Numbertime is a BBC educational numeracy television series for primary schools that was aired on BBC Two from 20 September 1993 to 3 December 2001. For its first four series, it was presented by Lolita Chakrabarti. El Nombre, an animated character used throughout the series, eventually became the concept for his own educational BBC children's television program; his name means "The Name" in Spanish, and not "The Number", which would be "El Número". The third line of his opening song and his farewell catchphrase were also changed several times during the series' run, to reflect their focus - however, the original ones ("Writing numbers in the desert sand" which was also used for the seventh series, and "Adios amigos, and keep counting" which was also used for the fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth series) remain the most famous. For the second series, El Nombre's tagline and farewell catchphrase were changed to "Drawing shapes in the desert sand" and "Adios amigos, and keep shaping up" respectively, while for the third series, they were changed to "Righting wrongs in the desert sand" and "Adios amigos, over and out" respectively; however, for the fourth series, his tagline was changed to "Counting numbers in the desert sand" (which was also used for the ninth series), and for the third episode of the fourth series, his farewell catchphrase was changed to "Adios amigos, and fetch some water". For the fifth series, both his tagline and farewell catchphrase were changed to "Telling time in the desert sand" and "Adios amigos, 'till the next time" respectively, while for the sixth series, his tagline was changed to "Using numbers in the desert sand"; finally, for the eighth series, his tagline was changed to "Counting money in the desert sand".
Series 1: Numbers 1 to 10 (Autumn 1993) The first series, which is aimed at four- to five-year-olds, comprised ten episodes focusing on the numbers 1-10, in order; each episode opened with Lolita introducing herself to the viewer, and pulling the number for the episode off its string (which was hanging from the studio ceiling), then pushing it into its correct hole in a wall, and singing the main theme, One to Ten, as each of its holes lit up in turn, which was repeated throughout the programme. In between, there were comedy sketches (mostly based on nursery rhymes and fairy tales), and animations, the most famous involving El Nombre, the Mexican gerbil who parodied Zorro, showing little Juan how to draw numbers as his four-piece mariachi band played The Mexican Hat Dance (and said "Again!" once he had finished, as it gave them an excuse to play again), and a sequence encouraging the viewer to spot things of the number for each episode - it was the same video, with a different number of things each time (and a recurring song, Numbers All Around, which was sung by a group of children). Each episode ended with Lolita singing a song (or occasionally, introducing an animation), after which she would set viewers the challenge of looking for things in the number of the week's episode before saying that she would "see them next Numbertime". This series was originally aired on Mondays as part of the Daytime on Two strand at 9:45 am, and repeated at 2:00 pm on the same day; in Scotland, the 2:00 pm repeats were replaced with broadcasts of BBC Scotland's own schools series Over the Moon with Mr. Boom.
Episode 1: Number 1 (20 September 1993) The Narrator proudly presents Nursery Rhyme Theatre No. 1 - Little Miss Muffet with several interruptions, and Little Jack Horner has one minute to Find 1 Plum on Sammy Sallow's game show of the same name; if he succeeds, he can choose one prize - one mountain bike, or one computer, or one picture of Sallow. This episode also ends with One Finger, One Thumb, Keep Moving, which is sung by the group of children who sang Numbers All Around earlier on in it.
Episode 2: Number 2 (27 September 1993) The Narrator introduces Nursery Rhyme Theatre No. 2 with Marvo the Magician (and his Two Amazing Dickie Birds), and Sammy Sport reports on Jack and Jill's attempt to break the world record for the fastest time to run up a hill, fill a pail with water, and take it back down the hill again (under 2 minutes); this episode also ends with Lolita singing The Animals Went in Two by Two.
Episode 3: Number 3 (4 October 1993) Sammy Sport is joined by Baa-Baa Black Sheep for the results of the "Win a Bag of Wool" competition, while Goldilocks invites viewers to Guess Whose House (for Sammy Sallow's game show of the same name); the Numbertime Top Ten also brings the viewers, at No. 3, the ever-popular "Three-Sided Triangles", who sing an original song named We're Triangles (Oh Yes We Are).
Episode 4: Number 4 (11 October 1993) Farmer Giles introduces the finals of One Girl and Her Sheep at which Little Bo Peep and her dog Shep are competing, and the Knave of Hearts talks to the Queen of Hearts about her famous royal tarts; Lolita also tells the viewers to "grab their partners and take the floor" as she introduces a quartet of dancing squares, who sing an original song named Do the Square Dance.
Episode 5: Number 5 (18 October 1993) Australian chef Wally Bee (and his assistant, Bruce) attempt to show the viewers how to cook five fat sausages on a barbecue for Barbecue Time, and Harry Headline pays a visit to the home of the Five Pigs Family for Five Minutes' Fame; Little Juan also has his 5th birthday in this episode's El Nombre sketch, and this episode ends with Lolita singing Fly, Little Dickey Birds, Round and Round.
Episode 6: Number 6 (1 November 1993) A gardener named Fred enlists the help of his family in pulling up his enormous turnip for Garden Time, and Mr. and Mrs. Jones have to Take 6 Eggs on Sammy Sallow's game show of the same name and put them on either side of a seesaw to make it balance, for which they have three attempts to do so; this episode also ends with Lolita singing This Old Man in voiceover.
Episode 7: Number 7 (8 November 1993) Sammy Sport travels to Scotland to see a remarkable fishing contest between the famous Seven Fat Fishermen, to see which one of them can catch the biggest fish on a bridge on the banks of the Clyde, and ordering seven lots of fish and chips turns out to be more trouble than it is worth for the Shopkeeper and his Customer (who has got seven children, and they all want fish and chips); this episode also ends with Lolita singing In My Little Garden, Now Promise You Won't Laugh (also known as One Potato, Two Potato).
Episode 8: Number 8 (15 November 1993) Sammy Sport travels down to Shoeburyness to interview the Old Woman who Lives in a Shoe (who has 8 children), and the Policeman enlists the viewers' help in finding Wee Willie Winkie for Crime Spot; it is also evening in Little Juan's town in this episode's El Nombre sketch, and this episode ends with Lolita imagining what the world would be like if everything was eight-shaped as she visits the Planet of the Eights to sing an original song about it (and this is the only occasion in this series that she is not seen in her usual purple outfit, but a silver spacesuit).
Episode 9: Number 9 (22 November 1993) Lucky the Cat looks back over her nine lives, as she guests on This Is My Life, and Harry Headline comes to the garden of Miss Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, to look at the wonderful display of flowers for Garden Time; unfortunately, he ruins her chances of winning their "Best Flowers Competition", and she ends up coming ninth. This was also the only episode for this series to not end with a song - instead, Lolita shows the viewers a homemade necklace which has nine beads (three red, three blue, and three yellow), in reference to the episode's third animated sketch.
Episode 10: Number 10 (29 November 1993) Farmer Giles (and his dog, Scruff) show viewers a wonderful, new, and very quick way to mow a meadow for Farming News, and Sammy Sport travels to Ten Pin Alley to watch Ten Pin Pete attempt to become the new Ten Pin Champ; Lolita also shows the viewers ten Russian dolls, and this episode ends with Ten in the Bed (which is, again, sung by the group of children who sang Numbers All Around earlier on in it). Also, because this episode was the last in the series, Lolita did not tell the viewers that she would "see them next Numbertime".
Writer: Christopher Lillicrap Cast: Tony Bluto, Joanna Brookes, Regina Freedman, Jenny Jules, Andy McEwan, Mo Sesay El Nombre voices (uncredited): Sophie Aldred, Kate Robbins, Steve Steen Education Officer: Su Hurrell Music: Andrew Dodge Animation: Ealing Animation, Hedley Griffin, Peter Lang, Alan Rogers, Marcus Parker-Rhodes Film Camera: Nick Squires Film Sound: Eric Wisby, John Hooper Film Editor: Nick Hutchings Vision Mixers: Carol Abbott, Hilary Briegel Camera Supervisor: Eric Metcalfe Resource Co-ordinator: Roxanna White Studio Lighting: Bryn Edwards Studio Sound: Martin Deane Costume Design: Colin Lavers Make-up Design: Jane Walker Videotape Editor: John O'Connor Assistant Floor Manager: Sally Bates Production Manager: Oliver Cookson Production Assistants: Amarjit Ram, Hilary Hardaker Design: Bob Steer Executive Producer: Judy Whitfield Director: Andrea Christodoulou Series Producer: Clare Elstow © BBC Education MCMXCIII In 1994, BBC Enterprises (now BBC Worldwide) released a video entitled "Number Time" (BBCV 5359, and spelled with two words), containing sixty minutes of edited highlights from this series (it was the only one at the time); it was later rereleased as the second half of a "two-on-one" video in 1997 with the Words and Pictures "Alphabet Fun Time" video (BBCV 5357), which had originally been released at around the same time and contained fifty-eight minutes of highlights from that show's 1992 series (the "two-on-one" video in question was entitled "Alphabet Fun Time and Number Time", BBCV 5987, and it was rereleased in 1999). This series was later re-released in full as a "Video Plus Pack" in 1996 - only slightly altered to remove the episodes' opening titles. From 22 September to 1 December 1998, the BBC broadcast a "revised" version of this series as a lead-in to the sixth series; in place of Lolita, Bill (introduced in the fourth series) and Bernie (who joined him in the fifth one) introduced each episode with a number line of their own (however, Lolita's voice was still heard narrating some re-used animated sketches). All episodes except Numbers 1, 4 and 9 had the original live-action sketches replaced with the Dolls' House sketch (again, see Series 5), however in the episodes that retained the original live-action sketches, the prize scene in the Find One Plum sketch was cut, and the One Girl And Her Sheep sketch was omitted. The El Nombre sketches in the revised series were slightly lengthened, and sequences of children discussing the ten numbers (in the vein of those discussing the time-related concepts covered by the fifth series) were also introduced; although the Planet of the Eights sketch was also re-used, the vocal track was redubbed and Lolita was edited out of it. Whilst the Numbers All Around song sung by a group of children was retained in the revised series, the other two songs sang by them, the One Finger, One Thumb, Keep Moving song had the children forming the number one and shouting out it's number cut at the end of the song, and the Ten In The Bed song had a new video of the ten children in the bed whilst retaining the original song.
Numbers Plus (1994) A lively maths series, designed as a follow-on of the first series, featuring four colourful "clown-like" characters called Mo, Sappy, Grimble and Jick who live in a house together. A robot called Trundle narrates each episode and helps them with their maths. There are also animations and songs.
Episode 1: The Barbecue (10 January 1994) Mo, Sappy, Grimble and Jick decide to have a barbecue but first they add up how many people they're inviting to their barbecue and calculate what supplies are needed. They work out that sixteen guests and all four of themselves makes twenty people altogether. The gang learn to count in twos and fives, and Trundle shows the viewer a farmer who finds out how many sheep he has with the help of his sheepdog. Trundle naughtily knocks over the boxes of food which fall on top of Grimble and Jick rescues him but is so busy that she forgets to send out the invitations. In the end, it starts to rain so the gang decide to start the barbecue all over again tomorrow.
Episode 2: The Picnic (17 January 1994) It's a lovely day for picnic outdoors - and for an argument. The gang get an introduction to division by learning to share everything fairly and equally, whether that means getting a quarter of a pizza, half a can of drink, or one banana each. Grimble's in a right mood about it, but is put to shame by the tapirs, tamarins, and wild horses that Trundle shows at Marwell Zoo Park.
Episode 3: Sort It Out (24 January 1994) Mo takes the glass bottles to the bottle bank and leaves everybody else to sort out and clean up the house with Grimble in charge. Sappy, Grimble and Jick try to sort out the shopping by colour and then by shape. Trundle plays an odd one out game with the viewer at a Sainsbury's supermarket. When Mo comes back and sees the confusion, the gang put everything in the right places.
Episode 4: Is It, Isn't It? (31 January 1994) The gang learn about handling data as they open a pet shop. They try to ask people what their favourite animal is to put in their pet shop but they get it all wrong. Sappy asks the people the right question but doesn't write down the answers and Jick writes down the answers but asks the wrong question. So Grimble goes out to get it right but finds out that tigers are the world's favourite animal. So the gang have no choice but to close the pet shop down.
Episode 5: On With The Show (7 February 1994) The gang learn about the number one hundred as they put on a concert for one hundred people. They also learn to count in tens. Trundle shows the viewer that when someone is one hundred years old they get a birthday card from the Queen, one hundred years and runs in a game of cricket are called a century and that one hundred Roman soldiers were led by a man called a centurion. He also shows the viewer how people count the number of people in a football match, on a runaway train and in a school orchestra in special ways. Sappy in the end decides to conduct one hundred children.
Episode 6: On The Shelf (21 February 1994) The gang learn that everything's made to measure as Mo needs somewhere to keep her books, so Grimble and Jick decide to put up a shelf but they keep getting it a bit wrong. Trundle shows two boys who are tall and short as try to set up two goals, shows how wide goals are in sports and shows how the ancient Egyptians built pyramids using a cubit.
Episode 7: The Big Top (28 February 1994) The gang learn about weighing after Trundle sees a letter from a circus wanting a very light clown and wonders who is the lightest. The ringmaster gives some jobs for Mo, Sappy, Grimble and Jick to do. They clear up animal droppings, prepare hay, peanuts and greens for Big Ears (who they think is an elephant) as they weigh them first on a seesaw and mix up custard pies for the clown but Sappy and Jick don't use the scales to measure the weight of the ingredients. They soon find out that Big Ears is actually a rabbit and the ringmaster asks who of the gang is the lightest.
Episode 8: It's My Birthday! (7 March 1994) The gang learn about measuring time as they prepare for Grimble's birthday. Mo and Sappy go shopping for a green clock shaped birthday cake and a green alarm clock for Grimble as a birthday present and Jick makes a green jelly for Grimble. Trundle shows the viewer Big Ben and explains how monks used sand clocks which told them when to ring the monastery bell and how the ancient Romans used candles that burn down all the way to the bottom to measure time.
Episode 9: How Much? How Many? (14 March 1994) The gang want to buy some flowers, but first need to count their money and then work out what they can get for that amount. They are introduced to the different denominations of coins, how different combinations can be used, and the concept that a larger number of coins doesn't necessarily equate to a larger sum of money. Trundle shows the viewer a boy called Darren, who is blind and therefore has to identify coins using touch alone.
Episode 10: All Shapes And Sizes (21 March 1994) Mo, Sappy, Grimble, Jick and Trundle are stuck inside a board game called "Shape Master" as they find out about 2D and 3D shapes. They each have to find a shape in order to escape. Mo finds a cube, Sappy finds a cylinder, Grimble finds a pyramid and Jick finds a hexagon. Trundle explains show cubes and cuboids can easily be seen in buildings, how sticks of rock are made and how shapes like hexagons, squares, rectangles and diamonds tessellate together.
Cast: Nicola Blackman, Tony Marshall, Jefferson Clode, Nia Davies, Stephen Kemble & Roamer, Paul J. Reeve Written by: Christopher Lillicrap, Charles Way Education Officer: Su Hurrell Consultants: Mike Askew, Nick Morgan Music: Henry Marsh Graphic Designer: Iain Macdonald Animation: Kevin Wrench, Andrew Franks Visual Effects and Designer: Andy Lazell Designer: Andrée Welstead Hornby Director: Neil Ben Producer: Judy Brooks © BBC Education MCMXCIV
Series 2: Shapes (Spring 1995) The second series, which is again aimed at four- to five-year-olds, comprised five episodes, focusing on the four basic two-dimensional shapes; each episode would open with Lolita standing by a mobile with the four basic shapes hanging from it and singing the series' main theme, Squares and Triangles, Circles and Rectangles as the mobile began to turn. Once it had stopped turning, she would walk to the shape that was nearest to her, then ask the viewers if they knew what it was, before it lit up and she told them - and from this series onwards, El Nombre was given two sketches per episode (the first to show Juan instances of that week's shape around the town, with Juan being clumsy and getting confronted by the other villagers after El Nombre had left, and the second to draw it in the desert sand). This series also featured four cut-out animated characters made up from the shapes its episodes were focusing on (a circular man with magical powers, a square robot with transformation powers, a triangular knight with a magical lance and a rectangular man); in the last episode, they worked together to build a house (after the rectangular man built one entirely out of rectangles, and the square robot, triangular knight and circular man transformed them into their own shapes). Each episode would end with Lolita singing an "extended" version of a song that had been heard earlier in the episode during a montage of the shape around the real world (for the last one, she continued over the credits) and setting viewers the challenge of seeing how many of that week's shape they could find before the next episode. The first two episodes of this series were, again, originally aired as part of the Daytime on Two strand on Mondays at 9:45 am, but 8 May 1995 was the year's May Day, so its third episode was aired the following day; the last two episodes were also aired on Mondays.
Episode 11: Circles (24 April 1995) El Nombre shows Juan what a circle is (with a cart's wheel, a hoopla ring and a hoop with its stick), while a man named Terry introduces the world-famous "Ring a Ring o' Roses Formation Dance Team" (and their manager, Cynthia) on Come Prancing, and a prehistoric couple try to invent the round wheel (after the square and triangular ones) for their car for Great Moments in History; also, in this episode's second cut-out animated sketch, circular pawprints transform into a circular ladybird, a circular bird, a circular caterpillar (that becomes a circular butterfly), a circular fish which blows circular bubbles, a circular car which emits circular smoke from its circular exhaust, a circular man's head, and a circular bear (and in its CGI animated sketch, a circle gains two additional planes and proceeds to transform into a beach ball, a football, an orange and the planet Earth).
Episode 12: Squares (1 May 1995) El Nombre shows Juan what a square is (with the then-unnamed Pedro and Juanita's frame, the then-also-unnamed Señor Manuel and Señor Chipito's draughts board, The Maggot and Cactus saloon's sign and a blackboard), while Bobby Cube asks the Shape Spotters on Let's Shape Up to name the square by pointing out its distinguishing features, a square robot builds a square dog (which turns on him after catching his scent, but he scares it away by transforming into a much bigger square dog with a big square that he runs to and climbs up), and Jill Scoop reports on Old King Cole who is wanting his square bowl (after round, triangular and rectangular ones) for Newsdesk; also, for this episode's CGI animated sketch, the yellow square in the bottom-right of a gameboard rises out of it to become a cube and has the numbers 1-6 written on each of its sides (which proceed to transform into six groups of dots of those respective numbers as the cube becomes the dice in a game of Snakes and Ladders).
Episode 13: Triangles (9 May 1995) El Nombre shows Juan what a triangle is (with a musical triangle, a roadworks sign and a stepladder), while Aladdin finds the lamp with a triangle on it (after the ones with a circle and square on them) for his Uncle Abanazer, but he wastes its three wishes (one for each of the triangle's sides and corners) by turning Abanazer into a cat, and himself into a mouse, as well as making it disappear (which causes Abanazer to turn on him, but they both questioned why there was not a Genie in the lamp when asked); a triangular knight also sets out to slay a triangular dragon (but gets burned to a crisp the first attempt, and gets rained on along with the triangular dragon's fire getting put out the second attempt) while Bobby Cube asks the Shape Spotters on Let's Shape Up (who are the same ones from the previous episode, but have swapped positions) to identify the triangle (again, by pointing out its distinguishing features to them). Also, for this episode's CGI animated sketch, a triangle has a dotted line drawn inside it, then folds up to become a triangular-based pyramid, and rotates to show the numbers 1–4 on its sides as they light up before unfolding back into a triangle again.
Episode 14: Rectangles (15 May 1995) El Nombre shows Juan what a rectangle is (with a plank of wood, the cart's side and the then-still-unnamed Pedro and Juanita's piece of cardboard), while Sammy Shape pays a visit to Old Mother Hubbard's cottage to find out "what makes a rectangle a rectangle" for Shapewatch (which, like the Crime Spot sketch from the previous series, is a spoof of Crimewatch) and met by her dog (who, as in the nursery rhyme, wants a bone, but they find a rectangular biscuit instead), a rectangular man goes for a swim at a swimming pool (after walking up a staircase, taking an elevator and walking up another staircase), Humpty Dumpty is asked to identify the shape of one of the bricks in the wall he is sitting on (which he does just before he falls), and a woman named Jane keeps in touch with her grandmother by writing a rectangular letter, posting it into a postbox which has a rectangular slot and door, then arriving at her house after she receives it.
Episode 15: Shapes Together (22 May 1995) El Nombre helps Juan remember which shape is which (with the square frame, the circular hoop with its stick, a rectangular book and the triangular roadworks sign), while the rectangular man, the square robot, the triangular knight, and the circular man (who now has a circular body and a wheel for a foot) work together to build a house (after the rectangular man built one entirely out of rectangles, and the square robot, triangular knight and circular man transformed them into their own shapes) and show that "all different shapes work well together", Bobby Cube asks the Shape Spotters on Let's Shape Up to identify the "Shy Shapes" hiding in a cola can and Battenberg cake, and a rectangle folds up to become a hollow cylinder as two circles cover its ends and a second rectangle wraps itself around it as it becomes a can of baked beans; also, in this episode's second El Nombre sketch, Juan draws "El Nombre" (a square, rectangle, circle, and triangle stacked on top of each other), before drawing "the rope that hits him on the head and knocks him over". El Nombre then says that it has never happened to him - so Juan swings a rope at him, and tells him "It has now!". The sombrero-less El Nombre then chases Juan through the streets of the town to an extended version of his theme song (with the new tagline "Drawing shapes in the desert sand" at the end), but he never catches him; this is also the only old-style episode to only have one live-action sketch in it (rather than two or three).
Cast: Gary Beadle, Carolyn Bonnyman, Mike Hayley, Anastasia Mulrooney, René Zagger Written by: Christopher Lillicrap El Nombre voices (uncredited): Sophie Aldred, Kate Robbins, Steve Steen Music: Mark Blackledge, Andrew Dodge, Sue Herrod/Seán de Paor Animations: Baxter Hobbins Slides Ltd, Ealing Animation, Frameline, Alan Rogers & Peter Lang Studio Resources Manager: Steve Lowry Camera Supervisor: John Hoare Sound: Dave Goodwin Lighting Director: Geoff Beech Costume Design: Rosie Cheshire Make-up Design: Judith Gill-Dougherty Vision Mixer: Carol Abbott Assistant Floor Manager: Sally Bates Graphic Designer: Ellen Monaghan Set Designer: Eric Walmsley Videotape Editor: St. John O'Rorke Executive Producer: Stacey Adams Studio Director: Phil Chilvers Production Team: Debby Black, Su Hurrell Producer: Kristin Mason © BBC Education MCMXCV In 1996, both this series and the next series were released on VHS as "Video Plus Packs" by BBC Educational Publishing (now BBC Active); the following year, they were also rereleased together as a double "Video Plus Pack" named "Numbertime Shapes/Side by Side". After the corporate change in 1997, BBC Education's then-current Internet address (http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/) was superimposed onto the four shapes (a red circle, a green triangle, a yellow square and a blue rectangle) seen at the end of this series' episodes, as well as the thirteen episodes of the next two series; however, it was never added to the end of the first series' episodes.
Series 3: Side by Side (Autumn 1995, broadcast Spring 1996) Source: The third series (which is, once again, aimed at four- to five-year-olds) comprised five episodes, focusing on the concept of prepositions; each episode would open with Lolita singing the series' main theme, Under, Over, Everywhere (the mobile from the previous series was also visible in the background, but it now had an apple, three stickmen, a rainbow, a cloud with a hot-air balloon, a sun, a snake, a spider and a snail hanging from it). In this series, Juan gained three new friends named Pedro Gonzales, Juanita Conchita, and Maria Consuela Tequila Chiquita (Pedro and Juanita had also previously appeared in the second series), as well as a pet tarantula named Tanto - and each episode would end with Lolita reciting a rhyme or singing a song (but that in the second episode was an extended version of one that had been heard in voiceover earlier in the episode during an animated sketch about a fox). A sketch in the second episode of this series also parodied EastEnders as "GreenGrocers"; this was also the first series to credit the El Nombre voice actors at the end of its last episode (Sophie Aldred, who had played Ace on Doctor Who as well as one of the presenters of Words and Pictures, Spitting Image impressionist Kate Robbins, who had also voiced Jemima Wellington-Green on Round the Bend, and Steve Steen, who had played Lord Byron in Ink and Incapability, the second episode of Blackadder the Third). Although this series was made in Autumn 1995, it was not broadcast until 28 February 1996. This series and the next one were originally aired on Wednesdays in the Daytime on Two strand at 10:25 am; this series also premiered after a rerun of the second one finished, and the next one premiered when Daytime on Two returned after a two-week Easter break.
Episode 16: Up, Down, On, and Off (28 February 1996) Juan does not have anything to do for the school concert so El Nombre tells him that he can recite Incy Wincy Spider with Tanto, a bear flies a kite (but it comes down in a tree, so he has to climb it to retrieve it), a window cleaner is annoyed by the incompetence of her colleague, Juan recites Incy Wincy Spider at the school concert (but Tanto will not come down the drainpipe, so El Nombre has to coax him) and three clowns named Boris, Doris and Ethel compete to see which one can raise the biggest laugh in Give Us a Giggle.
Episode 17: In Front of, Behind, Before, and After (6 March 1996) Juan wants to take a photograph of himself and Mama together (but cannot because he is behind the Polaroid), an engine driver pulls some wagons behind (but the coupling snaps when he goes up a hill, so when they roll back down they are in front of him, and he has to signal for the driver of a second engine to help him), Jack and Jill must take Farmer Giles's horse and cart to market in Happy Ever After, a fox hides in his secret lair to escape a hunt (accompanied by a rhyme from Lolita in voiceover), Juan still does not have a photograph of himself and Mama together (so El Nombre takes it himself and blows himself up in the process), and the proprietor of GreenGrocers tries to get his four customers of the day to stand behind his stall and form a proper queue (until he gets upstaged by a toy salesman).
Episode 18: Under, Over, On Top of, and Beneath (13 March 1996) Juan cannot score a goal past Pedro so El Nombre (who is not seen in his usual outfit in this episode, but what would later become Santo Flamingo United's strip) tells him to kick the ball over him, Princess Perfect wants a bed fit for a princess (in the sense of not being able to feel a pea under the mattress), a tortoise named Toby goes to a party but cannot get over the hedge to it (unlike the four other guests of a bird, a frog, a squirrel and a rabbit, but the last of them tells him to go under the hedge instead), Pedro is standing on a stool so Juan again cannot score past him (until El Nombre tells him to kick the ball under him, and when Pedro objects, they reduce the size of the goal, but El Nombre whispers to Juan to kick the ball to one side of Pedro before he leaves), and the Cow (of Hey Diddle Diddle) is scared of having to jump over the Moon (so the Little Dog volunteers the Dish instead, but he suggests running under it).
Episode 19: Beside, Around, and Between (20 March 1996) Mama wants to go to Hurrell's store but there is a hole in the ground in front of it (so El Nombre and Juan tell her to walk around it), a doll pushes three building blocks with the numbers 1–3 on them together (but a breakdown-truck-driving clown accidentally crashes into them and scatters them, so he has to help her rearrange them again), Darren and Sharon Jam cannot make a mutual decision on where to put their new table on Lucky Lottery Winners, Mama has come out of Hurrell's store (but cannot help thinking there is another way around the hole, so El Nombre tells her that if she is brave like him, she can jump across it, but when he falls down it, she opts to go around it again instead), and Lord and Lady Posh give instructions to their gardener, Jarvis, on where he has to plant their roses and daisies.
Episode 20: In, Out, and Through (27 March 1996) Juan has lost Tanto so El Nombre helps him and Mama to find him, the bear from the first episode tries to boil a saucepan of water over a fire but its bottom is missing, a magician turns her volunteer's watch and keys into an alarm clock and one big key, and two burglars named Bob and Bert break into a sweet shop and eat all the sweets but grow too fat to escape through the window so they get caught by a policeman named PC Nabb; from this point onwards, El Nombre also returned to one sketch per episode (except for in Episodes 21 and 26).
Cast: Anthony Barclay, Laura Brattan, Joanna Brookes, Paul Cawley, Simon Corris, Chris Emmett, Mike Hayley, Brian Miller, Anastasia Mulrooney, Issy Van Randwyck, Elisabeth Sladen Written by: Andrew Bernhardt El Nombre written by: Christopher Lillicrap El Nombre voices: Sophie Aldred, Kate Robbins, Steve Steen Music: Mark Blackledge, Andrew Dodge Animations: Baxter Hobbins Slides Ltd, Ealing Animation, Malcolm Hartley, Alan Rogers and Peter Lang Studio Resources Manager: Steve Lowry Camera Supervisor: Roger Goss Sound: Dave Goodwin Lighting Director: Chris Kempton Vision Mixer: Carol Abbott Assistant Floor Manager: Jane Litherland Costume Design: Rosie Cheshire Make-Up Designer: Judith Gill-Dougherty Graphic Designer: Ellen Monaghan Set Designer: Gina Parr Videotape Editor: St. John O'Rorke Education Officer: Su Hurrell Studio Director: Phil Chilvers Production Team: Debby Black, Jane Straw Producer: Kristin Mason © BBC MCMXCV
Series 4: More or Less (Spring/Summer 1996) The fourth series, which is aimed at five- to six-year-olds, comprised eight episodes focusing on the concepts of "more than" (addition) and "less than" (subtraction); each episode would open with Lolita singing the series' main theme, More or Less, in a studio filled with pillars. This series introduced the character of Bill (voiced by Paul Cawley), a green bird who could swallow and regurgitate almost any object whole - and from the fifth series onwards, he was joined by a purple cat named Bernie (voiced by Laura Brattan), later going on to appear at the beginning of each "revised" first-, sixth- and seventh-series episode. This series also featured a toad named Test, who would hop along the heads of fifteen multicoloured people lined up to form a numberline by the amounts its episodes were focusing on (they all wore red jumpers with the numbers 1–15 on them, but when Test was on their heads, the colour of their jumpers would change to green); each episode would end with Lolita singing a song (for the last one, she again continued over the credits, and it was also her final appearance, but because she did not know that she would be relieved of her presenting duties back then, she still told the viewers that she would "see them next Numbertime"). Two sketches in the first and seventh episodes of this series also parodied Percy Thrower and Sir David Attenborough as "Percy Grower" and "David Attencoat", while a third one in the third episode parodied Surprise, Surprise as "What a Surprise" (with Cinderella receiving a surprise visit from her Fairy Godmother) - and the Bill sketches of the second and sixth episodes also featured an enormous (but unnamed) beetle who chased after Bill after putting his feet into the eight wellingtons he regurgitated (in the second episode) and fell on top of him after pulling his last two wellingtoned legs up off a wall he was standing in front of (in the sixth episode), while the fourth episode featured a "female" version of Bill who fell on top of him after he shook twenty mangoes off a tree. In the El Nombre sketches of the seventh and last episodes, Juan had his fifth birthday for the second time (only this time, Pedro, Juanita and Maria all brought him an extra candle for his cake because he was one year older, so he ended up with eight), and El Nombre's town gained a female mayor who also happened to be a balloon seller named Señora Fedora.
Episode 21: One More (17 April 1996) A little old woman, a little old man and their little old cat enlist the help of one more friend (the Little Old Mouse) to help pull up their enormous turnip for Growing Bigger, Little Juan needs to play two cymbals (not one), Test hops from 3 to 7, contestant Sharon plays Find One More in order to win two prizes the same, Bill adds four flowers together and Juan needs to hit the cymbals one more time (to make four hits); also, in this episode's second animated sketch, a rather slow butterfly tries to keep up with his much faster friends, but when he joins them on a tree, he causes the branch they are standing on to break under their weight and they all fly away.
Episode 22: Two More (24 April 1996) Freda Fantastic from Fantastic Fairytales presents The Elves and the Shoemaker, Little Juan and El Nombre juggle with seven of Mama's tomatoes which they shouldn't play with, Test hops from 7 to 13, Fred Fantastic of Fantastic Fairytales presents The Frog Prince, and Bill adds together eight wellingtons which belong to an enormous beetle (and when the beetle puts his feet into them, he chases after him); also, in this episode's second animated sketch, Noah will not let a mammoth come onto the Ark because there is only one of him, so he disguises himself as a pair of bears with two puppets and a tarpaulin, but he quickly gets discovered by Noah again.
Episode 23: Three More (1 May 1996) A ladybird's nine babies and three extra are saved from a fire that's really smoke from her husband Arnold's barbecue, Little Juan and his friends are about to have Mama's very hot chili with tacos but there are only three chairs, Test hops from 2 to 8, Fairy Godmother presents What a Surprise with some surprising results for Cinderella, and Bill puts twelve books up on a shelf which ends with the shelf falling down under the books' weight; also, in this episode's second animated sketch, a kiwi notices his (three-toed) footprints in the sand and tries to count them, but finds it too hard to count in threes and eventually gives up by running away from the camera.
Episode 24: Five More (8 May 1996) Snow White goes to the Wild Wood Takeaway and gets seven Good Fairy Cakes (declining cashier Grimbleshanks' first offer, Toad Burgers) for the dwarves' tea as it is Dopey's birthday, Little Juan accidentally blows Juanita's balloon up five more times which then bursts, Test hops from 1 to 11, Jack's mother will not let him climb up the beanstalk as it only has ten leaves on it (and it needs fifteen to get her to change her mind), and Bill shakes twenty mangoes off a tree which ends with a "female" version of himself falling on top of him; also, in this episode's second stop-motion animated sketch, a Tyrannosaurus Rex plans to eat a small Triceratops, but gets scared away when five larger Triceratopses, followed up by another five more behind them, suddenly appear behind their friend to protect him.
Episode 25: One Less (15 May 1996) A magician makes six red balls disappear one at a time, Little Juan and his friends play musical chairs but they all have a chair to sit on, Test hops from 12 to 8, Carlotta Bottle tries to sing Ten Green Bottles but the bottles "don't-a fall-a" because property master Reg is not on hand to knock them down, and Bill eats three apples off a tree which ends with the branch he is standing on breaking under his weight and the zero he was displaying hitting him on the head; also, in this episode's second animated sketch, three dogs wait to be picked by prospective new owners at a pet shop (when there is only one remaining, he does a dance with a hat and cane to pass the time).
Episode 26: Two Less (22 May 1996) Rebecca Testament reports for Numbertime News and interviews Mr. Noah and one of his sons, Ham, who used to have only six animals on the ark (two elephants, two lions and two doves), Little Juan and Tanto set out to get two melons for Mama's pie ("Melon Surprise") as a surprise but Señor Manuel the greengrocer has to save two of his melons for a special customer, Test hops from 10 to 4, a woman wins two coconuts and then another two coconuts from a total of eight on a shy, Bil