External links
- Tikkabilla at BBC Online
- CBeebies - Tikkabilla at bbc.co.uk (archived)
| Tikkabilla | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 280 |
| Production | |
| Production location | BBC Elstree Centre |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBeebies |
| Release | 14 October 2002 – 27 January 2007 |
Tikkabilla is a British children's television programme, shown on CBeebies. The programme aims to educate preschool children in an entertaining manner. The title "Tikkabilla" comes from the Hindi word meaning "Hopscotch", a popular children's game.[ citation needed ]
The show features two different presenters and a small dragon puppet by the name of Tamba. Tamba serves as the programme's naive child; the programme's educational content is introduced as the presenters explain things to Tamba. Whilst Tamba (the talking purple dragon) appears in every episode, a team of presenters take it in turns to pair-up in each show. These presenters include Justin Fletcher, Sarah-Jane Honeywell, Simon Davies, Lorna Laidlaw, Paul Ewing, Veejay Kaur (series 3–4), Toni Fruitin and Amit Sharma (both series 4 only) and Beverly Hills (series 1–2 only). Tamba is performed by puppeteer Sue Eves (series 1 to 4) who created the voice for Tamba; Alison McGowan (series 2 and 3) and Katherine Smee (series 4). Sue Eves has also written many scripts for the programme.
Much of the show's format follows that of 1964–1988 UK children's programme Play School and later show Playdays . Tikkabilla presenter Simon Davies also presented Play School in its later years and Playdays in its early years and Justin Fletcher played Mr Jolly in the live stage show production of Playdays . In the Tikkabilla studio, which features a large, colourful house, the presenters and Tamba perform songs, tell stories, play games and make things. Occasionally, special guests visit, normally to demonstrate a special skill or performance. The iconic square, round and arched windows made famous by Play School are again used as a device to transport the viewer from the studio to the outside, real world. Location items, sometimes featuring the presenters and Tamba and usually including young children, introduce the wider world to the young audience.
Tikkabilla features mini-series inside the programme, such as Bonny, Banana and Mo, Sami's Worlds, Summerton Mill and Higgledy House, the latter two of which were later shown as standalone programmes on CBeebies. Tikkabilla sometimes shows animated clips originally from other educational BBC programmes mostly from Words and Pictures and Numbertime . One episode once showed an animated clip from Hotch Potch House.
Beverly Hills writes for the programme as well as writing for sister show The Story Makers. Francis Haines and Liz Kitchen wrote the majority of the programme's music. Francis Haines and Jake Hook co-wrote one of the songs.
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Playdays is a British preschool television programme which ran from 1988 to 1997 on Children's BBC. The show was the successor to Play School and, like its predecessor, was designed as an educational programme.
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Martin Christopher Jarvis is an English actor, presenter and writer who has appeared mainly on children's television for the BBC since 1992, apart from 2000 to 2002 when he was working with ITV and Channel 4. In 2019, he started a radio station for children called Little Radio.
Justin Fletcher is an English children's television presenter, actor and comedian, appearing mainly on the BBC pre-school television channel CBeebies. Speaking and performing in various, often self-created, roles, he specialises in slapstick comedy and works with children with special educational needs through his show Something Special.
Play School is a British children's television series produced by the BBC which ran from 21 April 1964 until 11 March 1988. It was created by Joy Whitby and was aimed at preschool children. Each programme followed a broad theme and consisted of songs, stories and activities with presenters in the studio, along with a short film introduced through either the square, round or arched window in the set.
Simon Davies is a British television presenter, actor and writer from Cardiff, Wales. He is married to Laura Jeffery. He is best known for his work in children's television. He presented the BBC television programme Tikkabilla, he co-presented the BBC educational programme Corners as himself, was a presenter and actor on Playdays for a number of years and narrated the second series of Our Planet shown on CBeebies in 2006.
Summerton Mill is a British children's television series created by Pete Bryden and Ed Cookson. It was first shown on the CBeebies channel in 2005 as a segment of the BBC's Tikkabilla. It has subsequently been repeated both within Tikkabilla and as a standalone show on CBeebies and BBC Two.
Play School is a New Zealand educational television show for children. It is based on the British Play School show. The series first aired in 1972, and ended in 1990.
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Timmy Time is a British stop motion animated television programme for preschoolers created and produced by Bob the Builder producer Jackie Cockle for the BBC's CBeebies and produced by Aardman Animations. It started broadcasting in the United Kingdom on 6 April 2009. It is a spin-off of Shaun the Sheep, itself a spin-off of the Wallace & Gromit film A Close Shave (1995).
Katy Ashworth is a British actress, television presenter and singer, who is known for presenting children's television programmes.
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Sue Monroe is a British television presenter, actress, and author best known for hosting CBeebies, and playing Poppy in Playdays.
