Big & Small
Big & Small | |
---|---|
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Genre | Children's comedy Musical |
Created by | Kathy Waugh |
Creative directors | Jason Hopley Jamie Shannon |
Voices of | Lenny Henry Imelda Staunton (series 1–2) Tamsin Heatley (series 3) |
Opening theme | "The Big and Small Song" by Lenny Henry (UK) |
Country of origin | United Kingdom Canada |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 3 |
No. of episodes | 78 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Sarah Colclough Jack Lenz Anne Brogan |
Producers | David Collier Sharon Summerling |
Running time | 11 minutes |
Production companies | Kindle Entertainment 3J's Productions BBC Studio 100 Treehouse TV Sixteen South (series 3) |
Original release | |
Network | CBeebies (United Kingdom) Treehouse TV (Canada) S4C (Welsh) |
Release | 6 October 2008 7 November 2011 | –
Big & Small is a children's television series created by Kathy Waugh and directed by Jason Hopley & Jamie Shannon. The series follows the lives of two very different best friends named Big and Small.
Big & Small is a co-production between Kindle Entertainment, 3J's Productions and the BBC, in association with Treehouse TV and Studio 100.[1] Three series were aired between 2008 and 2011.
Voice cast

- Lenny Henry as Big, a large and purple bear-like creature who is gentle and laid-back.
- Lenny Henry as Small, a small and orange rabbit-like creature who is very energetic and impulsive.
- Imelda Staunton and later Tamsin Heatley as Ruby, a pink red-haired mouse who lives in a hole within Big and Small's house. She is generally friendly but has a short temper.
- Imelda Staunton as Twiba, a light-green worm who lives inside an apple in Big and Small's garden. She is pompous and self-absorbed, but remains friendly with Big, Small, and Ruby.
- An uncredited voice actor as the frogs, a pair of hat-wearing frogs who live in the garden pond. One is lime green with a red wool hat, while the other is dark green with a business hat.
Broadcasters
In the United Kingdom, Big & Small was shown on CBeebies, BBC1, and BBC2,[2] as well as Cyw in Wales.[3] Treehouse TV aired Big & Small in Canada. In total, over 40 channels worldwide have featured the programme.[3]
Home Media
On March 12, 2009, ITV Global Entertainment secured the UK Home Media rights to the series. Through their ITV DVD label, the company released We're Big & Small! on March 30.[4] The UK version contains the first eight episodes of Series 1 as well as three bonus shorts, while the Canadian version released by Treehouse TV omits the shorts and only includes the first five episodes.
Two more DVDs were released in the UK. ITV Studios released Starry, Starry Night, containing episodes 9 to 16 of Series 1. Abbey Home Media released The Biggest Story, containing episodes 1 to 5 and episode 16 of Series 3.
Similarly, Treehouse TV released two more DVDs in Canada. Party Time! featured the episodes "Party Time!", "Surprise, Surprise", "Playing by the Rules", "Celery Day", and "Big & Small Day". Play Date featured the episodes "Play Date", "The Case of the Missing Kohlrabi", "The Gwelf in the Garden", "The Singing Gwelf", and "Abracadabra".
The compilation DVD The CBeebies Collection Vol. 1 contained the episode "Moon Race".
Episodes
Series overview
Series | Episodes | Originally released | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First released | Last released | |||
1 | 26 | 6 October 2008 | 7 November 2008 | |
2 | 26 | 19 October 2009 | 23 November 2009 | |
3 | 26 | 12 September 2011 | 7 November 2011 |
Episode List
Series 1
- Something is Missing
- A Door for Small
- Fish Wish
- There's a Space for Small
- A Piece of Cake
- The Worm in Big's Apple
- The Case of the Missing Dinosaur
- Stormy Weather
- Playing by the Rules
- A Sound Idea
- Rain Dance
- My Friend Fang
- Starry Starry Night
- Bad Luck Machine
- The Big Sneeze
- The Mysterious Woods
- Surprise, Surprise
- The Sleep Toy Thingie
- Smashing Tomatoes
- Picture Perfect
- Twiba's Treasure Hunt
- The Case of the Clogs
- Twiba Takes Flight
- Cabin Fever
- Five Minute Sled
- The Gwelf In The Garden
Series 2
- Tall Small
- I Spy a Firefly
- Say Cheese
- Celery Day
- The Singing Gwelf
- The Road Not Taken
- Party Time
- Dream Team
- I See, You Saw
- The Big Race
- Abracadabra
- Frog Fight
- The Broken Scooter
- Blame it on the Drain
- Small's Branch
- Play Date
- The Case of the Missing Kohlrabi
- Promises, Promises
- Spring Fling
- Never Say No
- The Book of Big
- A Quiet Day
- The Missing Biscuit
- Thar She Buzzes
- The Not So Happy Camper
- Big & Small Day
Series 3
- Small, Small Let Down Your Hair
- Boingo Boys
- The Rainbow
- The Scare-Small
- The Box
- The Missing Answer
- Millions of Vegetable Soup
- Hot and Bothered
- A Room of Small's Own
- Catch a Fallen Star
- Thanks for the Memories
- Opposite Day
- Fishing for Elephants
- The Hiccups
- Friends in a Fog
- The Biggest Story
- A Room With a View
- Just What I Wanted
- Slippery Slide
- A Letter From Furthermost
- Balloonatics
- An Evening of Delights
- The Egg
- Gone Fishin'
- Hopalong Small
- Moon Race
Awards
- Awarded "Best Writing" at the 2013 KidScreen Awards[5]
- Awarded "Best Interactive Service" for Big & Small Online at the BAFTA Children's Awards in 2009.[6]
- Awarded "Best Children's Programme" for the episode "Blame It on the Drain" at the Royal Television Society's Educational Television Awards for 2009. Big & Small was called "A well constructed programme with great warmth, charm and child appeal."[7]
References
- ^ Waller, Ed (29 August 2009). "CBeebies is having a laugh!". C21Media. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- ^ "Find out more about Kindle's completed productions". Kindle Entertainment. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Second UK network for Big & Small". C21Media. 12 February 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- ^ "ITV Gets Big and Small DVD Rights".
- ^ "And the 2013 Kidscreen Awards winners are…". Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ "Children's Nominations 2009". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original on 26 February 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- ^ "RTS Programme Awards 2009". Royal Television Society. 16 March 2010. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
External links
- Big & Small at BBC Online
- Big & Small at youtube.com
- Official Big & Small store
- Big & Small Online
- Big & Small at KindleEntertainment.com
- Big & Small at IMDb
- 2000s British children's television series
- 2010s British children's television series
- 2000s British comedy television series
- 2010s British comedy television series
- 2008 British television series debuts
- 2011 British television series endings
- 2000s Canadian children's television series
- 2010s Canadian children's television series
- 2000s Canadian comedy television series
- 2010s Canadian comedy television series
- 2008 Canadian television series debuts
- 2011 Canadian television series endings
- 2000s preschool education television series
- 2010s preschool education television series
- British television shows featuring puppetry
- Canadian television shows featuring puppetry
- BBC children's television shows
- BBC television comedy
- Treehouse TV original programming
- British preschool education television series
- British children's comedy television series
- British English-language television shows
- Canadian children's comedy television series
- Canadian preschool education television series
- Television series by Kindle Entertainment
- Television series by Corus Entertainment
- CBeebies