Roary the Racing Car

***Roary the Racing Car*** is a 2007 British stop-motion/CGI children's television series created by David Jenkins and produced by Chapman Entertainment, and Cosgrove Hall Films. It follows the adventures of Roary and his four racing car friends at Silver Hatch race track.

## Plot

The series follows the lives and adventures of racing vehicles Roary, Maxi, Cici, Drifter, Tin Top and the human people they work for, Big Chris and Marsha, the mechanics and the owner of the race track, Mr. Carburettor. Also there's P.C. Pete, Farmer Green, Molecom, Flash and many more. The plot sometimes revolves around other vehicle characters, such as Rusty, FB, Nick, Plugger, Zippee, Hellie, Breeze, Conrod, James and Loada.

## Episodes

There are 104 episodes and 2 seasons that were produced for the show until its end in 2010

## Setting

Roary the Racing Car is set around a fictional motor racing circuit called Silver Hatch (a portmanteau of the names of the two British Grand Prix racing circuits, Silverstone and Brands Hatch). The majority of the action takes place at the track's pits and workshop, although we often follow the cars on their laps around the track. Occasionally, the characters venture to external locations such as the nearby beach.

## Narration

Each story begins and ends with a brief narration from racing car driver Sir Stirling Moss. He is never seen, but is used as a voice-over. The US version is narrated by American stock car driver Sam Hornish Jr.

## Production of the show

*Roary the Racing Car* uses a combination of computer-generated imagery and stop motion animation; the stop motion animation was initially provided by Cosgrove Hall Films, the producer of the original 1981 *Danger Mouse* series, *Count Duckula*, *The Wind in the Willows* and many other shows produced by this company, and latterly by Chapman Entertainment's own in-house studio when Cosgrove Hall closed its doors in 2008, along with its sister show *Fifi and the Flowertots*. The series was created by David Jenkins, who spent four years working in senior management at Brands Hatch Race Circuit. The idea was conceived while watching the Grand Prix on television with his then-18-month-old son, Tom. It was designed and developed by Keith Chapman, creative director of Chapman Entertainment and the creator of *Bob the Builder* (both 1999 and the reboot 2015 series), *Fifi and the Flowertots*, and later, *PAW Patrol* and *Mighty Express*, and the series' executive producer is Greg Lynn. When the show came to the US, HIT Entertainment took the distribution rights, along with *Fifi and the Flowertots*. The theme music was produced by Alan Coates and Kim Goody. The merchandise for the show and it's sister show (Fifi and the Flowertots) was contracted to be made by Vivid Imaginations. The merchandising of the show was also distributed by Bandai in the US. 2ENTERTAIN was also contracted to distribute the show on DVD

## Reception

The reception for the show is unknown, but it might have had mixed reviews from parents and critics. The series also got a 5.6/10 on IMDB. In the mid-late 2010s, the show gained a small cult following by Nick JR and Cosgrove Hall fans and is still loved as one of Nick JR, Milkshake and PBS Sprout's hidden gems.

## Crew

* David Jenkins - Creator
* Alan Coates & Kim Goody - Theme Music Composer
* Keith Chapman - Producer
* Greg Lynn - Executive Producer
* Peter Lurye

## Studios that worked on Roary

* Cosgrove Hall - Stop motion animation for season 1 and 2
* Chapman Entertainment's own in house studio - Stop motion animation for season 3 and 4
* Studio Liddell - Computer animation
* Mackinnon and Saunders - The animation puppets
* John Wright Modelmaking - Vehicle characters
* As and When Men/Woof Dog Bark - sets
* Fat City Films - responsible for making the storyboards
* The Soundhouse - the recording booth for the voice actors in the UK and US dubs prospectively
* Chapman Entertainment and Classic Media - the former copyright holders of the franchise
* DreamWorks Classics - current copyright holders of the franchise
* HiT Entertainment - former US distributors of the show

## Voice Actors

* Sir Stirling Moss (*US*)/Sam Hornish Jr. (*US*) as the narrator
* Maria Darling (*UK/US*) as Roary, Cici (*UK*)/Zizzy (*US*), Zippee, Breeze, Mama Mia and Marsha
* Tim Whitnall (*UK/US*) as Mr. Carburettor, Plugger (*UK*)/Lugga (*US*) and Farmer Green
* Marc Silk (*UK/US*) as Maxi, Drifter (*UK*)/Dragga (*US*), Hellie, Flash (*UK*)/Furzz (*US*) and Dinkie
* Peter Kay (*UK*)/Kerry Shale (*US*) as Big Chris, Tin Top and Big Christine
* Dominic Frisby (*UK/US*) as PC Pete (*UK*)/Police Officer Pete (*US*), Rusty, Nick, FB (*UK*)/Trucksy (*US*), James, Loada and Molecom
* Murray Walker (*UK/US*) as himself
* Craig Lowndes (*UK/US*) as Conrod

## Trivia

* The show's first 2 seasons were filmed in Cosgrove Hall and Chapman Entertainment's in-studio for the last 2 seasons. The budget for the show is unknown as it was never said by anybody who worked on the show.
* Roary and along other shows were actually one of Cosgrove Hall's last shows to be filmed before Cosgrove Hall closed their doors in 2009.