Fiddley Foodle Bird

***The Fiddley Foodle Bird*** was a British children's animated musical series written by Jonathan Hodge, and narrated by Bruce Forsyth.
 Thirteen episodes of the series were made in total, with one story
continuing through the episodes. They were made in 1991 and broadcast in
 1992 on BBC One at 4:15.[1] It was produced by Fiddley Foodle Bird Productions and H.A.P.P.Y. Animation and in coproduction with Children's BBC International and was broadcast in over 30 different countries worldwide. The show also continued airing on the BBC until 2001.

## Plot

The main character of the series is a bird, whose full name is the
"Fiddley Foodle Bim Bam Boodle Oo Diddley-Doodle Oodle Bird". The
character is voiced by Dennis Waterman (actor and singer famous for his roles as Terry McCann in *Minder* and Detective Sergeant George Carter in *The Sweeney*).
 The bird was originally nothing more than just a picture in a book,
which was found by a young boy named Algernon. He wished that the bird
would come to life, and when the wish came true they set out on an
adventure with Algernon's friends, the eternally hungry Princess Toto,
and his housekeeper, the overly strict Mrs. Grumblebaum. The aim of the
mission is to find Algernon's lost parents, two members of the Potty
Explorer's Club- Carzy and Maudy. They were lost exploring in a sieve.
However, Algernon's dastardly Uncle Arbathnot is out to ensure that
their mission does not succeed, and also to seize a mysterious treasure
chest. He is assisted by a muscle-man named Damage, a Frenchman named
Flannel, and a pirate named Pierre Head, who, like most pirates, is
accompanied by a parrot — a wise-cracking green glove puppet. The show
features a guest appearance from Cilla Black, who voiced the President of the Potty Explorer's Club.

## Voices

* Dennis Waterman - Fiddley Foodle Bird
* Bruce Forsyth - Narrator
* Kate Robbins - Mrs. Grumblebaum
* Jimmy Hibbert
* Jonathan Hodge
* Julian Littman
* Stuart Leathwood
* Tammy Coleman

## Merchandise

### Video Releases

The entire series was released on a set of VHS recordings in 2001. There was also another video released by Pocket Money Video which contained the first eight episodes.

### Music Release

A soundtrack of the series was also released on CD and cassette which contained the introduction by Bruce Forsyth,
 a full extended version of the main title theme song and all of the
songs that were featured in all thirteen episodes of the series. It was
released by EMI Music Publishing in 1992, the same year as when the show first aired.

## Credits

* Based on the Original Story by: Jonathan Hodge
* Written by: Jonathan Hodge & Stuart Leathwood
* Scripts by: Don Arioli, Jonathan Hodge, Stuart Leathwood
* Title Song by: Jonathan Hodge & Bob Saker
* Original Songs by: Jonathan Hodge, Stuart Leathwood, Julian Littman
* Incidental Music by: Jonathan Hodge & Julian Littman
* Produced by: Jonathan Hodge
* Music Recorded at: Honeywood Studios
* Voice Recordings by: Ian Gillespie at Silk Sound
* Animation by: Whizzline Productions, Clinton J. Priest, Nick

Love-Gittins, Stephen Hales, Billy Allison, Simon Turner, Paul Smith,
Denise Smith, Bob Smith, Malc Smith

* Design Storyboards and Layouts: Vince James, Jeremy Lounge, Miss Spomin
* Backgrounds: Aileen Raistrick
* Line Testing and Xerox: Lynn Durans, Kate Smith
* Co-ordination: Karina Stanford, Margaret Johnson
* Paint and Trace Supervisor: Louise Harding
* Paint and Trace: Michael Ambler, Anne Marie Briggs, Damian Knapper,

David McGuire, Russel Marshall, Greg Smith, Paul Murphey, Sharon Walsh,
Fabian White, Tanya Blosen

* Production Manager: Heather Pedley, Tyne Tees Facilities
* Sound: John Cook, Charles Heath
* Editing: Paul Rudkin
* Rostrum Camera: Glynis Werndly
* Supervising Cameraman: Alec Jacklin
* Executive Producer for the BBC: Theresa Plummer Andrews
* Executive Producer for HIT Entertainment: Peter Orton
* Executive Producers for H.A.P.P.Y. Productions: Chris Ambler & Andy Taylor
* Directed by: Tony Garth
* Produced by: Jonathan Hodge
* An H.A.P.P.Y. Production
* © 1991 Fiddley Foodle Bird Productions Ltd

## Repeats

Fiddley Foodle Bird has been shown as first-run and repeats several times on BBC1 and BBC2 in the 1990's and 2000's. CBBC on Choice have also screened the series premiering on Easter Monday 2000 at 10.25am, continuing until Friday 19th May 2000. It returned on Wednesday 1st November after Gremlyn TV until Sunday 20th May 2000. It appeared on weekends only from Saturday 26th May 2001 - Sunday 24th June 2001 at 9.40pm and 11.25pm and finally airs on weekday morning in summer 2001 at 8.20 in a double bill.