Playdays

Playdays

Infobox Television
show_name = Playdays


caption =
show_name_2 = Playbus
genre = television series
creator =
director =
creative_director =
developer =
presenter = Zoë Ball, Vanessa Amberleigh, Elizabeth Fost, Frances Dodge, Dave Benson Phillips, Chris Jarvis, Stuart Bradley
starring =
voices =
narrated =
theme_music_composer =
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endtheme =
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country = UK
language = English
num_seasons =
num_episodes =
list_episodes =
executive_producer =
co_exec =
producer =
supervising_producer =
asst_producer =
co-producer =
editor =
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location =
cinematography =
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runtime =
network = BBC
picture_format =
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first_run =
first_aired = 17 October 1988
last_aired = 28 March 1997
preceded_by =
followed_by =
related =
website =
production_website =
imdb_id = 0236920
tv_com_id = 26198

"Playdays" (known as "Playbus" until 25 December 1989) is a children's television programme from the United Kingdom. The series ran from 17 October 1988 to 28 March 1997 on Children's BBC (CBBC), and was aired in reruns until 2003. The show was the successor of "Play School", and, like its predecessor, was designed as an educational programme. After the show was dropped from CBBC on BBC One, repeats were shown on CBBC on BBC Choice (later known as CBeebies) and CBBC on BBC Two until it was axed in October 2003.

Characters and Plot

The main characters of Playdays were puppets known as Why Bird (voiced by Ellie Darvill), Peggy Patch (Sally Preisig) and Poppy, a cat (Sue Monroe). They were also accompanied by Mr Jolly, (Robin Fritz, later Clive Duncan and then Andy Hockley) who would usually end each programme with a song on a magical roundabout named Rosie. There were also a number of human presenters including Zoë Ball, Trish Cooke, and Dave Benson Phillips. The show would begin with the Playdays bus driving along to the tune of the theme song until it reached the bus stop, where characters on the bus were Why, Peggy, Dot, Wobble, Humphry, Lizzie & Mr. Jolly. The bus stopped at a different place each day.

Story

Monday - The Why Bird Stop. Why Bird lived at the Lost Property office, where things that were left on the Playdays bus were filed until someone claimed them. She interacted with the human bus driver- there were several throughout the series. She has a special computer called the Why-Tech, which had a variety of uses - it could provide music for songs, pictures for stories, instructions for making something in keeping with the programme's theme, or to help sing a song (e.g. paper sugar buns for "Five Current Buns"). It also showed videos, usually to show how everyday things were made - socks, toothbrushes etc.Sometimes, Peggy and/or Poppy visited the Lost Property Office. In a later series, the office installed a telephone, where people - usually Peggy or Poppy - could phone in asking for particular things, (examples include information about spiders, a night-time picture to help someone sleep during the day).

Tuesday - The Playground Stop. A variety of different things involved. The programme always opened with the presenter (several, including Dave Benson Philips), saying "Boys and girls come out to play...", followed by the programme's theme, (e.g. we're playing racing games today). The show featured a group of children doing activities, such as pretending to be cooks and making paper meals. Dave was accompanied by a glove puppet named Chester. The programme always featured a rhyme accompanied by sign language, a string puppet named Lizzie dancing - always to the same song - occasionally accompanied by another puppet named Nick. There was also a story, often featuring Max and his magical chest of dressing-up clothes.

Wednesday - The Dot Stop (1988-1992) replaced with Roundabout Stop (1992-end) - the non-speaking dancer, Dot, told a story or taught numbers and counting. Later replaced by the Roundabout Stop. Presented by Mr. Jolly. The show featured the musician, Charlie Grindle, who also appeared on The Why Bird Stop, Bitsy Bob, who played music and made things, and the puppets Morris and Milly, who presented a segment called "Morris and Milly's Numerical Melodies", where they sang a song glorifying a particular number. Charlie often sang songs for them as well. The main body of the episode featured the characters finding different shaped pictures, which came together to form the title of a nursery rhyme, which was performed by the entire cast at the end of the episode. In later episodes, the show featured Peggy, Poppy and Why Bird, who rode on the roundabout and went off on adventures. At the end of each adventure, a picture associated with it appeared in their shaped ticket (purple circle, red square, pink triangle, yellow diamond, green arch or blue rectangle), and these would combine to make the song, which ended the episode.

Thursday - The Patch Stop. This features Peggy, a small rag doll who is very kind natured. She would often travel places and leave clues for children to find her.

Friday - The Tent Stop (1988-1995) replaced with The Poppy Stop (1995-end). Originally named as the Tent Stop, a group of adults would dress up, and with the help of some children, perform a play or show. When the stop became the Poppy Stop, the setting was at Poppy the cat's house.

Trivia

* In 1989, the BBC insisted that the independent production company which made Playbus (Felgate Productions) change the programme's name after they had received a complaint from the [http://www.playbus.org.uk/ National Playbus Association] .
* A Playdays magazine was published in the early 90s.
* The Playground stop caused controversy twice. It twice showed a film of naked children - once riding bikes, and another time swimming in a pool. People complained about this in the BBC's own review programme Points of View

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDY8IzlW4hg Playdays titles and theme tune]
* [http://www.classickidstv.co.uk/wiki/Playdays Playdays at Classic Kids TV]


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