# Star Hill Ponies

Star Hill Ponies is a British children's stop-motion animation series produced by Bumper Films and co-produced by Mike Young Productions for S4C. It was the last production by Bumper Films before they shut down in February 2002. The voice actors are Josie Lawrence and Andrew Sachs.

## Plot

The series follows a young girl named Baz who dreams of nothing more than finding a best friend. Her wish comes true when two roaming Welsh Mountain ponies Molly and Dylan, show up at her farm with Shetland pony Scruffy. Their playful frolics change her life forever.

## Production

Starhill Ponies is co-produced by Mike Young Productions in Los Angeles and Bumper Films in Weston-super-Mare, England for S4C and BBC. It is Bumper Films' only television series co-produced in the United Kingdom and North America. The series is distributed in the United Kingdom by S4C International and BBC Worldwide and worldwide by Taffy Entertainment.

## Characters
### Ponies

* Dylan - the big brown Welsh Mountain pony, with a black mane.
* Molly - the dapple grey Mountain pony, with a grey mane.
* Scruffy - the podgy chestnut Shetland pony, with a long straw-coloured mane. His hobbies are eating and being naughty.

### Humans

* Beatrice "Baz" Watkins -
* Will Watkins - Baz's father.
* Kath Watkins - Baz's mother.
* Thomas - Baz's best friend.
* Mrs Horace Morris - the snobbish landlady who can't stand ponies.
* Jim - the local odd job man and good friend of Molly.
* Ambrose Higgins - the half-witted beach shop owner.
* Lottie - the mobile shop owner. Only appears in Series 2.
* Nick - the blacksmith. Only appears in Series 2.

## Episodes
### Series 1 (1998-99)

| # | Title | Recording Date | Broadcast Date |
| 1 | Birthday Tea | 2 November 1998 | 7 April 1999 |
| 2 | Scruffy Pays the Price | 9 November 1998 | 14 April 1999 |
| 3 | The Outing | 16 November 1998 | 21 April 1999 |
| 4 | Nicked Knickers | 23 November 1998 | 28 April 1999 |
| 5 | Kidnapped | 30 November 1998 | 5 May 1999 |
| 6 | Scruffy Helps Out | 7 December 1999 | 11 May 1999 |
| 7 | Art for Scruffy's Sake | 14 December 1998 | 19 May 1999 |
| 8 | Circus Tricks | 21 December 1998 | 26 May 1999 |
| 9 | Surfin' Sea Horse | 28 December 1998 | 2 June 1999 |
| 10 | High Tea, High Jinks | 4 January 1999 | 11 August 1999 |
| 11 | Dylan for the Cup | 11 January 1999 | 14 July 1999 |
| 12 | Lost | 18 January 1999 | 21 July 1999 |
| 13 | Bugged | 25 January 1999 | 4 August 1999 |

### Series 2 (2002)

* Just Desserts
* Apple Pie
* Hide and Seek
* Nothing to be Afraid Of
* Mrs. HM's Parade
* Tall Tales
* The Mystery of Missing Ethel
* A Fine Mess
* Scarypony Scarecrow
* Thomas Riding High
* The Unlucky Horseshoe
* The Way Home
* All I Want for Christmas

## Home media
### VHS releases

In 1999, one single video of the show was by BBC Worldwide Ltd with five episodes from the first series on it.
| VHS video title | Year of release | Episodes |
| Star Hill Ponies: Nicked Knickers and Other Stories (BBCV 6772) | 4 May 1999 | "Nicked Knickers""The Outing""Art for Scruffy's Sake""Surfin' Sea Horse""Kidnapped" |

### DVD releases

In 2006, the series was released on three DVDs by Blackhorse Entertainment.
| DVD video title | Year of release | Episodes |
| Star Hill Ponies: Scruffy Helps Out and Seven Other Fantastic Episodes (S4C) | 10 April 2006 | "Scruffy Helps Out""Art for Scruffy's Sake""The Outing""Birthday Tea" "Circus Tricks""Scruffy Pays the Price""High Tea, High-Jinks" "Nicked Knickers" |
| Star Hill Ponies: Mrs HM's Parade and Seven Other Fantasic Episodes (S4C004) | 5 June 2006 | "Mrs HM's Parade""Tall Tales""The Mystery of the Missing Ethel" "Nothing to be Afraid of""Scarepony Scarecrow""Just Desserts""Apple Pie" "Hide 'n' Seek" |
| Star Hill Ponies: Dylan for the Cup and Other Great Stories (S4C) | 11 September 2006 | "Dylan for the Cup""Kidnapped""Surfin' Sea Horse""Lost""Bugged" "A Fine Mess""Thomas Riding High""The Unlucky Horseshoe" "The Way Home""All I Want for Christmas" |