| Green Balloon Club | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Children's |
| Created by | Clare Bradley |
| Developed by | Gary Stevenson |
| Starring | Jake Pratt Isabella Blake-Thomas Debbie Korley Adam Wells Thai Murray-Edwards Aliex Yuill Chris Howard Bill Oddie |
| Narrated by | Gary Martin |
| Theme music composer | Paul Mossel |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 63 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Graham Lawson |
| Producer | Clare Bradley |
| Production locations | Capital Group Studios Gruffalo Studios |
| Camera setup | Tony Bragg Derek Gruszeckyi |
| Running time | 20 Minutes |
| Production company | BBC In-House Children's Production |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBeebies |
| Release | 20 June 2008 – 29 May 2009 |
| Related | |
| |
Green Balloon Club is a British children's factual television program that started on CBeebies on 20 June 2008.[1]
Format
Green Balloon Club focuses on the adventures of four children - Jay, Cat, Lilly-Rose and Ant, as they travel throughout the United Kingdom on a green hot-air balloon led by balloonist Sky and Cat's dog Skipper. During their travels, they look out for other Green Balloon Club members and have a look at what wildlife they have in their patch. Each episode starts with the children doing the register, then joining in with the "Green Balloon Club" chant. At the end of the show, the balloon "lands" and everybody sings one of several songs.
Other BBC personalities appear on the show, with the puppet Jelly from The Story Makers and CBeebies Springwatch appearing as a special reporter, and fellow BBC presenters Chris Howard and Bill Oddie.
Cast
Green Team/Main
The cast members on the show were all ordinary children all found at extensive auditions.
- Debbie Korley as Sky, the balloonist of the Green Team who leads the group on various adventures. She was replaced with Chris Howard near the end of the series' main run, and in the Green Balloon Club Goes on Holiday spin-off, but later returned in the Winter Special.
- Isabella Blake-Thomas as Lily Rose, the flower expert of the Green Team. She is the youngest of the children (her actress was only five at the time of the production), and sometimes can be a bit self-centred.
- Jake Pratt as Jay, the bird expert of the Green Team. He can be quite a jokester at times. He didn't appear in one episode, and didn't appear for the Green Balloon Club Goes on Holiday spin-off, but later returned for the Winter Special.
- Adam Wells as Ant, the bug expert of the Green Team.
- Thai Murray-Edwards as Cat, the animal expert of the Green Team and the owner of Skipper.
- Skipper the Dog as herself, the canine companion of the Green Team. She was the real-life pet of Cat's actress Thai Murray-Edwards. Skipper's sounds are done through stock sound effects.
Recurring
- Aliex Yuill as Jelly, a green puppet who is one of the Story Makers. She normally appears in episodes as a Special Reporter (reprising this role from CBeebies Springwatch and CBeebies Autumnwatch) or is with Bill Oddie in his garden.
- Chris Howard, a presenter from Springwatch and Autumnwatch, also appeared in CBeebies Springwatch and CBeebies Autumnwatch. He normally appears with other children as the leader of the Ground Crew, but near the end of the show's run became the Pilot of the balloon going by the name "Nature Chris", replacing Debbie Korley.
- Bill Oddie, another BBC nature presenter. He appears in some episodes alongside Jelly, where they look at the different kinds of nature around his garden.
Songs
The series also has a major focus on music and singing, and every episode features an originally-written song performed by the main cast. All of the songs were written by Paul Moessl.
- Theme Song
- Let's Go Play Outside
- It's Our World
- Listen
- All Earth's Creatures
- Underwater
- Fun on the Beach
- Minibeast Madness
- Flying
- Whatever's Good at Christmas (written by Bill Oddie and produced by Paul Moessl, was released as a single)
- Dig In
- Good to get away (Arran song)
- At the Zoo (Belfast song)
- Animal Alphabet,
- Waggle Dance
- It's a Dog's Life
- and a final special arrangement of the Title song for the Winter Special
Development
The program was conceived and made by Clare Bradley, Lotte Elwell and the CBeebies Production team, and grew out of their previous award-winning work on CBeebies Springwatch and Autumnwatch.
Episodes
Green Balloon Club (2008–2009)
Green Balloon Club was produced as part of CBeebies' "EcoBeebies" brand. It started with a launch show named Easy Peasy Eco Beebies on 13 June 2008, and this was followed by 48 episodes, one every week from 20 June 2008 to 29 May 2009, although there was a break during the Christmas Holidays.
(Titles sourced from the BBC Australia website (The episodes on the UK BBC website don't have episode titles))
| Episode | Original air date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Easy Peasy Green | 20 June 2008 | The Green Balloon Club themselves are introduced. |
| Animals Under the Waters | 27 June 2008 | The team find out about animals under the water. |
| Dragonflies | 4 July 2008 | The team travels over the Scottish Highlands to find out what wildlife lives there, which includes the likes of the various fruit and dragonflies there. |
| Bugs Hunt | 11 July 2008 | The gang is going on a bug hunt, while Jelly is visiting the Isles of Scilly to explore over there. |
| Lilly-Rose Plants Nasturtiums | 18 July 2008 | Lily-Rose plants some nasturtiums, while the rest of the team finds out about the night-time creatures. |
| The Team go to the Coast | 25 July 2008 | The team goes to the coast of the UK, and find out about the wildlife that lives there. |
| Episode 7 | 1 August 2008 | Ant brings a very special visitor to the club – a giant spider!
NOTE: The Episode was skipped over in Australia, and because of this it didn't have an episode title at the time. |
| Heathland | 8 August 2008 | The team are on the lookout for wildlife in the Heathlands. |
| Busy Bee Boogie | 15 August 2008 | The team discovers a forest of flowers. |
| Under the Sea | 22 August 2008 | The team explores near the sea and are fascinated by the different sea creatures. |
| Sweet Lavender | 29 August 2008 | The team discover how sweet lavender is. |
| All the Senses | 5 September 2008 | The Green Team use all their senses to explore the world around them. |
| Building a Nest | 12 September 2008 | Jay and Ant show the viewers how tricky it is to build a nest. |
| Life on the Waterways | 19 September 2008 | The Green Team are finding out about life on the waterways. |
| Mud Festival in Wales | 26 September 2008 | The balloon is heading to a mud festival in Wales and the green team are having much messy fun with compost and clay. |
| Canal Boat | 3 October 2008 | Jelly goes on a trip on a canal boat and looks at the wildlife along the banks along with several other Club Members. |
| Basil the Cat | 10 October 2008 | The Green Team has a special visitor with them in the balloon. Basil the kitten has come to Balloon Club with Cat, and the team looks at how he is like his larger African cousins. |
| Apples | 17 October 2008 | Today Jelly is harvesting apples in an orchard while Lily-Rose and Ant are starting a planting experiment to see if they can grow an apple tree. |
| Animals and the Seashore | 24 October 2008 | The Green Team finds out about owls and what wildlife can be found on the seashore at this time of year. |
| Halloween | 31 October 2008 | It is Halloween and there are some spooky goings-on in the Green Balloon, including bats and a Tower of Flower! |
| Birds in Autumn | 7 November 2008 | As part of the Autumnwatch season, the Green Team are having a good look at Autumn – how the leaves change colour and whether it is possible to preserve their lovely shades. |
| Wild About Woods | 14 November 2008 | The Green Team are going wild about woods. |
| Hibernating Birds | 21 November 2008 | The Green Team are learning about hibernation and Jay is finding out if birds hibernate. |
| Jumping Salmon | 28 November 2008 | The Green Team marvel at just how athletic some creatures are. The balloon is visited by a very athletic little friend: Georgina the ferret. |
| Mini Christmas Trees | 5 December 2008 | The Green Team are starting to think about Christmas. They have an idea for making mini Christmas trees. |
| Christmas Tree | 12 December 2008 | Christmas is getting near and Sky has bought a Christmas tree for the Green Balloon. |
| The Story of Christmas | 19 December 2008 | Christmas is almost here and the Green Team is thinking about presents. Along the way, they find out the true meaning of the holiday, alongside an adaptation of the nativity told through animals.
NOTE: There was a two-week break between this episode and the next, due to the cast going on Christmas holidays. |
| New Year Special | 9 January 2009 | The Green Team is all together again and full of wishes for the New Year.
NOTE: Jake Pratt was absent for this episode. In the show, it was mentioned that he had the flu. |
| Lilly-Rose Hates Winter | 16 January 2009 | It is January and Lily-Rose is feeling fed up with the Winter. Her flowers have died and there is no wildlife around to spot. The Green Team set about showing her that there is still plenty to do and see in the winter. |
| Bird in Winter | 23 January 2009 | The Green Balloon Club have a good look at the birds in the winter garden. Cat and Lily-Rose are making comical dancing birds and we have a close look at stoats who are also great movers. |
| Pantomime | 30 January 2009 | The Green Team reimagine the story of Little Red Riding Hood, with three wolves! |
| Making Bread | 6 February 2009 | The Green Team learns how bread is made. |
| Blue Tits | 13 February 2009 | The first signs of Spring are starting to appear and birds are looking for places to build their nests and start a family. Jake is putting up a new home for his robins and introduces us to a family of blue tits. |
| Lilly-Rose's Tooth | 20 February 2009 | Lily-Rose has lost her first tooth and she brings it in to show the Green Team. So Ant in turn shows her his collection of animal teeth and they look at what jobs the different kinds of teeth do. |
| Weather with Nature Chris | 27 February 2009 | Nature Chris joins the Green Team, who are having a weather day. |
| Skipper's Birthday | 6 March 2009 | The Green Team wonder when Skipper's birthday is, which Cat doesn't know about. They decide that it wouldn't be more difficult to have Skipper's birthday than in the present. |
| Creatures Communicate | 13 March 2009 | The Green Team is finding out about creatures that communicate using vibrations. They decide to create a communication system of their own. |
| Ladybirds in Spring | 20 March 2009 | Spring is on the way. Ant has found his first ladybird of the year, and it looks like it's coming out of hibernation! |
| The Lifecycle | 27 March 2009 | The Green Team finds out about the life cycles of animals. Ant has brought in some pupas that he is watching, hoping that they will soon hatch into butterflies. |
| Animal Tracks | 3 April 2009 | The Green Team is going tracking. Every creature makes a different print, but can they recognize them? |
| City Farm and Baby Rabbits | 10 April 2009 | A pair of baby rabbits visit the Green Balloon. Jelly and her friends set off to a city farm to discover what baby animals they have there, and at the same time get involved with some pig racing. |
| Dig In | 17 April 2009 | The Green Team start to join in with the BBC's "Dig In" Campaign. |
| Toy Farm and Baby Animals | 24 April 2009 | Cat brings in a toy farm to Club. Along the way, the Green Team finds out about baby farm animals. |
| Bluebells | 1 May 2009 | The Green Team is amazed by just how fast things can grow. |
| Stag Beetles | 8 May 2009 | Ant brings in his prize model of a stag beetle and the team finds out about Britain's biggest insect, which is under threat. |
| Animals That Live in Dens | 15 May 2009 | The Green Team build a fantastic den inside the Green Balloon, thinking about the animals that live in dens and under the ground. |
| Ocean in a Box | 22 May 2009 | The Green Team make their own nature worlds, including an amazing Ocean-in-a-Box by Cat and Ant. |
| Four Seasons | 29 May 2009 | The Green Team thinks about the four seasons and try to decide which is best. |
Ratings
Episode viewing figures from BARB.[2]
| Episode no. | Airdate | Total viewers | CBeebies weekly ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 June 2008 | 342,000 | 7 |
| 2 | 27 June 2008 | 352,000 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 July 2008 | 290,000 | 4 |
| 4 | 11 July 2008 | 338,000 | 9 |
| 5 | 18 July 2008 | 504,000 | 1 |
| 6 | 25 July 2008 | Under 294,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 7 | 1 August 2008 | 383,000 | 1 |
| 8 | 8 August 2008 | Under 319,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 9 | 15 August 2008 | Under 302,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 10 | 22 August 2008 | Under 311,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 11 | 29 August 2008 | Under 312,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 12 | 5 September 2008 | Under 329,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 13 | 12 September 2008 | Under 389,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 14 | 19 September 2008 | Under 332,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 15 | 26 September 2008 | Under 368,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 16 | 3 October 2008 | Under 350,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 17 | 10 October 2008 | Under 347,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 18 | 17 October 2008 | Under 361,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 19 | 24 October 2008 | Under 380,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 20 | 31 October 2008 | Under 345,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 21 | 7 November 2008 | Under 336,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 22 | 14 November 2008 | Under 331,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 23 | 21 November 2008 | Under 364,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 24 | 28 November 2008 | Under 331,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 25 | 5 December 2008 | Under 338,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 26 | 12 December 2008 | Under 324,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 27 | 19 December 2008 | Under 401,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 28 | 9 January 2009 | Under 415,000 | Outside Top 10 |
| 29 | 16 January 2009 | ||
| 30 | 23 January 2009 | ||
| 31 | 30 January 2009 | ||
| 32 | 6 February 2009 | ||
| 33 | 13 February 2009 | ||
| 34 | 20 February 2009 |
Green Balloon Club Goes on Holiday (2009)
In 2009, a stand-alone series of 10 episodes were broadcast. The first half featured the Green Team visiting the Isle of Arran and the second half featured the Green Team becoming zookeepers in Belfast Zoo for a week.
Winter Special (2009)
A stand-alone Winter Special was aired in December 2009 (Recorded in November 2009), which featured the entire cast going on a winter camping adventure.
Green Balloon Club Scrapbook (2010)
In 2010, a spin-off series of 15 episodes entitled "Green Balloon Club Scrapbook" was produced which showed "what the Green Team get up to when they're not in the Green Balloon. Different members of the team check the laptop to find out what the other members of the Green Balloon Club are getting up to". This series also included animated segments starring Skipper the Dog, who in this series gained a voice. This series also included two song specials. "[3]
| Episode | Original air date | Details | Total viewers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 January 2010 | Skipper heads off on an adventure where she meets a monkey gang from South Africa. | 278,000 |
| 2 | 20 January 2010 | Skipper heads off on an adventure with a parrot party in the South American rainforest. | 300,000 |
| 3 | 27 January 2010 | Jelly is on a camping trip with some friends in Wales. | 230,000 |
| 4 | 3 February 2010 | Skipper heads off to the jungle where she meets a bird who can make the most amazing sounds. | 268,000 |
| 5 | 10 February 2010 | Ant is making his Bug Files at his local Tropical House. | 249,000 |
| 6 | 17 February 2010 | Jelly reports from the Welsh coast where she meets a surfing family. | 236,000 |
| 7 | 24 February 2010 | Skipper is off on an African adventure, where she meets a lot of water-loving hippos. | 204,000 |
| 8 | 3 March 2010 | Skipper heads underwater where she encounters a giant octopus. | 193,000 |
| 9 | 10 March 2010 | Skipper heads off to Antarctica where she goes for a long and cold walk with a group of penguins. | 191,000 |
| 10 | 17 March 2010 | Skipper heads off to South America on a multi-coloured Macaw adventure. | 105,000 |
| 11 | 24 March 2010 | Ant and his friend Bradley meet some big hissing cockroaches and have a race with them. | 164,000 |
| 12 | 29 March 2010 | Jay is out doing some birdwatching, he's looking at how autumn is a good time for birds. | |
| 13 | 23 December 2009 | Winter Special | 213,000 |
| 14 | 30 March 2010 | Song Special part 1: The Green Team introduce their favourite songs in a special programme of music and verse. | 203,000 |
| 15 | 31 March 2010 | Song Special part 2: Ant is out looking for minibeasts. Can you guess what his favourite song will be? | 350,000 |
Note: episode 13 was not shown between episodes 12 and 14, as it was shown within the Christmas schedule
International airings
- The show began airing in Australia on their version of CBeebies in late 2009, in time for the summer season. Until 2019, the show still aired on the channel, in a late-night slot.
- The show also aired on CBeebies Poland from 2010 to 2013, titled Podróże z Zielonym Balonem ("Travel with the Green Balloon") and dubbed into Polish by now-defunct dubbing company Eurocom Studio.
References
- ↑ Tara Conlan (14 April 2008). "CBeebies to broadcast eco season". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
- ↑ "Broadcasters Audience Research Board". BARB. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
- ↑ "Green Balloon Scrapbook". CBeebies. BBC. January 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
External links
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