Paddington (TV series)
Paddington is a 1976–1980 children's animated television series based on the Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond. The series was scripted by Bond himself, and produced by FilmFair; it was narrated by Michael Hordern, who also voiced all of the characters.
Paddington is animated in stop motion. Paddington himself is a puppet in a three-dimensional environment, whilst other characters are paper cut-outs. The final television special used a slightly different technique using 2D drawn fully animated characters.
BBC1 premiered Paddington in January 1976; the series concluded in May, but was appended by two Christmas specials in December. A second series—retitled The Adventures of Paddington—followed in October 1979, and ran until April 1980. In all, 56 episodes were broadcast, followed by three television specials: Paddington Goes to the Movies, Paddington Goes to School, and Paddington’s Birthday Bonanza.
Paddington was the first television programme adapted from the Paddington Bear stories. Paddington Bear was produced by Hanna-Barbera for broadcast syndication, while The Adventures of Paddington Bear was produced by CINAR and Protecrea.
Broadcast
In 1975, FilmFair completed production of the first series, which comprised 30 episodes. The first series aired on BBC1 in 1976. The second series, which comprised 26 episodes, was titled The Adventures of Paddington. These aired in 1978 and 1979, followed by specials in 1980, 1984, and 1986. It later aired on Channel 4 with the series being shown on a wrapper programme called Take 5 which airs several other children's programmes that been previously shown on other television stations and then on ITV in 1997 as part of their children's block CITV and aired until 2000, And also, the episodes of Paddington aired on Milkshake! on Channel 5.In the United States, episodes of Paddington aired on PBS; on the syndicated series Romper Room; on Nickelodeon as a segment on the programme Pinwheel; on USA Network as a segment on Calliope; between preschool programs on The Disney Channel; on HBO in between features and as a segment on the programme Lunch Box; on ABC; and on Freeform.
Theme Music
The composition that became known as the Paddington Bear theme was composed by Herbert Chappell and began life as incidental music for the 1972 BBC adaptation of Lord Peter Wimsey. Its first commercial release was on the b-side of the Lord Peter Wimsey theme single in 1972, where it was titled "Size Ten Shuffle" and credited to "Boyfriends". This recording - which is not the one featured on the TV show - has since appeared on several TV theme compilation albums.The composition first became connected with Paddington in a theatre show, "The Adventures of a Bear Called Paddington", in 1973. The track now had lyrics and was retitled simply "Paddington Bear". A version performed by Bernard Cribbins appeared on a four-track single of songs from the show in 1974.
The piece was re-recorded for the TV show; no performers are credited onscreen apart from composer Herbert Chappell. One of these takes was released on the 1976 album "Paddington's Party Record" which credits the performers as Freddie Williams and The Master Singers. This vinyl release remains the only source of the original televised version of the Paddington theme tune.
Episodes
Series 1: ''Paddington'' (1976)
Series 2: ''The Adventures of Paddington'' (1979–80)
Specials (1980–93)
Four television specials aired on BBC from 1980 to 1993.In popular culture
Paddington is seen in four adverts for Marmite in the late 2000s.Home media
DVD
In Region 2, Abbey Home Media Group released the entire series on DVD-Video in the UK on 23 June 2008.The 2-disc set features all 56 short episodes as well as the 3 TV specials.
| DVD title | Episodes |
| Paddington Bear - Complete DVD Collection - 2 disc set | DISC 1: Episodes 1-40DISC 2: Episodes 41-56 and three TV specials |
In Region 1, Mill Creek Entertainment released the complete series on DVD on 15 February 2011 in a 3-disc set entitled Paddington Bear- The Complete Classic Series.
VHS
In 1980, Thorn EMI Entertainment released six VHS video cassettes in the UK, each with five episodes from the first series. They released two more cassettes in 1982, each with five episodes from the second series. In August 1983, they released a single video cassette featuring ten episodes from the second series. In December 1983, they released the TV special of Paddington Goes to the Movies on a single video cassette along with five episodes from the second series.| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington's 1st 'Anywhen' T.V. Show | EVH 20032 / TVF 900032 2 | 1980 | |
| Paddington's 2nd 'Anywhen' T.V. Show | EVH 20033 / TVF 900033 2 | 1980 | |
| Paddington's 3rd 'Anywhen' T.V. Show | EVH 20034 / TVF 900034 2 | 1980 | |
| Paddington's 4th 'Anywhen' T.V. Show | EVH 20035 / TVF 900035 2 | 1980 | |
| Paddington's 5th 'Anywhen' T.V. Show | EVH 20036 / TVF 900036 2 | 1980 | |
| Paddington's 6th 'Anywhen' T.V. Show | EVH 20037 / TVF 900037 2 | 1980 | |
| Paddington's 7th 'Anywhen' T.V. Show | TVF 900750 2 | 1982 | |
| Paddington's 8th 'Anywhen' T.V. Show | TVF 900762 2 | 1982 | |
| Paddington's 9th 'Anywhen' T.V. Show | TVF 900855 2 | 1983 | |
| Paddington Goes to the Movies | TVF 900867 2 | 1983 |
In 1985 and 1986, Walt Disney Home Video released six videocassettes.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Bear Volume One | 754V | 1985 | |
| Paddington Bear Volume Two | 1985 | ||
| Paddington Bear Volume Three | 1985 | ||
| Paddington Bear Volume Four | 1985 | ||
| Paddington Bear Volume Five | 1986 | ||
| Paddington Bear Volume Six | 1986 |
In 1987, HBO Video released video cassettes.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Goes To The Movies | 6658-2 | 1987 | Paddington Goes To The Movies |
In June 1987, Screen Legends released two single video cassettes containing five episodes from the first series on each one.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington's 1st 'Anywhen' T.V. Show | SL 1007 | 1987 | |
| Paddington's 2nd 'Anywhen' T.V. Show | SL 1008 | 1987 |
In Autumn 1987, Screen Legends released a "Double Bumper Issue" video cassette containing 10 episodes from the first series.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington's 3rd and 4th 'Anywhen' T.V. Shows | SL 1009 | 1987 |
In 1988, Screen Legends released a single video cassette with 10 episodes.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington's 5th and 6th 'Anywhen' T.V. Shows | SL 1064 | 1988 |
In 1988, Screen Legends had released a 'Watch and Play'-type video with five stories from the first series.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| A Taste of Paddington | SL 3004 | 1988 |
In 1988, Kids Klassics released video cassettes.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Goes To The Movies | No. K5360 | 1988 | Paddington Goes To The Movies |
In 1989, GTK, Inc. released six videocassettes ? as part of their Video Classics Library.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| 1989 | |||
| 1989 | |||
| 1989 | |||
| 1989 | |||
| 1989 | |||
| Paddington’s Birthday Bonanza | No. 2517 | 1989 | "Paddington’s Birthday Bonanza" |
On 4 March 1991, Abbey Home Entertainment released two videos with 10 stories on each tape.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| A Bear Called Paddington | 94732 | 1991 | |
| Paddington's Holiday Fun | 94742 | 1991 |
On 15 July 1991, Abbey Home Entertainment released a special edition video with 12 episodes.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Bear - Special Edition | 94992 | 1991 |
On 9 September 1991, Abbey Home Entertainment released a Christmas-themed video with 10 episodes.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington's Christmas Special | 95122 | 1991 |
On 19 September 1994, BMG Video released a single video cassette with the three feature length specials.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Goes to School | 74321 22762 3 | 1994 |
On 28 December 1994, Abbey Home Entertainment released a single video release with eight episodes from the second series.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Bear - In and Out of Trouble | 97442 | 1994 |
On 3 April 1995, Abbey Home Entertainment released a 3 hour biggest ever video cassette with 37 episodes.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Bear - The Biggest Ever Video | 976122 | 1995 |
On 18 March 2002, Universal Pictures Ltd released a single video cassette with ten episodes from the first series.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington – Please Look After This Bear And Other Stories | 9058833 | 2002 |
On 22 July 2002, Universal Pictures Ltd released a seaside-themed bumper video with nine episodes from the second series.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington - Seaside Special | 9068533 | 2002 |
On 21 April 2003, Universal Pictures Ltd released two videos with seven episodes on each one.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington - A Visit to the Theatre and other stories | 8200692 | 2003 | |
| Paddington - An Unexpected Party and other stories | 8200694 | 2003 |
UK DVD releases
Between 2006 and 2007, three DVD releases of Paddington Bear were published by Abbey Home Media in the 'Tempo TV Classics' range of children's DVD releases.| DVD title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Bear - Please Look After This Bear | AHEDVD 3154 | 2006 | |
| Paddington Bear - Too Much Off The Top | AHEDVD 3183 | 2006 | |
| Paddington Bear - Hits the Jackpot | AHEDVD 3206 | 2007 |
On 8 October 2007, Abbey Home Media released two of the TV specials on a single DVD release.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Bear Goes to the Movies | AHEDVD 3263 | 2007 |
On 27 October 2008, Abbey Home Media released a suitcase-shaped DVD box set with four single DVD releases.
| VHS title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Bear – Disc 1 - Please Look After This Bear | AHEDVD 3362 | 2008 | |
| Paddington Bear – Disc 2 - Trouble at Number 32 | AHEDVD 3363 | 2008 | |
| Paddington Bear – Disc 3 - Paddington In Court | AHEDVD 3364 | 2008 | |
| Paddington Bear – Disc 4 - A Visit to the Theatre | AHEDVD 3365 | 2008 |
On 21 May 2012, Abbey Home Media released four episodes from the first series and eight episodes from the second series which were compiled together as twelve London-themed episodes on a single DVD release.
| DVD title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Bear in London | AHEDVD 3533 | 2012 |
| DVD title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Bear- Paddington's Christmas | AHEDVD 3510 | 2012 |
On 18 April 2016, to coincide with the Queen's 90th birthday, Abbey Home Media released a special "Royal Celebration"-themed DVD release which contained the three TV specials altogether on one single disc.
| DVD title | Catalogue number | Release year | Episodes |
| Paddington Bear - A Royal Celebration | AHEDVD 3903 | 2016 |