin Stevens
Toyah Willcox
Revival series:
Jeremiah Krage
Nick Kellington
Rebecca Hyland
Rachelle Beinart
Olly Taylor
Berry Smith
Victoria Jane
Luisa Guerreiro
Voices ofOriginal series:
Toyah Willcox
Penelope Keith
John Simmit
Gary Stevenson
Alex Hogg
Alex Pascall
Rudolph Walker
Eric Sykes
Mark Heenehan
Sandra Dickinson (US)
John Schwab (US)
Toni Barry (US)
Rachael Lillis (US)
Dena Davis (US)
Revival series:
Jane Horrocks
Jim Broadbent
Fearne Cotton
Antonia Thomas
Teresa Gallagher
Rob Rackstraw
David Walliams
Rochelle Humes[2]
Ralph Reay
Narrated byOriginal series:
Tim Whitnall[3]
Toyah Willcox (titles and credits only)
Rolf Saxon (US)
Revival series:
Daniel Rigby[4]
Antonia Thomas (titles and credits only)
Tituss Burgess (US version of 2015 reboot)
Opening theme"Teletubbies say 'Eh-oh!'"
ComposersAndrew McCrorie-Shand (original series)
Robert Hartley
BBC Philharmonic
Richie Webb
Matt Katz (revival series)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series5 (original series)
4 (revival series)
No. of episodes365 (original series)
120 (revival series)
Total: 485 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersAnne Wood
David G Hillier
Vic Finch (original series)
Maddy Darrall
Billy Macqueen (revival series)
Production locationsWimpstone, England (1997–2001)[5]
Twickenham Studios, West London, England (2015–18)
Running timeOriginal series:
25 minutes (series 1-5)
Revival series:
15 minutes (series 1-4)
Production companiesOriginal series:
Ragdoll Productions
BBC
Revival series:
DHX Media
Darrall Macqueen
Ingenious
Original release
NetworkBBC Two
Release31 March 1997 (1997-03-31) –
16 February 2001 (2001-02-16)
NetworkCBeebies
Release9 November 2015 (2015-11-09) –
12 October 2018 (2018-10-12)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Teletubbies is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on their bellies. Recognised throughout popular culture for the uniquely shaped antenna protruding from the head of each character, the Teletubbies communicate through gibberish and were designed to bear resemblance to toddlers.[6]

The series rapidly became a commercial success in Britain and abroad. It won multiple BAFTA awards and was nominated for two Daytime Emmys throughout its run.[7][8] A single based on the show's theme song reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1997 and remained in the Top 75 for 32 weeks, selling over a million copies.[9] By October 2000, the franchise generated over £1 billion ($1.6 billion) in merchandise sales.[10]

Though the original run ended in 2001,[11] a rebooted series was green-lit in 2014.[12] The reboot premiered on CBeebies in the United Kingdom and on the Nick Jr. Channel in the United States.[13] The reboot ran for 120 episodes, with the last episode airing on the Nick Jr. Channel on 17 August 2018.[14]

The original series returned to the United States on 25 May 2016, when every episode was added to the Noggin streaming service,[15] including episodes that had never aired in America before.

  1. ^ Franks, Nico (6 November 2015). "Nickelodeon takes Teletubbies reboot". C21 Media. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  2. ^ "It's time for series two of Teletubbies!". Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Teletubbies voices revealed for new series". BBC. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  4. ^ Fullerton, Huw (16 June 2015). "From BT adverts and Teletubbies to Undercover – the screen journey of Daniel Rigby". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  5. ^ "The Geology and Landscape of Teletubbyland".
  6. ^ Everhart, Karen (16 February 1998). "Bridging real world and toddler fantasy, Teletubbies reaches youngest audience". Current.org. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  7. ^ "Tubbies toast another three years". BBC News. 1 March 1999. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  8. ^ "Past Winners and Nominees – Children's – Awards – 2002". BAFTA. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  9. ^ Richard Spilsbury (1 July 2012). Simon Cowell. Heinemann Library. pp. 16–. ISBN 978-1-4329-6434-4.
  10. ^ Jones, Tim (2012). Innovating at the Edge. Routledge. p. 203. ISBN 9781136395352.
  11. ^ "CBBC wants first tenders | News | Broadcast". Broadcast now.co.uk. 29 June 2001. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
  12. ^ Sweeney, Mark (13 June 2014). "BBC's CBeebies orders 60 new Teletubbies episodes". The Guardian.
  13. ^ "Teletubbies Reboot Coming to Nickelodeon". Complex. Complex Media, Inc. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  14. ^ "Shows A-Z - teletubbies on nick jr | TheFutonCritic.com". www.thefutoncritic.com.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference DHX was invoked but never defined (see the help page).