Big Barn Farm

Last updated

Big Barn Farm
GenreChildren's television series
Live action
Animation
Comedy
Created byIan Carley
James Kearsley
Mark Harris
Voices ofBen Fairman
Ellie Fairman
Shelley Longworth
Kate O'Sullivan
Carla Mendonca
Mike Winsor
Gemma Harvey [1]
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes40
Production
Executive producersSarah Colclough
Michael Carrington
Running timeSeries 1: 14-15 minutes
Series 2: 11 minutes
Production companyThe Foundation
Original release
Network CBeebies
Release8 March 2008 (2008-03-08) 
4 June 2010 (2010-06-04)

Big Barn Farm is a British live-action and animated children's comedy television series following the lives of four young animals on a farm which uses a combination of live-action and animation. [2] It was produced by The Foundation and commissioned by Michael Carrington for the BBC children's channel CBeebies. It was narrated by Ben Fairman in the first series and Dave Lamb in the second series.

Contents

Setting

The programme is set on a farm and follows the adventures of four young animals: Petal the piglet, Gobo the goat, Dash the donkey and Digger the puppy, who are called the farmyard bunch. [3] The storylines are told from the young animals' point of view and revolve around their emotions and the situations they find themselves in. [3] In each adventure the farmyard bunch explore their friendships whilst discovering their roles on the farm with help from the other farm animals. [3] Each episode constitutes an individual story, usually involving the main characters getting into some minor difficulty and pulling together to get out of that difficulty. There is no narrative thread to the episodes, each standing on its own without the need for prior understanding or any loose ends at the end.

The series aims to help children understand the importance of friendship, develop knowledge of the world around them and help develop problem solving skills. [4]

Before the show airs, the CBeebies presenter may encourage the young viewers to sing along with the theme song, which is generally sung very fast and provides some basic information about each of the main characters. The closing song is similar, but longer and details all of the animal characters, including the minor ones.

Characters

The farmyard bunch

Minor characters

The main characters around the farm include:

There are also several human characters who feature in the programme, but do not speak, the farmer (played by Chris Noel), [1] the farmer's wife (played by Laura Wyles), [1] the farmer's son (played by Reef Matthews), [5] and the farmer's daughter (played by Katie Parks). [6]

Production

Big Barn Farm was created and produced by The Foundation, which is part of the RDF Media group, the programme combines footage of real animals with animation. The visual effects were created by Ian Carley, at iCarley Media, and James Kearsley, at JK Studios, using 450 individual shots of talking animals. [7] The Executive Producer for Cbeebies was Sarah Colclough.

The set was created around a flint stable block and a barn which were not part of a real working farm. The animals lived on set or nearby during filming. [3]

The production filmed at Stede Court Estate near Maidstone in Kent. [8]

A DVD of Big Barn Farm, titled "Welcome to Big Barn Farm" was released on 17 November 2008.

Episodes

#TitleAirdateOverview
Series 1: 2008 [9]
1You Can't Teach New Dogs Old Tricks3 March 2008Digger the Puppy steps into Old Pop the Sheep Dog's shoes for the day.
2Lester Loses his Voice4 March 2008Lester the cockerel loses his voice. The farmyard bunch come up with a series of hilarious ideas to help him get it back.
3The Grass is Always Greener5 March 2008Gobo the goat is bored with the grass in his field. Dash the Donkey, Petal the Piglet and Digger the Puppy try to help him find tastier, juicier grass, but, as usual, things don't turn out quite as expected.
4Keeping Quiet6 March 2008The farmyard bunch have to be quiet to let the kittens sleep, but being quiet is very difficult. They find kitten named Mrs. Paws on the tractor and call for help.
5Petal and Gobo Fall Out7 March 2008After hearing Petal the piglet and Gobo the goat arguing, Dash the donkey and Digger the puppy must find a way to get them to be friends again.
6To Catch a Thief10 March 2008The farmyard bunch have to find who has stole Digger the puppy's sticks, squeaky toys and blanket.
7The Important Visitors11 March 2008The farm yard is tided for important visitors.
8Greedy Goat12 March 2008Gobo the goat is sure that the farmer has missed feeding time and tries to find a tasty, satisfying snack.
9Lester the Leader13 March 2008Lester the rooster decides that it is his job to be leader of the farm, but Mrs Snuffles the pig challenges him to the job.
10Driving Miss Petal14 March 2008Petal the piglet finds a toy tractor belonging to the farmer's son.
11Best in Show17 March 2008The animals prepare for the agricultural show.
1240 Winks18 March 2008The farmyard bunch try to find a quiet place to sleep, so that they can stay up to see Old Pop the sheep dog return from the sheep dog trails.
13Hot and Sticky Day19 March 2008The farmyard bunch try to keep cool on a hot and sticky day.
14Digger's Got to Go20 March 2008Digger the puppy hears the farmer say 'Digger's got to go' and the farmyard bunch wonder who on the farm will leave.
15Recycling Proficiency Test21 March 2008The farmyard bunch discover a bear hidden in a pile of junk.
16Hide and Seek24 March 2008The farmyard bunch play a game of hide and seek.
17Going Camping25 March 2008Gobo the goat discovers a camp site in the farmers field and they think the tent is a monster.
18Touch the Sky26 March 2008Gobo the goat finds a piece of cloud and the farmyard bunch wonder if the sky is falling down
19What's Up Ducks?27 March 2008The duckies try to find a new home after they see a monster in their pond.
20Who's Afraid of the Windy Wolf?28 March 2008On a windy day on the farm, the farmyard bunch think there is a wolf on the farm and build houses like the three little pigs.
Series 2: 2010 [9]
1 (21)Summer Fete19 April 2010The local school are holding their summer fete at Big Barn Farm. The farmyard bunch ruin the stalls whilst trying to stop Gobo the goat eating a cake.
2 (22)What's That Smell?20 April 2010There is a strange smell on Big Barn Farm. Gobo the goat, Petal the piglet and Dash the donkey soon realize it is Digger the puppy who needs a bath.
3 (23)Great Eggspectations21 April 2010The farmyard bunch find what they think is a dinosaur egg and try to hatch it.
4 (24)Pink Play Pen22 April 2010Petal the piglet is unhappy that she is the only member of the farmyard bunch who doesn't have her own home and tries to find a new one.
5 (25)Hide a Donkey23 April 2010The animals try to hide Dash the donkey when the vet comes to visit.
6 (26)Gobo's Imaginary Friend26 April 2010A new goat named Oscar the goat causes trouble at Big Barn Farm.
7 (27)Hidden Piglet27 April 2010All of the piglets are hiding in Big Barn Farm.
8 (28)Gobo Gets Hiccups28 April 2010Gobo the goat gets the nasty case of the hiccups.
9 (29)Giant Sunflower Seeds29 April 2010The farmyard bunch planted a sunflower seed.
10 (30)Oink Factor30 April 2010Petal the piglet thinks Petal has the oink factor.
11 (31)Vegetable Thief3 May 2010Someone's been taking all of the vegetables from the vegetable patch.
12 (32)Dash's Birthday Surprise4 May 2010The farmyard bunch planned a birthday party for Dash the donkey.
13 (33)Quiz Wizard5 May 2010Digger the puppy finds a rosette and take great delight in fetching it back for Wizard.
14 (34)Runaway Rubbish6 May 2010The farmyard bunch try to play football but end up chasing rubbish instead.
15 (35)Butter Fingers7 May 2010The farmyard bunch decide to save some of Madame the cow's milk and roll a milk churn around the farm. [6]
16 (36)Adventures of Petal31 May 2010Petal the piglet decides to go for an adventure on her own. [6]
17 (37)Brave Star1 June 2010Petal the piglet and Gobo the goat compete to see who is the bravest animal on the farm. [10]
18 (38)Pampered Pooch2 June 2010A new dog named Trixibelle visits the farm but the farmyard bunch's games are too messy for her. [5]
19 (39)Baby Sitters3 June 2010The farmyard bunch try babysitting. [11]
20 (40)Pigs Might Fly4 June 2010Petal the piglet decides Petal wants to be the first pig to fly. [1]

Academic analysis

Professor Steven Fielding of the University of Nottingham analyses the political themes of the episode 'Lester the Leader' in his 2014 work 'A State of Play' which examines how people's views on politics are constructed by fictional representations of politics. [12]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "BBC iPlayer – Big Barn Farm: Series 2: Pigs Might Fly". Narrated by Ben Fairman. BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. The Foundation TV. "Big Barn Farm". Foundation TV. Archived from the original on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Big Barn Farm" . Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  4. Cbeebies. "Big Barn Farm". BBC. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  5. 1 2 "BBC iPlayer – Big Barn Farm: Series 2: Pampered Pooch". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 "BBC iPlayer – Big Barn Farm: Series 2: Adventures of Petal". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  7. JK Studios Ltd. "Visual Effects: 'Big Barn Farm' Cbeebies". JK Studios Ltd. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  8. Kent Film Office. "Kent Film Office Big Barn Farm Article".
  9. 1 2 "Big Barn Farm: Episode Guide". Immediate Media Company Limited – Radio Times. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  10. "BBC iPlayer – Big Barn Farm: Series 2: Brave Star". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  11. "BBC iPlayer – Big Barn Farm: Series 2: Babysitters". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  12. See Fielding, S. (2014) 'A State of Play', London: Bloomsbury, p1-3