Postman Pat

***Postman Pat*** is a British stop-motion animated children's television series first produced by Woodland Animations.

It is aimed at preschool-age children, and 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).

*Postman Pat*'s first 13-episode series was screened on BBC One in 1981. John Cunliffe wrote the original treatment and scripts, and it 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. Here, Pat had a family shown on screen for the first time (though his wife had been mentioned in a number of episodes). A new version of the series was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films from 2003, which expanded on many aspects of the original series.

The series ended on 29 March 2017 after 8 seasons and 12 specials

## Plot

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; Alfred and Dorothy Thompson, the farmers; PC Selby, the police constable; Pat and Sara Clifton; Jeff Pringle, the teacher; Ajay Bains, driver of the Greendale Rocket and Pencaster Flyer; Nisha Bains, the owner of the cafe; and the local handyman and inventor, Ted Glen.

## Setting

*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 café 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 the mid-90s, 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.

Ingledale is another large, busy village town situated in the heart of the North Yorkshire countryside, only seen once in a special in 1991, set to make a second appearance in the revival.

## Inspiration

John, 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.

The inspiration for the post office itself comes from one located on the Kendal street where John lived when he was writing the original treatment. The post office, at 10 Greenside, closed in 2003.

John did not retain rights to the character, and was disappointed by 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 tighter control of.

While John 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."

## Cast

In the first series 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 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 Ken Barrie as Pat. In Series 7 Barrie left completely and Bradley Clarkson and Dan Milne joined to take over the rest of Barrie's characters. Joe Trill joined in Series 8 to voice a new character.

* Lewis MacLeod as Postman Pat (series 6-present), Ben Taylor, Robot 1, Sat Nav, Alf Thompson (series 7-present), Sean McGuinness
* Ken Barrie as Postman Pat (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), Katy Pottage (series 2), Tom Pottage (series 2), Betty Pottage, Lucy Selby (series 2), Sylvia Gilbertson (series 2-present), Sarah Gilbertson (series 2-present), Jackie Gilbertson, Charlie Pringle (series 2-present), Rebecca Hubbard (series 2), George's Wife, Radio Weather Woman

* Kulvinder Ghir as Bill Thompson (series 3-present), Tom Pottage (series 3-5), Ajay Bains, Bessie Thompson, Michael Lam, Robot 2, Grizzly, Shopper-Bot 3000

* Janet James as Julian Clifton (series 3-present), Lucy Selby (series 3-present), 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-present), Arthur Selby (series 7-present), Ned Glen

* Dan Milne as Reverend Peter Timms (series 7-present)

* Joel Trill as Chris Beacon

* Professor Brian Cox as Professor Ryan Farrow (Guest star)

## *Postman Pat: Special Delivery Service*

In the spin-off series, *Postman Pat: Special Delivery Service* (originally *Postman Pat: SDS*), 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 new fleet of vehicles including a helicopter, 4x4 Jeep and motorbike, complete with side-car for Jess. 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.

## Outside the main broadcast series

### Film

*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, Susan Duerden, Sandra Teles, TJ Ramini and Peter Woodward.

### Spin-off

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

Music for the original 1981 series was by Bryan Daly, 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 "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.

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 Classic Media 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.

There is also an album called *Postman Pat: Songs and Music From the TV Series*, released by Post Music in 1982.

The theme song has undergone several adaptations; from 1994 to 1996, the theme tune had additional instruments such as synthesised strings and a tambourine. A similar edit was made to the 1995 album version, which was an edit of the original 1982 album version.

### Books

As of 2009, over 12 million books, including storybooks, integrated learning books, colouring books, and multi-character magazines, have been sold worldwide.

### Advertising

The *Postman Pat* characters and setting have also been used in the UK and Australia in television advertisements for the company Specsavers.