Teddybears (TV series)

History

Teddybears is based on Susanna Gretz and Alison Sage's teddy bear books, the first of which was published almost 30 years before the TV programme's creation. Teddybear's inaugural season began on 5 January 1998.

A 1999 article in the Bristol Post said Teddybears "have become a huge hit with young viewers", having captured 64% of the target audience. Link Licensing, a United News & Media spinoff, began making toys, books, and other merchandising several months before the programme's debut. Rights and merchandising company ProVen Private Equity has from Link Licensing the rights to make Teddybears products. In 2000, Link Licensing sold the rights to Teddybears to the TV network Trio which bought 26 episodes.

Comparison with Teletubbies

The producers of Teddybears asserted that Teddybears is not an immediate rival of Teletubbies; the Daily Record considers it a rival. The Daily Record noted that the two TV series have several parallels. Whereas the Teddybears eat "hot cross buns, honey, pancakes, jelly and ice cream", the Teletubbies eat "tubby toast and tubby custard". The Teddybears sing The Teddybear Song while the Teletubbies sing Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!". The Teddybears aired on CITV while The Teletubbies aired on BBC. A difference between the two TV series is that Teddybears's intended audience is older children.

The shows' similarities sparked "intense" coverage by the media. Newspapers and TV shows requested interviews with the teddybears, who all appeared on Richard and Judy's This Morning.

Characters

The five teddybears in the series are William, Sarah, Louise, Robert, and Charles. They wear "brightly-coloured furry suits" and live at No. 8 Green Street, Bearbridge. According to actress Louise Conran, who played Sarah, she had to "wear a lycra body suit, padding on top of that and then the costumes which are about half an inch thick". Since the teddybear masks were fastened to their faces with glue, the teddybear actors had to keep the masks on the entire day, even when eating dinner. From the second series the costumes were changed because of this. The actors are adults but play child-sized bears on a set in which everything they interact with is oversized.

Robert, the youngest of the bears, yellow. Often seen with his best friend, a toy frog called Phillip.
Louise, green. The cheekiest of all the bears.
Charles, black. The oldest of the bears, wise but very stubborn.
William, red. Loves to cook.
Sarah, orange. Plays the mother role. Stokenchurch actress Louise Conran played the role. She heard of the role while she was a maid on the BBC adaption of The Children of the New Forest from the TV film's assistant director who was a friend of Kate Marlow, Teddybear's producer.
Fred, the Dalmatian

Puppeteers Cheryl Blaize, Louise Conran, Tim Hulse, James O' Donnell, Carl Matthewman, John Tobias, Sarah Jane Honeywell, Rae Grant, Grant Mason, Simon Snellings, Kathy Ryan, Rebecca Clow, and Lee Crowley all worked on the series.

Episodes

Season 1
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11
Episode 12
Episode 13

Season 2
Teddybears Indoor Market
Teddybears Play Pirates
Teddybears and the Ant Farm
Teddybears and the Garden Fair
Teddybears and the Growly Old Bear
Teddybears and the Lost Pet
Teddybears and The Surprise Party
Teddybears and the Mystery of the Missing Page
Teddybears Sports Day
Teddybears and the Practical Joker
Teddybears and the Tooth Fairy
Teddybears' Circus
Teddybears' Hiccups

Season 3
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11
Teddybears and the Magic Tree
Teddybears and the Popstar

Video and DVD

Teddybears: Circus and other stories (VHS released 1999, DVD released 2003)
Teddybears: And The Garden Party and other stories (VHS released 1998, DVD released 2004)
Teddybears: And The Surprise Party and other stories (VHS released, 1999, DVD 2005)
Teddybears: And The Giant Tomato and other stories (VHS released 2000, DVD 2006)