Robin Stevens | |
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Born | Robin Gordon Stevens Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, England |
Occupation(s) | Puppeteer, actor, television director, writer |
Years active | 1985–present |
Robin Gordon Stevens is an English puppeteer, actor, director, and writer for children's TV for over 35 years, and has done many successful programmes. These include Pob's Programme , Whizz, Lay-on-Five, Corners , Teletubbies , Rosie and Jim , Tots TV , Boohbah , and Blips . He also appeared as a Goblin in the movie Labyrinth with David Bowie.
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(October 2023) |
Stevens was born in Chorleywood, England. He trained at the Cannon Hill Puppet Theater for four years (1978-1982) with John Blundall, the world-famous puppet master.
Stevens worked for Ragdoll Productions for 24 years (1982-2006), writing the series Pob's Playtime, Rosie and Jim and co-writing Tots TV . Later on he also at times co-wrote scripts and originated content with Alan Dapre. He also worked for the BBC, puppeteering Jo Corner on Corners . Bug and Voice in Whizz and Fribble in Lay-on-Five. He puppeteered Pob in Pob's Programme, [1] Jim in Rosie and Jim, Tom in Tots TV (he also wrote the scripts with Tiny's puppeteer Andrew Davenport), and The Man in the Magic House in Teletubbies (he voiced the man in all foreign dubs except for the PBS Kids version where US actress Dena Davis redubbed the voice). Stevens also played Grandpappa in Boohbah and Mr. Perfect in Blips.
Stevens won a BAFTA for his episode of Tots TV 'The long, long, long baguette'.
Jerry Nelson was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Muppets. Known for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and various Muppet movies and specials.
Ragdoll Productions Limited, or simply Ragdoll, is a British television production company founded in 1984 by Anne Wood, who had previously worked for Yorkshire Television and TV-am. It is located in Bloxham, Oxfordshire, and has produced a number of children's programmes, most notably Pob's Programme, Teletubbies, Rosie and Jim, Brum, Boohbah, Tots TV, and In the Night Garden..., most of which are now owned by WildBrain.
Boohbah is a British preschool television series created by Anne Wood and produced by Wood's company, Ragdoll Productions, in association with GMTV. It premiered on ITV on 14 April 2003. The series was later broadcast on Nick Jr. UK beginning on 2 April 2005.
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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.
Pob's Programme is a children's television programme which was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4. The programme is presented by a puppet named Pob, who speaks with a speech impediment and who supposedly lives inside the viewer's TV. Music was composed and performed by Mike Stanley. The opening titles of the show consist of the character breathing on the camera lens, and tracing his name in the condensation. Each week on the programme, a celebrity guest visits Pob's garden, and entertains him — though Pob and the guest never appear on screen together.
Anne Wood, CBE is an English children's television producer, responsible for creating shows such as Teletubbies with Andrew Davenport. She is also the creator of Tots TV and Rosie and Jim. She was a recipient of the Eleanor Farjeon Award.
Corners is a Children's BBC children's television series of the 1980s. Produced by Alison Stewart, the format of the programme was that viewers would submit questions and queries, and the two hosts, Tracy Brabin and Simon Davies, would try to answer the questions, aided by an anthropomorphised animal puppet, Jo Corner, who was performed and puppeteered by Robin Stevens. Being children's programming, the explanations used humour to convey information and frequently involved demonstrations which degenerated into slapstick humour. Songs were also used. A show with a similar format, "Dear Mr. Barker", aired on CBBC in the mid-1990s, but did not last long.
Michael Earl was an American puppeteer. A four-time Emmy Award-winner whose credits include Mr. Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street (1978–1981) and Dr. Ticktock in Ticktock Minutes, a musical series of PSA's on PBS he also co-created, scripted and wrote lyrics for that garnered 11 Southern Regional Emmys, a 1998 National Emmy for Best Public Service Announcements, a Gabriel Award, two Parents' Choice Awards and numerous other honors. Earl performed the original Shrek character in a motion-capture development test film for DreamWorks and puppeteered lead characters in Paramount Pictures' Team America: World Police.
You and Me is a British educational television programme as part of the BBC Schools strand from 14 January 1974 to 26 March 1992. The programmes consisted of various segments intended to educate and entertain young children and included elements for early literacy and numeracy. It is aimed at children aged between 3 and 5.
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Andrew Davenport is an English writer, puppeteer, producer, composer, and actor, specialising in creating television, music, and books for young children. He is known as co-creator and writer of Teletubbies and writer, voice artist and puppeteer of "Tiny" on Tots TV. He is also the creator, writer, and composer of both In the Night Garden... and Moon and Me.
Mongrels is a British puppet-based musical situation comedy series first broadcast on BBC Three between 22 June and 10 August 2010, with a making-of documentary entitled "Mongrels Uncovered" broadcast on 11 August 2010. A second and final series of Mongrels began airing on 7 November 2011.
Cheryl Wagner, is a Canadian puppeteer, producer, director and writer, who is the creator of the TV series The Big Comfy Couch, is a Gemini Award and Emmy award- winning Canadian children's television writer, showrunner and producer who began her career as a performer in both theatre and on the screen. Her Halifax-based touring Merrytime Clown and Puppet Company in which Wagner worked as a clown and puppeteer from 1977 to 1980 provided a fertile ground for her later work as a producer and writer in children's entertainment.
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Andrew William John McCrorie-Shand is a British composer. He is mostly known for having composed musical scores for children's television programmes, including the original theme tune for Teletubbies, and also the chart topping hit that followed it, Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!". McCrorie-Shand has also composed the music for Rosie and Jim, Brum and Tots TV.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is an American fantasy television series produced, made and owned by The Jim Henson Company. It is a prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal that explores the world of Thra created for the original film. It follows the story of three Gelflings: Rian, Deet, and Brea, as they journey together on a quest to unite the Gelfling clans to rise against the tyrannical Skeksis and save their planet Thra from a destructive blight known as the Darkening. The series premiered on August 30, 2019, to critical acclaim. In September 2020, it was announced that the series had been cancelled after only one season.