Numberjacks

Numberjacks is a children's television series aimed at young children and is shown regularly on BBC2 and CBeebies in the UK.    It is produced by Open Mind Productions for the BBC and features a mixture of computer-generated animation and live action.

Synopsis
The Numberjacks are animated characters - the numbers zero to nine - who live in a sofa and solve problems outside.  Each episode has the same structure.  At the beginning of the episode, some of the Numberjacks will be engaged in an activity that will have relevance to the problem that is later discovered.  Then an "agent" (a live-action child) will call in and describe the problem that is occurring.  One or two of the Numberjacks will go out into the real world to solve the problem, while the remaining Numberjacks stay in their base and watch their progress on a screen. As soon as the problem is understood, 5 will worry about all the things that can happen. In the second series she does not worry about the dancing cow quite so much.

Once outside, the Numberjacks are shown in a live-action setting (although still animated themselves).  They diagnose the problem by examination and with help from additional ideas from the agents, who call into the base.  The problems are usually solved by creating and sending "brain gain", a magic force that can correct the problems once the solution is understood.

Once solved, the Numberjacks return to their base, replay what happened on a screen and then ask a question for the viewers.

The problems encountered are all based around simple mathematical concepts and the programme is intended to stimulate young children's interest in mathematics.

Characters

Heroes
The Numberjacks are the heroes.  Each of the numbers 0-9 is an individual character and each is broadly the age of his or her number. 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 are male, while 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are female.  However, the gender of the individual Numberjacks is never explicitly stated.

0 (lime), 1 (purple) and 2 (orange) are too young to participate in the problem solving and are usually only seen in the Numberjacks' base, although occasionally they get out and cause problems of their own.
3 (pink), 4 (blue), 5 (teal) and 6 (yellow) are the main characters and are the ones that solve the problems, either going out into the real world or staying and monitoring things at the base. In the past, 4 has turned into a symmetrical 4, a 5, a 6 and a 14, 3 once turned into a 4, and 6 once turned into 2 3s.
7 (red), 8 (azure), and 9 (green)  are older and have their own tasks, seen every now and then if they become involved in a problem.

Villains
There are five "Meanies" who often cause trouble for people. The Problem Blob, the Puzzler and the Numbertaker are male, while the Shape Japer and Spooky Spoon are female.

The Problem Blob spits out green slime that causes anything it touches to suffer from a particular problem.
The Shape Japer causes problems by changing the shape of objects.
The Puzzler traps the Numberjacks inside a puzzle bubble or causes other problems and sets mathematical puzzles that must be solved before the problems will go away. He is arguably the most fearsome enemy of the Numberjacks, as any Numberjack unable to solve his puzzle would be trapped in a puzzle bubble for eternity.
Spooky Spoon mixes things up.
The Numbertaker is a white-coated live action man with an exaggerated top hat who removes numbers or numbers of things. As numbers themselves, the Numberjacks must be particularly careful when dealing with him. He uses a number sucker upper, a number grabber, a net, a magnet and a hook to take things. He rarely speaks.

Episodes
The series is comprised of 45 15-minute episodes, which are listed here:

Series 1 (2006–2007)

Series 2 (2009)

References

Other websites
Numberjacks page at Open Mind Productions

BBC Television programmes