Fourways Farm
Fourways Farm is a British children's animated television series produced by Case Television and Dutch Education Television from the Netherlands, and aired on Channel 4 during 4Learning Primary Science between 1993 and 1996.
| Fourways Farm | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Chris Ellis |
| Directed by | Tom Stanier |
| Voices of | Martin Jarvis |
| Narrated by | Martin Jarvis |
| Music by | Jim Parker |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 25 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Patrica Williams |
| Running time | 10 minutes per episode (approx.) |
| Production company | Case Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Original release | 27 February 1993 – 29 August 1996 |
Plot
Nine animals live together in Fourways Farm. In every episode, one or more of the animals make an accidental but interesting scientific discovery. By nightfall, the animals try to deduce a logical explanation for it as they sleep; it happens in most episodes. Often, the three rats make mischievous attempts to get some food out of the farm animals throughout the series, but they occasionally put their mischief aside to help out whenever there is trouble afoot. In the first 10 episodes, the farm animals say goodnight to each other, but in 15 more, the closing theme tune is used, as the credits roll on screen.
Characters
- Johan the Rooster - The story teller on top of the roof.
- Davenport the Sheepdog - Has black and white fur, and speaks in an excitable, posh voice.
- Martha the Cow - Has brown fur, speaks in a female voice and mulls over situations.
- Godfrey the Horse - Piebald fur, who prides himself on his talents. He speaks with a Yorkshire accent.
- Ginger the Cat - Has stripy ginger fur and speaks in a posh Edinburgh accent.
- Dudley the Pig - Tends to waddle whenever he trots and likes to eat turnips. He has a West Country accent.
- Brenda the Duck - Has white feathers and speaks rather loudly.
- Uno the Large Rat - Has brown fur, always wears sunglasses, does most of the scheming, and is a cockney, like the other rats.
- Duo the Medium Rat - Has brown fur, buck teeth stick out, is not very bright and speaks in a deep voice.
- Trio the Small Rat - Has Buff coloured fur and speaks in a high-pitched voice.
Episodes
| No. | Cartoons | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "On Reflection" | 27 February 1993 | |
| Martha and Godfrey think there is a cow and a horse in the pond. The rats try to trick them, but Brenda reveals that those are really reflections in the water. | |||
| 2 | "Moonstruck" | 1 March 1993 | |
| The animals try to stop the rats eating the Moon and, with Ginger's help, discover something important about the changing night sky. They have a midnight picnic under the stars. | |||
| 3 | "Falling Upwards" | 3 March 1993 | |
| The animals discover why things always fall downwards, but they don't know the rats are trying to play a trick on them. Ginger tickles Duo as Trio crashes on Uno! The animals think what else floats upwards that night. | |||
| 4 | "Sunflowers" | 6 March 1993 | |
| The farm animals decide to have a sunflower-growing contest, but Martha finds out that water, good soil and sunshine are needed to make the plants grow and wins the contest. | |||
| 5 | "Three of a Kind" | 7 May 1993 | |
| Brenda has three mystery guests who hatch out of her eggs, but why do they look so much like her? She shows them the way she swims on her pond, and they have a picnic; with Trio the baby rat as Brenda's surprise! | |||
| 6 | "Who's Been Eating?" | 9 June 1993 | |
|
The mysterious disappearance of some food introduces the three rats, (Uno, Duo and Trio) to the farm - but which animal on the farm eats what, and why? Well, it's the rat pack, of course! Although this is the sixth episode, it is also the first episode to introduce the animals, and the new arrival of the Rat Pack. | |||
| 7 | "A Drop of the Hard Stuff" | 10 July 1993 | |
| Why has the pond gone all hard? The animals discover the relationship between ice and water. Godfrey wants to slide on the ice but so hard that he cracks the ice, revealing into water again! When he sinks, it's up to Martha, Brenda and the rat pack to rescue him from drowning as a proclamation that icy places are dangerous to play on. They'd prefer only Brenda and Davenport to skate on it instead tomorrow. | |||
| 8 | "Material Differences" | 12 August 1993 | |
| After such a terrible storm, Dudley's pigsty is in need of repairs, but what can be done to mend the pigsty? Only the correct material will do the trick. A plastic sheet and a tyre are perfect for a roof window for Dudley's sty! | |||
| 9 | "Ups and Downs" | 20 August 1993 | |
| After going round and round like a merry-go-round, Davenport tries an experiment with a bucket with the rats, but who is either up or down? Well, when Davenport is stuck halfway up, Trio manages to climb onto him, and (along with the rats) fall onto Godfrey's head three times! | |||
| 10 | "The Sound of Music" | 26 August 1993 | |
| It is night time on the farm. The animals learn that there are many ways of making sounds, but not all are musical! As the big night arrives, Uno introduces the animals playing their parts - Godfrey stamping his feet on the box, Dudley with his creaky bottom, Ginger pushing the door, Brenda shaking her seed-crumb packet, Martha playing the flowerpot bells and Trio blowing notes from the bottles. It was a great success, as the applause is heard. | |||
| 11 | "Floating and Sinking" | 1 January 1994 | |
| While the rats try to substitute the farm animals' food for painted stones, Dudley and Godfrey discover that certain objects float and sink in water. | |||
| 12 | "Buried Secrets" | 10 January 1994 | |
| The rats trick the animals into giving their food to be looked after by using "superior intelligence". However, the rats neglect some of the food and fully preserve their portion. Duo manages to get the (cut) plastic box providing the animals to find their food perfect to eat, as the rats won't again take more than their fair shares. | |||
| 13 | "Appropriate Measures" | 20 February 1994 | |
| During a test to see whoever can jump the highest, Godfrey accidentally smashes Ginger's cat box by jumping onto it and smashing it against the farm's water trough. While building a new box, the animals get the scale and measurements all wrong. Luckily, Davenport has the correct box. Ginger is pleased that everything is sorted out, even Dudley, who manages to find the little box for turnips as a snack-keeper! | |||
| 14 | "Animal Magnetism" | 26 June 1994 | |
| The mischievous rats find a magnet and attempt to trick the animals into thinking its attraction. They do an attractiveness test. Duo however, with such a sneeze, accidentally gives the game away. Uno manages to find Godfrey's lucky charm! | |||
| 15 | "Gauging The Weather" | 27 August 1994 | |
| Duo unwittingly makes a rain gauge out of a round glass jar, thinking that it's an "all-over all-round umbrella". When it is dry and sunny on Godfrey's birthday, Godfrey is unhappy about the lack of rain, so the rats help him out as to make him think that there has been a short rainstorm in history! | |||
| 16 | "Birth and Death" | 3 February 1995 | |
| Davenport and the rats discover a dead bird lying near the farm's water well and decide to bury it in the ground before wishing it all the best for its afterlife in Heaven. They notice three chicks in the tree. The rats gave them some worms, and give them a chance to fly. | |||
| 17 | "Paws For Thought" | 2 March 1995 | |
| When huge footprints appear in the snow, the animals think that there must be a giant on the loose, but they soon learn why all animals are different. | |||
| 18 | "Snow Problem" | 6 March 1995 | |
| Everybody on the farm enjoys the snow, but when Dudley falls into the snow and freezes and cannot move unaided, it takes the other animals and a lot of applied science to help him get up by rolling him onto a cart and then giving him a lift back to the farm before placing him in front of the stove in the barn to warm him up. After the good news they tell Martha, the question is: are there any other ways of making things move more easily? | |||
| 19 | "Hot and Cold" | 30 March 1995 | |
| It is a cold Winter's day on the farm, and after having Duo putting too much wood in the stove, the animals are out of petrol. What can the animals do to produce heat and conserve it? In the morning though, Ginger tells them that the Sun has melted the snow away. | |||
| 20 | "Shadow Play" | 9 May 1995 | |
| When the sky turns red, the animals are intrigued at their own shadows and use this new discovery to put on their very own play. They put a play about the animals making a wish. It is a great success! | |||
| 21 | "Colours" | 1 January 1996 | |
| The rats attempt to decorate Davenport's kennel, but they keep mixing up their paint and the plan goes horribly wrong, that is, until the heavy rain washes all the paint away, leaving the kennel exactly how it was at the beginning of the plan. | |||
| 22 | "Sickness and Health" | 6 January 1996 | |
| Davenport becomes ill and worries about if he'll ever get better or not. The animals don't have a solution to help him get well in time for a planned picnic (even as Uno uses a bottle of water as elixir), except Ginger who provides proper medicine. Davenport is better the next day in time for the group picnic, and all is well. But the question that night is: where do illnesses come from? | |||
| 23 | "Changes" | 4 February 1996 | |
| Duo accidentally falls into a bag of flour and turns white, like a ghost. The rats use the flour to make some pizzas and ask what topping it will have, along with a milkshake and their fast food and drink delivery service becomes a success. All in all, the day really does turn out to be "a day to remember". | |||
| 24 | "Four Seasons" | 5 April 1996 | |
| The animals run out of wood for the stove, but with Martha's help, they learn all about the changing seasons. Trees loose their leaves in the Autumn, they sleep in the Winter and they wake up and get lively in the Spring before Summer. | |||
| 25 | "Wind And Air" | 29 August 1996 | |
| It is a windy day on the farm and the rats are trying to find a way to take advantage of the strong wind, but Duo is accidentally flown on Davenport's kite and stranded on the rooftop next to Voltaire the Weather cock. Trio climbs up the kite string to the rooftop to rescue him before giving him the descent of his life! The nightly discussion from the animals is, what if some places didn't have any air? | |||
Credits
- Written by: Chris Ellis
- Starring: Martin Jarvis
- Narrated by: Martin Jarvis
- Designed by: Max Stewart
- Music by: Jim Parker, Toby Edwards
- Sound/Dubbing Mixer: Ruud de Boer, Sean O'Shea, Kevin Pyne
- Editing: Luke Dunkley, Adrian Hill, Steve Hyman, Bas Los, Bob Soetekouw
- Educational Consultants: John Stringer, Malcolm Ward
- Director of Animation: Alan Platt
- Production Team: Fred Butter, Jan Anne Drenth, Trudy Libosan, Maria Lindes (uncredited)
- Produced by: Patricia Williams
- Directed by: Tom Stanier
- A Case Television Production for Channel 4 in Association with NOT Holland
- Copyright Channel Four/NOT/Case TV MCMXCIII, MCMXCIV, MCMXCV, MCMXCVI.
VHS Releases
| VHS Tape Title | VHS Tape Release Date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Fourways Farm - Moonstruck and Other Stories (VC1378) | 20 February 1995 | On Reflection, Moonstruck, Falling Upwards, Sunflowers and Three of a Kind |
| Fourways Farm - Ups And Downs and Other Stories (VC1359) | 27 March 1995 | Who's Been Eating?, A Drop of the Hard Stuff, Material Differences, Ups and Downs and The Sound of Music |
| Fourways Farm - Buried Treasure and Other Stories (VC1397) | 24 July 1995 | Floating and Sinking, Buried Treasure, Appropriate Measures, Animal Magnetism and Gauging the Weather |
| Fourways Farm - Paws For Thought and Other Stories (VC1398) | 7 August 1995 | Birth and Death, Paws For Thought, Snow Problem, Hot and Cold and Shadow Play |
| Fourways Farm - Four Seasons and Other Stories (VC1421) | 9 September 1996 | Colours, Sickness and Health, Changes, Four Seasons and Wind And Air |
References
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