Bertha (TV series)

Last updated

Bertha
BerthaLogo.png
Created byEric Charles
Stephen Flewers
Starring Roy Kinnear (voice)
Sheila Walker (voice)
Narrated by Roy Kinnear
Theme music composerBryan Daly
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes13
Production
Producer Ivor Wood
Running time15 minutes
Original release
Network BBC 1/BBC 2
Release1 April 1985 (1985-04-01) 
18 June 1986 (1986-06-18)

Bertha (stylised as bertha, with a larger lower case "b") is a 13-episode British stop motion-animated children's television series about a factory machine of that name that aired from 1985 to 1986. All the characters were designed by Ivor Wood, and the series was produced by his company, Woodland Animations. It was broadcast on BBC Television, [1] It was intended as a replacement to the Postman Pat series, until the second series aired in 1996.

Contents

A series of five storybooks based on Bertha was published by André Deutsch at the same time as the series was broadcast. They were adapted by Eric Charles and illustrated by Steve Augarde, who was also responsible for the artwork and music in the children's series Bump . [1]

The series was later repeated on GMTV2 in the early 2000s along with Penny Crayon .

The series is available to watch on BritBox and Prime Video.

Plot

The series is set in an industrial estate occupied by the Spottiswood & Company factory, a small manufacturing plant producing a wide range of goods ranging from cuckoo clocks to windmill money boxes. Each episode focuses on a machine called Bertha that can produce any item requested of her. In each episode, the factory experiences a crisis affecting its daily production schedule, which Bertha invariably solves with the help of her factory worker friends.

Production

Bertha was created by Woodland Animations, who also produced the shows Postman Pat , Charlie Chalk and Gran for the BBC. Episodes were written by Eric Charles and Stephen Flewers, and designed, produced and directed by Ivor Wood, co-founder of the Woodland company. Roy Kinnear and Sheila Walker voiced the characters, and Kinnear narrated. The main title music (as well as some of the other songs) featured the singing of Guy Fletcher. The songs "Tracy's Robot Song", "Mrs Tupp" and "Isn't it Nice?" from the Bertha 12-inch vinyl record feature the vocals of Stephanie de Sykes.

Main characters

Goods manufactured by Bertha throughout the series

Episodes and broadcast dates

The first episode of Bertha premiered on BBC1 on 1 April 1985 at 3:55 pm after a 3:25 pm screening of Daffy Duck's Easter Special. Episodes 2-7 were shown over the following weeks, omitting the Easter and May Day holidays, and episodes 8–11 were first broadcast at the end of an autumn rerun. The BBC did not comply with an ordered schedule for the airing of the programme, and the last two episodes premiered in 1986 during a repeat season at 1:45 pm and 1:30 pm. [1] The series was regularly repeated on BBC1/2 until 1998.

List of episodes

#TitleBroadcast dateProduct(s) producedSongSummary
1The Great Painting Job4 February 1985 (production)
1 April 1985 (TV)
Jigsaw puzzles and T.O.M.Tracy's Robot SongTracy designs a robot called T.O.M. (Talk Operated Machine) to help at the factory.
2The Windmills11 February 1985 (production)
15 April 1985 (TV)
Musical windmill money boxesN/AMr.Sprott's money boxes are working well, but how do you get the coin out?
3Mouse in the Works18 February 1985 (production)
22 April 1985 (TV)
Jack-in-the-boxes and Mouse houseN/APanjit and the rest of the factory try to stop a mouse from nibbling their boxes.
4The Best Machine Competition25 February 1985 (production)
29 April 1985 (TV)
Humming tops and Mechanical toy soldierPacking And StackingWhen Mr Willmake wants Mr Sprott to design the best toy for a competition, Mr Duncan wants it to be made by a new machine, but everyone else wants it to be made by Bertha.
5T.O.M. Gets Lost4 March 1985 (production)
13 May 1985 (TV)
Building blocksN/AA magnet fries T.O.M.'s brain, so he scares the rest of the Spottiswood factory by disappearing.
6The Flying Bear11 March 1985 (production)
20 May 1985 (TV)
Inflatable plastic bearsN/AOn a very hot day, Bertha is making plastic bears. Why do they keep growing?
7The Tea Nurse18 March 1985 (production)
3 June 1985 (TV)
Watering cansMrs TuppBertha is working slowly and keeps stopping; Mrs Tupp comes to the rescue.
8More Speed, Less Work25 March 1985 (production)
5 November 1985 (TV)
Garden gnomesN/AWhile Mr Willmake is at a meeting, Mr Duncan closes down Bertha, who was making garden gnomes.
9The Big Order1 April 1985 (production)
12 November 1985 (TV)
Nuts and Bolts followed by SpringsRoy The ApprenticeBertha has to make 365 springs but T.O.M. and Roy have trouble with the whippy, springy steel.
10The Burglars8 April 1985 (production)
19 November 1985 (TV)
Jumping kangaroosN/ATwo burglars break into the factory and try's to steal money for the wages. However T.O.M. and Bertha manage to stop the burglars thank to a jumping kangaroo.
11Bertha's Birthday Party15 April 1985 (production)
26 November 1985 (TV)
Cuckoo clocksN/AOn the day before Bertha's 50th anniversary, Roy wonders why the hands on a clock are called hands. Meanwhile Miss McClackerty finds some old papers about Bertha being 50 years old tomorrow, so Mr. Willmake decides to celebrate Bertha's birthday by giving her the day off.
12The Big Sneeze22 April 1985 (production)
16 April 1986 (TV)
Beach balls and SnowballsN/AIt's a very cold day and Bertha and Miss McClackerty get a terrible cold and because of that the beach balls go wrong.
13Tom's New Friend29 April 1985 (production)
18 June 1986 (TV)
Plastic bath spongesT.O.M. The RobotMrs Tupp is cross about a new vending machine, but T.O.M. soon fixes it.

Merchandise

Merchandise for the programme was, and is, very minimal. The merchandise listed are the only items that have been discovered.

UK VHS and DVD releases

On 13 July 1987, after the episodes were shown on TV, the BBC released one video of the show.

VHS video titleYear of releaseEpisodes
Bertha - The Flying Bear
(BBCV 4075)
13 July 1987
  • "A Mouse in the Works"
  • "T.O.M. Gets Lost"
  • "The Flying Bear"
  • "The Burglars"

At some point in 1985, Bertha was featured on a Marks and Spencer (St. Michael) exclusive VHS release called Cartoon Favourites along with The Family-Ness , Ivor the Engine , Bagpuss and Pigeon Street . The "Mouse in the Works" episode of Bertha is on this release.

On 27 November 1989 one episode of Bertha was on the VHS release which was exclusive to W.H. Smith Postman Pat and Friends alongside Postman Pat and Charlie Chalk .

VHS video titleYear of releaseEpisodes
Postman Pat and Friends
(WHS 4301)
27 November 1989Postman Pat - "Pat Goes Sledging",
Charlie Chalk - "Arnold's Night Out",
Bertha - "The Flying Bear"

On 11 November 1991, one episode of Bertha was featured on the BBC VHS release Postman Pat and Company alongside Postman Pat and Charlie Chalk .

VHS video titleYear of releaseEpisodes
Postman Pat and Company
(BBCV 4709)
11 November 1991Postman Pat - "Pat's Foggy Day",
Charlie Chalk - "Edward Keeps Fit",
Postman Pat - "Letters on Ice",
Bertha - "The Burglars"

Hallmark and Carlton Home Entertainment released the first four episodes on a single video in 1994.

VHS video titleYear of releaseEpisodes
Bertha
(3007340123)
6 June 1994
  • "The Great Painting Job"
  • "The Windmills"
  • "A Mouse in the Works"
  • "The Best Machine Competition"

In 2004 Entertainment Rights released a DVD of the show containing three of the same episodes as the Hallmark/Carlton Release, replacing "The Best Machine Competition" with "More Speed, Less Work" (albeit mistitled "The Best Machine competition").

DVD titleYear of releaseEpisodes
Bertha and the Best Machine Competition13 July 2004"The Great Painting Job", "The Windmills", "A Mouse in the Works", "More Speed, Less Work"

In 2011, Classic Media released a DVD entitled Fun with Friends: Volume One containing one episode of Bertha.

DVD titleYear of releaseEpisodes
Fun with Friends: Volume One27 June 2011Postman Pat - "Ice Cream Machine", Bertha - "The Flying Bear", Ethelbert the Tiger - "Ethelbert and the Camel", Friendly Monsters - "A Monster Holiday", Fun Song Factory - "Happy", Little Red Tractor - "Circles in the Corn", Merlin the Magical Puppy - "Merlin and the Summer Fair", Postman Pat - "Postman Pat at the Seaside", Preston Pig - "Snout Scouts"

Australian DVD releases

While there are no known Australian VHS releases of the programme, two DVDs of the entire series have been released by Reel Entertainment. The DVD cover claimed that the show was made by "the makers of Postman Pat and Thomas and Friends ." However, this is only true for Charlie Chalk (since the slogan was used on all the Woodland Animations DVDs in Australia), because Jocelyn Stevenson (writer of Charlie Chalk) became the executive producer on Thomas and Friends from the seventh series (2003) until the tenth series (2006).

Photobooks

In 1985, to accompany the programme, some photobooks were released with altered titles to fit the style of the books. These were very similar to the Postman Pat photobooks, where the front cover would be an original illustration and all pictures within the book were images from the TV programme.

Vinyl record

In 1986, after broadcast ended, the BBC's record label released a 12" vinyl record containing songs from the TV series.

All tracks are written by Bryan Daly

Side 1
No.TitleVocalsLength
1."Bertha"Guy Fletcher 
2."Mrs. Tupp"Stefanie De Sykes 
3."Packing and Stacking"Guy Fletcher, Eva Burden 
4."The Flying Bear" (*) (instrumental)  
5."Mr. Duncan" (*)Bryan Daly 
6."Turning Wheels" (*) (instrumental)  
Side 2
No.TitleVocalsLength
1."T.O.M. the Robot"Guy Fletcher 
2."Isn't it Nice?" (*)Stefanie De Sykes 
3."Mr. Willmake" (*)Guy Fletcher, Stefanie De Sykes 
4."Tracy's Robot Song"Stefanie De Sykes 
5."Spottiswood March" ((*) (instrumental))  
6."Roy the Apprentice"Guy Fletcher 

Tracks marked with an asterisk (*) did not feature in the TV series. However, it is possible that the song "Mr. Duncan" was to feature in the episode "More Speed, Less Work" but was not included due to it making the episode too long. The same is the case with "Mr. Willmake" possibly featuring in the episode "Bertha's Birthday Party".

The album also had a cassette release with the reference number of ZCR 585.

Board game

In 1987, Falcon released a board game using illustrations similar to those seen on the front covers of the photobooks. The game itself does not differ much from the Monopoly series of board games. If a player lands on T.O.M., they are allowed to ask Bertha to make an item for them.

Advent calendar

In 1985, an Advent calendar using the same profile image as the vinyl record was released.

Annuals

From 1985 to 1988, Bertha featured in a total of four annuals:

Credits

Related Research Articles

<i>The Magic Roundabout</i> Childrens television series

The Magic Roundabout is an English-language children's television programme that ran from 1965 to 1977. It used the footage of the French stop motion animation show Le Manège enchanté but with completely different scripts and characters.

<i>Postman Pat</i> British stop motion-animated TV series

Postman Pat is a British stop motion animated children's television series first produced by Woodland Animations. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman who works for Royal Mail postal service in the fictional village of Greendale.

<i>Camberwick Green</i> British stop-motion animated TV series (1966)

Camberwick Green is a British children's television series that ran from January to March 1966 on BBC1, featuring stop motion puppets. Camberwick Green is the first in the Trumptonshire trilogy, which also includes Trumpton and Chigley.

<i>Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog</i> Animated series

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is an animated series based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, produced by Sega of America, DIC Animation City, Bohbot Entertainment and the Italian studio Reteitalia S.p.A. in association with Spanish network Telecinco. Airing during the fall of 1993, 65 episodes were produced, which was syndicated by Bohbot Entertainment in the United States.

<i>Ace of Wands</i> (TV series) British TV series or programme

Ace of Wands is a British fantasy children's television show broadcast on ITV between 1970 and 1972. Created by Trevor Preston and Pamela Lonsdale and produced by Thames Television, the series starred Michael MacKenzie as Tarot. It ran for two seasons of thirteen episodes, and a third season of twenty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Kinnear</span> English character actor (1934–1988)

Roy Mitchell Kinnear was an English character actor and comedian. He was known for his acting roles in movies such as Henry Salt in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Algernon in The Beatles' Help! (1965), Clapper in How I Won the War (1967), and Planchet in The Three Musketeers (1973). He reprised the role of Planchet in the 1974 and 1989 sequels, and died following an accident during filming of the latter.

Ivor Sydney Wood was a prolific Anglo-French animator, director, producer and writer. He was known for his work on children's television series.

<i>Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks</i> American animated television series by Hanna-Barbera

Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions as part of The Huckleberry Hound Show from 1958 to 1961.

<i>The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show</i> American animated television series

The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show is an American animated television series featuring characters and storylines from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts as first presented for television in the Peanuts animated specials. It aired Saturday mornings on the CBS network from 1983 to 1985.

<i>Bump in the Night</i> (TV series) American stop-motion television series

Bump in the Night is an American stop-motion animated series by Danger Productions and Greengrass Productions. The show was filmed using stop-motion animation and aired on ABC from 1994 to 1995. It was created and directed by Ken Pontac and David Bleiman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entertainment Rights</span> Defunct British multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate

Entertainment Rights PLC was a British multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that specialized in TV shows and cartoons, children's media, films, and distribution. In May 2009, the company was acquired by Boomerang Media and merged into its own subsidiary Classic Media.

Charlie Chalk is a British stop motion animation series produced in 1987 in the United Kingdom by Woodland Animations, who also produced the children's television programmes Postman Pat, Gran, and Bertha. Reception to the show was mostly positive. The series began airing from 20 October 1988, Thursday afternoons on BBC1 part of Children's BBC for the first 10 episodes. The remaining three episodes of the series aired on BBC2 in a lunchtime slot.

<i>The Transformers</i> (TV series) 1980s American animated series

The Transformers is an American-Japanese animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro and Takara Tomy's Transformers toy line. The first television series in the Transformers franchise, it depicts a war among giant robots that can transform into vehicles and other objects.

<i>Fun Song Factory</i> British TV series or program

Fun Song Factory is a British preschool children's television series and video series. It was originally created in 1994 by Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan, who at the time, were part of the Playdays production team. The series was produced through their studio Tell-Tale Productions and was originally released as a Direct-to-video series through Abbey Home Entertainment 's "Tempo-Pre-School" imprint.

<i>The Dick Emery Show</i> British TV series or programme

The Dick Emery Show is a British sketch comedy show starring Dick Emery. It was broadcast on the BBC from 1963 to 1981. It was directed and produced by Harold Snoad. The show was broadcast over 18 series with 166 episodes. The show experienced sustained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. The BBC described the show as featuring 'a vivid cast of comic grotesques'.

<i>Its Punky Brewster</i> American animated television series

It's Punky Brewster is a 1985–1986 animated spin-off of the live action television sitcom Punky Brewster. It was animated by Ruby-Spears Productions. The show uses the same premise and main cast as its parent series, but also includes a magical sprite named Glomer. 26 episodes were produced over two seasons.

Towser is a British series of children's books created by veteran children's writer and illustrator Tony Ross and published by Anderson Press. The series is about an intelligent dog, Towser, and his friends The King, Dr. Smelly, and Sadie; and a variety of adversaries such as the Terrible Thing, the Water Rats, and Goblin Gobble.

Leslie Hulme, known professionally as Ken Barrie, was an English voice actor and singer. He was best known for singing the theme tune of the BBC television programmes Hi-de-Hi!, Postman Pat and Charlie Chalk, and also narrated the latter two. He was also known for providing the voices of several of the series' characters.

<i>Postman Pat: The Movie</i> 2014 film

Postman Pat: The Movie is a 2014 British 3D animated comedy preschool film based on the television series Postman Pat by John Cunliffe and Ivor Wood. It was directed by Mike Disa, produced by Robert Anich Cole, written by Nicole Dubuc, with music by Rupert Gregson-Williams. It was co-produced by DreamWorks Classics, RGH Pictures and Timeless Films.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "TV TOONS: Bertha (1985)". Toonhound: cartoons, animation, comic strips and puppets in the UK. Woodland Animations. 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2012.