The Poddington Peas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Poddington Peas
Palace Video's VHS release of all 13 episodes
Genre	Animated television series
Created by	Paul Needs Colin Wyatt
Written by	Paul Needs
Directed by	Colin White Pat Gavin
Starring	Neil Pearson
Composer(s)	Geoff Stephens
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Producer(s)	Laurie Frost
Running time	5 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC One
Picture format	4:3
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	14 September (1989-09-14) – 22 December 1989 (1989-12-22)

The Poddington Peas is a fun British animated TV show about tiny peas living in a big garden! It was created by Paul Needs and Colin Wyatt. The show had 13 episodes, each about five minutes long. It first aired on BBC One in 1989 as part of Children's BBC.

The show's catchy theme song, written by Geoff Stephens, tells us that the peas live "down at the bottom of the garden." In their world, everyday garden items like flowerpots are huge and used as buildings. You never see or hear about humans, except for Santa Claus in the Christmas episode! All the episodes were released on VHS tapes a long time ago, but you can't buy them easily now. The show has never been released on DVD.

In 1992, there were plans to make more episodes of The Poddington Peas. Writer Phil Gardner worked on ideas for a second series. These new episodes might have included new characters called the "Bugz" and the "Podd Twins." However, these new episodes were never made.

There was also a series of books based on The Poddington Peas, written by Paul Needs and illustrated by Colin Wyatt. Later, in 2013, there was talk of making a new animated version of the show using Adobe Flash. A short video clip was even made! But this project also stopped because of copyright issues. Even though Paul Needs and Colin Wyatt created the show, the BBC owned the rights to the characters and the series. It would have been too expensive to get these rights back for a new independent project.

Meet the Poddington Peas Characters

Poster of The Poddington Peas cast

The show features 34 different human-like pea characters. Most of their names are clever plays on words that sound like "pea" and describe what they do or what they are like. For example, "Bump-Pea" sounds like "bumpy," and "Creep-Pea" sounds like "creepy."

Here are some of the main characters you'll meet:

• Black-Eyed Pea (male): This mischievous pea has a black eye patch and a tooth sticking out. He's a darker green and often hangs out with Creep-Pea. They are usually the bad guys of the show. They live in Creepy Castle, which has its own spooky "Creepy Carrots."
• Bump-Pea (male): A clumsy pea covered in bumps, with a big plaster on his cheek. He often looks a bit worried.
• Captain Hop-Pea (male): A nautical (sea-faring) captain pea with a moustache, beard, and a wooden leg. He wears a blue-and-white captain's hat and carries a telescope. He sometimes seems to be in charge.
• Chip-Pea (female): She works at a "chippy" (fish and chip shop). She has ginger hair, wears a white hat and apron, and often carries a scoop for fries.
• Chop-Pea (male): A lumberjack pea who wears a brown lumberjack's hat and carries an axe.
• Creep-Pea (male): A spooky-looking pea with hair that looks like devil's horns, a long pointed nose, and pointy teeth. He's a darker green and is usually with Black-Eyed Pea.
• Dough-Pea (male): A chef pea who looks a bit confused and simple-minded. He wears a big white chef's hat and carries a rolling pin.
• Dump-Pea (male): A very fat and greedy pea, bigger than all the others. He is always eating, especially jam tarts!
• Garden Pea (male): This pea loves gardening. He has thin black hair and a moustache, wears a straw hat, and holds a spade.
• G-Pea (male): A doctor pea with white hair, glasses, and a stethoscope. He carries a briefcase.
• Grump-Pea (male): A very grumpy pea who likes to complain whenever he has to do something for an event.
• Hap-Pea (male): A happy and kind pea who wears a red baseball cap. He often seems to be the main character of the show.
• Hip-Pea (male): A musical hippy-style pea from the 1960s. He has long blond hair, a moustache, a headband, and carries a guitar.
• Jump-Pea (male): This pea has a spring-like hair and legs, which he uses to jump higher than anyone else.
• Nap-Pea (male): The youngest pea and Penela-Pea's baby. He wears a white diaper, sits in a pushchair, and carries a teddy bear.
• P.C. Pod (male): A policeman pea with a black moustache and a blue helmet. His name is a fun play on "P.C. Plod" from the Noddy books.
• Penela-Pea (female): A motherly pea who pushes her baby, Nap-Pea, in a pushchair. Her name sounds like "Penelope."
• Pop-Pea (male): A grandfatherly pea with white hair (even though he's mostly bald). He wears glasses and uses a walking stick.
• Pup-Pea (dog): A small pea dog who helps P.C. Pod keep the peace in Poddington. P.C. Pod adopted and trained him as a police dog.
• Scoop-Pea (male): The editor of the "Daily Pod," which is Poddington's newspaper. He wears glasses and a green eyeshade visor.
• Scrap-Pea (male): A messy tool and scrap worker pea with thin black hair and stubble. He wears a blue hat and carries a hammer.
• Skip-Pea (female): A young pea with blonde pigtails and two red bows. She always skips using her skipping rope.
• Sleep-Pea (male): A very sleepy pea who wears a nightcap. He sleeps so much that he often misses events.
• Slop-Pea (male): An artistic painter pea with messy ginger hair. He carries a paintbrush and is always covered in paint.
• Snap-Pea (male): The photographer for the "Daily Pod" newspaper. He wears a hat with a press pass and carries a camera.
• Snip-Pea (male): A barber pea with neatly combed black hair and a brown moustache. He carries a comb and scissors.
• Snoop-Pea (male): A detective pea who wears a Sherlock Holmes-style deerstalker hat and carries a yellow magnifying glass.
• Soap-Pea (female): A very clean pea who always has soapy bubbles on her head. She carries a pink bar of soap and often blows bubbles.
• Sweep-Pea (male): A street sweeper pea with a thin black moustache. He wears a brown cap and carries a broom and a waste bin.
• Sweet Pea (female): An attractive pea with a blonde ponytail and blue eyes. She wears a magenta bow on her head and on her feet.
• Tea-Pea (female): A tea lady pea with brown hair. She wears a white maid's hat and carries a teapot and teacup.
• Wee McPea (male): A small Scottish pea with a ginger moustache. He wears a Tam o'shanter hat.
• Weep-Pea (male): An easily upset pea who always cries when he gets hurt or something goes wrong. He carries a handkerchief.
• Zip-Pea (male): A very fast pea with thin black hair. He wears a sweatband and always runs quicker than the others.

Episode Guide

There are 13 episodes of The Poddington Peas. Most of them were shown on BBC One on Thursdays. The last episode, which was about Christmas, aired on a Friday.

Who Made the Show?

Here are some of the people who helped create The Poddington Peas:

• Written and created by: Paul Needs
• Original Designs: Colin Wyatt
• Directors: Colin White, Pat Gavin
• Producer: Laurie Frost
• Narration: Neil Pearson
• Music and Lyrics: Geoff Stephens