The programme is set on a farm and follows the adventures of four young animals Petal the piglet, Gobo the goat, Dash the donkey, and Digger the puppy, called the Farmyard Bunch. The storylines are told from the young animals' point of view and revolve around their emotions and the situations they find themselves in. In each adventure the Farmyard Bunch explore their friendships whilst discovering their roles on the farm with help from the other farm animals. Each episode constitutes an individual story, usually involving the main characters getting into some minor difficulty and pulling together to get out of that difficulty. There is no narrative thread to the episodes, each standing on its own without the need for prior understanding or any loose ends at the end. The series aims to help children understand the importance of friendship, develop knowledge of the world around them and help develop problem solving skills. Before the show airs, the CBeebies presenter may encourage the young viewers to sing along with the theme song, which is generally sung very fast and provides some basic information about each of the main characters. The closing song is similar, but longer and details all of the animal characters, including the minor ones.
Characters
Farmyard Bunch
Dash is a young donkey. He is thoughtful, cautious and extremely kind but occasionally a bit stubborn. He is often wary of any new adventure and would prefer watching the others being brave rather than take part himself. But because of his kind nature, Dash will always end up joining in. Dash isn't as excitable as the others and always likes to think carefully about any new situation. As the tallest of the Farmyard Bunch, he can seeover the top of things which can be very useful. His catchphrase is, "Calm down, calm down.'
Gobo is a young goat or kid. Gobo is clever, very bouncy and eats a lot. Often too quickly which means he burps a lot too! In fact, Gobo thinks about food most of the time and is always happy to nibble on anything! Gobo can be noisy and barges into situations when really he should stop and think first. But if there’s a hay bale that needs climbing or a picnic to be investigated, Gobo will be first in line to give it a go! His catchphrase is "Go, go, Gobo!'
Petal is a female piglet. is a cheeky and daring young piglet who likes to think of herself as leader of the four friends. Petal is adventurous and brave and usually the first to go and investigate something new. Sometimes this gets her into trouble and at other times she sounds braver than she really feels. Petal's personality isn't girly so she’s just happy splashing in the mud. Her catchphrase is "Piglet Power!"
Digger is a Labrador Retriever puppy. He is the youngest of the four friends and always eager to prove himself. He is very cute, naive and willing to please. Digger has boundless energy and will always be the first to volunteer for any new adventure. He isn't very bright and so doesn't come up with as many ideas as the others and sometimes takes a while to catch on to what's happening. But Digger is always eager to please and is never happier when playing with his friends. His catchphrase is "I can do that! I can do that!"
There are also several human characters who feature in the programme, but do not speak, the farmer, the farmer's wife, the farmer's son, and the farmer's daughter.
Production
Big Barn Farm was created and produced by The Foundation, which is part of the RDF Media group, the programme combines footage of real animals with animation. The visual effects were created by Ian Carley, at iCarley Media, and James Kearsley, at JK Studios, using 450 individual shots of talking animals. The Executive Producer for Cbeebies was Sarah Colclough. The set was created around a flint stable block and a barn which were not part of a real working farm. The animals lived on set or nearby during filming. The production filmed at Stede Court Estate near Maidstone in Kent. A DVD of Big Barn Farm, titled "Welcome to Big Barn Farm" was released on 17 November 2008.
Episodes
Academic analysis
Professor Steven Fielding of the University of Nottingham analyses the political themes of the episode 'Lester the Leader' in his 2014 work 'A State of Play' which examines how people's views on politics are constructed by fictional representations of politics.
