The Poddington Peas
Encyclopedia
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...
children's television series made by Paul Needs and Colin Wyatt
Colin Wyatt
Colin Wyatt worked from 1957 to 1980 for IPC Magazines as an illustrator of children's comics.-Biography:Concentrating mostly on the very young children's stories, he contributed to such well-known titles and Tiny Tots and Jack and Jill, as well as illustrating many Disney tie-in comics and...
; the single series has 13 episodes and was first aired on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1989. A second season using CGI animation was planned in 2008.
The theme song describes the peas as being "down at the bottom of the garden". Human size garden objects, giant in size to them, are seen such as up turned flower pots serving as most of their buildings. Humans themselves are never seen or mentioned.
In 1992, writer Phil Gardner
Phil Gardner
Phil Gardner is a British writer, playwright and journalist. He lives in Brighton, East Sussex, where he writes regularly for The Argus website and The Kemptown Rag.-Early life:...
was employed by Poddington plc to help write some new episodes - including one intended to pilot the series in the USA, and featuring a new group of characters, the Bugz.
There were also paper back books by Paul Needs, illustrated by Colin Wyatt
Colin Wyatt
Colin Wyatt worked from 1957 to 1980 for IPC Magazines as an illustrator of children's comics.-Biography:Concentrating mostly on the very young children's stories, he contributed to such well-known titles and Tiny Tots and Jack and Jill, as well as illustrating many Disney tie-in comics and...
and published by Box Tree / Award Publications.
Characters
The cartoon features a cast of anthropomorphic peaPea
A pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Peapods are botanically a fruit, since they contain seeds developed from the ovary of a flower. However, peas are considered to be a vegetable in cooking...
s, most of their names describe the character's job or their main trait similar to the Mr. Men
Mr. Men
Mr. Men is a series of 49 children's books by Roger Hargreaves commencing in 1971. Two of these books were not published in English. The series features characters with names such as Mr. Tickle and Mr. Happy who have personalities based on their names...
, and are plays on words typically "pea" sounding like "-py" such as "Creep-Pea" sounding like "Creepy".
The Poddington Peas include:
(Most of the peas are male. Below, the females are stated, the others are male.)
- Black-Eyed Pea: mischievous pea with a black eye patch. Darker shade of green than the others and is usually seen with Creep-Pea, together they are often the villainVillainA villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
s. - Bump-Pea: Clumsy pea covered in bumps, wears a big plaster.
- Captain Hop-Pea: Nautical captain pea with a wooden leg. Sometimes appears to be in charge.
- Chip-Pea: A female "chippy" or fish and chip shop worker.
- Chop-Pea: LumberjackLumberjackA lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...
pea with stereotype hat and axe. - Creep-Pea: Creepy looking mischievous pea, with a long pointy nose. Darker shade of green than the others and is usually seen with Black-Eyed Pea, together they are often the villains.
- Dough-Pea: Dopey simple pea and also a cook who wears a big white cooks hat.
- Dump-Pea: Fat greedy dumpy pea, always eating.
- Garden Pea: Pea who likes gardening has a straw hat and a spade.
- G-Pea: A GP or general practitionerGeneral practitionerA general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
, the doctor pea, has white hair, glasses and a stethoscopeStethoscopeThe stethoscope is an acoustic medical device for auscultation, or listening to the internal sounds of an animal body. It is often used to listen to lung and heart sounds. It is also used to listen to intestines and blood flow in arteries and veins...
. - Grump-Pea: A very grumpy looking pea who likes to moan.
- Hap-Pea: The happy good natured pea often the main character. Wears a red baseball cap.
- Hip-Pea: Musical hippieHippieThe hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
pea has long blonde hair and a guitar. - Jump-Pea: Pea with spring like legs who uses them to jump high.
- Nap-Pea: Penela-Pea's baby sits in a push chair and wears a large nappy.
- P.C. Pod: The policeman pea.
- Penela-Pea: Female pea who pushes her baby, Nap-Pea around in a push chair.
- Pop-Pea: Old man pea, has glasses, walking stick and white hair, although he is mostly bald.
- Pup-Pea: Small Puppy pea.
- Scoop-Pea: The Podding Press newspaper editor, wears glasses and a green eyeshadeGreen eyeshadeGreen eyeshades are a type of visor that were worn most often from the late 19th century to the middle 20th century by accountants, telegraphers, copy editors and others engaged in vision-intensive, detail-oriented occupations in order to lessen eyestrain and other effects of early incandescent...
visor. - Scrap-Pea: The scruffy tool and scrap worker, has blue hat, stubble and a hammer.
- Skip-Pea: Little girl pea with blond hair in pigtails, always skipping with her skipping rope.
- Sleep-Pea: Pea that wears a night cap and sleeps too much.
- Slop-Pea: An artist painter covered in blobs of paint and has messy red hair.
- Snap-Pea: The Poddington Press newspaper photographer, has hat and camera.
- Snip-Pea: A barberBarberA barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
with a mustache and smartly combed hair. - Snoop-Pea: Detective with a Sherlock HolmesSherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
style deerstalker hat and magnifying glass. - Soap-Pea: Always has soapy bubbles covering her head, she often blows bubbles.
- Sweep-Pea:Street sweeperStreet sweeperA street sweeper or street cleaner can refer to a person's occupation or a machine that cleans streets, usually in an urban area.-History of street sweeping in the United States:...
pea, wears cap and carries a broom and bin. - Sweet Pea: Blonde sweet female pea.
- Tea-Pea: Female pea who is a Tea ladyTea ladyA tea lady is a woman in an office or working environment, whose sole job is to provide beverages and light snacks during the allocated tea break. Tea ladies are a mainly British custom. They entered the mainstream in the UK during the second world war, when tea ladies were used in an experiment...
, often has a teapot and teacup. - Wee McPea: Small pea, stereotype ScotScotA Scot is a member of an ethnic group indigenous to Scotland, derived from the Latin name of Irish raiders, the Scoti.Scot may also refer to:People with the given name Scot:* Scot Brantley , American football linebacker...
, with ginger mustache and Tam o'shanterTam o'shanter (hat)A Tam o' Shanter is a Scottish style hat originally worn by men. The hat is named after a character in a poem written by Robert Burns in 1790... - Weep-Pea: Easily upset pea who always cries.
- Zip-Pea: Fast pea, always running around quickly.
Episode list
Episode title and original air date:- The Vegetable Show (September 14, 1989)
- Creep-Pea Gets Carried Away (September 21, 1989)
- Dump-Pea's Diet aka The Great Escape (September 28, 1989)
- Mound of Trouble (October 5, 1989)
- Hip-Pea's Band (October 12, 1989)
- Well Done Dump-Pea (October 19, 1989)
- Zip-Pea Saves the Day (October 26 or November 2, 1989)
- Poddle Island Mystery (November 9, 1989)
- Dough-Pea Gets Lost (November 16, 1989)
- Zip-Pea's Shadow (November 23, 1989)
- Bubble Trouble (November 30, 1989)
- The Balloonatics (October 26 or November 2, 1989)
- Creep-Pea's Christmas Surprise (December, 1989)
Credits
- Written by: Paul Needs
- Original Designs: Colin Wyatt
- Directors: Colin White, Tony Garth
- Series Director: Pat Gavin
- Producer: Laurie Frost
- Executive Producer: Ian Green
- Narration: Neil Pearson
- Music and Lyrics: Geoff Stephens
- Production Managers: Muriel MacLeod, Heather Pedley
- Animation Director: Tony Garth
- Animation: Barry Hales, Simon (Jiminy) Turner, Stephen Hales, Billy Allison, Kevin Baldwin, Anna Brockett, Paul Chung, Arthur De Cloedt, Terry Dormer, Bob Godfrey, Tony Guy, Colin Hughes, Arthur Humberstone, Willard Kitchen, Charles MacRae, Neil Salmon, Kim Stephenson, Paul Stone, Glenn Whiting, Rob Newman
- Layouts: Clive Dawson, Arthur De Cloedt, Terry Dormer, Ted Pettengell
- Backgrounds: Sue Branch, Pat Gavin, Ian Henderson, Ray Rankine, Gary Sycamore
- Tracers: Mark Cheeseman, Rona Couper
- Painters: Sarah Marsden, Lisa Stephenson, Lynn Durrans, Beverley Allan, Dena Mackenzie, Alex Barclay, Christine Courtney, Tessa Farrington, Heather Fisher, Beryl Godfrey, Denise Harnbry, Louise Harding, Lynette Hodson, Brian Holmes, Sophie Law, Philip Lee, Jacqui Millar, Audrey Murch, Emma Tornero
- Key Grip Natalie Mills
- Editor: Keith Holden
- Paint and Trace Supervisor: Henrietta Maslin
- Title Animation: Harold Whitaker
- Checking: Russell March
- Coordinator: Louise Harding
- A Cairnvale Production for Poddington PLC