| Runtime: | 15 minutes |
| Creator: | |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Network: | BBC Television |
| Num Episodes: | 26 |
The Woodentops is a children's television series first shown on BBC Television in 1955.[1] [2] Created by Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird, it featured on the Friday edition of Watch with Mother and regularly repeated until 1973. The main characters are the members of a family living on a farm. The aim of the programme was to teach pre-school children about family life.[3]
The children, Jenny and Willy, were twins. They spoke, walked and did many things together.
Other characters included:
The Woodentops was filmed in a tin shed at the BBC's Lime Grove Studios. The narrator/storyteller for all episodes, who also provided the dialogue for Mummy Woodentop, was Maria Bird who spoke with Received Pronunciation, as was typical of BBC presenters of the time. Daddy Woodentop, being a farmer, spoke with a noticeable West Country accent. Although set on a farm, at an unspecified location, each episode began with the whole family being introduced as they sat in front of a tall curtain, apparently on a stage. Episodes closed with the family grouped in the same pose, with the word "GOODBYE" superimposed above.
The music at the beginning and end of each story is taken from the 22nd piece (Norwegian: italic=no|"So lokka me over den myra") of the set of 25 Norwegian folk songs and dances for piano, Opus 17 by Edvard Grieg. This music, which is quite short in duration, is called Norwegian: italic=no|"Kulokk", which translates to "Cattle-Call". It is divided into two sections, the first of which is used for the introduction and the second part for the end of each story. It occasionally appears as a leitmotif in the stories, hummed by Mummy Woodentop from time to time.
In 1983, the original puppets were stolen from the BBC. They were spotted a year later in an auction room in London and returned. The puppets are now in the Museum of London's permanent collection.[4]
In 2009, The Woodentops appeared in The Official BBC Children in Need Medley music video[5] which reached No.1 in the UK Singles Chart. Jenny and Willy Woodentop appeared in the video; Jenny also appears on the front cover of the CD and DVD.