Balamory
Encyclopedia
Balamory was a live action
television series on British
television (BBC One
, BBC Two
and CBeebies
) for pre-school children, based around the fictional small island community of Balamory in Scotland. It was produced between 2002 and 2005 by BBC Scotland
, with 254 episodes (Including a DVD-exclusive Christmas episode) made. The series was created by Brian Jameson.
Balamory was filmed mostly in the town of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull
, with the exception of scenes at Archie's castle filmed at Fenton Tower in North Berwick
.
A select series of episodes was shown for two brief seasons in the United States
on the Discovery Kids
channel. It was also shown on TLC
. Episodes were shown until recently on weekdays on RTÉ Two
's The Den
and continue to be shown on The Dens replacement, RTÉjr
.
-style song to decide which of the coloured houses "is the one for me" (i.e. is the one where the helpful character lives), and then makes a procession of visits to various characters until the problem is solved. For example, Josie Jump is looking after her neighbour's rabbit and needs to know how to look after it, so she goes to visit PC Plum who advises her to feed it some vegetables. Josie then decides to go to Pocket and Sweet to buy some rabbit food, then takes the rabbit to the nursery so the children can look after it.
At each visit, the progress of the story to date is summarised by drawing a rainbow of balloons in the air with the hands. The balloons burst to reveal a flashback summary of today's "story in Balamory" narrated by the visitor. The entire story is also summarised at the end of each programme by Miss Hoolie.
The show has quite a few similarities to The Singing Kettle
. They are both Scottish. The Singing Kettle asks which coloured kettle they open, whereas in Balamory they ask which coloured house they are going to. In one episode of Balamory, Miss Hoolie had a problem with a singing kettle, which could be interpreted as a friendly shot across the bow of the good ship Singing Kettle.
Each episode of Balamory contains at least four songs;
Many children's programmes have included parodies of popular films, songs and TV programmes, presumably to interest adults who might watch the show with children. Balamory employs the same device in some of its songs. Edie McCredie's second song includes several repetitions of popular film star Mae West's catchphrase, "Come up and see me sometime"- although she never actually said this exact phrase in any of her films. PC Plum's second song includes a spoof on the video for the Queen hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" along with a ground level shot of his retreating feet, reminiscent of the original closing credits of the ITV Police drama The Bill
Corpus Christie Primary School Choir, Knightswood, Glasgow sang the theme tune 'What's The Story In Balamory?'
In addition to the character-specific songs mentioned above, there are many more general songs:
Some of these songs are available on a CD named Balamory: Strike Up The Band.
made a guest appearance in one episode (The Game Show) as a television director. This episode also features Greg Hemphill
who is Julie Wilson Nimmo's husband in real life, and John Altman who plays Nasty Nick Cotton in Eastenders. Keith Floyd
also appears in Suzie Sweet's song "Suzie's Cookin'".
Occasionally, the shots of children entering the nursery are cut down for repeats for time reasons.
, the declaring of Balamory North in the 2005 UK General Election and the depressing 'real' drama, Balamory.
In Tooth and Claw
, a 2006 episode of the sci-fi series Doctor Who
which is set in 1879 Scotland the Tenth Doctor
pretends to be a "Doctor James McCrimmon
of the township of Balamory".
In the BBC Three
sketch comedy series Little Britain
Andy (an overweight adult man who pretends to be disabled so he can sit in a wheelchair) watches Balamory in the last episode of the third series whilst singing the opening song.
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
television series on British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television (BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
and CBeebies
CBeebies
CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...
) for pre-school children, based around the fictional small island community of Balamory in Scotland. It was produced between 2002 and 2005 by BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
, with 254 episodes (Including a DVD-exclusive Christmas episode) made. The series was created by Brian Jameson.
Balamory was filmed mostly in the town of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull
Isle of Mull
The Isle of Mull or simply Mull is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute....
, with the exception of scenes at Archie's castle filmed at Fenton Tower in North Berwick
North Berwick
The Royal Burgh of North Berwick is a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the 19th century because of its two sandy bays, the East Bay and the...
.
A select series of episodes was shown for two brief seasons in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on the Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids is an American website owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. created for children. Until October 10, 2010, it was an American digital cable specialty channel, owned by Discovery Communications with television programming for education of children. It was launched in October 1996...
channel. It was also shown on TLC
TLC (TV channel)
TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...
. Episodes were shown until recently on weekdays on RTÉ Two
RTÉ Two
RTÉ Two is a free-to-air general entertainment channel operated by Irish state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Two is available throughout the island of Ireland through digital terrestrial service Saorview, VHF and UHF bands, and is also available via satellite to Irish subscribers of...
's The Den
The Den (television)
The Den was the brand of the children's television strand on Irish public broadcaster RTÉ Two. It first broadcast on 29 September 1986 on RTÉ One, before moving to RTÉ Two in September 1988. The strand began to diversify throughout the late 1990s and the 2000s...
and continue to be shown on The Dens replacement, RTÉjr
RTÉjr
RTÉjr is a children's channel operated by Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ Television, which targets a demographic between 2 – 6 years of age. The channel launched as part of Saorview's line-up on May 26, 2011. The channel broadcasts daily between 06:00 to 19:00, sharing broadcasting space with...
.
Main characters
Other than Suzie Sweet and Penny Pocket, who share a building and run pocket and sweet a shop set in balamory, each main character has their own house in the town, and each house has a distinctive colour. The colour of each character's house is the same as the clothes they wear with the exception of Penny Pocket, who lives in the Red House but wears blue, and PC Plum, who lives in the White House but wears a police uniform. They also have their own songs which they often sing during their appearances in the programme.This is a chart of the characters name the actor their occupation in the programme and the coloured house.| Character | Actor | Role | House |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miss Hoolie | Julie Wilson Nimmo Julie Wilson Nimmo Julie Wilson Nimmo is a Scottish actress who trained at the RSAMD and is best known for playing the role of Miss Hoolie in the BBC One, Two and CBeebies 2002–05 children's programme Balamory.... |
Nursery teacher | Green house |
| Archie | Miles Jupp Miles Jupp Miles Jupp is a British actor and comedian, probably best known as Archie in the children's television series Balamory.... |
Inventor | Pink castle |
| Josie Jump | Buki Akib Buki Akib Buki Akib is a British actress. Trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, she played the part of Josie Jump in the popular British TV children's programme Balamory until 2004 when she was replaced by Kasia Haddad.-References:... ; replaced by Kasia Haddad Kasia Haddad Kasia Haddad is a British actress.She has played the parts of Josie Jump in the children's TV programme Balamory and Wendy in Doctors.- External links :*... in 2005 |
Fitness instructor | Three-storey yellow house |
| Edie McCredie | Juliet Cadzow Juliet Cadzow Should We Go Home Elizabeth Smith2011 Fast RomanceGabriella Catalano2009 New Town Mrs Showalter2008 Stone of DestinyIan's Mother2007 Wedding Belles Kelly's Ma2006 Still Game Conductress / Gorgeous woman... |
Bus driver | Blue garage/house |
| PC Plum | Andrew Agnew | Policeman | White police station |
| Spencer | Rodd Christensen Rodd Christensen Rodd Christensen is an American actor born in Las Vegas. A trained actor, he was engaged in youth work with the charity Scripture Union in Scotland for 11 years before he auditioned for the role of Spencer the painter and musician in the BBC One, Two and CBeebies 2002–05 children's programme... |
Painter/Musician | Orange house |
| Suzie Sweet | Mary Riggans Mary Riggans Mary Riggans is a Scottish actress.-High Road:She is best known for her role as Effie Macinnes in the Scottish Television soap opera Take the High Road from the early 80s until the last episode in 2003.-Balamory:... |
Shop and café Café A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches... operators |
Red building |
| Penny Pocket | Kim Tserkezie Kim Tserkezie Kim Tserkezie, born 30 July 1973 in Newcastle upon Tyne, is a British actress.Tserkezie gave up a degree course in Combined Arts at the University of Sunderland to take up a TV presenting role for BBC2. She worked for a number of years as a TV and radio presenter/researcher before moving into acting... |
Typical episode
A typical episode begins with Miss Hoolie opening the nursery and telling the audience what the weather is like in Balamory today, and then meeting one of the other main characters who has a "problem" that can be solved by visiting another main character. The main character with the problem sings and dances to a calypsoCalypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
-style song to decide which of the coloured houses "is the one for me" (i.e. is the one where the helpful character lives), and then makes a procession of visits to various characters until the problem is solved. For example, Josie Jump is looking after her neighbour's rabbit and needs to know how to look after it, so she goes to visit PC Plum who advises her to feed it some vegetables. Josie then decides to go to Pocket and Sweet to buy some rabbit food, then takes the rabbit to the nursery so the children can look after it.
At each visit, the progress of the story to date is summarised by drawing a rainbow of balloons in the air with the hands. The balloons burst to reveal a flashback summary of today's "story in Balamory" narrated by the visitor. The entire story is also summarised at the end of each programme by Miss Hoolie.
The show has quite a few similarities to The Singing Kettle
The Singing Kettle
The Singing Kettle is a folk music group who are well known for performing traditional children's songs with a distinctly Scottish flair.-Career:...
. They are both Scottish. The Singing Kettle asks which coloured kettle they open, whereas in Balamory they ask which coloured house they are going to. In one episode of Balamory, Miss Hoolie had a problem with a singing kettle, which could be interpreted as a friendly shot across the bow of the good ship Singing Kettle.
Each episode of Balamory contains at least four songs;
- Opening song (What's The Story In Balamory?)
- Miss Hoolie's song (Nursery Song or a day off song depending on if it is a working day or a day off)
- Which Coloured House Are We Going To? (Sung by one of the characters. There is also an instrumental version for Miss Hoolie to narrate at the end of each episode.)
- One or more character songs
Audience
The programme is aimed at pre-schoolers, though the interactions between Miss Hoolie and PC Plum have attracted speculation from adult viewers with regard to their "will-they-won't-they?" relationship. The programme's creator had intended it as a "soap opera for children". The show can also be seen in a humorous light. The characters in Balamory are somewhat naive and light-hearted; often appearing to be children trapped in adult bodies with adult roles. The entire storyline often revolves around problems which seem obvious and simple to older viewers.Many children's programmes have included parodies of popular films, songs and TV programmes, presumably to interest adults who might watch the show with children. Balamory employs the same device in some of its songs. Edie McCredie's second song includes several repetitions of popular film star Mae West's catchphrase, "Come up and see me sometime"- although she never actually said this exact phrase in any of her films. PC Plum's second song includes a spoof on the video for the Queen hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" along with a ground level shot of his retreating feet, reminiscent of the original closing credits of the ITV Police drama The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
Music
There are many songs in Balamory, mainly sung by the actors. These songs are used consistently throughout the series when characters or circumstances are introduced to the episode. In the run starting from October 2004, new songs were introduced. These songs are longer and take up more time in the episode, so the old versions are still used often.Corpus Christie Primary School Choir, Knightswood, Glasgow sang the theme tune 'What's The Story In Balamory?'
In addition to the character-specific songs mentioned above, there are many more general songs:
- "What's The Story In Balamory?" is the theme song of the show, which uses the bassline of "Sell Me A Coat" by David Bowie (the American broadcast used an alternate recording of the song)
- "Coloured House Song" (several slightly different versions, depending on who is singing it)
Some of these songs are available on a CD named Balamory: Strike Up The Band.
| Song | Used/character | Series |
|---|---|---|
| What's The Story In Balamory? | Main theme | All |
| Nursery Song (Everybody, Everyone) | Nursery and work day – Miss Hoolie | All |
| What Do You Want To Do Today? | Day off – Miss Hoolie | 1–2 |
| Strike Up The Band | Day off – Miss Hoolie | 3–4 |
| Coloured House Song | 10 slight variations Archie PC Plum Spencer Josie Jump Penny and Suzie (both individually and together) Edie McCredie |
All |
| I'm Archie, The Inventor | Archie | 1–2 |
| Great Inventions, Groovy Solutions | Archie | 3–4 |
| I'm PC Plum | PC Plum | 1–2 |
| Follow The Clue | PC Plum | 3–4 |
| Climbing Up My Musical Ladder | Spencer | 1–2 |
| If You Need A Little Rhythm | Spencer | 3-4 |
| Josie Jump Is My Name (Jump a Little Higher) | Josie Jump | 1–2 |
| Cheer You Up | Josie Jump | 3–4 |
| I'm Suzie Sweet, I'm Penny Pocket | Suzie Sweet/Penny Pocket | 1–2 |
| Suzie's Cooking | Suzie Sweet | 3–4 |
| Penny's Song | Penny Pocket | 3–4 |
| When I Honk My Horn | Edie McCredie | 1–2 |
| Let Me Take You On A Journey | Edie McCredie | 3–4 |
Production
Very few episodes feature actors other than the main characters and the children. Terry WoganTerry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
made a guest appearance in one episode (The Game Show) as a television director. This episode also features Greg Hemphill
Greg Hemphill
Gregory "Greg" Hemphill is a Scottish actor and comedian. He has also presented on television and radio. Along with his comedy partner, Ford Kiernan, he is best known in the United Kingdom for his appearances in Still Game and Chewin' the Fat.-Personal life:Hemphill was born in Glasgow, Scotland,...
who is Julie Wilson Nimmo's husband in real life, and John Altman who plays Nasty Nick Cotton in Eastenders. Keith Floyd
Keith Floyd
Keith Floyd was a British celebrity chef, television personality and restaurateur, who hosted cooking shows for the BBC and published many books combining cookery and travel...
also appears in Suzie Sweet's song "Suzie's Cookin'".
Occasionally, the shots of children entering the nursery are cut down for repeats for time reasons.
Cancellation
On 30 May 2005 the BBC announced that it would not order another season of the series, citing they wanted to experiment and create more new programme ideas. In that very same year the cast of Balamory went on tour named 'The Balamory Tour'.Cultural impact
Balamory was often parodied on the programme Dead Ringers. Sketches included CSI: BalamoryCSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
, the declaring of Balamory North in the 2005 UK General Election and the depressing 'real' drama, Balamory.
In Tooth and Claw
Tooth and Claw (Doctor Who)
"Tooth and Claw" is the second episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and was first broadcast on 22 April 2006. In 1879 Scotland, the Doctor and Rose meet Queen Victoria...
, a 2006 episode of the sci-fi series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
which is set in 1879 Scotland the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
pretends to be a "Doctor James McCrimmon
Jamie McCrimmon
James Robert "Jamie" McCrimmon is a fictional character played by Frazer Hines in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A piper of the Clan McLaren who lived in 18th century Scotland, he was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1966...
of the township of Balamory".
In the BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
sketch comedy series Little Britain
Little Britain
Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...
Andy (an overweight adult man who pretends to be disabled so he can sit in a wheelchair) watches Balamory in the last episode of the third series whilst singing the opening song.
Episode guide
Awards
- Nominated for Best Pre-school Live Action Series at the 2003 BAFTA Children's Awards.
- Awarded Best Pre-school Live Action Series at the 2004 BAFTA Children's Awards.
- Nominated for Best Pre-school Live Action Series at the 2005 BAFTA Children's Awards.
External links
- CBeebies - Balamory at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
- Details of live show tour in UK 2005
- General information (including population figures) for the Isle of Mull, including Tobermory - Filming location of Balamory