Little Gems - Fingerbobs

A strange but true little gem of a children television show. Fingerbobs was the wonderful creation of two quiet giants of childrens television - Joanne and Michael Cole. Together they also brought us the immortal Bod, Gran and the legendary Fingermouse (see below). Fingerbobs played a key part of my children's television diet as I moved from primary to secondary school in the mid 1970s. I believe the show first got a showing in 1971 (please fell free to correct me here) and was repeated many times on the BBC. It found a regular home at lunchtimes on BBC2 at around 13:30 on a week day, very similar slot to another classic show "The Herbs." There were only 13 episodes ever made, although it seems a lot more (a bit like Mr. Benn here). The episodes were a combination of live action, stop motion animation and other animation. Although aimed at preschool, it attracted groups of viewers from all ages. Rick Jones had been previously seen on Playschool (hence the name Yoffy).

The shows revolved around the stories & adventures of Fingermouse, Scampi, Gulliver, Flash and a whole host of other puppet creatures (most if a not all can be seen below).

In 1985 a new series was brought into production starring Fingermouse. It was actually named after him but was a different type of show compared to the original classic Fingerbobs.

Yoffy	Fingermouse	Gulliver the Seagull
Scampi	Scampi and fingermouse	Flash the tortoise
The Cat	Scampi and all his girl friends	Enoch the Woodpecker
George, Herbert & Alistair - The worms	The Peacock	Prickly friend - The Hedgehog
The Birds in the tree	Louise the Squirrel	Mole
Scaredy The Crow	Curly the Sheep	Mrs. Mouse - Gloria (fingermouse's wife perhaps)?
Mr. Mouse - Henry or is it a flirty Fingermouse	Twit the Owl	Scarecrow

Songs of the Fingerbob characters

Fingermouse Lyrics	Fingermouse, Fingermouse The never stop to think a mouse The always on the brink a mouse Fingernouse, that's me I am the mouse called Fingermouse The mouse with guts and verve I get past cats so easily with my favourite body swerve Fingermouse, Fingermouse I'm a sort of wonder mouse A hit, a miss, a blunder mouse Fingermouse, that's me
Gulliver Lyrics	I like to rise and spread my wings Right upon the breeze I like to soar and spread my wings Above the roofs and trees And then to swoop down, down into the town Fold my wings behind my back And see what's going on...
Flash lyrics	Slowly, steadily, I move at my own pace They call me Flash though I won't dash Who wants to run a race ? As long as I get there, why worry ? What's the hurry, yawn......
Yoffy Lyrics	Yoffy lifts a finger And a mouse is there Puts his hands together And a seagull takes the air Yoffy lifts a finger And a Scampi darts about Yoffy bends another And a tortoise head peeps out These hands were made for making And making they must do
Scampi lyrics	A flick of a tail I swim in the sea With haddock and plaice and dabs I wriggle on rocks With my little legs Plus lobsters and limpets and crabs My name is Scampi Scampi, that's me I live on a hand in the sand By the sea

The later series of Fingermouse shown in 1985 was a very different arrangement. The original architects of Fingerbobs were still present but it is interesting that the team was very much bigger. This seems to have happened with all childrens programs e.g. Smallfilms material.

Fingermouse (spin off series 1985)

With	Iain Lauchan & Jane Hardy
Music	Richard Brown, Clem Alford & Tony McVey
Puppets created by	Joanne Cole
Graphics	Clare Beaton
Lighting	Ken McGregor
Sound	Derek Miller-Timmins
Technical Co-Ordinator	Clive Leighton
Production Team	Ann Carter, Lydia Frankenberg & Moira Kean
Designer	Richard Brackenbury
Producer	Michael Cole
© BBC 1985

Gulliver's Stories	Bumpy Stones Feathers
Scampi's Stories	Sounds Wood Shiny
Fingermouse's Stories	String Shadow Shapes Bricks
Flash's Stories	Paint Seeds House

Story Design by	Joanne Cole & Michael Cole
Yoffy played by	Rick Jones
Music by	Michael Jessett
Animation and Design	Maureen Lonergan
Dubbing Mixer	Derek McColm
Photography	John Abbott
Director	Michael Grafton-Robinson
Q3 London Production