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 (inspired by the real valley of
Longsleddale
near
Kendal
).
[3]
Postman Pat
's
first 13-episode series was screened on
BBC One
in 1981.
[4]
John Cunliffe
wrote the original treatment and scripts for the series, which was directed by animator
Ivor Wood
, who also worked on
The Magic Roundabout
,
The Wombles
,
Paddington
, and
The Herbs
. Following the success of the first series, four TV specials and a second series of 13 episodes were produced during the 1990s. In this series, Pat had a family shown on screen for the first time (though his wife had been mentioned in a number of episodes
[5]
).
A new version of the series was produced by
Cosgrove Hall Films
from 2003 to 2008 and expanded on many aspects of the original series.
The show ended on 29 March 2017, after 8 series and 12 specials. The SDS spin-off is still being rerun on
CBeebies
on weekends, and the previous Cosgrove Hall series from the 2000s is being rerun on
ITVBe
's children's block littleBe, starting from September 2023. The original two Ivor Wood series are available to watch on
BritBox
,
Prime Video
and on DVD.
Plot
[
edit
]
Each episode follows the adventures of Patrick Clifton, a friendly country postman, and his black and white cat Jess, as he delivers the post through the valley of Greendale. Although he initially concentrates on delivering his letters, he nearly always becomes distracted by a concern of one of the villagers, and is always keen to help resolve their problems. Notable villagers include the
postmistress
, Mrs. Goggins; farmer couple Alf and Dorothy Thompson; the Reverend Timms; PC Selby, the police constable; Jeff Pringle, the school teacher; Peter Fogg, a farm hand; George Lancaster, a chicken farmer; Sam Waldron, a grocer with a mobile shop; Miss Hubbard, an upper-class woman; Julia Pottage, who runs Greendale Farm and Ted Glen, the local
handyman
and inventor.
Setting
[
edit
]
Postman Pat
is set in the fictional village of Greendale and the nearby town of Pencaster, on the border between
Cumbria
and
North Yorkshire
.
Greendale has a different character in the various
Postman Pat
series. In the original series (1 and 2), it was a small village with narrow, winding roads. The gentle pace of life allowed Pat plenty of time to enjoy the countryside as he passed through, or even stop on quiet days to have a picnic.
In the more recent series, Greendale became a big, busy village situated in the heart of the Cumbrian countryside. Running through the centre of the village is the High Street, home to Mrs Goggins's Post Office and shop, an unofficial meeting place for residents. Located on the edge of the village is the railway station, home to the Greendale Rocket. Nisha Bains runs a popular cafe there with Sara while her husband Ajay runs a regular schedule on the Greendale Rocket to the nearby town of Pencaster.
In the second series of the show, which aired in 1996, the village at the centre of the series was briefly referred to as Garner Bridge, while Greendale was the name of the valley in which Garner Bridge was situated. In the episode
Postman Pat and the Suit of Armour
, Greendale Post Office is referred to as "Garner Bridge Post Office".
Pencaster is a large, bustling, modern town located within easy commuting distance for the villagers of Greendale. Situated on the waterfront, Pencaster is a hive of activity, boasting a market square in the centre surrounded by shops, houses, a large railway station, state-of-the-art buildings, and a boat jetty. It bears some resemblance to
Lancaster
, the county town of
Lancashire
, which likewise is a short commute from
Longsleddale
, the area used as the inspiration for Greendale.
[
citation needed
]
Ingledale is another large, busy village town situated in the heart of the North Yorkshire countryside, only seen once in a special in 1991.
Inspiration
[
edit
]
Cunliffe, interviewed about the series, has said that he chose the character of a postman since he needed a character who could visit the countryside and interact with many different people.
[6]
[7]
[8]
The inspiration for the post office itself comes from one located on the street in Kendal where Cunliffe lived when he was writing the original treatment. The post office, at 10 Greenside, closed in 2003.
[9]
Cunliffe, didn't retain rights to the character and was critical of some of the tie-in media later released. He wrote the stories to the series
Rosie and Jim
, which he also presented, as a show which he could have more creative control over.
[8]
While Cunliffe visited post offices for inspiration, he has said that the character and village was not based on any one place or person. He commented in 2015 that "I got maybe half a dozen people last year saying they were the inspiration."
[10]
Cast
[
edit
]
In Series 1,
Ken Barrie
voiced all the characters and narrated the series. In Series 2,
Carole Boyd
joined to voice all the female characters and child characters except Granny Dryden who was still voiced by Barrie. In Series 3,
Kulvinder Ghir
, Janet James, and
Archie Panjabi
joined to voice the new characters and the child characters, while Boyd continued to voice the adult females, Charlie and Sarah, Melissa Sinden and
Jimmy Hibbert
also joined to perform the animal characters' vocal effects and
Angela Griffin
joined in Series 5 to voice a new character. In Series 6,
Lewis MacLeod
replaced Barrie as Pat. In Series 7, Barrie left completely and MacLeod, Bradley Clarkson, and Dan Milne took over the rest of Barrie's characters. Joe Trill joined in Series 8 to voice a new character.
- Lewis MacLeod
as Patrick "Pat" Clifton (series 6-8), Ben Taylor, Robot 1, Sat Nav, Alf Thompson (series 7-8), Sean McGuinness
- Ken Barrie
as Patrick "Pat" Clifton (series 1?5), Matt Clifton, Mrs Goggins (series 1), Ted Glen (series 1?6), Alf Thompson (series 1?6), Dorothy Thompson (series 1), Bill Thompson (series 1), Reverend Peter Timms (series 1?6), Julia Pottage (series 1), Katy Pottage (series 1), Tom Pottage (series 1), PC Arthur Selby (series 2?6), Lucy Selby (series 1), Sylvia Gilbertson (series 1), Sarah Gilbertson (series 1), Jeff Pringle, Charlie Pringle (series 1), Rebecca Hubbard (series 1), Sam Waldron, Granny Dryden, Peter Fogg, Major Forbes, George Lancaster, Santa Claus, Train Inspector, Pumpkin Wrigglesworth, Narrator, Radio Greendale Speaker, John, George, Countdown Sequence Voice
- Carole Boyd
as Sara Clifton, Julian Clifton (series 2), Mrs. Goggins (series 2-present), Dorothy Thompson (series 2-present), Bill Thompson (series 2), Julia Pottage (series 2?5), Katy Pottage (series 2), Tom Pottage (series 2), Betty Pottage, Lucy Selby (series 2), Sylvia Gilbertson (series 2-8), Sarah Gilbertson (series 2-8), Jackie Gilbertson, Charlie Pringle (series 2-8), Rebecca Hubbard (series 2), George's Wife, Radio Weather Woman
- Kulvinder Ghir
as Bill Thompson (series 3-8), Tom Pottage (series 3?5), Ajay Bains, Bessie Thompson, Michael Lam, Robot 2, Grizzly, Shopper-Bot 3000
- Janet James as Julian Clifton (series 3-8), Lucy Selby (series 3-8), Lauren Taylor
- Archie Panjabi
as Katy Pottage (series 3?5), Nisha Bains, Meera Bains
- Melissa Sinden as Jess Clifton, Polly Clifton, Dotty Pringle, Bonnie Goggins
- Angela Griffin
as Amy Wrigglesworth, Lizzy Taylor, Flora, Rowena Roberts, Duchess of Pencaster
- Bradley Clarkson as Ted Glen (series 7-8), Arthur Selby (series 7-8), Ned Glen
- Dan Milne
as Reverend Peter Timms (series 7-8)
- Joel Trill as Chris Beacon
- Professor
Brian Cox
as Professor Ryan Farrow (Guest star)
- Peter Sallis
as Narrator for Postman Pat's Parcel of Stories for audiocassettes
[2]
Characters
[
edit
]
Postman Pat: Special Delivery Service
[
edit
]
In the spin-off series,
Postman Pat: Special Delivery Service
, Postman Pat has been promoted to Head of the SDS and is now called upon to deliver anything. Each episode follows Postman Pat on a Special Delivery mission, from rescuing a runaway cow to delivering a giant ice cube. In his new role, Postman Pat commutes to the nearby town of Pencaster where he collects his special deliveries from the Pencaster Mail Centre. Postman Pat now has a newer fleet of vehicles including a bigger van, gyrocopter, 4x4 Jeep and motorbike, complete with side-car for Jess.
[11]
He has a new boss, Ben, who tends to give him instructions (whereas he was his own master before the "promotion"). Pat also seems to make more mistakes in his work since moving to SDS, largely because the new format is always based on one delivery, which has to go wrong somehow (thus often because of Pat's errors).
The series features an expanded and diverse cast, a fleet of new vehicles, a world full of
gadgets
and the new town of Pencaster.
Postman Pat: Special Delivery Service
first screened on BBC2 on 29 September 2008. The new series was commissioned by the BBC and produced by Entertainment Rights and
Cosgrove Hall Films
.
A new series aired in 2016.
[12]
Episodes
[
edit
]
Outside the main broadcast series
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Postman Pat: The Movie
, a British-American 3D computer-animated comedy children's feature film version of the British stop-motion animated children's television show, was theatrically released on 23 May 2014 in the United Kingdom. The film was distributed and produced by
Lionsgate
and
Icon Productions
and animated by
Rubicon Group Holding
. The story revolves around Pat entering a talent show audition which leads to robots taking over his postal service whilst he is away. The film stars
Stephen Mangan
as the voice of Pat and also features
Jim Broadbent
,
Rupert Grint
,
David Tennant
,
Ronan Keating
(as Pat's singing voice),
Susan Duerden
, Sandra Teles,
TJ Ramini
and
Peter Woodward
.
Spin-off
[
edit
]
A
CGI
spin-off to the series was made called
Guess with Jess
which follows Pat's cat Jess now with the ability to talk and his adventures with the farm animals. The series debuted on 9 November 2009 and ended in 2013.
Music
[
edit
]
Music for the original 1981 series was by Bryan Daly,
[13]
who wrote a number of songs including the well-known theme tune. For the 2003 series, pop writer Simon Woodgate scored the show and wrote new songs, including a new closing theme "Postman Pat (Can You Guess What's In His Bag?)". The theme tune "Postman Pat & His Black and White Cat" was sung by
Ken Barrie
for the original series in the 1980s and '90s. An extended version of the tune was released as a single in the UK where it reached number 44 in the charts in July 1982.
[14]
An album, titled
Postman Pat: Songs and Music From the TV Series
, was released by Post Music in 1982.
The theme tune and songs for
Postman Pat Special Delivery Service
(including "Special Delivery Service, What's It Going to Be Today?"), was recorded by Simon Woodgate at Echobass Studios.
In 2013, DreamWorks Classics released
Postman Pat SDS
series 2. The new 26-episode series retained Bryan Daly's original theme tune and Simon Woodgate's closing song, however new character themes and incidental music was composed by Sandy Nuttgens.
The theme song has undergone several adaptations; from 1994 to 2006, the theme tune had additional instruments such as synthesised strings and a tambourine. A similar edit had already been made to the 1993 album version, which was an edit of the original 1982 album version.
In October 2023, Norwegian singer
Leo Moracchioli
released a heavy metal cover version of the theme song.
[15]
Books
[
edit
]
As of 2009, over 12 million books, including storybooks, integrated learning books, colouring books, and multi-character magazines, have been sold worldwide.
[16]
Advertising
[
edit
]
The
Postman Pat
characters and setting have also been used in the UK and Australia in television advertisements for the company
Specsavers
.
Other
[
edit
]
In the TV series
Strange Hill High
, Postman Pat himself makes a brief cameo in the episode
Strange Hill Christmas
.
Longleat Safari Park
had an outdoor reproduction of Greendale village, including the Post Office, the Cliftons' house and the Greendale station. It also had a miniature model of Greendale.
[17]
It was installed during the 1990s, was relocated during 2008 in preparation for a new animal area and was revamped a third time for 2013. The attraction was closed at the end of 2015 and was permanently removed in 2016.
Home media
[
edit
]
DVD and VHS releases
[
edit
]
United Kingdom
[
edit
]
VHS and Betamax releases of Series 1 were originally released by Longman Video in the early-80s, before
BBC Worldwide
secured them, and later released the four TV specials and Series 2 on VHS. For Series 1, the original opening titles which featured Pat driving in the original version of his van with a crown logo (which Pat used until Pat's Thirsty Day) was replaced with an edited version of the shot for shot remake of the original intro (which had Pat driving the Royal Mail Van) as used when the show aired in countries like France and Australia. The edits made to the intro on the DVD involved some shots being replaced by scenes from "Pat's Difficult Day", "Pat Takes A Message", and "Pat's Foggy Day". This edited intro was also used when CBeebies and BritBox reran the show.
After the sale of Woodland Animations to
Entertainment Rights
, the company began releasing VHS and DVDs of the revival series through their video label
Right Entertainment
and distributor
Universal Pictures Video
. Right released only one classic series volume on VHS and DVD -
Postman Pat in a Muddle
in April 2004, which contained three Series 2 episodes.
While no further classic series releases were seen in the UK until 2011, Universal and Classic Media issued all four specials from 1991 to 1994 on the DVD
Happy Birthday Postman Pat
. On 3 February 2014, the first and second series were made available in their entirety for the first time in the UK, However, the titles are both season 2 with the season 3 theme which came under scrutiny from classic fans and also credits Carole Boyd as doing voices in series 1, despite it being only Ken Barrie at the time.
[18]
[19]
International
[
edit
]
DVD releases of classic Postman Pat were limited in availability in various regions, although the revival series is more common.
In 2004, the entire original series was released on DVD in Spain, featuring both English and Spanish audio options.
[20]
Other versions
[
edit
]
In Scotland, the series was shown not only in English but also sometimes broadcast as
Padraig Post
, in
Scottish Gaelic
, on
BBC Alba
.
Research study
[
edit
]
"Slower-paced" and "faster-paced" episodes of Postman Pat were used in a 2021 research study on the effects of fast-paced television on children's cognitive and problem solving abilities. The results of the study suggested that faster-paced television did not negatively impact children's attention spans, problem-solving, or comprehension.
[21]
Award nominations
[
edit
]
In 2006, Postman Pat was nominated for "
Best Pre-school Animation
" at the
BAFTA Children's Awards
.
[22]
Parodies
[
edit
]
- Harry Enfield & Chums
featured a parody entitled "Il Postino Pat" (the show's Italian title), with an operatic reworking of the theme tune and the characters speaking in Italian. At the end, there is a
communist
revolution in Greendale, and Pat is shot and killed by fascist soldiers.
[23]
- Harry & Paul
parodied Postman Pat in series 3 and 4 with "Parking Pataweyo", an African immigrant working as a stereotypically uncompromising traffic warden, played by
Daniel Kaluuya
, whose name and theme tune are based on Pat's.
- In 1987,
Spitting Image
, the topical satirical puppet series, featured "Temporary Postman Pratt"
[24]
in a send-up of Royal Mail's employment of temporary postal workers during busy times. In the opening titles, Pratt can be seen driving a familiar (though yellow in colour) van along country roads before running over a black and white cat. Pratt likes to clear his workload as quickly as he can by dumping the post rather than delivering it. He is portrayed as a student who is lazy and rude. The segment was animated by
Aardman Animations
.
- In 1986, an episode of
Bobby Davro
on the Box
featured
Postman Pete
, alongside other characters with spoofed names, such as
Granny Wisden
and
Fred Ben
. The segment was narrated and the theme tune was sung by the original series narrator,
Ken Barrie
.
- In the round
Scenes We'd Like to See
on
Mock the Week
, series 15 episode 3, entitled
Things you Wouldn't Hear on a Kids' TV Show
,
Miles Jupp
recorded the following parodied lines: "Yodel delivery driver Pat, Yodel delivery driver Pat / He's thrown your parcel in a hedge".
- In 2009,
Casseta & Planeta Urgente
parodied select episodes of series 6 under the title
Carteiro Pot, o Servico de Entregas Opcionais
: in this parody, the characters spoke in Portuguese and the theme tune had a synthesized instrumental and was performed by
Fiuk
and
Marcelo Madureira
with new lyrics by
Casseta & Planeta
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Postman Pat's creator looks back at its conception"
. BBC News. 16 September 2011
. Retrieved
24 June
2014
.
The first episode, Postman Pat's Finding Day, was broadcast on 16 September 1981
- ^
a
b
"Postman Pat's Parcel of Stories - Cunliffe, John: 9780001016552 - AbeBooks"
.
- ^
"Postman Pat"
. BBC. 30 March 2006
. Retrieved
20 December
2011
.
- ^
DeMott, Rick (13 June 2011).
"Postman Pat Kicks Off 30th Birthday Celebration"
. Animation World Network
. Retrieved
24 June
2014
.
First introduced on BBC1 on September 16, 1981,...
- ^
Series one - Episode 3 - Postman Pat's Birthday.
- ^
"Postman Pat's creator looks back at its conception"
. BBC News
. Retrieved
1 March
2016
.
- ^
"Postman Pat's creator John Cunliffe has been at a school in Kendal"
.
ITV
. 18 April 2012
. Retrieved
1 March
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Davies, Nick.
"The Selling of Postman Pat"
.
nickdavies.net
. Retrieved
1 March
2016
.
- ^
Visit Cumbria ? Beast Banks Post Office, Kendal
. Retrieved 6 January 2009
- ^
"Arisaig villagers shocked after author kills legend that kids' cartoon favourite was based on Highland postie"
.
Daily Record
. 24 January 2015
. Retrieved
1 March
2016
.
- ^
"Postman Pat goes postal"
,
The Register
.
- ^
"Postman Pat ? Postman Pat Trailer"
. Archived from
the original
on 15 November 2016.
- ^
"Bryan DALY Obituary"
.
The Times
. 20 January 2012. Archived from
the original
on 7 July 2012
. Retrieved
20 January
2012
.
- ^
"Official Charts Company"
.
Official Charts
. Retrieved
24 March
2011
.
- ^
"Postman Pat Theme (Metal cover by Leo Moracchioli)"
.
YouTube
.
- ^
CHappet, Marie-Claire (16 September 2011).
"Postman Pat: from Greendale to Hollywood"
.
The Telegraph
.
Archived
from the original on 12 January 2022
. Retrieved
26 December
2014
.
- ^
"Longleat ? As featured on BBC's Animal Park"
. Archived from
the original
on 24 March 2005.
- ^
"Postman Pat: Series 1 ? Postman Pat Takes A Message"
.
Amazon
. 3 February 2014.
- ^
"Postman Pat: Series 2 ? Postman Pat's Big Surprise"
.
Amazon
. 3 February 2014.
- ^
"8 DVD Spanish box set"
. Amazon.
- ^
Rose, Sarah; Lamont, Alexandra; Reyland, Nicholas (2021). "Watching television in a home environment: effects on children's attention, problem solving and comprehension".
Media Psychology
.
25
: 1?26 – via ResearchGate.
- ^
"Past Winners and Nominees ? Children's ? Awards ? 2006"
.
BAFTA
. Retrieved
17 March
2010
.
- ^
"Harry Enfield and Chums - S2 Ep5 - BBC"
. Archived from
the original
on 28 November 2015 – via YouTube.
- ^
"Temporary Postman Pratt on Spitting Image (ITV)"
,
Spitting Image (ITV)
.
External links
[
edit
]