Postman Pat Plays for Greendale (Postman Pat - easy reader)

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In October 2023, Norwegian singer Leo Moracchioli released a heavy metal cover version of the theme song. [14] Books [ edit ] Cherie Booth recording a Postman Pat talking book for blind children at the Royal National Institute for the Blind, 2000. Photograph: John Stillwell/PA Postman Pat is a British stop-motion animated children's television series first produced by Woodland Animations. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman who works for Royal Mail postal service in the fictional village of Greendale (inspired by the real valley of Longsleddale near Kendal). [2] He was no stranger to feeling fed up. As a boy at school in Colne, an old mill town in Lancashire, he had been a punchbag for the local bullies. He was naturally a peaceable boy who didn’t enjoy fighting at all but he had the misfortune to be much taller than anyone else so he was a natural target for every little hard man who wanted to make his mark in the playground. They used to ambush him routinely on the way home and batter him and his bike, too.

In 2004, the entire original series was released on DVD in Spain, featuring both English and Spanish audio options. [19] Other versions [ edit ] John Cunliffe had never expected to be rich or famous. Even though he had succeeded in publishing several little stories about Farmer Barnes, he had never earned any real money from it and simply enjoyed it for the pleasure it gave him. But from the beginning, he was excited about Postman Pat. He had actually been asked to write it by the BBC who had told him to come up with a series set in the countryside and, within two minutes of being asked, he had thought of the idea. When he showed them his 13 stories, the BBC said they liked them and, several months later, when they showed them to the best animator in the country, Ivor Wood, he said he liked them, too. It was so badly written. It made him feel quite awkward that people might think he had written it. And in one story, Pat did something particularly stupid. The radiator in his little red van boiled over, and he hopped straight out and pulled the radiator cap off. He’d have burned his face off if he’d have done that. Cunliffe was sure he would never have let Pat do anything so silly. He felt so upset that he sent off a letter, asking how this could happen. Apart from anything else, Cunliffe was under the impression that he was supposed to be the only author of books about Pat. Children could paper their bedrooms with him, cover their lamps with him, hang their clothes on his hook, sleep under his duvet with their head on his pillow case next to his headboard, draw his curtains, wet his flannel, eat out of his lunch box. They could eat him in easter eggs, pasta shapes, party cakes, crisps, penny chews, goodie bags, chocolate biscuits, chocolate lollipops, and chocolate advent calendars. When Prince William went to school, he carried Pat’s thermos flask at his side. Harry Enfield and Chums - S2 Ep5 - BBC". Archived from the original on 28 November 2015 – via YouTube.At his new home in Yorkshire, John Cunliffe watched his private world become a salesman’s playground. Every so often, Woodland sent him a cheque for his 10% and a long invoice full of Pat’s achievements. He tried not to read them. It wasn’t that he felt angry with Woodland. He understood they were only earning a living and, in a way, he admired their energy. But it left him feeling curiously sad. The theme song has undergone several adaptations; from 1994 to 2006, the theme tune had additional instruments such as synthesised strings and a tambourine. A similar edit had already been made to the 1993 album version, which was an edit of the original 1982 album version.

After the sale of Woodland Animations to Entertainment Rights, the company began releasing VHS and DVDs of the revival series through their video label Right Entertainment and distributor Universal Pictures Video. Right released only one classic series volume on VHS and DVD - Postman Pat in a Muddle in April 2004, which contained three Series 2 episodes. DVD releases of classic Postman Pat were limited in availability in various regions, although the revival series is more common. Longleat Safari Park had an outdoor reproduction of Greendale village, including the Post Office, the Cliftons' house and the Greendale station. It also had a miniature model of Greendale. [16] It was installed during the 1990s, was relocated during 2008 in preparation for a new animal area and was revamped a third time for 2013. The attraction was closed at the end of 2015 and was permanently removed in 2016. Pat went round the world: Australasia, South Africa, Eastern Europe. In Norway, he was so popular that their Post Office adopted him as a Christmas mascot. In Japan, children loved Pato San. In China, the little red van took over where the little red book had failed. Only the Americans were difficult. CBS Television didn’t believe Greendale was in the real world, they complained that there were no ethnic minorities and they wanted to re-voice the videos with a mid Atlantic accent. Woodland kept selling.In the second series of the show, which aired in 1996, the village at the centre of the series was briefly referred to as Garner Bridge, while Greendale was the name of the valley in which Garner Bridge was situated. In the episode Postman Pat and the Suit of Armour, Greendale Post Office is referred to as "Garner Bridge Post Office". Harry Enfield and Chums featured a parody entitled "Il Postino Pat" (the show's Italian title), with an operatic reworking of the theme tune and the characters speaking in Italian. At the end, there is a communist revolution in Greendale, and Pat is shot and killed by fascist soldiers. [22] From time to time, he protested quietly and was told to face commercial realities. His publishers complained that there were too many sub-standard books in the shops. Cunliffe’s literary agent talked to Woodland to try to define the difference between books and merchandise. But Cunliffe still walked into bookshops and found his creation in some strange new home. Recently, he found Pat in a set of six miniature books, written in doggerel verse. Cunliffe thought they were dreadful. But Pat no longer belonged to him. Cunliffe didn't retain rights to the character and was critical of some of the tie-in media later released. He wrote the stories to the series Rosie and Jim, which he also presented, as a show which he could have more creative control over. [7] A CGI spin-off to the series was made called Guess with Jess which follows Pat's cat Jess now with the ability to talk and his adventures with the farm animals. The series debuted on 9 November 2009 and ended in 2013.