Bertha (TV series) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bertha |
|
|---|---|
| Created by | Eric Charles Stephen Flewers |
| Starring | Roy Kinnear (voice) Sheila Walker (voice) |
| Narrated by | Roy Kinnear |
| Theme music composer | Bryan Daly |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Ivor Wood |
| Running time | 15 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC 1/BBC 2 |
| Original release | 1 April 1985 – 18 June 1986 |
Bertha was a fun British children's TV show from 1985 to 1986. It had 13 episodes and used a special animation style called stop motion. This means characters are moved slightly and photographed, frame by frame, to make them look like they're moving!
The show was about a clever factory machine named Bertha. All the characters were designed by Ivor Wood, and his company, Woodland Animations, made the series. It was shown on BBC Television. Bertha was even planned to take the place of the popular Postman Pat series for a while.
You could also find Bertha in a series of six storybooks. These books came out around the same time the show was on TV. Later, in the early 2000s, the series was shown again on GMTV2 along with another show called Penny Crayon.
Contents
What is Bertha About?
The story of Bertha takes place in a busy factory called Spottiswood & Company. This factory makes all sorts of cool things, from cuckoo clocks to windmill money boxes.
The main star is Bertha, a special machine that can create almost anything you ask her to! In every episode, the factory faces a problem with making their products. But Bertha, with the help of her friends who work at the factory, always finds a way to save the day and keep things running smoothly.
How Bertha Was Made
Bertha was created by Woodland Animations. This company also made other famous BBC shows like Postman Pat, Charlie Chalk, and Gran.
The episodes were written by Eric Charles and Stephen Flewers. Ivor Wood, who helped start Woodland Animations, designed, produced, and directed the series. The voices for the characters were done by Roy Kinnear and Sheila Walker. Roy Kinnear also told the story as the narrator.
The main song for the show featured the singing of Guy Fletcher. Other songs from a Bertha music record, like "Tracy's Robot Song" and "Mrs Tupp," had vocals by Stephanie de Sykes.
Meet the Characters
Here are some of the main characters you'd see at the Spottiswood & Company factory:
- Mr. Willmake – He's the boss, or manager, of the whole factory.
- Miss McClackerty – Mr. Willmake's helpful secretary.
- Mr. Sprott – The head designer who comes up with ideas for new products.
- Tracy James – Mr. Sprott's assistant, who helps him with designs.
- Mr. Duncan – The Works Foreman. Sometimes he causes trouble because he thinks Bertha is old and not very good.
- Ted Turner – The main machine operator. He's a bit like the famous TV presenter Bruce Forsyth.
- Roy Willing – Ted's assistant machine operator. People wondered if he was named after the show's narrator, Roy Kinnear.
- Mrs. Tupp – The friendly tea lady who brings drinks to everyone.
- Panjit Singh – The forklift truck operator. He often has accidents, but they're usually not his fault!
- Nell - She's in charge of packing the finished products.
- Flo – Her job is to stack the items.
- T.O.M. – This stands for Talk Operated Machine. He's a cool robot that looks a bit like R2-D2 from Star Wars. Tracy designed him, and Bertha built him to help with odd jobs. Some songs even say he's Bertha's robot son!
- Bertha - The main character! She's an old machine who has been updated over 50 years. She's always there to help the factory workers solve problems and make amazing things.
Things Bertha Made
Bertha could make all sorts of interesting items in the factory, including:
- Windmill-shaped money boxes
- Garden gnomes
- Beach balls
- Nuts and bolts
- 365 springs
- Inflatable plastic bears
- Bathroom sponges
- Cuckoo clocks
- Humming tops
- Jack-in-the-boxes
- Jigsaw puzzles
- Watering cans
- Building blocks
- Electric kangaroos
- T.O.M. (Talk Operated Machine) – a robot
- A mechanical toy soldier for a contest
Episodes and When They Aired
The very first episode of Bertha was shown on BBC1 on April 1, 1985. It aired at 3:55 pm. The show was repeated regularly on BBC1 and BBC2 until 1998.
List of Episodes
| # | Title | Broadcast date | Product(s) produced | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Great Painting Job | 1 April 1985 | Jigsaw puzzles | Tracy designs a robot called T.O.M. (Talk Operated Machine) to help at the factory. |
| 2 | The Windmills | 15 April 1985 | Musical windmill money boxes | Mr.Sprott's money boxes are working well, but how do you get the coin out? |
| 3 | Mouse in the Works | 22 April 1985 | Jack-in-the-boxes | Panjit and the rest of the factory try to stop a mouse from nibbling their boxes. |
| 4 | The Best Machine Competition | 29 April 1985 | Humming tops | When Mr Willmake wants Mr Sprott to design the best toy for a competition, Mr Duncan wants it to be made by a new machine, but everyone else wants it to be made by Bertha. |
| 5 | T.O.M. Gets Lost | 13 May 1985 | Building blocks | A magnet fries T.O.M.'s brain, so he scares the rest of the Spottiswood factory by disappearing. |
| 6 | The Flying Bear | 20 May 1985 | Inflatable bears | On a very hot day, Bertha is making plastic bears. Why do they keep growing? |
| 7 | The Tea Nurse | 3 June 1985 | Watering cans | Bertha is working slowly and keeps stopping; Mrs Tupp comes to the rescue. |
| 8 | More Speed, Less Work | 5 November 1985 | Garden gnomes | While Mr Willmake is at a meeting, Mr Duncan closes down Bertha, who was making garden gnomes. |
| 9 | The Big Order | 12 November 1985 | Nuts and Bolts followed by Springs | Bertha has to make 365 springs but Tom and Roy have trouble with the whippy, springy steel. |
| 10 | The Burglars | 19 November 1985 | Jumping kangaroos | Burglars break into the factory and steal money for the wages. |
| 11 | Bertha's Birthday Party | 26 November 1985 | Cuckoo clocks | On Bertha's 50th anniversary, Roy wonders why the hands on a clock are called hands. |
| 12 | The Big Sneeze | 16 April 1986 | Beach balls and Snowballs | It's a very cold day and Bertha and Miss McClackerty get a terrible cold and because of that the beach balls go wrong. |
| 13 | Tom's New Friend | 18 June 1986 | Sponges | Mrs Tupp is cross about a new vending machine, but Tom soon fixes it. |
Bertha Merchandise
Not a lot of Bertha merchandise was made, but here are some items that were released:
VHS and DVD Releases
A few VHS tapes and DVDs of Bertha episodes were released over the years.
- In 1987, the BBC released a video called Bertha - The Flying Bear.
- Bertha also appeared on special collection videos like Cartoon Favourites (1985) and Postman Pat and Friends (1989).
- In 1994, Hallmark and Carlton Home Entertainment released a video with the first four episodes.
- In 2004, a DVD called Bertha and the Best Machine Competition came out.
- One episode of Bertha was included on the 2011 DVD Fun with Friends: Volume One.
- In Australia, two DVDs with the entire series were released by Reel Entertainment.
Photobooks
In 1985, special storybooks were released. These books had original drawings on the cover and pictures from the TV show inside. Some of their titles were:
- Bertha and the Great Painting Job
- Bertha and the Windmills
- Bertha and the Mouse in the Works
- Bertha and the Best Machine Competition
- Bertha and the Lost TOM
- Bertha and the Flying Bear
Music Record
In 1986, a 12-inch vinyl record was released with songs from the TV series. It included songs like "Bertha," "Mrs. Tupp," and "T.O.M. the Robot." Some songs on the record were not actually in the TV show.
All songs written and composed by Bryan Daly.
| Side 1 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Vocals | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Bertha" | Guy Fletcher | |||||||
| 2. | "Mrs. Tupp" | Stefanie De Sykes | |||||||
| 3. | "Packing and Stacking" | Guy Fletcher, Eva Burden | |||||||
| 4. | "The Flying Bear" (*) (instrumental) | ||||||||
| 5. | "Mr. Duncan" | Bryan Daly | |||||||
| 6. | "Turning Wheels" (*) (instrumental) | ||||||||
| Side 2 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Vocals | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "T.O.M. the Robot" | Guy Fletcher | |||||||
| 2. | "Isn't it Nice?" | Stefanie De Sykes | |||||||
| 3. | "Mr. Willmake" | Guy Fletcher, Stefanie De Sykes | |||||||
| 4. | "Tracy's Robot Song" | Stefanie De Sykes | |||||||
| 5. | "Spottiswood March" ((*) (instrumental)) | ||||||||
| 6. | "Roy the Apprentice" | Guy Fletcher | |||||||
Board Game
In 1987, a Bertha board game was released by Falcon. It was similar to games like Monopoly. If you landed on T.O.M.'s space, you could ask Bertha to make an item for you!
Advent Calendar
An Advent calendar featuring Bertha was released in 1985.
Annuals
Bertha was also featured in four annual books from 1985 to 1988. These included:
- Bertha annual 1985
- Bertha annual 1986
- Buttons annual 1987 (with other shows like Postman Pat)
- Buttons annual 1988 (with shows like Charlie Chalk and Henry's Cat)
Credits
- Written by: Eric Charles
- Narration by: Roy Kinnear
- Voices by: Roy Kinnear and Sheila Walker
- Music and lyrics by: Bryan Daly
- Director of animation: Derek Mogford
- Series designed and directed by: Ivor Wood
- Film editor: Martin Bohan
- Song vocals: Guy Fletcher
- Recorded at: Havoc House Studios
- Sound by: Clive Pendry
- Produced by: Woodland Animations Ltd
- © Woodland Animations Ltd MCMLXXXV
