Potamus Park
Potamus Park is a British pre-school television programme that ran on CITV in the United Kingdom between 1995 and 2002, and on the Disney Channel in the United States in 2005. The show centred on a small family of hippopotamuses, Herbie, Hippy, Hazel and Hinkley, this show was sponsored by Hippo Fromage Frais and was filmed at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, England.[1]
| Potamus Park | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Christopher Noulton John Lee Paul Cole |
| Voices of | Simon Buckley Philip Eason Rusty Goffe Atalanta Harmsworth Stroma Inglis Mark Jefferis Nikki Mclnnes Nigel Plaskitt Jo Manning Wilson |
| Opening theme | "(We're On Our Way To) Potamus Park" by Geoff Robinson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 75 |
| Production | |
| Producers | John Lee Chris Noulton for ITV Central |
| Production location | Pinewood Studios |
| Running time | 10 minutes per episode (approx.) |
| Production companies | Carlton UK Productions, Zoo Gang Productions, Central Television |
| Distributor | Carlton Communications, Nelvana |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV (TV network) CITV |
| Original release | 1995 – 2002 |
Characters
Characters featured included Ticker, (a bird,) Got To Guess, (a blue creature that used sign language to communicate) and Mindy and Mo (two Moles who live in a water well and use a bucket as a lift whenever the hippopotamuses need help). Every episode was introduced by three anthropomorphic flowers, who would explain whatever is to come or what may have been happening in the episode.
Series 1 - (1996)
- Pleased To Meet You (By Paul Cole) - 3 January 1996
- How Does Your Garden Grow? (By Paul Cole) - 10 January 1996
- Litter Bug (By Paul Cole) - 17 January 1996
- Over The Counter (By Paul Cole) - 24 January 1996
- Recipe For Success (By Paul Cole) - 31 January
- Name That Tune ? 7 - February 1996
- Do It Yourself (By Paul Cole) 14 - February 1996
- Too Hot For Hippos ? 21 - February 1996
- Happy Hippos ? 28 - February 1996
- Crazy Golf (By Paul Endacott) 6 - March 1996
- This Is Where We Live ? 10 - September 1996
- Gone Fishing ? 17 - September 1996
- Spring Clean ? 24 - September 1996
- Let's Pretend ? 1 - October 1996
- Picture This ? 8 - October 1996
- Hungry Hippos (By Wayne Jackman) 15 - October 1996
- I Spy (By Nigel Crowle) 22 - October 1996
- Keeping Fit (By Paul Cole) 29 - October 1996
- Nothing Doing (By Peter Corey) 5 - November 1996
- You Must Be Joking (By Peter Corey) 12 - November 1996
- Secrets (By Wayne Jackman) 19 - November 1996
- Nice To Be Nice (By Paul Cole) 26 - November 1996
- Got To Guess Goes Missing (By Wayne Jackman) 3 - December 1996
- Ticker Takes Off (By David Treloar) 10 - December 1996
- The Show Must Go On (By Peter Corey) 17 - December 1996
Series 2 - (1997-1998)
- Dressing Up ? 28 - January 1997
- Things That Go Bump In The Night ? 4 - February 1997
- Every Mole Has His Day ? 11 - February 1997
- Lonely Bird ? 18 - February 1997
- I Talk To The Trees (By Paul Cole) 25 - February 1997
- Bedtime Story (By Paul Cole) 4 - March 1997
- Buried Treasure (By Paul Cole) 11 - March 1997
- Mums Day Off (By Paul Cole) 18 - March 1997
- Home Again (By Paul Cole) 25 - March 1997
- Bookworm (By Paul Cole) 18 - September 1997
- Where Shall We Go ? 25 - September 1997
- Turn and Turn About ? 2 - October 1997
- If At First ? 9 - October 1997
- Bits and Bobs ? 16 - October 1997
- We Have No Bananas ? 23 - October 1997
- Abracadabra ? 30 - October 1997
- Wash Day Blues ? 6 - November 1997
- If Only ? 13 - November 1997
- Doctor Doctor ? 20 - November 1997
- Do Your Best ? 27 - November 1997
- Hip Hippo Ray Day (By Paul Cole) 4 - December 1997
- Different (By Nigel Plaskitt) 11 - December 1997
- Invitations To The Dance (By Paul Cole) 18 - December 1997
- Winning The Race ? 6 - January 1998
- Ticker Tells All (By Paul Cole) 8 - January 1998
- Early One Morning (By Paul Cole) 13 - January 1998
- Table Manners (By Paul Cole) 15 - January 1998
Video Tapes
Various episodes of the series were released on VHS by Carlton Video in the United Kingdom.
| Title | Release Date |
|---|---|
| Pleased To Meet you VL 1 | 1996 |
| This Is Where We Live VL 2 | 1996 |
| Name That Tune Vl 3 | 1996 |
| Hungry Hippos VL 4 | 1997 |
| Secrets VL 5 | 1997 |
| Dressing Up | 1999 |
| Buried Treasure | 1999 |
| Abracadabra | 1999 |
| Bedtime Story | 2000 |
| Where Shall We Go? | 2000 |
| Hip Hippo Ray Day’’ | 2001 |
| ‘’Gold Collection’’ | 2001 |
Trivia
Carlton Home Video issued many video cassettes in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Although the television series was genuinely well received, ITV decided to cut the series in 1999 due to the rival show Bananas In Pyjamas, which received higher ratings. Even though the series ended in 1999, CITV continued to air repeated television programmes into the early 2000s.