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Showing posts with label Animals Of Farthing Wood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animals Of Farthing Wood. Show all posts

Wednesday, 25 February 2026

A Peaceful Picnic

Hello, dear friends, I am Badger. I'm so glad you've come across this post. It seems that to us CBBC characters, listening to the music of Cee Lo Green has triggered fond memories of Luke, Resus and Cleo, who tragically gave their lives in the fight to de-Americanise British kids' TV. That, my friends, is what our mourning creator thought about when she went on a picnic with her support worker.

They had sausage rolls, pork cocktail sausages, a chocolate brownie (no Haribo milk bottles were available, but I dare say that Mole loves to steal them from the corner shop near White Deer Park) and of course a strawberry milk. While she tucked into her meal, my friend was happy to listen to all the calm sounds around her - sheep bleating, pheasants calling out and water splashing gently. When she saw her support worker walking across the beach, she imagined Luke wearing his clothes and Cee Lo's shades and walking in mournful slow motion across the beach, thinking about how his home turned out today.

Then, they went to the hair salon to get her hair done. And judging by how itchy her back was, it seems she had a ball talking with the hairdresser about what she's been up to. She talked about baking and playdates and that sickness bug she caught, and of course, digital detoxing. She's been having that detox thing ever since last Thursday afternoon, where when it got to lunch she would switch everything off and go and do something else instead.

Come to think of it, I miss Why Don't You...those young scamps and rascals hosting, getting kids to play and learn. I miss them so much, as does Fox. As much as he misses Brum, Noddy, Fireman Sam, Postman Pat, or Pingu for that matter. I miss them all.

I was walking past the hair salon yesterday with Mole on the way to the store to get him a squishy, for he was developing anxiety and he too was going onto a digital detox from too much screen time for seven years flat. While we passed, we peered round the door to eavesdrop on what our friend was talking to her hairdresser about. One of the things she talked about was:
A small four year old boy who screams to get his way and get out of getting a haircut. No matter what she and his grandpa did to bribe him in, be it sweets or a question about what he wants for Christmas, he just refuses, and then yells:
"BYE!"
After the appointment like it never happened. Thank you for the honors, Mole.

"Your welcome, Badger."

Although it felt painful at times, and the hair mousse smelled of gone off apple champagne, it went well, and my friend got a Galaxy and a Milky Way bar. Oops! I forgot. I have to show you a clip from The Nightmare Before Christmas and Milky Way's famous car advert...
And when my friend got home, her mother constantly talked about how beautiful her hair was, and even her dog Mylo went all soppy over it, and turned into a polar bear rolling about on her bed. I think it reminds me of a dog we ran into while we were on our way to White Deer Park. It got all soppy whenever we mentioned anything about snow.

Soppy disease, I call it.

And now, without further ado, I present the song that was playing in my friend's head as she thought about not just Luke, but also Twilight Sparkle and her husband Mordecai too, they got married three years after production on Friendship Is Magic. Kindly do the honors for us, Cee Lo.

Wednesday, 21 January 2026

Letter To Plucky

Dear Plucky,

Ever since you were born among Fox and Vixen’s cream-furred cubs, Bold, Dreamer, Charmer and Friendly, you’ve been laughed at by the other animals and made fun of by Weasel, Adder and Toad. As far as I’ve been told, before you were even introduced in the series, you loved taking walks by yourself around White Deer Park to contemplate why you were so different from the other cubs.


Your walks, while offscreen, were an inspiration to anyone who had dark thoughts on their mind. You liked to roll down hills, smell the flowers in the meadow, splash in the river, swim and relax in the lake without Adder to bite you on your orange bum and tail, and sleep in the shade without anyone harming you.


And I heard that the animals never eat anything - apart from each other! So sometimes you would go into the human town for a wander and play with the kids in the playground, or explore shops to smell perfume or taste some chocolate, and sometimes steal meat and bread from the butcher and the baker to bring back to the park. Everyone should be proud of you, Plucky, and maybe Fox too - food shortages are never found here with you!

Love,

Sybil

XXXOOO and one extra foxy X

Sunday, 2 February 2025

The Tender Debut Of Thunderbirds (Short Film Script)

FADE IN:


INT. QUIET CANADIAN COUNTRYSIDE. SUNRISE.


The whole place is silent and still, covered by a blanket of thick snow.


OPENING TITLE: “THE TENDER DEBUT OF THUNDERBIRDS”


TITLE FADE OUT:


SONG: “THUNDERBIRDS’ TENDER DEBUT”


A gentle, tender lullaby tune.


DISSOLVE TO:


INT. LADY PENELOPE’S COTTAGE - BEDROOM. MORNING.


A pair of puppet arms move into frame and draw open the curtains, revealing tender sunlight in the room. REVEAL


LADY PENELOPE


Gazing out at the snowy meadow proudly. We hear her singing softly:

LADY PENELOPE

WHEN THUNDERBIRDS PREMIERED ON BBC KIDS
THE SKY WAS YELLOW AND PINK


DISSOLVE:


We see Lady Penelope sitting at her desk writing a letter to someone, though we don’t know who it is yet.

LADY PENELOPE
I WOKE UP TO THE SNOW FALLING OUTSIDE
AND IT GAVE ME MORE TIME TO THINK


DISSOLVE:


A PURPLE BACKGROUND WITH YELLOW STARS


We PAN ACROSS a line of smiling, familiar faces with stars in their eyes: the Teletubbies, Thomas The Tank Engine, Bill & Ben, Monty The Dog, the Tweenies, Binka, the Fourth Doctor (from Doctor Who), Alan, Brains, Tin Tin and the Animals Of Farthing Wood: Fox, Badger, Weasel and Mole.

LADY PENELOPE
TIME TO THINK OF ALL THESE SHOWS
WHETHER FOR OLD OR YOUNG


The characters fade out as 6 year old Sarah, Penelope’s daughter, appears, smiling at us warmly.

LADY PENELOPE

BUT MOST OF ALL, I’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT YOU

AND HOW YOU ALWAYS WANT TO HAVE FUN


DISSOLVE TO:


INT. LADY PENELOPE’S COTTAGE - BEDROOM. MORNING.


As Lady Penelope is writing her letter, she hears excited giggling nearby. She looks over at where the giggling is coming from, and is surprised to see


SARAH

Jumping up and down on her bed. Lady Penelope walks up to her, holds out her arms and catches her just as she falls into her soft embrace. Both of them laugh happily.


DISSOLVE:


INT. LADY PENELOPE’S HOUSE - HALLWAY - MINUTES LATER.


Lady Penelope is getting her daughter dressed for a Winter’s day out - she’s wrapped up in a comfy bundle of Winter clothing, not too thick, fat or tight. She wraps a scarf around her neck as Parker gets his Winter boots on in the background.


At last, with everyone ready and in their Winter clothes, Parker opens the door and lets Lady Penelope and her daughter through.


DISSOLVE TO:


EXT. LADY PENELOPE’S HOUSE. DAY.


Parker sets off into town in Fab-1, with Lady Penelope and Sarah riding in the back.


DISSOLVE TO:


INT. CANADIAN TOWN. DAY.


A peaceful, sleepy town shrouded in Winter snow, but lit up warmly by fairy lights strung from house to house. As Fab-1 drives across the streets, Lady Penelope and Sarah look up at the wonderful lights strung up above them, shining onto them. The song resumes:

LADY PENELOPE

THE STREETS WERE STRUNG WITH FAIRY LIGHTS
THE SNOW WAS SPARKLING LIKE NEW


INT. COSY CAFE - MINUTES LATER. DAY.


Lady Penelope, Parker and Sarah are sitting at a big, round table with the Teletubbies, the Fourth Doctor, Fox, Badger, Weasel, the Tweenies, Monty, William (from William’s Wish Wellingtons), Thomas, Percy, Sam and Max, waiting for their hot cocoa and chatting away. A friendly waiter brings them a tray of hot mugs of warm cocoa, each coloured like the person it’s being served to, and the show they star in.

LADY PENELOPE

THERE WERE MUGS OF HOT COCOA ON EACH TRAY,

AND MOST OF ALL, I HAD YOU


Everyone begins drinking their hot chocolate. The Teletubbies’ cocoa is pink because they drink Tubby Custard, while Fox and Badger lap up their own hot chocolate, animal like. Monty downs all his hot chocolate in one go, and…

MONTY

BUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRPPPP!!


Everyone laughs over his tremendous burp, to which Monty bows in response, as if finishing off a big show.


LADY PENELOPE & SARAH


Drink their hot cocoa and remove their mugs to reveal they have hot chocolate moustaches, which they lick off. They giggle, and nose-kiss gently.


DISSOLVE TO:


INT. LADY PENELOPE’S HOUSE - BEDROOM. NIGHT.


Sarah, dressed in her cosy pyjamas, bounces on the bed she shares with Lady Penelope, laughing loudly. Lady Penelope enters the room and giggles at her daughter’s antics, and as she falls over onto her back, she giggles and shuffles under the covers. Lady Penelope tucks her in and kisses her on the cheek. Now, Lady Penelope’s offscreen singing almost feels like she’s about to cry:

LADY PENELOPE

MY EYES WOULD SPARKLE WITH TENDER TEARS
JUST TO THINK OF YOU


Lady Penelope settles into bed next to Sarah, switches off the light and falls fast asleep, safe and warm and tucked up beside her daughter.

LADY PENELOPE

FOR WHEN I THINK OF BBC KIDS,

YOU ALWAYS THINK OF ME TOO.


DISSOLVE TO:


EXT. LADY PENELOPE’S HOUSE - NIGHT.


Everything is now very quiet and peaceful.

LADY PENELOPE
FOR WHEN I THINK OF BBC KIDS,

YOU ALWAYS THINK OF ME TOO.


PAN UP:


THE NIGHT SKY


The dark craters on the full moon have formed the old BBC Kids logo.


FADE TO BLACK.


THE END.

The Biscuit Ballad - Short Film Script

FADE IN:


A BLURRED KITCHEN BACKGROUND


OPENING TITLE: “THE BISCUIT BALLAD”


Monty is heard CHOMPING and CHEWING, as a bite is taken out of one of the ellipsis points in one ‘I’ in the word ‘Biscuit’, which turns into a chocolate biscuit.


TITLE FADE OUT.


DISSOLVE TO:


INT. BBC KIDS HEADQUARTERS - KITCHEN. DAY.


A beautiful red, yellow and blue kitchen. On the counter is a large biscuit tin with the BBC Kids logo on it. We hear: a door creaking as it slowly opens.


MONTY THE DOG


Opens the door slowly a crack and sees the biscuit tin. He tiptoes towards the kitchen counter and looks up at what’s above. He sees


ANGLE - THE BISCUIT TIN


Shining in the sunlight.


CLOSE - MONTY’S EYES


His pupils slowly turn into love hearts.


MONTY


Gets out a violin and begins playing, leading us to:


SONG: “THE BISCUIT BALLAD”


MATCH DISSOLVE:


A PINK BACKGROUND WITH RED LOVE HEARTS


As Monty plays his violin, he begins singing:

MONTY

OH BISCUITS, I LOVE YOU
YOUR SWEET CHOCOLATE TASTE


Monty throws his violin out of frame and floats towards a large heart shaped chocolate biscuit, floating around it like a lovestruck moon in orbit until taking a huge bite out of it.

MONTY

YOUR CHEWY CRUNCHY HEART

WON’T GO TO WASTE


FLASHBACK:


INT. SPROTT FAMILY KITCHEN - YEARS AGO. DAY.


The whole flashback is monochrome coloured. A cute, adorable puppy version of Monty sits at the table banging his cutlery, excitedly waiting for his meal - until the hand of Mrs Sprott enters frame with a bowl of nutritiously meaty dog food. Dog food? Yeurch! Monty is disgusted and pushes it away.

MONTY

SOME PEOPLE GIVE THEIR DOGS MEAT

BUT I DON’T LIKE THAT STUFF


POP! The flashback bursts into a puff of smoke, revealing again:


THE PINK BACKGROUND PATTERNED WITH RED LOVE HEARTS


Monty leaps across a stepping stone trail of chocolate biscuits, followed by Tango the dog (from Binka), Mole (from The Animals Of Farthing Wood), Boo the hedgehog (from Bill & Ben) and Flamingo (from Yoho Ahoy).

MONTY

I JUST LOVE YOU, CHOCOLATE BISCUITS,

AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS ENOUGH


The biscuits suddenly fall out of frame, and Tango, Mole, Boo and Flamingo fall out of frame.


CLOSE - MONTY’S EYES


Opening wide. He moves back to reveal himself against the background mentioned earlier, and he floats against the background trying to catch chocolate biscuits in a red beach bucket as they fall past frame, like a rainstorm. Monty catches some biscuits in his mouth, and the biscuits pile up inside his neck, cartoon-like, followed by Monty swallowing them down.


The rest of the instrumental is Mole, Tango, Boo and Flamingo dancing to the romantic tune, until, near to the end of it, pink cake cream floods the screen, leading us to the second verse:

MONTY

I ALSO LOVE CAKE, ITS CREAMY LAYER


Monty pops up in the creamy mess and licks all the cream off. He then licks some bits of cream off the screen, leading us to:


A LIVE ACTION CHOCOLATE CAKE BACKGROUND.


Monty glides past frame, chomping each and every cake slice, ala Pac-Man.

MONTY

AND ITS CHEWY, CHOCOLATEY YUM


Once the background is chewed up, it’s revealed to be a


FUTURISTIC NEON BLUE BACKGROUND


Six optional buttons appear on screen: one featuring a strawberry, one featuring a chocolate bar, one featuring a lemon, one featuring an orange, one featuring a slice of birthday cake and one featuring some cherries. Monty’s paw pops into frame and presses the birthday cake one, which takes up the entire screen.


MATCH DISSOLVE:


A YELLOW BACKGROUND


Confetti falls all around Monty as he wears a party hat and holds an entire vanilla flavoured birthday cake with white icing in his paws. He licks his lips and bites into the cake, causing vanilla icing to fly all over the screen.

MONTY

SOME CAKES COME IN ALL FLAVOURS

AND THEY’RE BETTER THAN CHEWING GUM


Monty licks the cream off the screen.


FLASHBACK:


INT. KITCHEN. DAY.


Puppy Monty waits eagerly for his dinner, until Mrs Sprott’s hand comes into frame with a bowl full of raw steak. He takes a bite out of it, and spits it out - YUCK!

MONTY

SOME PEOPLE GIVE THEIR DOGS MEAT

BUT I DON’T LIKE THAT STUFF


POP! The background explodes, and we see Monty playing his violin against the pink love heart background again, spinning slowly round and round, ala an anime boyfriend playing an instrument.

MONTY

I JUST LOVE YOU, CHOCOLATE BISCUITS,

AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS ENOUGH.


Monty throws the violin out of frame.


MATCH DISSOLVE:


INT. BBC KIDS HEADQUARTERS - KITCHEN. DAY.


Monty jumps up and grabs the biscuit tin. He opens the lid and sees a whole variety of cakes and biscuits inside, causing his mouth to water with delight.

MONTY

OH BBC KIDS BISCUIT TIN,

YOU’RE VERY SO HOT AND SWEET

AND RIGHT NOW, I WANT TO GRAB YOU

AND LOOK FOR SOMETHING TO EAT!


Monty takes a chocolate biscuit from the jar, and is just about to eat it when…

THE FOURTH DOCTOR

(O.S.)

Ahe-ahem!


Monty spins around to see


THE FOURTH DOCTOR


From Doctor Who, cooking some sausages in a frying pan on the stove.

THE FOURTH DOCTOR

I suppose you don’t want any dinner then, Monty. What a pity, because I have made some sausages for everyone today.


MONTY

Bring it on!


Monty places the biscuit tin back onto the counter and races up to the Fourth Doctor, who places a bowl full of well cooked sausages on the floor. Monty digs in, chuckling to himself heartily:

MONTY

Good old Fourth Doctor.


FADE TO BLACK.


THE END.