The Fiddley Foodle Bird is a British children's animated musical series written by Jonathan Hodge, and narrated by Bruce Forsyth. Thirteen ten-minute episodes of the series were made in total, with one story continuing through the episodes. They were made in 1991 and broadcast in 1992 on BBC One at 4:15.^[1] It was produced by H.A.P.P.Y. Animation and Fiddley Foodle Bird Productions in association with HIT Entertainment and was broadcast in over 30 different countries worldwide. The show also continued airing on the BBC until 2001.

Plot

The main character of the series is a bird, whose full name is the "Fiddley Foodle Bim Bam Boodle Oo Diddley-Doodle Oodle Bird". The character is voiced by Dennis Waterman (actor and singer famous for his roles as Terry McCann in Minder and Detective Sergeant George Carter in The Sweeney). The bird was originally nothing more than just a picture in a book, which was found by a young boy named Algernon. He wished that the bird would come to life, and when the wish came true they set out on an adventure with Algernon's friends, the eternally hungry Princess Toto, and his housekeeper, the overly strict Mrs. Grumblebaum. The aim of the mission is to find Algernon's lost parents, two members of the Potty Explorer's Club- Carzy and Maudy. They were lost exploring in a sieve. However, Algernon's dastardly Uncle Arbathnot is out to ensure that their mission does not succeed, and also to seize a mysterious treasure chest. He is assisted by a muscle-man named Damage, a Frenchman named Flannel, and a pirate named Pierre Head, who, like most pirates, is accompanied by a parrot – a wise-cracking green glove puppet. The show features a guest appearance from Cilla Black, who voiced the President of the Potty Explorer's Club.

Episodes

1. Foodle Power (8 January 1992)^[2][3]
2. Sea Saw (15 January 1992)
3. Cock-a-Doodle Crazy (22 January 1992)
4. The Yolks on Who? (29 January 1992)
5. Catch My Drift (5 February 1992)
6. Up the Pole (12 February 1992)
7. There's No Business Like Snow Business (19 February 1992)
8. What the Dino Saw (26 February 1992)
9. Hic Hic Wooray (4 March 1992)
10. Goin' Bananas (11 March 1992)
11. Planks a Lot (18 March 1992)
12. Squids In (25 March 1992)
13. Will Ee No Come Back Again? (1 April 1992)

Voices

• Dennis Waterman – Fiddley Foodle Bird
• Bruce Forsyth – Narrator
• Kate Robbins – Mrs. Grumblebaum
• Jimmy Hibbert
• Jonathan Hodge
• Julian Littman
• Stuart Leathwood
• Tammy Coleman

Merchandise

Video releases

The entire series was released on a set of VHS recordings in 2001. There was also another video released by Pocket Money Video which contained the first eight episodes.

Music release

A soundtrack of the series was also released on CD and cassette which contained the introduction by Bruce Forsyth, a full extended version of the main title theme song and all of the songs that were featured in all thirteen episodes of the series. It was released by EMI Music Publishing in 1992, the same year as when the show first aired.