| Pigeon Street | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children |
| Written by | Michael Cole |
| Voices of | George Layton |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Production location | UK |
| Running time | 15 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 10 February – 17 December 1981 |
Pigeon Street is a cutout animated children's television series, written by Michael Cole, originally shown on the BBC in 1981 as part of its 'See-Saw' strand for preschoolers.[1] There were two series with eight and five episodes respectively, each programme lasting 15 minutes. The series was repeated a number of times until 1994.
The animation was created by Alan Rogers and Peter Lang of the Cut-Out Animation Co., who later went on to do a nursery rhyme series with similar animation called Rub-A-Dub-Dub.[2] Voices were performed by George Layton, with additional voices by John Telfer. Music was by Benni Lees, and played by Soulyard.
The shows featured the everyday adventures of a group of characters living on Pigeon Street, an area of flats and terraced housing in a British city, also home to several pigeons which appeared in each show but only occasionally featured in the plot. Characters included Clara the long distance lorry driver, her husband Hugo the chef, Mr Baskerville the detective, Mr Jupiter the astronomer, Mr Macadoo the petshop owner, and twins Molly and Polly, who were only distinguishable by the letter M and P on their jumpers.[citation needed]
| Episode title | Broadcast date | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|
| All in a Day's Work | 10 February 1981 | William the Window Cleaner has a busy day when the lift of Skyrise Court breaks down, but Reg, Clara, Hugo, Mr. Jupiter and everybody else in Pigeon Street lend a helping hand. |
| A Light In The Sky | 17 February 1981 | What is the light in the sky that Mr Jupiter has spotted? Is it an aeroplane, a shooting star or a spark from Reg's bonfire? |
| Pigeon St Sea | 24 February 1981 | Mr Macadoo, Mr Baskerville and 'Long Distance' Clara help a pigeon understand that it can't take to water like a duck or a gull. |
| Can I Have My Ball Back? | 3 March 1981 | Gerald gets a football for his birthday. Reg, Mr Jupiter, Mr Baskerville and Watson join him for a game on the green, but a long kick by Gerald leads to trouble. |
| Noisy Neighbours | 10 March 1981 | The noise Daisy makes gets on the nerves of her neighbour Rose. Rose's noise annoys Daisy too, but then they find out how to use the thin wall between them. |
| Pigeon Post | 17 March 1981 | Bob has trained his pigeons to fly back to him no matter how far they go. Clara, the lorry driver, finds that they are the only way of sending a very important message. |
| A Cold Day | 24 March 1981 | Everybody in Pigeon Street has a cold, until Hugo the cook stumbles upon a cure. |
| Somewhere to Eat | 31 March 1981 | When it's lunchtime in Pigeon Street most people make do with sandwiches. Hugo and Betty plan how everybody could meet up and eat lunch together, but it's not as easy as looks. |
| Down With The Car Park | 19 November 1981 | Jim, Gerald and the twins discover that Mr Clark of the council has plans to build a garage on their playground. The only answer is to protest, but it proves very expensive. |
| The Flood | 26 November 1981 | Days of rain bring a flood to Pigeon Street. Reg uses a boat from Swanlake Park to rescue the pets, and when they are aboard, Daisy thinks his boat looks like Noah's Ark. |
| Time For a Hobby | 3 December 1981 | Everybody in Pigeon Street seems to be taking up a hobby, but when Gerald decides to play the saxophone, he has to find somewhere to practice where there's nobody to disturb. |
| Springtime for Hugo | 10 December 1981 | Hugo has to lose weight and Dr Glossop advises him to go jogging with him. But jogging is not the right sort of exercise for Hugo. What is? Clara comes up with the answer. |
| Getting Away | 17 December 1981 | Everybody in Pigeon Street is going on holiday. Mr Macadoo wants to go too, and Gerald and Mr Baskerville look after his pet shop while he's away. |
Rogers and Lang went on to create many animations for programmes like Words and Pictures, Numbertime, Rosie and Jim, Hotch Potch House, Rat-A-Tat-Tat and The Number Crew.
In 2017, plans were announced for a potential reboot of the show.[3]