Andy Pandy

Not to be confused with Andy Panda.

Andy Pandy
From the 1952 Andy Pandy opening titles. The blocks turned to reveal the title one letter at a time.
Created by	Freda Lingstrom
Starring	1950 Maria Bird 1970 ? Gladys Whitred 2002 Tom Conti
No. of series	6
Production
Producer(s)	David Boisseau Peter Thompson
Running time	30 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC Television Service 1950-1957, 1970 CBeebies 2002-2009
Original release	Original series: 20 June 1950 - 1957, 5 January 1970 - 30 March 1970, Revived series: 28 March 2002 - 1 December 2009
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Andy Pandy is a British children's television series that premiered on BBC TV in summer 1950. Originally live, a series of 13 filmed programmes was shown in 1970, when a new series was made. A third series was made in 2002. The show was the basis for a comic strip of the same name in the children's magazine Robin.

Original 1950 version

The original version of Andy Pandy premiered on BBC TV in 1950, on either 11 July or 20 June, as part of the For the Children strand (later Watch with Mother) narrated by Vera McKechnie. Initially the programmes were transmitted live, but it was realised that if the programmes were filmed, they could be repeated. Twenty-six episodes of fifteen minutes duration were filmed on 16mm, and were produced around 1952; they were repeated continuously until 1970. This version had narration by Maria Bird. In one episode Andy Pandy sees how high he can go on a swing, an episode featured in the 1987 compilation by BBC Video. Under the umbrella title Watch With Mother as well as the Andy Pandy episodes, there were also The Woodentops, 'Bill and Ben', all having a similar format-filmed marionettes, there was also an animated drawn character called 'Busy Lizzy' incorporated into the Picture book series. All the filmed black and white 1950s original transmissions were narrated by Maria Bird, who was to become a co-producer, with Freda Lingstrom, who worked for the BBC. Bird was a prolific writer of books for the very young, notably Andy Pandy, but it was for her distinct 'BBC English' enunciation that she is best remembered.

A marionette who lived in a picnic basket, Andy was later joined by Teddy, a teddy bear, and Looby Loo, a rag doll, who would appear when Andy and Teddy weren't around. Looby Loo had her own special song "Here we go Looby Loo". All three lived in the same picnic basket. Each episode ended with a variation on the song: "Time to go home, Time to go home, Andy is waving goodbye."

It is claimed that the design for the character was based on Paul Atterbury, the then young son of puppeteer Audrey Atterbury. A comic-strip version was published in The Robin.

The production staff for the original series were:

• Producer: Freda Lingstrom.
• Narrator: Maria Bird
• Writer/composer: Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird.
• Singers: Gladys Whitred, Julia Williams
• Puppeteers: Audrey Atterbury, Molly Gibson, Martin Grainger.

The 26 episodes were

1. Tea Party (20 June 1950)

2. Presents (27 June 1950)

3. Music (4 July 1950)

4. Hand Bells (11 July 1950)

5. ABC (18 July 1950)

6. Bricks (25 July 1950)

7. Playing School (1 August 1950)

8. Play Shops (8 August 1950)

9. Leaning House (15 August 1950)

10. Pram (22 August 1950)

11. Farm (29 August 1950)

12. Garden (5 September 1950)

13. Wall and Tortoise (12 September 1950)

14. Turtles (19 September 1950)

15. Boats (26 September 1950)

16. Paddling Pool (3 October 1950)

17. Horse and Fish (10 October 1950)

18. Bird and Butterfly (17 October 1950)

19. Rabbits (24 October 1950)

20. Kittens (31 October 1950)

21. Kings and Queens (7 November 1950)

22. Jack in the Box (14 November 1950)

23. The Cart (21 November 1950)

24. ???? (28 November 1950)

25. ???? (5 December 1950)

26. ???? (12 December 1950)

1970 series

By 1970, the black and white films were almost worn out, and as BBC 1 was by then transmitted in colour, 13 new episodes were produced and shown from 5 January 1970.

the 13 Episodes of the 1970 series are

1. Andy Pandy's House (5 January 1970)

2. Hobby Horses (12 January 1970)

3. Scooters (19 January 1970)

4. Trampoline (26 January 1970)

5. Jack-In-A-Box (2 February 1970)

6. A Wall And A Hedgehog (9 February 1970)

7. Cleaning The House (16 February 1970)

8. Tricycle (23 February 1970)

9. Looby Loo Has A Cold (2 March 1970)

10. The Jeep (9 March 1970)

11. Tea Party (16 March 1970)

12. Red Engine (23 March 1970)

13. Sailing Boats (30 March 1970)

2002 series

Stop motion set on display at the National Media Museum, with Andy Pandy and Looby Loo

Another set of 52 episodes was made in 2002, using the stop-motion technique instead of string puppeteering. The original nursery and garden were expanded to an entire village, with Andy, Teddy and Looby Loo now owning individual houses, and four new characters were introduced: Missy Hissy, a snake, Tiffo, a dog, Bilbo, a sailor, and Orbie, a yellow-and-blue ball. Whereas the emphasis of the original series was on music and movement, the emphasis of the 2002 series was on making and doing.

Andy Pandy is a boy with blue and white striped pyjamas and hat and is voiced by Maria Darling. Teddy, Andy's friend, is voiced by Jimmy Hibbert. Looby Loo is voiced by Joanna Ruiz. Bilbo is a sailor, voiced by David Holt. Orbie is a type of yellow-and-blue ball, voiced by Maria Darling.

Here are the episodes and songs in order. The numbers means it's an episode and the word 'song' means it's a song.

Series 1

1. Hide and Seek (3 January 2002)

SONG: Hopscotch

2. The Balloon (10 January 2002)

3. The Puddle (17 January 2002)

SONG: Honey

4. The Picnic (24 January 2002)

5. The Man From The Moon (31 January 2002)

SONG: Musical Chairs

6. Andy Pandy's Band (07 February 2002)

7. Tiffo and his Stick (14 February 2002)

SONG: Painting

8. A Lick Of Paint (21 February 2002)

9. A Flying Feather (28 February 2002)

SONG: Boxes

10. Puppeteer Pandy (07 March 2002)

11. The Birthday Cake (14 March 2002)

SONG: Gardening

12. A String in the Tale (21 March 2002)

13. Andy Pandy's Musical Box (28 March 2002)

SONG: Looby Loo

14. The Big Spring Clean (4 April 2002)

15. The Bubble (11 April 2002)

SONG: Playground

16. Teddy Gets The Wind Up (18 April 2002)

17. A Noisy Supper (25 April 2002)

SONG: Tickle

18. Potato Prints (2 May 2002)

19. Teddy's Sunglasses (9 May 2002)

SONG: Camping

20. Growing Pains (16 May 2002)

21. The Nest (23 May 2002)

SONG: Coming to Play

22. The Box That Chimed (30 May 2002)

23. A Model Bear (6 June 2002)

SONG: Picnic

24. Hubble Bubble (13 June 2002)

'25. Bell Ringers (20 June 2002)

SONG: Tiffo

26. Rub-A-Dub (27 June 2002)

Series 2

1. Quick on the Straw (4 July 2002)

SONG: Say Hello

2. The Tent (11 July 2002)

3. Chocolate Eggstravaganza (18 July 2002)

SONG: Skittles

4. The Big Sneeze (25 July 2002)

5. Beetle Mania (1 August 2002)

SONG: Peek-A-Boo

6. The Noisy Ball (8 August 2002)

7. Easy Beady (15 August 2002)

SONG: Andy's Cupboard

8. Andy Pandy's Odd Ink (22 August 2002)

9. Teddy's Long - Legs (29 August 2002)

SONG: Playing With Tiffo

10. The Three Bears (5 September 2002)

11. Scaredy Bear (12 September 2002)

SONG: Racing

12. The Missing Whistle (19 September 2002)

13. A Tale of Two Spoons (26 September 2002)

SONG: Dressing Up

14. Tiffo Gets A Car (3 October 2002)

15. Blowing In The Wind (10 October 2002)

SONG: Mud Pies

16. The Old Sea Chest (17 October 2002)

17. Cereal Number (24 October 2002)

SONG: Kites

18. Birdsong (31 October 2002)

19. Get Your Skates On (7 November 2002)

SONG: Keeping Fit

20. Cheer up Andy (14 November 2002)

21. Orbie's Game (21 November 2002)

SONG: Pass the Parcel

22. Hiccups (28 November 2002)

23. Teddy's Treasure Hunt (5 December 2002)

SONG: Let's Have A Party

24. A Puzzle for Andy Pandy (12 December 2002)

25. Under the Spreading Newspaper Tree (19 December 2002)

SONG: Making A Noise

26. Market Day (26 December 2002)

UK VHS Releases

VHS Title	Release Date	Episodes
Andy Pandy (BBCV 4205)	7 November 1988	Red Engine, Sailing Boats, Trampoline, Hobby Horses
Andy Pandy 2: Tales from the Toybox (BBCV 4361)	4 June 1990	Jack in a Box, Looby Loo has a Cold, Tea Party, Tricycle
The Very Best of Andy Pandy (BBCV 5107)	6 September 1993	Trampoline, Jack in a Box, Red Engine, Tea Party, Hobby Horses
Andy Pandy: Meet Andy Pandy and his Friends (BBCV 7341)	30 September 2002	The Balloon, The Man From The Moon, Andy Pandy's Band, A Flying Feather, The Birthday Cake, A String in the Tail, The Bubble, Teddy Gets The Wind Up, A Noisy Supper, The Box That Chimed
Andy Pandy: Charming Stories (BBCV 7399)	21 April 2003	Hide and Seek, Tiffo and his Stick, A Lick of Paint, Puppeteer Pandy, Andy Pandy's Musical Box, The Big Spring Clean, Teddy's Sunglasses, The Nest, Hubble Bubble, Bell Ringers

External links

• British Film Institute Screen Online
• IMDB