Bump is a British animated children's television series which was created by Charles Mills and Terry Brain (who had previously created The Trap Door and Stoppit and Tidyup), produced by Queensgate Productions and originally shown on BBC One from 14 September 1990 to 26 December 1994.
The series' two main protagonists were the eponymous Bump (an elephant who was very clumsy, a trait that was emphasised by a bandage stuck onto his forehead) and his friend Birdie (a bluebird who often gave Bump advice on how he could become more graceful). The two series ran a total of twenty-six episodes, each 5 minutes long. The twenty-seventh and final episode was a Christmas special that was 10 minutes long. The programme was narrated by Simon Cadell (1950-1996) of Hi-de-Hi! fame.
Bump and Birdie regularly encountered animals that had a problem (such as Whizzer the mouse, Munch the tortoise, McDuff the dog, Big Bun and Little Bun the rabbits and Batty the bat) and would help them to find a solution. Most of these animals were recurring characters, and all of the characters' Stoppit and Tidyup-like sounds were generated by analogue synthesizers.
Characters[]
- Bump
- Birdie
- Whizzer
- Big Bun and Little Bun
- McDuff
- Munch
- Batty
- Mr and Mrs Squirrel
- Old Bear
- Auntie Doreen
- Birdie’s Brothers and Sisters
- Cousin Jay
- Puss
Broadcast history[]
- United Kingdom: After the series finished its original run on BBC One, it was later repeated on BBC Two, The Children's Channel, Nickelodeon (alongside that network's own cartoons from that time period, Doug, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Rugrats, Rocko's Modern Life and Aaahh!!!) and CBeebies.
- Australia: When the series was exported to Australia, it was shown on ABC, Nickelodeon (alongside their cartoons) and Nick Jr..
- South Africa: When the series was exported to South Africa, it was broadcast on SABC2 and e.tv over there.
- Singapore: When the series was exported to Singapore, it was screened on Mediacorp Channel 5 in that country.
- New Zealand: When the series was exported to New Zealand, it was transmitted on TVNZ Kidzone for that country.
- Republic of Ireland: When the series was exported to the Irish Republic, it was seen on RTÉ2 in that country.
- Canada: When the series was exported to Canada, it was screened on both YTV and YTV Jr..
- Germany: When the series was exported to Germany, it was seen on the military television network BFBS (and SSVC Television, which was the name the aforementioned BFBS network was known by between 1985 and 1997).
- India: When the series was exported to India, it was screened on Discovery Kids there.
Credits[]
Series 1[]
- Narrated by: Simon Cadell
- Animation: CMTB Animation
- Artwork & Music: Steve Augarde
- Stories by: Christopher James
- Executive Producer: Theresa Plummer-Andrews
- Produced by: Dennis Hooper
- © Bump Enterprises Ltd. 1990
Series 2[]
- Stories by: Christopher James
- Narrated by: Simon Cadell
- Animated by: CMTB Animation
- Edited by: Nick Upton
- Art & Music: Steve Augarde
- Art Director: Peter Corri
- Executive Producer for the BBC: Theresa Plummer-Andrews
- Executive Producer for Abbey Broadcast Communications Plc: Anne Miles
- Directed by: Terry Brain
- Produced by: Dennis Hooper
- © Bump Enterprises Ltd. 1993
- An Abbey Broadcast Communications Plc. Videal Productions - GMBH Production
- © Abbey Broadcast Communications Plc. Videal Productions - GMBH 1993