| Teddybears | |
|---|---|
| Based on | Teddybears series by Susanna Gretz and Alison Sage |
| Developed by | Adrian Hedley |
| Directed by | Adrian Hedley |
| Starring |
|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers | Adrian Hedley Kate Marlow |
| Editor | Mike Parkins |
| Running time | 10 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV (CITV) |
| Release | January 5, 1998 (1998-01-05) – 2000 (2000) |
Teddybears is a Britishchildren's television programme broadcast onITV from early 1998 to 2000, based on the books by Susanna Gretz. The show was about the life of five colouredteddy bears and their dog Fred. The show was filmed byMeridian Broadcasting. Journalists have comparedTeddybears as being similar to and a rival ofTeletubbies which was also produced around that time. However the series was targeted at older children.
Teddybears is based on Susanna Gretz and Alison Sage'steddy bear books, the first of which was published almost 30 years before the TV programme's creation.[1]Teddybear's inaugural season began on 5 January 1998.[2]
A 1999 article in theBristol Post saidTeddybears "have become a huge hit with young viewers", having captured 64% of thetarget audience.[3] Link Licensing, aUnited News & Mediaspinoff, began making toys, books, and other merchandising several months before the programme's debut.[4]Rights andmerchandising company ProVen Private Equity has from Link Licensing the rights to make Teddybears products.[5] In 2000, Link Licensing sold the rights to Teddybears to the TV networkTrio which bought 26 episodes.[6]
The producers ofTeddybears asserted thatTeddybears is not an immediate rival ofTeletubbies;[2] theDaily Record considers it a rival.[2] TheDaily Record noted that the two TV series have several parallels.[2] Whereas the Teddybears eat "hot cross buns, honey, pancakes, jelly and ice cream", the Teletubbies eat "tubby toast and tubby custard".[2] The Teddybears singThe Teddybear Song while the Teletubbies singTeletubbies say "Eh-oh!". The Teddybears aired on CITV while The Teletubbies aired on BBC.[2] A difference between the two TV series is thatTeddybears's intended audience is older children.[2]
The shows' similarities sparked "intense" coverage by the media. Newspapers and TV shows requested interviews with the teddybears, who all appeared onRichard and Judy'sThis Morning.[1]
The five teddybears in the series are William, Sarah, Louise, Robert, and Charles. They wear "brightly-coloured furry suits"[2] and live at No. 8 Green Street, Bearbridge.[7] According to actress Louise Conran, who played Sarah, she had to "wear alycra 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.[1] The actors are adults but play child-sized bears on a set in which everything they interact with is oversized.
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.
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3