The Slow Norris

United Kingdom

The story

The Slow Norris is a British children's television programme that aired on CITV from 4 September 1995 to 23 December 1999. The programme portrayed moral tales and fables through various anthropomorphized creatures. The show was produced by HTV and Hat Trick Productions for CITV.

There was also a version produced for American television by Hollywood Ventures which ran on PBS in the fall of 1997.

Main characters

The Slow Norris (voiced by Nick Ryan) – The lead character is a large, hairy Slow loris-like creature who – although not very clever (and somewhat naive) – is willing to learn and participate in stories and activities. The Slow Norris lives in a cave-like dwelling within a forest.
Allie (voiced by Buddie Maddicott) – As the only human character, Allie is the group's natural leader. She travels through the woods on her bicycle to visit the Slow Norris. Allie has a magic book which shows Slow Norris what things are or an animated story featuring Jane the Fairy and her frog Ferdy. Allie is voiced by Buddie Maddicott, a relation of the show's producer Dan Maddicott
Ben Beetle (voiced by Gary Martin) – Ben Beetle is a wise insect who spends much of his time sat on a toadstool with his walking stick.
Walter the Worm – Walter the Worm lives in a house made of mud and talks with a slight stutter.
Jane the Fairy – An animated fairy who only appears in Allie's magic book. She wears a lilac dress and a leaf hat.
Ferdy the Frog – He is Jane's froggy companion. He's very sensitive and bit naughty sometimes.
Hodgehug – A baby hedgehog.
Stork – A white stork. She appears in "Things That Fly" and is only seen throughout the 1996 series.

Episodes

Episodes include one where Allie shows the Slow Norris a story of someone baking a cake, in her magic book. In another, the Slow Norris is putting off tidying the cave where he lives. Allie shows him a story involving a fairy named Jane whose house has a leak due to a hole in the roof. Jane's friend, a frog named Ferdy is supposed to fix the roof, however doesn't. The pair go out on a train journey to have a picnic with Jane's gran; they return home to find it has rained and Jane's house is now flooded. This persuades the Slow Norris to tidy his cave. In one episode, Walter the Worm loses his tail cosy, only to find later on that the Slow Norris has it.
In a later series, the opening music gained lyrics sung by Allie.

Series 1 (1995)

Making Friends – 4 September 1995
Colours – 11 September 1995
Things With Wheels – 18 September 1995
Being Yourself – 25 September 1995
Food – 2 October 1995
Birthdays – 9 October 1995
Feeling Poorly – 16 October 1995
Schools – 23 October 1995
Where We Live – 30 October 1995
Being Kind – 7 November 1995
Games – 14 November 1995
Big And Small – 21 November 1995
Being Teased – 28 November 1995
2 Legs 4 Legs 6 Legs And No Legs – 4 December 1995
The Slow Norris Party - 11 December 1995

Series 2 (1996)

Things That Fly – 9 September 1996
Day And Night - 16 September 1996
Keeping Fit – 23 September 1996
Being Worried – 30 September 1996
Penfriends – 7 October 1996
Things That We Wear – 14 October 1996
Making Music – 21 October 1996
Being Angry – 28 October 1996
Things That Grow – 4 October 1996
Bones – 11 November 1996
Things That Swim – 18 November 1996
Friends And Relations – 25 November 1996
The Shape of Things – 2 November 1996
Putting Things Off – 9 December 1996
The Four Seasons – 16 December 1996

Series 3 (1997)

Families 1 September 1997
Holidays – 8 September 1997
Babies – 15 September 1997
Pictures And Stories – 22 September 1997
Harvest Time – 29 September 1997
Dreams – 6 October 1997
Being Different – 13 October 1997
Water – 20 October 1997
Decorating – 27 October 1997
Keeping Secrets – 3 November 1997
Money – 10 November 1997
Things In The Sky 17 November 1997
Playing Games - 24 November 1997
Magic - 1 December 1997
Milk And Eggs - 8 December 1997
Sizes – 15 December 1997

Puppeteers

David Barclay -
Mike Quinn -
Karen Prell – Slow Norris (facial puppeteer), Walter the Worm
Helena Smee
Katherine Smee -
Michael Bayliss – Allie
Rebecca Nagan
Jeremy Stockwell
Simon Buckley
Alison McGowen
Rebecca Clow
Margaret O’Flaherty

Voices

Buddie Maddicott – Allie
Gary Martin – Ben Beetle
Nick Ryan – Slow Norris