Animated series about a postman called Pat

Postman Pat is the local postman in the small village of Greendale. Greendale is a quiet rural area in the English countryside. Each episode follows Pat as he goes around Greendale delivering letters and parcels to the people of the village. He is always accompanied by Jess the cat, who features in the programme's famous theme song.

Postman Pat was invented by John Cunliffe. Pat initially appeared in a series of books for young children that John Cunliffe had written in the late seventies. In 1981, the BBC decided to make a television series featuring Postman Pat. This first series was directed by Ivor Wood, and each episode was written by John Cunliffe.

The first series had 13 episodes. For the first eight, Postman Pat's "bright red van" featured a generic crown-style logo, which was designed to be similar to the official Royal Mail logo. When the Royal Mail gave the programme makers permission to use their official logo, the crown was replaced with the proper Royal Mail logo.

The first series was very successful and the programme was shown around the world during the eighties. In 1991, to celebrate Postman Pat's 10th anniversary, two new specials were made. These featured some new characters, and we see Postman Pat's wife Sara, and his son Julian for the first time. A second, full series was made in the mid-nineties.

In 2004, a third series of Postman Pat began on the Cbeebies digital channel. Ken Barrie, who provided Pat's voice since the very first episode, carried on, but John Cunliffe only wrote the very first episode of the series. The rest were written by staff writers. The original series were made by Woodland Animation. The 2004 series was made by Cosgrove Hall.

In the new series, Greendale has changed somewhat. It is bigger than it was before, and everyone now has modern appliances in their homes. The Baines family is introduced, and Greendale now has its own railway station.

The fourth series of Postman Pat is currently in production and will be broadcast by the BBC in 2005.

Related Amazon Product - Click for more

Postman Pat Annual (Book)