Driver Dan's Story Train facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Driver Dan's Story Train |
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|---|---|
| Genre | Children's television series |
| Created by | Rebecca Elgar |
| Voices of | Patrick Monahan Maria Darling Alex Kelly Peter Serafinowicz |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production company(s) | Twofour54 3Line Media |
| Distributor | BBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBeebies BBC |
| Original release | 9 January 2010 |
Driver Dan's Story Train is a fun British TV show for kids. It was created by Rebecca Elgar. The show first started on CBeebies in the UK on January 9, 2010. It has also been shown on other channels like Sprout and ABC2. The show even came back for a second series on CBeebies!
The show features many different characters. Most of them are plush toys. But some are unique, like Milly and Lilly, who are paper cutout birds. The Vrooms are small egg-shaped vehicles. The Counting Sheep are cubical bricks. Each character, or pair of characters, has their own special train carriage. These carriages can be attached to the Story Train. Sometimes, the show asks viewers for their ideas or choices.
Contents
About Driver Dan's Story Train
How an Episode Works
Each episode begins with real children sitting on cushions. This scene then changes to a book opening up. Inside the book, a pop-up model of a railway train appears. This train has an engine and two carriages. One carriage carries story books. This is the Story Train!
The Story Train then becomes a solid, moving train. It travels around and often passes by characters. Later in the episode, it meets and talks with other characters. When the Story Train first meets a new character, the camera only shows part of them. The audience is then asked to guess who it is.
After guessing, the characters get into their special vehicles. The train then hitches on three of these vehicles. It pulls them all the way to Story Corner.
At Story Corner, a red flying bird named Twinkle flies ahead. She lands on a huge book and pulls a bookmark. The book opens to blank pages. Soft cushions fall out of the book onto the floor. The Story Train stops, and its passengers get out. They sit on the cushions or stand around.
Driver Dan then reads a story from a book. He usually picks a book from the train's book carriage. He says, "Now show me the story." The real children from the beginning reappear. They act out parts of the story. After the story, they disappear again. The train then sets off. It shrinks back to its original three vehicles. It quickly folds away and disappears. The real children reappear and walk off. Each episode of the show lasts about ten minutes.
Awards and Recognition
The Driver Dan website won an award in 2012. It received the Prix jeunesse 'up to 6 years' interactivity award. This website was made by Plug In Media. The animation was done by A Productions Ltd.
The show also won another award in 2013. A special episode from season two won a Kidscreen award in New York. It had also been nominated for this award in 2012.
Meet the Characters!
| Character | What they are like | Voice actors |
|---|---|---|
| Driver Dan | A friendly lion who drives the train. He has a special tool. This tool can fix any broken vehicles. | Peter Serafinowicz (UK) and Patrick Monahan (U.S.) |
| Twinkle | A small red flying bird. She often rides on the train's funnel. She also flies ahead to look for things. She usually makes twittering sounds. | |
| Counting Sheep | Five cubical bricks that look like sheep. They have dots on top showing numbers 1 to 5. They can move, jump, and stack up. They make bleating sounds. | |
| Hip (male) & Hop (female) | Two rabbits. Hip is mostly brown and wears a blue backpack. Hop is similar but with different colors and wears a red backpack. | Alex Kelly and Maria Darling |
| Milly and Lily | Two thin paper cutout birds. They look a bit like flamingos. | Maria Darling |
| Loopy | A stegosaurus-like dinosaur. He wears glasses and loves to jump. His trampoline has wheels and folds into his carriage. | Alex Kelly |
| Precious | A one-humped camel. She has a fancy decorated harness. | Maria Darling |
| Sweetie | A giant panda. She loves nature and is very quiet. | Maria Darling |
| Tallulah | An elephant. She is always on a wheeled carriage. This carriage hitches directly to the Story Train. | Maria Darling |
| The Vrooms (Red Vroom & Green Vroom) | Two egg-shaped vehicles. They each have a bumper and three wheels. They can also fly with a detachable helicopter rotor. They have a special carriage for themselves and their tools. | [Vocal engine noises by David Yapp and Mark Taylor, and motor horn noises] |
Episodes and Seasons
The show has two main seasons.
- Season 1 has 52 regular episodes and one special episode.
- Season 2 has 50 episodes and a longer, half-hour special. This season started in Britain on BBC Two and CBeebies.
In Season 2, a new character named Bippity joins the show. Bippity is a blue humanoid robot. He has his own carriage that can be attached to the Story Train. The new season also features extra scenery, like a dense jungle. The first episode of Season 2 was all about the Story Train meeting Bippity for the first time. Each episode in this season runs for 11 minutes. Mark Taylor directed the show, and Teresa Reed produced it.
- Driver Dan's Story Train at BBC Programmes
