The Flowerpot Men

:This article discusses the children's television show. For the psychedelic band of the same name, see Flower Pot Men. Bill and Ben are also characters in the television series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.

Related Topics:
Children's television show - Psychedelic - Flower Pot Men - Bill and Ben - Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

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In the 1950s and 1960s, BBC television ran a series of children's programmes under the collective title of Watch with Mother. There was a different programme on each weekday, one of which was The Flowerpot Men, based on stories by Hilda Brabban.

Related Topics:
1950s - 1960s - BBC - Television - Children's programmes - Watch with Mother - Hilda Brabban

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The plot changed little in each episode. The programme always took place in a garden, behind a potting shed. There was a Little Weed, of indeterminate species, somewhat resembling a sunflower with a smiling face between two large flowerpots. While the Gardener was away having his dinner, the two Flowerpot Men, Bill and Ben, emerged from the two flowerpots. After a minor adventure a minor mishap occurs; someone is guilty. "Which of those two flowerpot men, was it Bill or was it Ben?" the narrator trills, in a quavering soprano; the villain confesses; the gardener's footsteps are heard coming up the garden path; the Flowerpot Men vanish into their pots and the closing credits roll. This final punch-line was: "and I think the little house knew something about it! Don't You?

Related Topics:
Garden - Weed

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The Flowerpot Men spoke their own unintelligible language; for example, "Hello, Little Weed" came out as "Flobber-dobb, Ickle Weed", to which the Weed would inevitably reply "Weeeed". This language, like that of the Teletubbies in the 1990s, was criticised for hindering children from learning proper English.

Related Topics:
Teletubbies - 1990s - English

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Legend has it that Hilda Brabban sold the rights to her stories to the BBC for a mere guinea (£1 1/?, or about $3 at that time).

Related Topics:
Guinea - £1 1/?

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In 2001 a second series named Bill and Ben was produced for CBBC, this time involving stop-motion animation and full colour.

Related Topics:
2001 - CBBC - Stop-motion animation

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