The Little Green Man

Last updated

The Little Green Man
GenreChildren
Created byMatthew Smith
Written byMatthew Smith
Directed byMatthew Smith
Voices of Jon Pertwee
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
ProducerMatthew Smith
Production locationUK
EditorDavid Hamilton Jones
Running time10 minutes
Production companiesPentagon Motion Pictures
Central Independent Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release3 January (1985-01-03) 
28 March 1985 (1985-03-28)

The Little Green Man is an animated cartoon series about a boy called Sydney Keets, nicknamed "Skeets", who befriends the inquisitive, friendly alien Little Green Man, nicknamed "Greenie", when his spaceship lands in Skeets' garden. Bar a few minor instances, such as the family cat, Skeets is the only character able to see Greenie, and along with Greenie's small friend Zoom Zoom, they share a series of fantastical adventures together, each serving to educate Greenie about life on Earth in some way or another.

Contents

Development

Created by Matthew Smith, The Little Green Man had originally been read as a story in a 1983 episode of the popular, long-running Thames Television children's series Rainbow . The story, telling of Greenie's first arrival on Earth and meeting Sydney, before heading off back home in the evening sky at the end of the tale, was written by Smith and read by show presenter Geoffrey Hayes. The story proved popular with young viewers and two follow-up tales were soon commissioned for the 1984 series; In the meantime, it was felt that there was enough potential for the characters to have their own series of 15 minute adventures, following on from Cockleshell Bay and Button Moon , which had both received their own series after first appearing as stories in Rainbow.

In mid-1984 a pilot was commissioned, The Visitor from Space (which re-tells the story of Greenie's first landing on Earth as previously told on Rainbow, with very minor modifications), after which Thames, who were up to their annual budget for children's output at the time, passed production of the series over to Central Television, who commissioned twelve episodes to bring the total up to thirteen. Each episode was written by Smith, and narrated by Jon Pertwee. A second series of stories was optioned, but ultimately not commissioned following the internal restructuring of the yearly children's television output by the major ITV regions in 1986.

Episodes

  1. The Visitor from Space (03.01.1985)
  2. There's No Fun Like Snow Fun (10.01.1985)
  3. Up, Up and Away (17.01.1985)
  4. Greenie Through the Looking Glass (24.01.1985)
  5. Help for the Duke (31.01.1985)
  6. Monkey Tricks (07.02.1985)
  7. Skeets' Scarf (14.02.1985)
  8. A Trip to the Circus (21.02.1985)
  9. An Adventure in Space (28.02.1985)
  10. A Fishy Tale (07.03.1985)
  11. A Bicycle Made for Three? (14.03.1985)
  12. The Shopping Expedition (21.03.1985)
  13. Skeets' Sandcastle (28.03.1985)

Broadcast History


Related Research Articles

<i>Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends</i> (1981 TV series) American superhero animated TV series

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is a 1981–1983 American animated television series produced by Marvel Productions, considered to be a crossover series connected to the 1981 Spider-Man series. The show stars already-established Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man and Iceman, including an original character, Firestar. As a trio called the Spider-Friends, they fight against various villains of the Marvel Universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thames Television</span> Former ITV weekday service for London

Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broadcast from 9:25 Monday morning to 5:15 Friday afternoon at which time it would hand over to London Weekend Television (LWT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosgrove Hall Films</span> English animation studio

Cosgrove Hall Films was an English animation studio founded by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall; its headquarters was in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Cosgrove Hall was once a major producer of children's television and animated programmes/films; Cosgrove Hall's programmes are still seen in over eighty countries. The company was wound down by its then owner, ITV plc, on 26 October 2009. It was mainly known for its series Danger Mouse, The Wind in the Willows, and Count Duckula.

The Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series created by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran from 30 April 1973 to 19 February 1979.

Shuki Levy is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as The Real Ghostbusters, Inspector Gadget, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, M.A.S.K., Dinosaucers, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra: Princess of Power, and Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors. In the 1990s, he became known chiefly for his work on the Power Rangers franchise, Digimon: Digital Monsters, Masked Rider, VR Troopers, and Big Bad Beetleborgs. He has also written and directed numerous episodes for some these television shows, and directed a few films, such as Perfect Victims (1988) and Blind Vision (1991). He was also part of a musical duo known as Shuky & Aviva with his partner Aviva Paz.

<i>Button Moon</i> British TV series or programme

Button Moon is a British children's television programme broadcast in the United Kingdom in the 1980s on the ITV network. Thames Television produced each episode, which lasted ten minutes and featured the adventures of Mr. Spoon who, in each episode, travels to Button Moon in his homemade rocket ship. All the characters are based on kitchen utensils, as are many of the props.

Tales from Fat Tulip's Garden was a British children's TV programme in the mid-1980s, starring Tony Robinson. It was produced by Debbie Gates for Central Independent Television and was broadcast on the ITV network from 1985 to 1987, in a 4:00pm timeslot, with each episode lasting about 10 minutes. The series won prizes at the Chicago International Festival of Children's Films and the Children's Program at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Derek Griffiths is a British actor, singer and voice artist who appeared in numerous British children's television series in the 1960s to present and has more recently played parts in television drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teddington Studios</span> British television studio in Teddington, London

Teddington Studios was a large British television studio in Teddington, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky1 and others. The complex also provided studio space for channel continuity. Towards the end of its history the site was run by the Pinewood Studios Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UFOs in fiction</span>

Many works of fiction have featured UFOs. In most cases, as the fictional story progresses, the Earth is being invaded by hostile alien forces from outer space, usually from Mars, as depicted in early science fiction, or the people are being destroyed by alien forces, as depicted in the film Independence Day. Some fictional UFO encounters may be based on real UFO reports, such as Night Skies. Night Skies is based on the 1997 Phoenix UFO Incident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Moses</span> Sri Lankan-British actor (1937–2017)

Albert Moses, KStJ was a Sri Lankan actor based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for playing the role of Ranjeet Singh, a student in Jeremy Brown's EFL class in the popular British sitcom Mind Your Language and one of four students to appear in all four series.

Space Museum was a science fiction comics series published by National Comics in their flagship science fiction title Strange Adventures between 1959 and 1964. The series was written by Gardner Fox and was drawn by Carmine Infantino for almost the whole series.

<i>Tales of Tomorrow</i> US science fiction TV series, 1951–1953

Tales of Tomorrow is an American anthology science fiction series that was performed and broadcast live on ABC from 1951 to 1953. The series covered such stories as Frankenstein starring Lon Chaney Jr., 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea starring Thomas Mitchell as Captain Nemo, and many others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weston Woods Studios</span> American film production company

Weston Woods Studios is a production company that makes audio and short films based on well-known books for children. It was founded in 1953 by Morton Schindel in Weston, Connecticut, and named after the wooded area near his home. Weston Woods Studios' first project was Andy and the Lion in 1954, and its first animated film was The Snowy Day in 1964. In 1968, Weston Woods began a long collaboration with animator Gene Deitch. Later, they opened international offices in Henley-on-Thames, England, UK (1972), as well as in Canada (1975), and in Australia (1977). In addition to making the films, Weston Woods also conducted interviews with the writers, illustrators, and makers of the films. The films have appeared on children's television programs such as Captain Kangaroo, Eureeka's Castle, and Sammy's Story Shop. In the mid-1980s, the films were released on VHS under the Children's Circle titles, and Wood Knapp Video distributed these releases from 1988 to 1995.

This is a list of British television related events from 1985.

This is a list of British television related events from 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoopa</span> Canadian pay television channel aimed at kids

Yoopa is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Groupe TVA, a division of Quebecor Media. Initially aimed at preschoolers, Yoopa now broadcasts programming targeted toward children, aged 2–11.