Timmy Time

Timmy Time
The Timmy Time version of the logo
Also known as	It's Timmy Time
Genre	Preschool
Created by	Jackie Cockle
Based on	Shaun the Sheep Characters by Nick Park
Voices of	Justin Fletcher Kate Harbour Louis Jones
Opening theme	"It's Timmy"
Ending theme	"It’s Timmy" (second verse)
Composer	Mike Stobbie
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original languages	English (theme song only) None (Non-speaking language in all episodes)
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	80 (original series, including two specials) 78 (It's Timmy Time) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Miles Bullough David Sproxton Peter Lord Nick Park
Producer	Jackie Cockle
Production location	Filmed in Bristol
Running time	10 minutes 22 minutes (specials) 5 minutes (It's Timmy Time)
Production company	Aardman Animations
Original release
Network	CBeebies
Release	6 April 2009 (2009-04-06) – 13 July 2012 (2012-07-13)
Related
Wallace and Gromit Shaun the Sheep

Timmy Time is a British stop-motion animated television programme for preschoolers created and produced by Bob the Builder producer Jackie Cockle for the BBC's CBeebies and produced by Aardman Animations. It started broadcasting in the United Kingdom on 6 April 2009.^[1] It is a spin-off of Shaun the Sheep, itself a spin-off of the Wallace and Gromit film A Close Shave (1995).^[1]

The first two series ran for 26 episodes. In the United Kingdom, its most recent run began in September 2011 on CBeebies. In Australia, series one started in May 2009 on ABC1 and series three in May 2011 on ABC 4 Kids.^[2][3] The series also aired in the United States on Playhouse Disney, later called Disney Junior, beginning on 13 September 2010,^[4] but later ended its run in May 2014.

Premise and format

In this series, Timmy and his friends^[5] have to learn to share, make friends and accept their mistakes.^[6] They are supervised by two teachers, Harriet the Heron and Osbourne the Owl. The show is aimed at pre-school-aged children, which the company described as "a natural next step for Aardman".^[1]

The show is made up of ten-minute episodes, which do not feature much dialogue, much like Shaun the Sheep, Wallace and Gromit and A Close Shave. Shaun, his friends, Bitzer and the Farmer are absent.^[1] A filming of one episode was featured on the Discovery Channel's How It's Made.^[7]

During the show's development, the series was simply called Timmy. CBeebies acquired UK-broadcast rights to the series in October 2007.^[8]

In 2018, Aardman collaborated with the British Council to create "Learning Time with Timmy", a show to encourage children aged 2–6 around the world to learn the English language, along with a YouTube-exclusive series and three apps.

In October 2019, Aardman announced a new rebooted version of the existing 78 episodes for CBeebies titled It's Timmy Time that began broadcast later on in the month. These versions feature narration from a selection of pre-school children, and are 5-minutes in length when compared to the original 10-minute episodes.^[9]

Episodes

Characters

Children

• Timmy is a lamb who is the titular character and enjoys being in the spotlight. He is 3 years old in sheep years and later turns 4 in the episode Timmy's Birthday. In many of the episodes he gets into trouble; however, he learns from his mistakes and often tries to help the other characters out when he can. He is best friends with Yabba and is very close to Finlay. He also appears in Shaun the Sheep. Timmy's noise is baa.
• Yabba is a female duckling who wears blue goggles and is very similar to Timmy in personality and is best friends with him. Yabba's noise is quack.
• Paxton is a piglet who is characterised by his appetite for apples and his weight. He wears a blue sweater and is never seen without it. Paxton's noise is oink.
• Mittens is a kitten who is like other kittens: she doesn't like getting wet or dirty and is rather sensitive. In some episodes, she seems to have feelings for Timmy. She always loves playing with picnics. Mittens' noise is mee-eew.
• Ruffy is a puppy who is energetic but can sometimes be mentally slow and he is a good friend too. Ruffy's noise is ruff.
• Apricot is a hoglet who is very quiet and skittish. When startled or frightened by someone or something she rolls up into a ball. Apricot's noise is hicoo, although she rarely speaks.
• Stripey is a badger cub who is a bit sleepy and slow as badgers are nocturnal. Stripey's noise is honk.
• Kid is a goat who has a large appetite like Paxton and chews anything in sight. If the thing he is chewing is taken from him he does not mind; he just moves on to something else. Kid's noise is meep meep.
• Otus is an owlet who enjoys helping and looks up to Osbourne. He can be typically found reading and is very sensitive, sometimes copying Osbourne. Otus is commonly confused to be female due to his feminine voice tone and pink and purple feathers. Otus' noise is too-wit, too-hoo.
• Finlay is a fox kit who is excitable and full of energy. Finlay's noise is yip-yap.

Teachers

• Harriet is a heron who speaks through caws and clicks. She is one of the two teachers. Harriet's noise is cluck.
• Osbourne is an owl who is the other teacher of the class. Osbourne's noise is hoot-hoot.

Side characters

• Bumpy is a caterpillar who is not a part of the class but has many background appearances in the show. Bumpy's noise is blee blub.
• Timmy's Mother is a sheep who is also not a part of the class, but does appear in the opening sequence, "Timmy's Christmas Surprise" and the end credits. She also appears in Shaun The Sheep. Timmy's Mother's noise is baa.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Timmy Time.