Tots TV


Tots TV is a British children's television programme, produced by Ragdoll Productions and Central. The series was first telecast in the UK on the ITV network from 1993 to 1998.

Development

Tots TV was written by two of its puppeteers, Robin Stevens and Andrew Davenport.
The series was filmed on location in a small cottage, on farmland near Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. The cottage was purpose-built for the series in the early 1990s and after production ended in 1998, the property was abandoned. In the 2010s, the house drew public attention after being discovered by numerous urban explorers. In 2021, the house was destroyed by the landowners.

Characters

The programme focuses on three puppets: Tilly, a French girl, with red hair, freckles and pale skin, who speaks in basic French, Tom, a blue-haired boy with glasses and dark skin, who is smart, and Tiny, the youngest Tot, who is smaller than the others and has green hair and pale skin. It also includes their pet Donkey who lives in a stable next to the Tots' secret house and a mischievous little dog named Furryboo that the Tots do not know about.

Voices

  • Tilly.
  • Tom
  • Tiny

    Plots

Going out

Often, the Tots would go out to explore an everyday area in the real world. This often involved them helping out a young child, visiting Jane Pardoe at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, and watching Jack the Gardener who was always placing surprise items in a field for children to play with.
This also sometimes involved them using their magic bag which they always took with them, Tiny always carried it and Tilly always operated it. When asked to help, it would always produce some items to help them in the situation.

Staying in

In many other episodes, the Tots would do something in their secret house, including playing games and making exciting discoveries. Because the full titles featured the Tots leaving the house they were altered for such episodes.
Often these episodes would feature one of the Tots reading the other two a story. These episodes always feature the reading Tot preparing to read using dolls of the characters in the story. Apparently, the other two were unaware they were preparing to read a story because they would always ring them up on their personal phone to ask if they wanted to listen to a story. This was despite the fact they all lived in the same house.

Other

If the episode was a full-length double-bill in the earlier episodes, they would be joined with a two-minute animation of a 'Noah's Ark' story or an animation of a picture that a viewer had sent into the program.

Recurring jokes

  • Furryboo is always causing mischief or even helping the Tots out, but they never know he's there.
  • When things go wrong or the Tots are just being silly, they call each other names like "Banana", "Sausage" and "Tomato".
  • The Tots have telephones which signify their favourite colour with the same phone number of 12345, that they use to communicate with each other, even if they are only a small space away.

    Episodes

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Series 4

Telecast

The series was first telecast in the UK on the ITV network.
In the United States, the series was represented by Ragdoll's US representative, The Itsy Bitsy Entertainment Company. The series was redubbed with American voice actors, with Tilly speaking Spanish instead of French. The series debuted on PBS' PTV service in October 1996, initially with 40 episodes. The series would fulfill the Ready-to-Learn act. In October 1998, an additional 25 episodes were sold by Itsy Bitsy, and the series moved to PBS' weekday schedule, joining the Teletubbies.
In 2000, Discovery Kids broadcast the series throughout Central and South America, the Caribbean and the Falkland Islands. In Holland, the series is aired on Kindernet.
In April 2004, Ragdoll and Carlton International announced that they had secured a broadcast deal with the BBC to rebroadcast the series from that month, where it first aired on the CBeebies on BBC Two block as well as the CBeebies channel.

Awards

The series won two BAFTA awards for its producer Anne Wood and director Vic Finch.

Specials

A number of special episodes of the series were produced for both TV and VHS release, including a short series of episodes set in the USA, a 'Big Treasure Adventure' set on a pirate ship from England to Australia and several Christmas specials, including one filmed in Rovaniemi, Finland.
A series of educational Tots Video specials were originally released by Video Collection International in 1997 included hour-long episodes based on the alphabet, numbers, animals and basic French.

Home media

VHS releases

Videotapes of the series were originally released by Video Collection International under their Central Video imprint from 1993 until 1994, and transitioned off to Carlton Home Entertainment afterward and later Granada Ventures.
  • Year 1993: Camel and other stories
  • Year 1993: Hedgehog and other stories
  • Year 1993: Owl and other stories
  • Year 1993: Peacock and other stories
  • Year 1993: Elephant and other stories
  • Year 1993: Apple Picking and other stories
  • Year 1994: Dog and other stories
  • Year 1994: Roller Skating and other stories
  • Year 1994: Giraffe and other stories
  • Year 1994: Wiggly Worms and other stories
  • Year 1994: Windy Day and other stories
  • Year 1994: Bumper Special: Bike Ride and other stories
  • Year 1995: The Funny Noises Band and other stories
  • Out to Sea and other stories
  • Sticky Disasters and other stories
  • Lost Teddy and other stories
  • Magical Secrets and other stories
  • Bumper Special: Donkey Ride and other stories
  • Secret Magic Parcels and other stories
  • Fluffy Little Chicks and other stories
  • Super Tiny and other stories
  • Flying High and other stories
  • A Painting Surprise and other stories
  • The Runaway Horse and other stories
  • The Lighthouse and other stories
  • Hopping Day and other stories
  • Birthday Surprise and other stories
  • Cuddly Bunnies and other stories
  • Naughty Puppies and other stories
  • Hamster and other stories
  • Bumper Special: Penguin and other stories
  • Wobbly Jellies and other stories
  • Bumper Special: Kittens and other stories
  • Dentist and other stories
  • Bumper Special: Camping and other stories
  • Bumper Special: At the Beach and other stories
  • Boing Boing and other stories
  • Naughty Little Pigs and other stories
  • Tiny Leaves Home and other stories
  • Mountain Climbing and other stories
  • Bumper Special: Fox and other stories
  • Bubbles and other stories
  • Fishes and other stories
  • Sing Song Adventures
  • Snowy Adventure
  • Bedtime Stories
  • Summer Holiday Adventures
  • Seaside Holiday Fun
  • Zoo Animals
  • '''Furry Friends'''

    Special VHS releases

In 1997, four special VHS tapes were originally released under the name Tots Video. The four titles were re-released by Carlton Video in 2000 with the same titles. The four titles were:
  • Tilly, Tom and Tiny's A,B,C
  • Tilly, Tom and Tiny's Animal Adventures
  • Tilly, Tom and Tiny's Fun with French
  • ''Tilly, Tom and Tiny's 1,2,3''

    DVD

  • Birthday Surprise and other stories –
  • The Adventures of Tilly, Tom And Tiny –
  • Naughty Little Puppies and other stories –
  • Snowy Adventure –