Balamory
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| Balamory | |
|---|---|
| Format | Children's |
| Developed by | Balamory Ltd |
| Starring | Julie Wilson Nimmo Miles Jupp Kasia Haddad Buki Akib Juliet Cadzow Andrew Agnew Rodd Christensen Mary Riggans Kim Tserkezie |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom; Scotland |
| Language(s) | English, Turkish, and Spanish |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Brian Jameson, Balamory Ltd |
| Running time | 20 minutes approx. |
| Distributor | BBC scotland; BBC |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One, BBC Two, CBeebies, |
| Picture format | 16:9 Widescreen |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Balamory is a live action television series on British television (BBC One, BBC Two and CBeebies) for preschool children based around the fictional small island community of Balamory in Scotland. It was produced between 2002 and 2005 by Balamory Ltd, with 254 episodes (Including a DVD-exclusive Christmas episode) made. The series was created by Brian Jameson.
Balamory is filmed mostly in the Scottish port town of Tobermory in Mull, with the exceptions of scenes in the nursery filmed at a television studio in Glasgow, and 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.
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[edit] Main characters
Other than Suzie Sweet and Penny Pocket, who share a building, 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.
| Character | Actor | Role | House | Songs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miss Hoolie | Julie Wilson Nimmo | Nursery schoolteacher | Green house |
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| Archie | Miles Jupp | Inventor | Pink castle |
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| Josie Jump | Buki Akib; replaced by Kasia Haddad in 2005 | Fitness instructor | Three-storey yellow house |
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| Edie McCredie | Juliet Cadzow | Bus driver | Blue garage/house |
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| PC Plum | Andrew Agnew | Policeman | White police station |
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| Spencer | Rodd Christensen | American painter/musician | Orange house |
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| Suzie Sweet | Mary Riggans | Shop and café operators | Red building |
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| Penny Pocket | Kim Tserkezie |
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There was also another character which was planned for the show, but was not included. Following the lead of popular children's programmes such as 'Dora the Explorer' and 'Fifi and the Flowertots', there was going to be a 'bad' or 'mischievous' character, designed as a deterrent to bad behaviour. The planned name for this character was allegedly Millie Mischief, but the plans for this 'bad' character were cancelled by the producers as it was ' a bad influence'.[citation needed]
[edit] 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 calypso-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 play with 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.
Each episode of Balamory contains at least four songs;
- Opening song (What's The Story In Balamory?)
- Miss Hoolie 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?
- One or more character songs
[edit] 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".[1] 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. P.C. Plum's second song includes a spoof on the video for the Queen hit "Bohemian Rhapsody".
[edit] Music in Balamory
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.
In addition to the character-specific songs mentioned above, there are many more general songs:
- What's The Story In Balamory? (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.
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
[edit] Cancellation
On 30th May 2005 the BBC announced that it would not create another series of the hit show. They cited that 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.
[edit] Trivia
- Balamory is frequently parodied on the programme Dead Ringers. Sketches include CSI: Balamory, the declaring of Balamory North in the 2005 UK General Election and the depressing 'real' drama, Balamory.
- In the Christmas Eve 2005 episode of Little Britain, Andy Pipkin ignores Lou Todd while watching Balamory and singing along with the theme tune. In the Little Britain Live tour, Lou happens to mention that the two went to see Balamory Live
- 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".
- 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.
- Very few episodes feature actors other than the main characters and the children. Terry Wogan 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'"
- Edie McCredie (Juliet Cadzow) is a fan of crime novels. Most of the books on her bookshelf have been covered with coloured paper, except one, by author Colin Dexter who wrote the famous 'Inspector Morse' books. This could also be a reference to the time the actress played the part of a judge in the Scottish soap opera, River City
- Balamory is filmed in Tobermory, Scotland. The TV show Balamory was going to be called Tobermory but one of the Wombles was named Tobermory
- The cast of Balamory (as well as the children attending Balamory Nursery) come from a broad range of ethnic backgrounds, giving the place a somewhat cosmopolitan feel. This contrasts sharply with ethnicity figures from the Isle of Mull (where Balamory was filmed), which suggest (according to the 2001 census) that ethnic minorities go to make 0.35% of the actual population (10 people out of a total population of 2811.)
[edit] Episode guide
- Season One Episodes
- Season Two Episodes
- Season Three Episodes
- Season Four Episodes
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- CBeebies - Balamory at bbc.co.uk
- Details of live show tour in UK 2005
- Tips on travelling to Tobermory, where Balamory is filmed
- General information (including population figures) for the Isle of Mull, including Tobermory - Filming location of Balamory
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