Come Outside

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see: "Come Outside" for the 1962 song by Mike Sarne and Wendy Richard

Come Outside
Come Outside Title Card
Genre	Children's Educational
Directed by	Elizabeth Bennett Peter Rose
Starring	Lynda Baron
Composer(s)	Jonathan Cohen
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	50
Production
Executive producer(s)	Judy Whitfield Stacey Adams
Producer(s)	Elizabeth Bennett
Editor(s)	David Austin John Bignold
Location(s)	Middlesex
Camera setup	Jeremy Braben
Running time	14 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC Two
Original run	September 23, 1993 – March 18, 1997
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Come Outside is a BBC educational children's television series. The two main characters of the show are Auntie Mabel (played by Lynda Baron of Open All Hours) and her dog Pippin. They go on adventures, often using Auntie Mabel's aeroplane^[1] which is covered in coloured spots. Pippin was mixed breed dog descended from Benji and was owned and trained by Ann Head. Pippin also starred as the Bakers dog for Bakers pet food commercials and is still pictured on the products.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Production details 3 Episode titles 4 Footnotes and references 5 External links

[edit] Overview

The "adventures" are generally concerned with showing how something is made, or how everyday objects and systems work. Examples are:

• "Clay" - Auntie Mabel's teapot breaks. They have to buy a new one, but the potter has run out of clay. Auntie Mabel and Pippin bring him some, then find out how teapots are made.
• "Sewage" - Auntie Mabel goes down a drain to see where waste water goes. Then she visits a sewage treatment plant to see what happens to what's flushed down the toilet.
• "Street Lamps" - Auntie Mabel reports an out-of-order street lamp. She joins the maintenance man as he uses a hydraulic platform to replace the bulb, and explains the mystery of how the streetlights switch on when it gets dark. She also tells a story explaining how street lamps were lit in the olden days.
• "Buses" - Auntie Mabel's plane won't start, so she and Pippin have to go on a bus instead. She accidentally leaves Pippin on the bus, but is soon reunited with her thanks to the helpful driver.
• "A Woolly Jumper" - Auntie Mabel has run out of wool while knitting a sweater. She and Pippin visit a sheep farm and a wool factory in search of supplies.

As well as adventures, Mabel often tells stories to Pippin. Pippin also often receives treats related to the adventures. The show was originally broadcast in 1994, but is still often shown today on CBeebies.

Pippin often has a comedy sub-plot during each episode, where she gets up to mischief without Auntie Mabel knowing. For example, in the episode "A carton drink" she secretly eats her sausages from her lunch box. In the episode "Soap" she hides the bar of soap to avoid having a bath.

Many of the episodes were filmed in the Middlesex area, for example in the episode "Buses" Auntie Mabel boards a bus bound for Uxbridge, and is later seen exiting the public library at Ruislip Manor. Scenes were also filmed in Woodley, in the precinct and in the veterinary clinic.

In the episode "Marmalade" Auntie Mabel flies to Seville to see some Orange Groves. However, the budget obviously didn't stretch to flying Lynda Baron to Spain, as she only appears from the front against a backdrop. An Auntie Mabel body double was used for shots of her in the orange grove with the locals, the double only ever being seen from behind.

In some episodes a close up of Auntie Mabel's hand can be seen, revealing a wedding ring. Auntie Mabel never talks of her husband, but rather about her sister Edie.

[edit] Production details

Two different production companies are credited at the end of episodes : Tricorn Productions and Spelthorn Productions. In the "boxes" episode Auntie Mabel and Pippin both move house. This episode was created for the transition between the two production companies, as the house used when Tricorn was the producer was not the same as the one owned by Spelthorn productions. One aspect of the "new" house is the front garden - it is directly adjacent to the field/strip containing Auntie's plane. Although the companies were merging together some fundamental assets changed, for example the acting dog used to portray Pippin was replaced in some scenes with a similar looking dog. Also due to Spelthorn's new director, the scenes of Auntie Mabel at home were now filmed in a film set, rather than Tricorn's use of an actual house. Elements of the set can be clearly seen in some episodes, where the kitchen window displays a blatant backdrop rather than an actual garden.

[edit] Episode titles

The individual titles in alphabetical order are:

• A Carton Drink - Auntie Mabel and Pippin are preparing a picnic, and need some carton drinks.
• Apples - Auntie Mabel makes a fruit salad - but doesn’t have any apples!
• A Rainy Day
• A Windy Day - Auntie Mabel's new red blouse blows off the washing line and Pippin tracks it down!
• A Woolly Jumper - Auntie Mabel runs out of wool to finish the sweater she is making for her sister. She goes to find some wool, and along the way, finds out where wool comes from, and how it is coloured.
• Boots - Auntie Mabel finds out how wellington boots are made.
• Boxes - Auntie Mabel is moving house, and she shows us the contents of the many boxes she is taking with her.
• Bread - Auntie Mabel has run out of bread. She and Pippin go to get some, and along the way, she and Pippin find out how bread is made.
• Bricks - Auntie Mabel is building a wall, but she has run out of bricks!
• Brushes - Auntie Mabel has many brushes in her house. She explains the story of how she went to get one brush, but ended up with a dozen or more!
• Bulbs - Auntie Mabel takes Pippin to a daffodil field to watch them being cropped, before taking part in the Spalding Flower Parade
• Buses- Auntie Mabel's plane won't start, so she and Pippin have to travel by bus. But Auntie Mabel accidentally leaves Pippin on the bus. A kindly driver brings Pippin home.
• Butterflies - In which Auntie Mabel visits a butterfly sanctuary
• Carrots - Auntie Mabel stands in at the school canteen, and serves carrots to the kids
• Clay - Auntie Mabel's teapot breaks. They have to buy a new one, but the potter has run out of clay. Auntie Mabel and Pippin bring him some, then find out how teapots are made.
• Cleaning - It is Pippin's birthday. Auntie Mabel is cleaning the house in preparation, and she must also take her best dress to the dry cleaner's. Pippin's friends, the neighbouring dogs, and their owners, all come to the party, but the dogs wreak havoc.
• Crisps - In which Auntie Mabel visits the Golden Wonder factory
• Dandelions - Auntie Mabel remembers a visit to London, where she found some dandelions, which now grow in her garden
• Eggs - In which Auntie Mabel introduces us to all different types of eggs - and the different types of animals and birds which lay them
• Fish - In which Auntie Mabel introduces us to her goldfish and shows us some different fish down at the river - meanwhile a cat gets into Mabel's home through the dogflap!
• Frogs- Auntie Mabel and Pippin visit a nature reserve, and decide to help pay for the upkeep of two frogs who are living there. Auntie Mabel tells a story explaining how tadpoles grow into frogs.
• Geese - There are geese in Auntie Mabel’s garden - upsetting Pippin!
• Hedgehogs - Auntie Mabel finds a hedgehog in the garden during the day and takes it to the Tiggywinkle animal sanctuary.
• Holes in the Ground
• Letters - After staying with her friend Dora, Auntie Mabel and Pippin discover that Pippin has left her suitcase behind. Mabel sends Dora a letter, then decides to go on the night-train to find out what happens to her letter after it is posted. Pippin is threatened by a bloodhound named Gully, who lives at a house near Dora.
• Marmalade - Pippin is not well. Auntie Mabel knows that marmalade is sometimes said to be a remedy. She goes all the way to Spain to find out how marmalade is made, and tells a story about a Queen who was said to be cured of seasickness by marmalade.
• Paper
• Pencils - Auntie Mabel is drawing a picture - but her pencil has run out of lead!
• Rabbits - In which Auntie Mabel is looking after her sister’s rabbit, Bobby, while she is on holiday
• Rubbish - Auntie Mabel finds out all about rubbish and the recycling of glass bottles
• Sewage - Auntie Mabel visits a sewage works and walks through the pipes
• Snails
• Soap - It's wash day and Pippin needs a bath - but they've run out of soap! Auntie Mabel goes to buy some and then flies off to see it being made - notably in this episode Pippin does not go with her as she is hiding to avoid her bath! In this particular episode many continuity errors occur, especially with the bedroom chair being moved in various shots
• Spiders
• Stones
• Street Lamps - A street lamp on Auntie Mabel’s road is faulty and she calls the council
• Toothpaste
• Useful Holes - Auntie Mabel explains about useful holes- holes in the ground where animals live, and holes in birdboxes, and the flap Pippin uses to get in and out of the house. She tells the story of how the latter saved her life (but note that her smoke detector doesn't work).
• Water
• Wood

[edit] Footnotes and references

• Pippin also starred, most famously, as the original dog in the popular CITV series Woof!, from 1989-93.

[edit] External links

• Come Outside at the Internet Movie Database