1. Original series

2. 2001 reboot

3. Comics

4. Episodes
    Flower Pot Men (1952–1953)  Bill and Ben series 1 (2001–2002)  Bill and Ben series 2 (2001–2002) 

5. UK VHS and DVD releases

6. References

7. External links

• Freda Lingstrom
• Maria Bird

• Maria Bird
• Peter Hawkins
• John Thomson
• Jimmy Hibbert
• Eve Karpf

• BBC Television Service
• CBeebies

Original series

Originally, the programme was part of a BBC children's television series titled Watch with Mother, with a different programme each weekday, most of them involving string puppets. The Flower Pot Men was the story of Bill and Ben, two little men made of flower pots who lived at the bottom of an English suburban garden. The characters were devised by Hilda Brabban. She wrote three original stories of the three characters (Bill, Ben and Little Weed) which she sold to the BBC for one guinea each. The stories were originally broadcast on the radio programme Listen with Mother in 1951.^[3]

The rights to the stories were later sold to Ben Productions which turned the radio programme into the hugely popular television show. The puppeteers were Audrey Atterbury and Molly Gibson. The voices and other noises were produced by Peter Hawkins, Gladys Whitred and Julia Williams. The narration for all episodes was done by Maria Bird.

The plot changed little in each episode. The programme always took place in a garden, behind a potting shed. The third character was Little Weed, of indeterminate species, somewhat resembling a sunflower or dandelion with a smiling face, growing between two large flowerpots. The three were also sometimes visited by a tortoise called Slowcoach, and in one particular episode, the trio meet a slightly mysterious character made out of potatoes called Dan the potato man. While the "man who worked in the garden" was away having his dinner the two Flower Pot Men, Bill and Ben, emerged from the two flowerpots. After a minor adventure a minor mishap occurs; someone is guilty. "Which of those two flower pot men, was it Bill or was it Ben?" the narrator trills, in a quavering soprano; the villain confesses; the gardener's footsteps are heard coming up the garden path; the Flower Pot Men vanish into their pots and the closing credits roll. The final punch-line was, "and I think the little house knew something about it! Don't you?"

The Flower Pot Men spoke their own, highly inflected version of English, called Oddle Poddle, which was invented by Peter Hawkins (who also voiced the Daleks and Captain Pugwash). An icicle was an "ickle-kickle", and Ben would say "flobabdob".^[2] At the end of each adventure, they would say bye-bye to each other and to the Little Weed – "Babap ickle Weed" – to which the Weed would inevitably reply with tremulous cadence "Weeeeeeeeeeed". This language, like that of the Teletubbies in the 1990s, was criticised for hindering children from learning proper English.^[2]

2001 reboot

On 4 January 2001, a reboot^[4] named Bill and Ben began on CBBC on BBC Two, this time involving stop-motion animation, 35mm film style and full colour, and made by Cosgrove Hall Films with a team of ten animators.^[5] This reboot features the voices of John Thomson (who also serves as the narrator), Jimmy Hibbert and Eve Karpf.^[5] The series aired in Ireland on RTEjr and formerly aired on CBeebies in 2002-2008.

Many additions were implemented:

• A mean female rosebush with two talking buds in the neighbour's garden named Rose.
• A mischievous female prickly plant named Thistle.
• A female magpie named Pry, obsessed by shiny treasures, often just bottle caps.
• A male hedgehog named Boo.
• Slowcoach remains in the series, with few changes to his characteristics. He gets angry at Bill & Ben for ruining his things.
• A male frog named Tad.
• A female squirrel named Scamper.
• A male baby squirrel named Scuff. He is Scamper's baby nephew.
• A female spider named Whimsy.
• A male worm named Whoops.
• A male talking tomato named Ketchup.
• A male turtle named Tortuga.
• Another male tortoise called Lightning. He is Slowcoach's brother.
• Weed is no longer a weed, but an enormous sunflower. Rather than just saying "Weed!", she speaks normal English, playing an "earth mother" role to Bill and Ben and often assisting them. However, she does mutter that word in her sleep sometimes.

Comics

The show was the basis for a comic strip of the same name in the children's magazine Robin.^[6]

Episodes

Flower Pot Men (1952–1953)

1. "Seeds" (18 December 1952)
2. "Musical Vegetables" (25 December 1952)
3. "Cabbages" (1 January 1953)
4. "The Potato Man" (8 January 1953)
5. "Tiny Men" (15 January 1953)
6. "Stickmen" (22 January 1953)
7. "Shavings Men" (29 January 1953)
8. "Stilts" (5 February 1953)
9. "Steamroller" (12 February 1953)
10. "Scarecrow" (19 February 1953)
11. "Slowcoach Flies" (26 February 1953)
12. "Mud Pies" (5 March 1953)
13. "Bath In Hat" (12 March 1953)
14. "Babies" (19 March 1953)
15. "Babies Grow Up" (26 March 1953)
16. "Live Chicks" (2 April 1953)
17. "Icicles" (9 April 1953)
18. "Boot Race" (16 April 1953)
19. "Acrobats" (22 April 1953)
20. "Bellows" (29 April 1953)
21. "Water Lilies" (6 May 1953)
22. "Turnip Faces" (13 May 1953)
23. "Umbrella" (20 May 1953)
24. "Fairy Queen" (27 May 1953)
25. "Weathercock" (3 June 1953)
26. "Flying Boots" (10 June 1953)

Bill and Ben series 1 (2001–2002)

Bill and Ben series 2 (2001–2002)

UK VHS and DVD releases

References

External links

• Toonhound on the Flowerpot Men
• Whirligig TV
• {{IMDb title|id=0288357|title=Flower Pot Men (1952) }}
• {{IMDb title|id=0272959|title=Bill and Ben (2001) }}
• {{bcdb |/Other_Studios/C/Cosgrove_Hall_Films/Bill_and_Ben/|Bill and Ben (2001)}}
• British Film Institute Screen Online

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