The Ragdoll Story

The Ragdoll Story

by Akhil Kandkur

© 2018 Scholastic Productions, Ragdoll, and BBC Published on November 18, 2018

The Ragdoll Story

by Akhil Kandkur

Ragdoll Productions are made in United Kingdom.

Chapters Chapter 1: In the Beginning

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Chapter 2: 1980s – The Early Years

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Chapter 3: The Ragdoll Shop Chapter 4: 1990s

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Chapter 5: Company Expansion

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Chapter 6: 2000s

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Chapter 7: 2010s

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Chapter 8: New Era for Ragdoll Chapter 9: Today

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Chapter 1 In the Beginning

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Anne came from a working class background. She was born in Spennymoor, County Durham and grew up in a small coal mining village nearby. Encouraged by loving parents to develop her talents she qualified as a secondary school teacher and one of her early missions was to encourage her pupils to read.

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In 1965 Anne founded a quarterly magazine – Books for your Children. Such was the success of this that circulation became nationwide and Anne was invited by both book publishers and TV companies to consult on content for children culminating in a job as a children’s TV producer first for Tyne Tees Television and then Yorkshire TV (producing The Book Tower). Finally, in 1981, Anne was invited to create a children’s department for the newly launched TVAM and Roland Rat was created. This anarchical character, with mis-spelt captions and chaotic interviews, satirising the serious content of the breakfast show, proved hugely popular with children and their parents and began to reverse the declining ratings for the station. Concurrently, Anne filled Sunday mornings with an innovative one-hour magazine programme for young children, Rub-a-Dub-Tub. Following a change of management at TVAM, cost-cutting measures were introduced resulting in children’s programming being entirely imported cartoons with live links from the studio. Under these circumstances, there was no possibility of Anne’s contract being renewed so she left and the idea of starting her own independent production company was born in 1984.

With her background in education and publishing, and as a mother herself, Anne was committed to the development of young children, capturing their imaginations through fantasy and play. So it was natural that the inspiration for the name Ragdoll came from a much loved and well-worn ragdoll called Jemima – the proud possession of daughter Katherine Wood. As part of the Wood family, Jemima had featured in many imaginary and real adventures and, as such, had to have various makeovers from grandmother to avoid disintegration. Jemima was never beautiful, but always had great spirit and still has pride of place in the family today.

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Chapter 2 1980s – The Early Years

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The first creation of the new company was broadcast from 1985 to 1988. He was a sort of ‘goblin baby’ who lived in the TV and interrupted normal transmission. Pob knocked on the back of the screen and then introduced himself by writing his name on the screen. He created his programme by interacting with his special adult guests. Guests for the series included fans of Pob such as Spike Milligan. This was Ragdoll’s first collaboration with skilled puppeteer Robin Stevens. Robin went on to work as Jim in Rosie and Jim, Tom in Tots TV and co-created Boohbah.

Meanwhile, Ragdoll had been asked to produce Playbox, a pre-school educational series for Central TV. The 34 x 15 minute programmes were first shown on ITV from October 1988 and proved something of a watershed for Ragdoll in that it demonstrated the need for the company to create and own its own characters.

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From the mid eighties Ragdoll continued to produce a series of collaborative programmes.

The Magic Mirror (ITV) – Animated fairy tales a showcase for new animators. 13 episodes x 15 minutes. Broadcast December 1989.

Boom! (Channel 4) – Programme featuring children with special needs. 20 episodes x 15 minutes. Broadcast March 1990 (series 1) and February 1991 (series 2).

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Chapter 3 The Ragdoll Shop

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In 1992, Ragdoll moved to Stratford-upon-Avon and took over a refurbished antique shop in Chapel Street. The upper accommodation became offices and the ground floor area became a fully fledged shop – with a difference. Two thirds of the shop became play areas for children and the rest dedicated to the sale of Ragdoll merchandise to help cover the costs of operating the unit.

The Ragdoll Shop quickly established itself on the Stratford tourist map. Unfortunately its huge popularity proved to be its downfall. There was no room for further expansion and numerous efforts to find new premises failed. The Ragdoll Shop finally closed its doors in 2005.

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Chapter 4 1990s

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Rosie and Jim

Brum

Tots TV

Rosie and Jim (ITV) – Puppet characters Rosie and Jim explore the world from a much loved narrow boat The Ragdoll traversing the canals of the UK. Series 1 and 2: 50 episodes x 15 minutes; Series 3-8: 125 episodes x 10 minutes. Series broadcast between September 1990 and January 2000.

Brum (BBC) – An independent real miniature car tackles wrongdoing in the big city (Birmingham). Series 1 and 2: 26 episodes x 10 minutes; Series 3: 40 episodes x 10 minutes.

Series broadcast between September 1991 and September 2001.

Tots TV (ITV/BBC) – Puppet friends Tilly (French speaking), Tom and Tiny share their own small cottage (specifically built on location in Warwickshire) and learn how to live together.

Series 1: 36 episodes x 15 minutes; Series 2-8: 240 episodes x 10 minutes. US versions: 66 episodes x 30 minutes; Classics: 20 episodes x 10 minutes.

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Teletubbies Open a Door (BBC) – Collaboration with overseas broadcasters in worldwide locations.

Initiated by Ragdoll it features small children leaving their home and encountering the world where they are before returning home. 53 episodes x 5 minutes. Four series shown in the UK between January 1994 and October 2003.

Teletubbies (BBC) – The most famous of all Ragdoll’s programmes. Tinky Winky, Dipsy, La-La and Po are technological babies living in their own technological Super Dome ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’. The series was co-created with artist and writer Andrew Davenport. It became BBC Worldwide’s biggest export and was translated into 45 languages. Complete series: 365 episodes x 30 minutes, broadcast between March 1997 and April 1999. Teletubbies Everywhere: 52 episodes x 10 minutes, broadcast February 2002.

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Chapter 5 Company Expanision

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The Ragdoll Foundation The Ragdoll Foundation was set up in 2000, originally owning a stake in the Ragdoll Company. It now operates independently. Please visit www.ragdollfoundation.org.uk Ragdoll Stateside In the early days of the company, Anne’s cold calling on US broadcasters and distributors became legendary. She was always received with polite respect for the modest Ragdoll catalogue, but the enthusiasm was never transformed into deals until Tots TV with its unique ability to feature a second language and Teletubbies were both shown on the PBS network. Following the creation of the joint venture between Ragdoll and BBC Worldwide in 2006 to form Ragdoll Worldwide, it was a natural progression in 2008 for Ragdoll to merge its North American team with the children’s division at BBC Worldwide in New York. This further strengthened the management of the Ragdoll portfolio in the US and Canada.

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Chapter 6 2000s

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Badjelly the Witch

Boohbah

Badjelly the Witch (BBC) – Animated adaptation of the Spike Milligan story. Two versions 29 and 48 minutes in length. Broadcast Christmas 2000.

Boobah (ITV) – Storytelling programme focusing on movement. 104 episodes x 20 minutes.

21 episodes x 10 minutes. Broadcast April 2003.

Blips (ITV) – Comedy around the character of Mr Perfect who frequently gets things wrong.

13 episodes. Broadcast September 2005.

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In the Night Garden In the Night Garden (BBC) – From a concept by Anne Wood, the programme was created and written by Andrew Davenport who also composed the music. The programme was narrated

by Sir Derek Jacobi. It was designed especially to be a calming programme with gentle characters who are especially suited to bedtime. 100 episodes x 30 minutes. Broadcast March 2007.

Tronji (BBC) – Tronji blended live-action and real children with a computer-genereated environment, involved two worlds that co-existed. The series was pioneering as one of the first to be accompanied by an interactive website and a 3D multi-player game site. 30 episodes x 30 minutes. Broadcast May 2009.

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Chapter 7 2010s

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Dipdap (BBC) – A naïve 2D animated character, follows a line drawn live on screen by Steve Roberts. The line is a continual source of silly fun and surprises. 52 x 3 minutes. Broadcast January and November 2011. Dipdap App launched March 2013.

The Adventures of Abney & Teal (BBC) – Beautifully drawn and illustrated by artist Joel Stewart the world of these characters is set apart on an island in the middle of a lake in an urban park.

52 x 11 minutes. Broadcast September 2011.

2013 – The Ragdoll programme catalogue was sold to the Canadian production and distribution company DHX Media. The Ragdoll company was not sold and still continues in the hands of Anne’s son Christopher Wood with Anne retaining influence as Creative Director.

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Chapter 8 New Era for Ragdoll

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In September 2013 Canadian Company DHX Media acquired all the rights to Ragdoll Programmes, including Teletubbies but with the exception of Pob. This deal enabled Ragdoll to finance new productions starting with Twirlywoos in 2015.

Please note that any new version of past Ragdoll programmes (e.g. Teletubbies) will be produced by DHX Media and are no longer connected to Ragdoll.

All enquiries should be referred to DHX Media. www.dhxmedia.com

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Chapter 9 Today

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Twirlywoos

Ragdoll’s focus continues to be on the world of young children as demonstrated by our new programme Twirlywoos. Ragdoll’s work always has underlying educational concepts and for Twirlywoos we decided to make these more evident by collaborating with Professor Cathy Nutbrown, Specialist in Early Years Education. The result is a programme that even more directly relates to children’s own experiences as seen through the eyes of four characters who know far less than their audience.

Following the success of Dipdap, Twirlywoos was created by Anne Wood and Steve Roberts and it has the same sense of silly fun.

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Chapter 10 Ragdoll/BBC Productions

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List of Programs: Pob's Programme Playbox Rosie and Jim Brum Open a Door Tots TV Teletubbies Badjelly the Witch Blips What Makes Me Happy In the Night Garden...

Tronji Dipdap The Adventures of Abney & Teal Twirlywoos

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Anne Wood is the Founder of the Ragdoll Production. Some Programs are produced for BBC. In the US, Teletubbies has Ragdoll/BBC Production for PBS. scholastic.com/store