Baby Jake is a British-Irish children's television programme originally broadcast in the UK. It first aired on 4 July 2011.[1] Baby Jake is also available on BBC iPlayer for over a year, and YouTube.
| Baby Jake | |
|---|---|
 Sibsey Trader Mill in Lincolnshire was the location used in the filming of the opening and closing sequences of Baby Jake | |
| Starring | Adamo Bertacchi Morroni Franco Bertacchi Morroni Kaizer Akhtar |
| Opening theme | "Baby Jake" |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom Ireland |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Maddy Darrall |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Production companies | Darrall Macqueen Ltd JAM Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBeebies |
| Release | 4 July 2011 – 17 December 2012 |
Production
editThe programme cost £1.85 million pounds to produce, and was funded by the Irish Film Board[2] and CBeebies.[1]
Darrall Macqueen originated the series and produced the animated elements of the programme through JAM Media.[2] JAM Media are an Irish animation studio who also made Tilly and Friends.[3] Maddy Darrall was quoted by the Metro as gaining inspiration for the show from watching her 7-year-old nephew understanding her 1-year-old son.[4]
The series is animated by Jam Media in Dublin, and the lead writer is Dave Ingham (Charlie and Lola, Koala Brothers).
Plot
editThe show features Jake, a 9-month-old baby. Jake is the youngest of ten children all living in a windmill with their parents, all with their first names starting with the first ten letters of the alphabet.
Each episode features Jake embarking on an adventure with a host of magical characters that include Nibbles the Rabbit, Sydney the Monkey, Pengy Quinn the Penguin, Captain Spacey and the Hamsternauts and Toot Toot the Tractor. These characters are always doing something related to the adventure that Baby Jake is on.
The show features a child narrator and all ten children are depicted in real life, although Baby Jake is given a multi-angle photographic face on an animated body. Jake's babbling is translated by his 5 year old brother Isaac. Isaac was voiced by a real life 5-year-old boy, in a move described by the Guardian as “a risk” since the majority of successful children's television narrated by adults. The roles of Jake and Isaac are portrayed by real life brothers Adamo and Franco Bertacchi Morroni respectively, with Kaizer Akthar providing the voice of Isaac.
Characters
editBaby Jake (portrayed by Adamo Bertacchi Morroni and vocal effects provided by Franco Bertacchi Morroni) is the main character of the show. He is a playful baby who imagines many different adventures.
Isaac (portrayed by Franco Bertacchi Morroni and voiced by Kaizer Akhtar) is Baby Jake's older brother who narrates magic adventure stories.
Nibbles is a rabbit who lives in the forest and is one of Baby Jake's magical friends.
Sydney is a monkey who lives in the jungle and is one of Baby Jake's magical friends.
Captain Spacey and the Hamsternauts are hamsters dressed up as astronauts that live in outer space and are one of Baby Jake's magical friends.
Pengy Quinn is a penguin who lives in the Arctic and is one of Baby Jake's magical friends.
Toot Toot is a magical tractor that Baby Jake rides in.
Bill The Red Bus is a magical bus that Baby Jake rides in. It only appears in “A Picnic Feast“.
Location
editThe windmill featured in the series is Sibsey Trader Mill just outside the village of Sibsey near Boston in Lincolnshire. In the programme, it is shown as a large family home with additional floors, rooms and windows rather than a working mill, although it shows full working sails. Wheat harvesting in fields in and around the mill at the time had to be delayed to allow filming to take place back in the late summer of 2010 so that they had the correct ripened wheat colours.[5]
Series
editSeries one of Baby Jake ran in the UK each weekday from July to August 2011 and consisted of 26 episodes in total.[6]
Series two began on 10 September 2012 also consisting of 26 episodes.[6]
Series two was the last series commissioned. There has been no request for a further series since. The series has also been shown on Al Jazeera.[7]
Reception
editThe show was relatively popular at launch compared to other BBC Children's TV programs, occupying all top five positions on the BBC CBeebies iPlayer for a week.[8] In 2013 the show received a UK Broadcast Award.[9] Its rating on IMDb was 5.4/10.
Episodes
editThis section needs a plot summary. (September 2020) |
Series 1 (2011)
edit| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Playing Chase" | 4 July 2011 |
| 2 | "Peek-a-boo" | 5 July 2011 |
| 3 | "Tummy Sliding" | 6 July 2011 |
| 4 | "To Wriggle" | 7 July 2011 |
| 5 | "Tickle Toes" | 8 July 2011 |
| 6 | "to Say Hello" | 11 July 2011 |
| 7 | "Cartwheeling" | 12 July 2011 |
| 8 | "Spinning in Space" | 13 July 2011 |
| 9 | "To Bumpety Bump" | 14 July 2011 |
| 10 | "Flappy Clapping" | 15 July 2011 |
| 11 | "Being Upside Down" | 18 July 2011 |
| 12 | "Playing Ball" | 19 July 2011 |
| 13 | "Making Noise" | 20 July 2011 |
| 14 | "Bouncing Apples" | 21 July 2011 |
| 15 | "To Copy You" | 22 July 2011 |
| 16 | "Jumping" | 15 August 2011 |
| 17 | "To Hum Along" | 16 August 2011 |
| 18 | "Surprising You" | 17 August 2011 |
| 19 | "Sticky Fun" | 18 August 2011 |
| 20 | "To Stompety Stomp" | 19 August 2011 |
| 21 | "To Roll and Ride" | 22 August 2011 |
| 22 | "Swinging" | 23 August 2011 |
| 23 | "Footprints" | 24 August 2011 |
| 24 | "The Boogie Beat" | 25 August 2011 |
| 25 | "Party Time" | 26 August 2011 |
| 26 | "Being Funny" | 29 August 2011 |
Series 2 (2012)
edit| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | "Popping Peas" | 10 September 2012 |
| 28 | "Stretching" | 11 September 2012 |
| 29 | "His Spinning Hat" | 12 September 2012 |
| 30 | "Chasing an Egg" | 13 September 2012 |
| 31 | "Wobbling" | 14 September 2012 |
| 32 | "Spinning a Web" | 17 September 2012 |
| 33 | "Musical Statues" | 18 September 2012 |
| 34 | "A Picnic Feast" | 19 September 2012 |
| 35 | "Bath Time" | 20 September 2012 |
| 36 | "Waving" | 21 September 2012 |
| 37 | "Space Painting" | 24 September 2012 |
| 38 | "Building" | 25 September 2012 |
| 39 | "Jiggle and Shake" | 26 September 2012 |
| 40 | "Balloons" | 27 September 2012 |
| 41 | "Pretend" | 28 September 2012 |
| 42 | "Ballet Dancing" | 22 October 2012 |
| 43 | "Cuddles" | 23 October 2012 |
| 44 | "Making Honey" | 24 October 2012 |
| 45 | "Knock Knock" | 25 October 2012 |
| 46 | "His Watering Can" | 28 October 2012 |
| 47 | "Cardboard Boxes" | 29 October 2012 |
| 48 | "Pushing Buttons" | 30 October 2012 |
| 49 | "Playing House" | 31 October 2012 |
| 50 | "Gallopy Gallop" | 1 November 2012 |
| 51 | "Pretty Lights" | 2 November 2012 |
| 52 | "Christmas" | 17 December 2012 |
References
edit- ^ a b Maggie Brown (25 June 2011). "Baby Jake, the real 10-month-old set to be a star of children's TV". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ a b "Irish Film Board/Bord Scannán na hÉireann - About Irish Film / News / Irish Animation Firm JAM Media Announces 22 New High Spec Animation Jobs". www.irishfilmboard.ie. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- ^ "BBC - Tilly and Friends - Media Centre". Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
- ^ "Baby Jake set to be the star of new CBeebies show". Metro.co.uk. 26 June 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ "A windmill in Lincolnshire stars in new CBeebies series". BBC News. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ a b "Baby Jake". iMDb.
- ^ Wolfe, Jennifer (21 November 2012). "Al Jazeera Picks Up 'Baby Jake'". AWN. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ "Shingle dabbles in 'Baby' babble". Variety. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ Courtney, Kevin (5 March 2013). "Drawing inspiration from the Celtic Tigger". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
