Oakie Doke
Oakie Doke was a British children's television programme that was broadcast from 1995 to 1997 on the BBC. It was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films and was animated with stop motion animation. The show ran for two series, each containing 13 episodes.
| Oaky Doke | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's |
| Created by | Bridget Appleby |
| Written by | Jimmy Hibbert |
| Directed by | Series 1 - Brian Little Series 2 - Ellen Meske |
| Voices of | David Holt Kate Harbour |
| Opening theme | "Oakie Doke" by Ernie Wood |
| Ending theme | "Oakie Doke" by Ernie Wood (Extended) |
| Composer | Ernie Wood |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Brian Cosgrove Mark Hall Theresa Plummer-Andrews |
| Producers | Jackie Cockle Chris Bowden |
| Running time | 10 minutes |
| Production company | Cosgrove Hall Films |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One, BBC Two, CBeebies |
| Audio format | Dolby Surround |
| Original release | 11 September 1995 – 13 September 1997 |
It also aired on ABC in Australia, TVNZ 2 in New Zealand, RTÉ Two in Ireland as part of their children's block The Den, Dubai 33 in the United Arab Emirates, Net 25 in the Philippines, SABC2 in South Africa, Prime 12 and Premiere 12 in Singapore, TVP1 in Poland, ITV in Thailand, Arutz HaYeladim in Israel, ATV in Hong Kong as part of their children's block Tube Time, BFBS and SSVC Television as part of their children's block Children's SSVC in Germany, Yle TV1 in Finland and WETA-TV in the U.S. as part of a programming block for children called Someday School.
The theme song was composed and sung by Ernie Wood who also composed the incidental music for the series.
Characters
- A friendly folk - called Oakie Doke
- A Mole family - Mr. Manny, Mrs. Milly, Marcia, Marcus
- A Mice family (The Corncrackers) - Albert, Rose, Root, Snoot and Hickory
- A Frog family - Moses, Neptune, Abel and Granny Annie who pushes around a bowl containing three tadpoles, on a pram
- A Hedgehog family (The Tickles) - Mrs. Tickle, Lizzie, Libby and Shrimp
- A Squirrel family - Rufus, Rain and their baby squirrel called Hazel
- Two mischievous gray squirrels - Dave and Denzil who communicate frequently with a cups and string phone.
Plot synopsis
Oakie Doke was a character who lived in an oak tree. His head was an acorn and an Oak leaf covered his upper body. His skin was a light green and he had distinctive rosy cheeks. He was a friendly character and a well-respected member of the forest. He slides down the slide around his treehouse everyday and his friends includes squirrels, mice, toads, hedgehogs and moles.
At the start of the show, one of his friends would ring a bell at the bottom of his tree, which would wake him up. He would then ride a slide that wound round the trunk of the tree to the bottom. The episode then began. On a typical episode, there would be a friend who had an everyday problem in the woods, and Oakie would immediately come to their aid. There was usually a dilemma, but he would help them and was often assisted by his friends from the forest. Many of the problems that arose were a result of the actions of Dave and Denzil who were known to carry actions out without considering the consequences. However, they usually showed some remorse when Oakie later confronted the pair about their behaviour.
Towards the end of each episode, after Oakie had helped solve the problem, he would state: "Well, it's like I always say...", followed by a rhyming phrase. This phrase would be in relation to the solution of the problem. This was greeted with approving laughter and applause from whoever was present at the time.
Episodes
Series 1
| # | Title | Air Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Oakie Doke and the Lonely Mouse" | 11 September 1995 | |
| A tailless mouse named Hickory is looking for a home. After rescuing Snoot's tail from a tree root, Hickory is adopted by the Corncracker Family. | |||
| 2 | "Oakie Doke and the Nut Mystery" | 18 September 1995 | |
| Doke helps Rufus to find his missing nut stash and Rose to find Root using Manny's water detector. They find Root fast asleep in a hollow tree along with the nut stash Dave and Denzil stole. | |||
| 3 | "Oakie Doke and the Party" | 25 September 1995 | |
| Rose is not able to cook pizzas for the Oakie Hollows Hoedown due to her broken oven. Manny finds out that Snoot stuffed Grannie Annie's hat down the pipe. After Marcus, Root and Oakie have fixed the oven, Oakie and all the family come to the Oakie Hollows Hoedown with the pizzas. | |||
| 4 | "Oakie Doke and the Birthday Cake" | 2 October 1995 | |
| Mrs Tickle has a cold this morning, which Lizzie is not pleased about, as it's her birthday today. To cheer up, Doke gets some help to make a cake for Lizzie's Birthday Party. But Mrs Tickle already has a surprise for Lizzie. | |||
| 5 | "Oakie Doke and the Hiccups" | 9 October 1995 | |
| Moses gets the hiccups after drinking Granny Annie's unready lemonade. Doke's methods to cure it don't work, but the sight of Lizzie's statue of Doke does. | |||
| 6 | "Oakie Doke and the Hat Hunt" | 16 October 1995 | |
| Granny Annie accidentally loses her hat at the bottom of the pond, so everyone participates in a competition to fish the hat out for a grand prize. | |||
| 7 | "Oakie Doke and the Scooter" | 23 October 1995 | |
| Inspired by the story of Spotty Scunthorpe's Scooter, Doke builds a scooter to help with deliveries. When Dave and Denzil try it, they end up crashing it in the pond, but they get it back and clean it up. | |||
| 8 | "Oakie Doke and the Cheeky Breeze" | 30 October 1995 | |
| On a very windy day, Doke and Marcia go on a trip to retrieve all of Milly's blown away washing, while Root mistakes the moaning of the wind for a ghost. | |||
| 9 | "Oakie Doke and the Orchestra" | 6 November 1995 | |
| Doke delivers some bottles to Granny Annie's house for her lemonade, which then gets ruined by Neptune, who puts baking powder in the lemonade instead of sugar. While Granny Annie cleans up, Oakie stops by the Corncrackers' house to teach the animals to make music and they all form an orchestra. | |||
| 10 | "Oakie Doke and the Treasure Hunt" | 13 November 1995 | |
| Doke starts up treasure hunt for the animal children, while he does some chores for their parents. Root throws a conker, one of the items on the hunt, down a manhole and while trying to retrieve it, he gets a bit lost, but luckily, Manny helps him out. | |||
| 11 | "Oakie Doke and the Monster" | 20 November 1995 | |
| Doke babysits the tadpoles for Grannie Annie and Shrimp for Mrs. Tickle. Meanwhile Snoot spots what she thinks is a monster, but it's actually Lizzie's papier-mâché mask. | |||
| 12 | "Oakie Doke and the Jam Puddle" | 27 November 1995 | |
| Doke runs Mrs. Tickle's shop while looking after Shrimp and Root. Later, Shrimp wanders off and Marcia finds a puddle of jam. | |||
| 13 | "Oakie Doke and the Wishing Well" | 4 December 1995 | |
| Dave and Denzil establish a wishing well to collect nuts from wish makers. Doke finds out about this and tricks Dave and Denzil into thinking those wishes do come true. | |||
Series 2
| # | Title | Air Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | "Oakie Doke and the Wheelbarrow Nut" | 7 April 1997 | |
| Oakie helps Root plant a nut at the allotment, but Dave and Denzil take the opportunity to trick Root into thinking a wheelbarrow has grown from the nut. Doke finds out about this and decides, with the help of Root, to catch the two of them. | |||
| 15 | "Oakie Doke and the Missing Mouse" | 22 July 1997 | |
| Root has lost his cuddly toy mouse with the bell on, so he and Doke become detectives for the day in order to search for it. | |||
| 16 | "Oakie Doke and the Little Helpers" | 24 July 1997 | |
| Doke is tired today and falls asleep, missing his chores. The village children attempt to do the chores themselves instead. | |||
| 17 | "Oakie Doke and the Burnt Pizzas" | 31 July 1997 | |
| When the village children play a game in Oakie's house, Root ends up stuck at the top and can't go down Oakie's slide, as Oakie told him not to. Meanwhile, Granddad Albert and Oakie Doke try to figure out what to do with Rose's burnt pizzas. Granny Annie's pram's wheels have fallen off, which gives Oakie an idea – he can use the burnt pizzas as substitute wheels. | |||
| 18 | "Oakie Doke and the Talking Stone" | 5 August 1997 | |
| In the middle of the Oakie Hollows Painting Contest, Dave and Denzil, the judges, give a painted stone a monstrous expression, scaring the village children. Doke finds out about this and gives Dave and Denzil such a fright that they won't want to do it again. | |||
| 19 | "Oakie Doke and the New Pet" | 7 August 1997 | |
| Root wants a new pet, while Doke can't get his breakfast as he has a lot of jobs to do. After much searching for the both of them, Root gets a pet rock whilst Doke gets his breakfast at the Moles' place. | |||
| 20 | "Oakie Doke and the Birthday Surprise" | 14 August 1997 | |
| It's Granny Annie's birthday, and whilst the rest of the Toad family try to keep it a secret, Oakie proposes that the Oakie Hollows Orchestra reunite to perform a special birthday song for her. | |||
| 21 | "Oakie Doke and the Runaway Bowls" | 19 August 1997 | |
| The day after a thunderstorm, Doke helps Rufus and Rain repair their chimney. Meanwhile, Root thinks he can hear giants, and thanks to Hickory and Snoot, there are now several bowls rolling around the woods, causing chaos wherever they go. | |||
| 22 | "Oakie Doke and the Oakie Hollows Fete" | 21 August 1997 | |
| Everyone in Oakie Hollows is having a Oakie Hollows Fete, with Granny Annie in charge of fortune telling, Root trying his hand at the ring toss, Rufus in charge of the Acorn Alley game and Dave and Denzil in charge of security. | |||
| 23 | "Oakie Doke and the Helpful Mouse" | 26 August 1997 | |
| The Corncrackers are helping get a surprise party ready for Rose. Root doesn't turn out to be very useful - until Oakie Doke shows up. Together, they gather flowers, groundling berries and jam tarts (with the help of Root's tail). | |||
| 24 | "Oakie Doke and the Go Cart Race" | 28 August 1997 | |
| When Oakie sees Moses and Neptune's go carts, he decides to hold a go cart race, and the prize? A big cake, which Dave and Denzil are determined to have for themselves. | |||
| 25 | "Oakie Doke and the Messy Day" | 6 September 1997 | |
| Oakie Doke babysits Moses and Neptune while Granny Annie is out, but Moses and Neptune turn out to be very messy. | |||
| 26 | "Oakie Doke and the Shooting Star" | 13 September 1997 | |
| The Corncrackers spot a shooting star in the night sky. Scoot and Hickory trick Root with a pretend flying saucer, so Root tricks them with a spaceman costume. | |||
DVD and VHS releases
In 1996, BBC Video released 5 episodes from the first series on VHS.
| VHS Title | Release Date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Oakie Doke (BBCV 5875) | 5 August 1996[1] | Oakie Doke and the Lonely Mouse, Oakie Doke and the Nut Mystery, Oakie Doke and the Party, Oakie Doke and the Scooter, Oakie Doke and the Treasure Hunt |
Then, on 13 January 2003, Cinema Club and Granada Media released 2 DVDs and videos of Oakie Doke, one with Episodes 1-7, and one with Episodes 8-13.
References
- Brian Little (Director). "Oakie Doke [VHS]: Brian Little: Amazon.co.uk: Video". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2016.