Art Ninja is a British children's television art-sitcom hybrid hosted by Ricky Martin. The show is produced by Dot to Dot Productions for CBBC and began on 17 January 2015.[2] The series follows presenter Ricky and his life where he makes arts with his friends Rich Thorne, Michelle Ackerley, Gavin "Gav" Strange and Sarah Matthews. Ella Lia Trudgeon and Ricky's dad, Terry Martin also appears in some episodes. Five series of 10 episodes (Series 5 had 15 episodes) each have been aired. Short compilation episodes are as Nine Minute Ninja.
| Art Ninja | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre |
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| Created by |
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| Written by |
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| Directed by | Geoff Coward |
| Presented by | |
| Starring |
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| Narrated by | Enn Reitel |
| Composer | Dobs Vye |
| Country of origin | Britain |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 55 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Running time | 28 minutes |
| Production company | Dot to Dot Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBBC |
| Release | 17 January 2015 – 7 April 2019 |
A fifth series was commissioned by CBBC in Spring 2018, which aired in 2019.[3]
Format
editEach episode follows a sitcom format with instructional art segments, like Art Attack or SMart. Each episode's makes has a theme to them, such as animals or aliens. An episode will usually consist of several small crafts the viewer is able to make at home, an animation, a small drawing on a sticky note, a craft made with a viewer on Skype, a small craft with the character The Grandmaster and a big craft, usually using a large amount of a certain material, like coins or clingfilm.
Production
editArt Ninja came around after Ricky Martin's pilot, Ricky's Radical Reinventions was not picked up by CBBC. Dot to Dot Productions were looking for a recommission of their former art series, Totally Rubbish. However, CBBC's commissioner Cheryl Taylor wanted to create a new art brand. According to Martin, the series was aiming to be "The Naked Chef, meets art, meets Jackass." The working title for the series was Art Monkey.[4]
Episodes
edit| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 10 | 17 January 2015 | 21 March 2015 | |
| 2 | 10 | 30 January 2016 | 2 April 2016 | |
| 3 | 10 | 21 January 2017 | 1 July 2017 | |
| 4 | 10 | 20 January 2018 | 24 March 2018 | |
| 5 | 15 | 16 December 2018 | 7 April 2019 | |
Series 1 (2015)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Day of the Birdman" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 17 January 2015 | |
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Ricky is reminded of his childhood pet Mr Chicken and creates a collage to help him find his old feathered friend. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Day of the Disguise" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 24 January 2015 | |
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Ricky has forgotten his friend Sarah's birthday so he throws a surprise party to make it up to her. | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Day of the Goblins" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 31 January 2015 | |
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Ricky demonstrates how to animate a submarine and create a bookend using a rubber glove. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Day of the Lucky Trunks" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 7 February 2015 | |
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Before he joins his friends at the beach, Ricky shows how to make cool stuff. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Day of the Angry Cloud" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 14 February 2015 | |
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Ricky can't go out because of the rain so he makes a water picture inspired by J. M. W. Turner. | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Day of the Decoration" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 21 February 2015 | |
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Sarah foolishly asks Ricky and Gav to paint her flat while she is out. | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Day of the Trash" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 28 February 2015 | |
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Ricky attempts to tidy up but his dad brings around a box of his old junk. | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Day of the Aliens" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 7 March 2015 | |
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Ricky is inspired by extraterrestrials to make alien gloop. He also makes a Venus flytrap. | ||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Day of the Bug" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 14 March 2015 | |
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Ricky has a cold, but that hasn't stopped him from making art. He makes a nosey tissue dispenser. | ||||||
| 10 | 10 | "Day of the Dog" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 21 March 2015 | |
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Ricky accidentally becomes a dogsitter. This inspires him to make a fake dog with a collar. | ||||||
Series 2 (2016)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Day of the Prank" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 30 January 2016 | |
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Gav plays a devious prank on Ricky, so he decides to get his own back using six thousand cups of juice. | ||||||
| 12 | 2 | "Day of the Game" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 6 February 2016 | |
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Gav won't stop playing games on Ricky's phone and despite his best efforts Ricky can't distract him.
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| 13 | 3 | "Day of the Spider" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 13 February 2016 | |
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Gav brings round his new pet and Ricky makes butterfly art inspired by Damien Hirst. | ||||||
| 14 | 4 | "Day of the Diamond" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 20 February 2016 | |
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Something sparkly and expensive is delivered to the flat, and Ricky thinks a scary man wants it back. | ||||||
| 15 | 5 | "Day of the Time Machine" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 27 February 2016 | |
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Ricky wishes he could go back in time after spilling paint on a priceless rug, so he downloads App To The Future. | ||||||
| 16 | 6 | "Day of the Dragon" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 5 March 2016 | |
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Ricky orders a takeaway, but will his fortune cookies' predictions come true? | ||||||
| 17 | 7 | "Day of the Baby" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 12 March 2016 | |
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Ricky is looking after his baby niece and has to use his ninja skills to try to keep her amused. | ||||||
| 18 | 8 | "Day of the Band" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 19 March 2016 | |
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Ricky decides to form a band, but the instruments he orders don't quite fit the bill. | ||||||
| 19 | 9 | "Day of the Werewolf" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 26 March 2016 | |
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Gav turns up at the flat, but Ricky thinks there is something a bit strange about his mate. | ||||||
| 20 | 10 | "Day of the Six-Pack" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 2 April 2016 | |
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Ricky decides to get in shape and makes healthy art, including fruit pom-poms and a salad face place mat. | ||||||
Series 3 (2017)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "Day of the Animals" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 21 January 2017 | |
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Gav can't find the right animal costume to run the local marathon. Ricky helps him decide by making a piranha fish bag and a baboon chalk picture. | ||||||
| 22 | 2 | "Day of the Match" | Geoff Coward | Howard Davidson and Nick Hutchings | 28 January 2017 | |
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Ricky's never been good at football, so is horrified to hear his dad has entered him and his 'make-believe' girlfriend into a family tournament. | ||||||
| 23 | 3 | "Day of the Egg" | Geoff Coward | Howard Davidson and Nick Hutchings | 4 February 2017 | |
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Ricky thinks he has nothing to spread on his toast, until a giant egg is delivered. Worried it could contain a baby Tyrannosaurus rex, Ricky distracts himself with art.
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| 24 | 4 | "Day of the Yeti" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 11 February 2017 | |
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Ricky hears that a Yeti has been spotted in Bristol and he is determined to lure the mysterious creature and be the first to photograph it. | ||||||
| 25 | 5 | "Day of the Dream" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 18 February 2017 | |
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Ricky is having really weird dreams, which lead to him to make surreal art including giant hands and a burger hat inspired by René Magritte. | ||||||
| 26 | 6 | "Day of the Vlog" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 25 February 2017 | |
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Gav thinks that he could get rich and famous by filming a vlog about being the art ninja's annoying best friend. Ricky wants in as well. | ||||||
| 27 | 7 | "Day of the Invisibility" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 4 March 2017 | |
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Sarah's bought a onesie that turns her invisible and she and Ricky use it to plays tricks on Gav. Ricky conjures a geometric kite design. | ||||||
| 28 | 8 | "Day of the Spy" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 11 March 2017 | |
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Ricky's always wanted to be a spy, but when he starts receiving mysterious phone calls full of code words he's not so sure. | ||||||
| 29 | 9 | "Day of the Ancestor" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings | 18 March 2017 | |
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Ricky discovers he could be descended from a famous pirate. | ||||||
Series 4 (2018)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | "Day of the Food Fest" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings, Richard Hunt & Jo Killingley | 20 January 2018 | |
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Ricky enters a foodie competition run by Nadiya Hussain whilst Gav cooks up some unlikely food combos. | ||||||
| 32 | 2 | "Day of the Fairytale" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings, Richard Hunt & Jo Killingley | 27 January 2018 | |
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Ricky becomes part of a fairytale when his virtual assistant trolls him. Sarah becomes a wicked witch and Gav is with three little pigs. | ||||||
| 33 | 3 | "Day of the Competition" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings & Richard Hunt | 3 February 2018 | |
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Ricky and Gav watch Officially Amazing and they rediscover their competitiveness and attempt to break several records. | ||||||
| 34 | 4 | "Day of the Hair" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings & Richard Hunt | 10 February 2018 | |
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Short Summary: Ricky buys Arry Arkright's hair potion and when Gav uses it, chaos ensues, leading Ricky to buy the antidote. | ||||||
| 35 | 5 | "Day of the Driving Test" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings & Richard Hunt | 17 February 2018 | |
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Short Summary: Ricky's nan has bought him driving lessons because she thinks he's too old to ride a skateboard. However, Ricky's not keen. | ||||||
| 36 | 6 | "Day Of The Gossip" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings & Richard Hunt | 24 February 2018 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 37 | 7 | "Day Of The Superfan" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings & Richard Hunt | 3 March 2018 | |
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Short Summary
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| 38 | 8 | "Day Of The Dummy" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings & Richard Hunt | 10 March 2018 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 39 | 9 | "Day Of The Fashion" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings & Richard Hunt | 17 March 2018 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 40 | 10 | "Day Of The World Trip" | Geoff Coward | Nick Hutchings & Richard Hunt | 24 March 2018 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
Series 5 (2018 – 2019)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | 1 | "Day of the Not Christmas" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 16 December 2018 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 42 | 2 | "Day of the Clown" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 13 January 2019 | |
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Short Summary
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| 43 | 3 | "Day of the Virtual Reality" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 13 January 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 44 | 4 | "Day of the Dance Off" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 20 January 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 45 | 5 | "Day of the Detective" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 27 January 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 46 | 6 | "Day of the Eco-Warrior" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 3 February 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 47 | 7 | "Day of the Samphoo-Poo" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 10 February 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 48 | 8 | "Day of the Antique" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 17 February 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 49 | 9 | "Day of the Grand High Ninja" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 24 February 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 50 | 10 | "Day of the Lurgy" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 3 March 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 51 | 11 | "Day of the Prophecy" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 10 March 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 52 | 12 | "Day of the Magician" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 17 March 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 53 | 13 | "Day of the Ghost" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 24 March 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 54 | 14 | "Day of the Zapper" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 31 March 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
| 55 | 15 | "Day of the Flashback" | Geoff Coward | TBC | 7 April 2019 | |
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Short Summary | ||||||
References
edit- ^ "Art meets sitcom in CBBC's upcoming Art Ninja". Archived from the original on 12 February 2017.
- ^ "BBC Store". 10 November 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "CBBC strikes deal for more Art Ninja". Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ^ "Aardman designer encourages kids to get creative in art TV show". 16 February 2015. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
