Budgie the Little Helicopter
Budgie the Little Helicopter is a British series of children's books and animated television series relating to a fictional helicopter and his friends. The characters were based on the books by Sarah Ferguson. The show was coproduced by Fred Wolf Films Dublin, The Sleepy Kids Company and Sarah, Duchess of York for ITV Wales & West and Scottish Television Enterprises, and originally aired on British television in 1994 on CITV, where it ran for 39 episodes. A range of videos, books, and toys were released under the Budgie label.
The show aired in the United States on FOX as part of the Fox Cubhouse programming block from 1995-1996, and moved to the Fox Family Channel in 1998.
On release of the first book, the Duchess was accused by the media of copying the idea for the series from an out-of-print 1960 book Hector the Helicopter, by A.W. Baldwin, which she denied.
Characters
Aircraft characters
Main aircraft
- Budgie the Little Helicopter — Budgie is a small blue helicopter with a big yellow cap covering his entire airframe and also speaks in Teenage Accent. He lives and works at Harefield Airfield, and he and Pippa are best friends. He can be cheeky and troublesome, but he works hard too, and continuously tries to please Lionel. He will also bravely come to the assistance of people in danger. He hates going through the heli-wash, and avoids doing so whenever he can. He also has a Phobia about Missiles. A white teddy bear named Snowy can almost always be seen carried in a pocket on Budgie's starboard. His catchphrase is "Rocketing Rotors!"
- Pippa the Single-Engined Mono-Plane — Pippa is a small green single-engined monoplane with a tuft of blonde hair and a big pink bow on her top. She was the second aircraft to arrive at Harefield Airfield, and at first, teased Budgie and called him a yo-yo. After a race and several comparisons about who was the best, they both became firm friends. She enjoys helping out, and also loves using the heli-wash/plane wash.
- Chuck the American Helicopter - is a twin-rotored helicopter, with what appears to be a crew cut under his cap. He comes from America and does not understand British English well. He sometimes gets cocky and likes to show off, but this led him to trouble when he disrupted an air show and finished up in a pond. He also has a bad habit of calling Lionel "Captain".
- Lionel the Aircraft in Charge - Lionel is the senior helicopter in the series, sporting a modern-era pilot's cap, mustache and a collar. He does not take kindly to Budgie, Pippa, or especially Chuck causing trouble and making themselves nuisances, but he keeps things in order with his patient but firm ways. He insists on cleanliness from all aircraft at all times, and is nicer than what he appears to be. His catchphrase is "Juddering joysticks!"
Other aircraft
- Patsy the American stunt plane.
- Wally the old Supermarine Walrus
- Jean Claude the pompous French Concorde
- Jasper Jeer-jet the snobbish private jet. Jasper was a joker to start off and kept on radioing Harefield Airfield pretending there was an emergency, but when he really did need help in a storm, Budgie came to his rescue, and since then Jasper has realised it is not a good idea to play the fool all the time.
- Henry the three-winged propeller-driven 1930s airliner
- Olivia The Edgley Optica
- Dougie The Police Helicopter
- The Emerald Helicopter
- Unnamed Boeing 747 jet plane
- A Very Naughtiest Version of Budgie
- The naughty Piper plane, Pippa's "double"
- Aircraft Carrier Helicopter
- Gloria The Glider
- Mini Planes
- Three other gliders
- Gus the Guppy, is a huge American transport aircraft.
- Harvey the grey Royal Navy BAE Sea Harrier jet fighter. Harvey appeared in All at Sea and Boats, Boots and Budgie. His name was revealed in Blown Up Let down. He speaks with a traditional Royal Navy pilot voice.
- Harvey's 2 BAE Sea Harrier brothers
- Buddy the Sikorsky Skycrane, Chuck's old friend from the air force
- 3 French Super Jets
- Genevieve – a French female Jodel D11 aircraft
- White jet plane with blue line
- Other planes and helicopters
- Monsieur the Mime Helicopter
- Bobby the Blue Helicopter
- Western the Mexican Plane
- Unnamed blue helicopter
- Hot air balloons
- Spaceship
Non-aircraft/ground characters
- Dell the yellow Baggage cart Towing Truck
- Smokey the airfield fire engine
- Don the blue stairs lorry
- Ernest the tractor
- Julie the posh purple vintage car
- Nosey the driller
- Backhoe the Backhoe loader
- Smashit the Bulldozer who gets Budgie in Trouble
- Sonia The Limousine
- Jake the Steam locomotive
- Fred the Canal Barge
- Harry The Inflatable Boat
- Gimbus The Cement Mixer
- Cubey the Stuck Up ROV Submarine
- Sharkey The Aircraft Carrier
- Unnamed Blue Car
- Pirate Ship
- Tugboat
- Aircraft Carriers
Human characters
- Mrs. Nancy Kitchen, the twins' mother
- Ben Kitchen, Lucy's brother
- Lucy Kitchen, Ben's sister
- Mike Sprocket the mechanic, always making mistakes, to the disapproval of Ken. His catchphrase is, "Aw, man!"
- Ken Wrench the mechanic
- The control tower operator
Animal characters
- Snowy the Teddy Bear
- The Rabbit
- Fergus the cat
- Oliver the hangar owl
- The Hangar mouse
Voice cast
- Richard Pearce as Budgie the Little Helicopter
- Abigail MacVean as Pippa the Single-Engined Mono-Plane
- Jeremy Nicholas as Lionel the Aircraft In Charge
- Kerry Shale as Chuck the American Helicopter
- Jeff Rawle as the Narrator and Dell the Baggage Truck
- Ray Lonnen as Smokey the Fire Engine
- Tony Jackson as Ken, Ernest the Tractor, and Don the Stairs Lorry
- Melvyn Hayes as Nosey the Driller
- William Vanderpuye as Mike
- Pippa Haywood
- Peter Lloyd
- Ania Sowinski
- Zoe Hodges
- Adrian Hansel
- Judy Bennett
- Jill Lidstone
- Gary Martin as Smashit the Bulldozer
- Eve Karpf as Olivia The Edgley Optica
- Susan Sheridan as Sonia the limousine
- Frank Welker as Fergus the cat, Oliver the owl, and various animals
UK [VHS] Releases
| VHS Title | VHS number | Release date | Episodes |
| Budgie the Little Helicopter Pippa Arrives | VA30318 | 7 March 1994 | Pippa Arrives, Chuck Comes Unstuck, Budgie's Blizzard, Ice Work, Budgie, Budgie Takes a Catch |
| Budgie the Little Helicopter The Air Show | VA30336 | 7 November 1994 | The Air Show, All At Sea, Boats, Boots and Budgie, Copters and Robbers |
| Budgie the Little Helicopter Daydreams and Candy Floss | VA30359 | 6 March 1995 | Daydreams and Candy Floss, Flying in Arctic Circles, What's Bruin?, Down on the Farm |
| Budgie the Little Helicopter Budgie Sticks To It | VA30372 | 3 July 1995 | Budgie Sticks To It, Skids, Stunts and Soap, Aliens Have Landed, Who's A Clever Budgie?, Blown Up, Let Down |
| Budgie the Little Helicopter Wally Waddles In | VA30394 | 6 November 1995 | Wally Waddles In, The Balloon Goes Up, Surprise, Surprise, Deep Sleep |
| Budgie the Little Helicopter The Complete First Series | VA30626 | 13 May 1996 | Pippa Arrives, Chuck Comes Unstuck, Budgie's Blizzard, Ice Work, Budgie, Budgie Takes a Catch, The Air Show, All At Sea, Boats, Boots and Budgie, Copters and Robbers, Daydreams and Candy Floss, Flying in Arctic Circles, What's Bruin?, Down on the Farm |
| Budgie the Little Helicopter The Complete Second Series | VA30647 | 7 October 1996 | Budgie Sticks To It, Skids, Stunts and Soap, Aliens Have Landed, Who's A Clever Budgie?, Blown Up, Let Down, Wally Waddles In, The Balloon Goes Up, Surprise, Surprise, Deep Sleep, Bad News, Good News, Budgie Barges In, Dutch Courage, Budgie's Opening Goal |
| Budgie the Little Helicopter The Complete Third Series | VA30680 | 3 March 1997 | Boom Boom Budgie, Writers in the Sky, Double Trouble, Eye in the Sky, Chuck's Buddy, The Aqueduct, Plane Silly, The Plane Who Cried Wolf, The Runaway Train, A Tail of Woe, Put Up or Stuck Up, Silent Flight, Ups & Downs |