Stoppit and Tidyup

Stoppit and Tidyup
Show intro, showing the logo and the two main characters, Stoppit (left) and Tidyup
Format	Children's
Starring	Terry Wogan (voice)
Country of origin	UK
Production
Running time	5 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC1
Original run	12th September 1988[1] – 5th December 1988[2]
Chronology
Followed by	Bump (1990-1994)

Stoppit and Tidyup was a British children's animated cartoon series originally broadcast by the BBC in 1987. The series was created by Charles Mills and Terry Brain, the duo behind CMTB Animation who had previously created a claymation called The Trap Door. Apart from the main characters Stoppit, a red ball of fluff, and Tidyup, a gherkin-loving purple lump, the supporting characters included Comb Your Hair, Wash Your Face, Hurry Up, Go and Play and his favorite toy, poor little Calm Down, nasty little Not Now, the two bees (Beehave and Beequiet), sleepy old Go to Bed, Don't Do That, Take Care, Eat Your Greens, Clean Your Teeth and the big, bad I Said No, not to mention Say Please And Say Thank You. There were also extra characters called Naughties and Sit Downs, and they all lived in the mythical land of Do As You're Told. Each episode was five minutes in length. The series was part funded by The Tidy Britain Group, a Wigan-based organisation whose aim was to reduce the amount of unsolicited rubbish in and around the United Kingdom.

General information

The short running series is about cartoon characters who live in the land of Do As You're Told, which is a strange and colourful place whose inhabitants are named after all those little chastising phrases, comments, commands and demands directed at children by their overbearing parents. The episodes in which these characters appear in are named after their character; only one series of thirteen episodes was produced. Stoppit, Tidyup and friends were cel-animated, but the design of the show suggested it may have worked better as a 3D stop-motion production, like its predecessor. The third hand in CMTB Animation was animator Steve Box who has since had independent success via Aardman Animations, animating Wallace and Gromit's nemesis Feathers McGraw and directing BAFTA-winning short Stage Fright. Both he and Terry Brain were key animators on Aardman's Chicken Run feature.

The show follows the exploits of the frequently immature Stoppit and the hard done-by Tidyup in their native land, filled with giant gherkins. None of the characters actually speak decipherable words as such. Instead they gabble, grunt, squeak and hum whilst series narrator Terry Wogan unravels the tale for viewers. (There is one character who does not have an episode named after him — Not Now, who is I Said No's pet.)

The storylines are notable for their random, abstract nature, and the fact that frequently an episode will end without any moral message at all. For example, in the twelfth episode "Clean Your Teeth", snow falls in the middle of summer, and Stoppit is left behind on his own while Tidyup and Clean Your Teeth play on sledges at the end, even though he loves the snow.

There were also twelve tie-in books published by Price Stern Sloan Ltd, and an illustrated annual was released in 1987. All the 13 episodes were released on VHS by the BBC (Cat No. BBCV 4207) in that same year, but this is now out of print. All 13 episodes were released on DVD by Rights Entertainment in 2004.

A new series is currently in development which will be released in 2011. Nothing else is known at this time.

Episode list

#	Title	Air Date	Summary
1	Beequiet and Beehave	12th September 1988	Tidyup accidentally loses the roof of his house.
2	Eat Your Greens	19th September 1988	Eat Your Greens loves eating flowers and gherkins!
3	Comb Your Hair	26th September 1988	Stoppit and Tidyup head for their favourite picnic spot — and what better way to get there than riding on Comb Your Hair.
4	Wash Your Face	3rd October 1988	It's a rainy old day in the land of Do As You're Told, and Stoppit and Tidyup have forgotten who comes out after it rains...
5	Go And Play	10th October 1988	Go And Play decides to do something exciting, and rounds up everybody in the land for a great game of football...
6	I Said No	17th October 1988	It's the Day of the Great Gherkin Feast and everybody is out collecting gherkins.
7	Hurry Up	24th October 1988	When Tidyup catches Naughtypox, Stoppit and Hurry Up have to race to the valley of the Sit Downs to find a cure.
8	Calm Down	31st October 1988	It's a windy day in the land of Do As You're Told and Calm Down is being blown about all over the place, until Tidyup has one of his famous bright ideas...!
9	Don't Do That	7th November 1988	There's something nasty in Tidyup's garden, and it's making rude noises! It's Don't Do That! Whenever Don't Do That is around, that means trouble.
10	Go To Bed	14th November 1988	Go To Bed just can't stay awake. But today he can't find anywhere to sleep without being disturbed — or can he?
11	Say Please And Say Thank You	21st November 1988	Tidyup meets Say Please And Say Thank You at the bottom of a hole.
12	Clean Your Teeth	28th November 1988	Tidyup likes Clean Your Teeth because he can do clever things — but Stoppit thinks he's just a big show off!
13	Take Care	5th December 1988	It's Birthday Day in the land of Do As You're Told, and Take Care has the job of delivering the presents — but unfortunately he mixes them all up!

Credits

• Narrated by: Terry Wogan
• Series Devised by: Charles Mills, Terry Brain
• Written and Directed by: Charles Mills, Terry Brain, Steve Box
• Animation: Charles Mills, Terry Brain, Steve Box
• Editing: Robert Copeland
• Dubbing: Glentham Studios
• Produced by: John Howson
• Copyright owned by: © CMTB Animation/Queensgate Productions 1987

See also

• The Trap Door (also created by Charles Mills and Terry Brain)
• Jimminy Lummox (also created by Dwight Schultz)

References

1. ^ Radio Times 10- 16 September 1988, pages 35, 86
2. ^ Radio Times 3-9 December1988, page 62

External links

• Stoppit and Tidyup on IMDB
• Stoppit and Tidyup at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Toonhound page on Stoppit and Tidyup
• 80's Cartoons fanpage
• Jedi's Paradise fanpage