Balado

The logo with the cast (Note that Gertrude doesn't have her crutches)

***Balado*** is a Scottish live-action children's television series for NBeebies, taking place in a realistic beach town. It was created by Ryan Jacobson (who also created Bit and Tiny for the network).

The show aired in the US on Playhouse Shires (now Shires Junior) from 2005 to 2013, and has aired on Spring since 2017.

## Plot

Residents of Balado, the titular town with colored houses, solve problems for others and often drop by Miss Helene's day care center.

## Format

The episode starts with Miss Helene walking into her day care on weekdays and Gadgets and Sweets on weekends, and checking the weather on the latter. She greets her viewers, then sings either "Join In and Have Fun" or "The Weekend Song" (both only on weekends). After that, the members of the day care center arrive from the Daffodil Bus and Miss Helene sings "At the Day Care." Then, a resident of Balado comes in with a problem and talk to Miss Helene about it.

Miss Helene asks the viewers which house they think the resident is visiting today, while they sing "Colored Houses." A child's VoiceOver points out the house at the end of the song, and arrive there talking to another resident about the problem. The first resident involved with the problem talks about what happened during the day, and a third resident comes by to help solve the problem and sings their theme song.

After the problem is finally solved, all the day care members have gone home for today and Miss Helene reviews the day and leaves her day care.

## Characters

### Main

* Miss Helene - A schoolteacher at the daycare center
* PC Peach - A policeman
* Exercise Emily - A sports enthusiast
* Evan - An inventor who lives in an orange mansion
* Anna McCranna - The driver of the Daffodil Bus.
* Stephen - A black painter
* Gertrude Gadget - A shopkeeper who uses crutches and runs Gadgets and Sweets.
* Samantha Sweet - An elderly shopkeeper who runs Gadget and Sweets.

## Cast

* Aaron Oddsmith as PC Peach
* Kelly Macdonald as Miss Helene
* Phyllida Law as Anna McCranna
* Hannah Gordon as Samantha Sweet
* Sharon Small as Gertrude Gadget
* Ashley Jensen as Exercise Emily
* Ian Glen as Evan
* Roscoe Orman as Stephen

## Production

The show was announced in 2001 as *Applestreet*.
In June 2002, the cast was announced and that the show would be renamed to *Balado* and set to come out in the Fall that year, after creator Ryan Jacobson wrapped production on *Bit and Tiny*.
When one of the show's producers died, the crew didn't feel like doing it anymore and moved on to other stuff.

The show wrapped production ended in 2005. Not only because one of the crew members died, but because the creators went to work on Welcome to the City.

But, the cancellation didn’t last forever when they brought back the show in 2020 (not a reboot, a revival) in order to revive ratings and appeal to nostalgia. These new adventures were either remakes of old one or new stories never on the show’s original run.

## Episodes

### Season 1

1. Morning Move On - Miss Helene is planning a day care field trip to the zoo, and Anna McCranna is going to take them (and Evan, the chaperone) all there on the Daffodil Bus. Anna arrives in the orange mansion to pick up Evan but finds he's too lazy to go there. Emily Exercise arrives and gets Evan back up on his feet for the zoo.
2. Music Show - PC Peach can't wait because jazz singer Josalyn One is doing her first music concert in 14 years at Gadgets and Sweets. When he gets to Josalyn's, he finds she burnt her hand so Dana and Stephen have to take her to the hospital, meaning they have to cancel. Gertrude Gadget, who is handicapped herself, sings a version of Josalyn's song "I Think You Do," backed up by Samantha Sweet. PC Peach invites her to fill-in for Josalyn One tonight.
3. Having a Beach Ball - Emily Exercise and Stephen are going to take Miss Helene's day care members (including Nala and Carson) to the beach, but with so many kids they wonder who will take them there (Anna McCranna, on her Daffodil Bus).
4. Opera - Stephen plays the ocarina while Samantha Sweet dances and she suggests he take the role of a potato bug in the upcoming opera. The roles of a king and a pilot still need to be filled. Miss Helene delivers the bad news that she will be unable to perform in the opera due to the fact that he is currently busy with many activities at day care. She agrees to give Evan time off to play the part of the pilot and suggests PC Peach for the role of the king. Anna McCranna rehearses a song she will sing in the opera -- *A Soup Opera*.
5. To Hush or Not To Hush - When Emily Exercise comes to visit Miss Helene's day care center, the latter says it's "quiet time" for the kids, but Emily is a bit too active. Evan comes by with a book of quiet suggestions Emily should do, and Anna McCranna sings to her daughter Nala about quiet things like rivers.
6. Memory Flu - PC Peach hits his head on the door when he drops off his son Carson at Miss Helene's. This causes him to have memory loss, so Stephen and Evan have to start re-introducing him to the people in Balado.
7. Our Community - The residents of Balado clean due to being in a magazine.

## Gallery

Evan in NBeebies' Good Night of Sweet DreamsThe cast. (L-R: Top row: Emily Exercise, PC Peach, Anna McCranna; Bottom: Stephen, Evan, Miss Helene, Samantha Sweet, and Gertrude Gadget)Miss Helene

## Blocks aired on

* Goodnight Hour
* Ready Steady Go
* Lunch Time
* Nala & Hoots
* The Explorer Show