Charlie has a little sister named Lola; he describes her as "small and very funny". Lola often gets caught up in situations that she (inadvertently) causes, whether it's running out of money at the zoo and having to borrow Charlie's[2] to forgetting her entire suitcase when having a sleepover at a friend's house.[3] These situations are sometimes comedic but often reflect real world problems that younger children may face, such as losing a best friend,[4] not getting the preferred part in a school play,[5] or becoming too excited about an upcoming event and accidentally ruining it.[6]
When these situations happen, Charlie usually ends up having to solve her problems through imaginative or creative methods, or by explaining to Lola where she went wrong. This is particularly demonstrated in the debut episode, "I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato", where Charlie pretends that her least favourite foods (such as carrots, mashed potatoes, fish fingers, and tomatoes) are more fantastical items in order to encourage her to eat them, such as 'orange twiglets from Jupiter' and 'ocean nibblers from the supermarket under the sea'.[7] This may encourage young children to eat particular healthy foods that would otherwise come across as undesirable to them.
In many episodes, Lola's best friend Lotta, Lola's imaginary friend Soren Lorenson, and Charlie's best friend Marv become involved in some way or another. Although adults are mentioned through dialogue, none of them are ever shown or heard.
Charlie Sonner (voiced by Jethro Lundie-Brown in Series 1, Daniel Mayers in Series 2, and Oriel Agranoff in Series 3) is the imaginative and helpful 7-year-old brother of Lola. He has platinum blond hair like Lola. Charlie is often asked to look after Lola, and he sometimes has to think of creative ways to keep her busy. He often breaks the fourth wall by talking about Lola to the viewers.
Lola Sonner (voiced by Maisie Cowell in Series 1, Clementine Cowell in Series 2, and Holly Callaway in Series 3) is an imaginative and quirky 4-year-old girl.[8] Lola is the younger sister of Charlie and is best friends with Lotta. She is described by her brother Charlie as "small and very funny". She normally wears blue butterfly hairpins and has short blonde hair. She likes playing, is often a drama queen, and has an imaginary friend named Soren Lorenson.[9]
Marv Lowe (voiced by Ryan Harris) is Charlie's best friend. He has a younger brother named Morten and an older brother named Marty. Marv has a dachshund named Sizzles (wordplay on the type of dog, a "sausage dog") and a pet mouse named Squeak.
Lotta (voiced by Morgan Gayle) is Lola's best friend, who is African-British and has black curly hair. After meeting at school, they became friends quickly and spend a lot of time together. Lotta usually follows Lola's lead, and is in awe of Charlie, Marv, and Sizzles.
Soren Lorenson (voiced by Stanley Street) is Lola's imaginary friend, rendered as monochrome and translucent. When Lola and Soren Lorenson are playing, he is rather detailed (has the look of a real person only grey and translucent). When someone interrupts them (such as Charlie), he still has detail but becomes more unknown.
Minor
Minnie Reader (voiced by Katie Hedges) is a girl in Lola and Lotta's class. She wears glasses and likes guinea pigs and ponies. Minnie is often seen with Evie.
Morten Lowe (voiced by Macauley Keeper) is Marv's younger brother and a friend of Lola's. He is quite shy but once he starts to play, he's a lot of fun.
Arnold Wolf (voiced by Eoin O'Sulivan) is Lola's neighbour. He is only featured in some episodes. In "I Am Extremely Absolutely Boiling", Arnold drops Lola's ice cream, causing Lola to become furious at him and not be friends with him, but he makes it up to her by letting her use his paddling pool.[10]
Evie (voiced by Lara Mayers) is a girl in Lola and Lotta's class. She has red hair which she wears in pigtails. She also wears a skirt, a long-sleeved shirt and striped tights.
Mum and Dad are Charlie and Lola's parents. Like all other adult characters, they are never seen, but mentioned.
Granny and Grandpa are Charlie and Lola's grandparents. Granny paints for a hobby, while it appears that Grandpa is good with horses. Like all other adult characters, they are referred to but are never seen.
Animation style
The television series uses a collage style of animation which captures the style of the original books. 2D Flash animation, paper cutout, fabric design, real textures, photomontage, and archive footage are all employed and subsequently animated in the software applications Adobe Animate, ToonBoom, Adobe Flash, Adobe After Effects, and CelAction2D.[11]
The series is also notable for its use of children rather than adult voice actors as well as not showing adults, both techniques pioneered by the Peanuts television specials.
Release
Distribution
On 14 December 2004, Tiger Aspect Productions signed a licensing and distribution deal with BBC Worldwide (later BBC Studios) for the series.
On 12 October 2023, Banijay Kids & Family acquired the distribution rights to the series from BBC Studios.[12]
Home releases
Charlie and Lola 1 – 13 February 2006
Charlie and Lola 2 – 22 May 2006
Charlie and Lola 3 – 4 September 2006
Charlie and Lola 4 – 6 November 2006
Charlie and Lola 5 – 5 March 2007
Charlie and Lola 6 – 28 May 2007
Charlie and Lola: The Absolutely Complete Series 1 (box set of DVDs 1–4) – 13 August 2007
Charlie and Lola: The Absolutely Complete Series 1 (in metal lunch box) – 10 September 2007
Charlie and Lola 7 – 24 September 2007
Charlie and Lola 8 – 19 November 2007
Charlie and Lola 9 (I Really, Really Need Actual Ice Skates and Other Stories) – 27 October 2008
Charlie and Lola: The Absolutely Complete Series 2 (box set of DVDs 5–8) – 10 November 2008
Charlie and Lola 10 (I Can't Stop Hiccupping! and Other Stories) – 23 February 2009
Charlie and Lola 11 (Everything is Different and Not the Same) – 12 October 2009
Charlie and Lola: The Absolutely Complete Series 3 (box set of DVDs 9–11) – 28 June 2010
Charlie and Lola – The Absolutely Complete Collection (box set of all 11 DVDs) – 29 November 2010
In the United States and Canada, volumes 4 and 5 are reversed, as well as volumes 9 and 11, but volume 9 is titled "What Can I Wear for Halloween?" instead of "Everything is Different and Not the Same".
^Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 43. ISBN9781476672939.
^"Please May I Have Some of Yours?". Charlie and Lola. Series 2. Episode 15. 9 October 2006. CBeebies.
^"I Must Take Completely Everything". Charlie and Lola. Series 1. Episode 21. 5 December 2005. CBeebies.
^"My Best Best Bestest Friend". Charlie and Lola. Series 2. Episode 9. 3 July 2006. CBeebies.
^"There is Only One Sun and That is Me!". Charlie and Lola. Series 1. Episode 5. 11 November 2005. CBeebies.
^"This is Actually My Party". Charlie and Lola. Series 2. Episode 5. 22 May 2006. CBeebies.
^"I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato". Charlie and Lola. Series 1. Episode 1. 7 November 2005. CBeebies.
