Impossible Television
Shows: Past, present and future.
Now
The Beeps
The Beeps is our biggest ever series, in terms of volume, budget and profile. It's Five's biggest ever investment in an original animated series and we're all delighted with how great it looks and sounds.
Featuring the voices of Tom Baker, Timmy Mallett and Dani Harmer amongst others, The Beeps is a 65 x 11 minute series about a group of egg-shaped characters living on Beep Island. Each episode is packed with slapstick humour, drama, comedy and action - not forgetting the singing Sockroaches dropping in for a song or two... and the Beep-Beep Tree popping up once an episode for a singalong with all the other characters!
The series uses the latest cutting-edge techniques to create a soft, bouncy, squeezable look. Southern Star handle all international rights, please get in touch with us or them for more information. UK ratings have been fantastic, outdoing some of Five's major established brands, and international interest has been running high.
The series airs on Five's Milkshake! strand - check listings for times - and is available on a HIT Entertainment DVD from all good retailers. Series 2 is airing at weekends at 8.25am right now!
Bird Bath
One of the most unique cartoons ever produced, Bird Bath is a 60 x 7'30" series set in a country garden following the adventures of Bob Robin, Mo Sparrow and Herbert Heron and their other birdie friends.
Made with lovely, soft realistic-yet-child-friendy CG animation, Bird Bath was narrated by UK TV legend Richard Briers, and featured a cast of fifty voice artists, from new finds to stars like Penelope Keith and Leslie Phillips. Every episode featured a folk song from the Song Thrush, played by newcomer Jake Rodrigues, recapping the story so far.
Bird Bath airs on Milkshake! on Five and Fiver, and is available on a 2entertain DVD. International sales are handled by Southern Star, with the series picking up interest worldwide after rating well on Five.
Angels of Jarm
A totally original concept, Angels of Jarm is a 40 x 7'00" preschool show focusing on a small town watched over by four angels who live in a caravan in the clouds.
Mick, Ellie, Rafe and Gabrielle come down to Earth to help the children of Jarm with any life issues they face, from simple moral or practical problems to multi-ethnic, multi-faith religious and ethical issues. These simple, strong stories are mixed with fun songs, musical sequences and visual comedy to create a unique blend of fact and fiction.
Angels of Jarm is 100% funded by Five, and airs on Milkshake. Check listings for details.The clean-cut, stylised 2D animation and young, fresh voices make the show one to watch out for.
The series has been recommissioned for new episodes airing in the third quarter of 2009.
Next
Rock Pool
Made with our partners Southern Star, Rock Pool is a pilot of a preschool series set in a beautiful beach pool. The show looks utterly unlike any other, with gorgeous high-end CG animation, mixed with traditional simple stories, strong voices and diverse characters. The look is bright and colourful, friendly and attractive to young eyes, without being totally cartoonlike.
The stars of the show are Nisha Starfish and Shaun Prawn, not forgetting Babs and Rab Crab and the always singing, always dancing Rock Lobster. Doug Sea-Slug, Annie Anenome and Binky Winkle also feature, alongside all kinds of other creatures who get washed into the rock pool.
Scripts, a detailed bible and a storyline document are available.
Doh Rai Mee
Another pilot we made in conjunction with Southern Star, Doh Rai Mee is a fluffy, musical-themed preschool series that is packed to the rafters with comedy, action and adventure, following our Musimals as they sing and dance their way around Musimaland.
Our main three characters star in the pilot, but the series also features Fah, Soh, Lah and Tee. The use of fully-reactive fur and fluff makes the show look wonderful, and each episode teaches simple musical facts to the audience.
Scripts, a bible and further information is available on request.
Coming soon
You can see some sample images from shows we have in development, from a 9-12s kids' adventure series to a really cute preschool show to an edgy adult sitcom.
Check back here for more information as, hopefully, these shows move from paper ideas to pilots or series.
Way back when...
Motel
Our first big series, the Motel series ran for two series and literally hundreds of short interstitial episodes on late-night Channel 4, mixing comedy, drama, TV spoofs and general weirdness for 16-35 targeted audience.
Set in a motel at "the junction of dreams and reality", the Motel crew consisted of a lonely shoe salesman, two gay robot bartenders, a swearing baby, a hypnotic dancer and a shadowy figure who ran the whole joint. Not forgetting a giant slug who spoke backwards and Whipsmart the monkey.
Popular with stoned students and insomniacs, Motel was a series that hit air a month after commission, with us producing twelve minutes a week of dark, twisted and often disturbing animation. We'd put up a clip but, to be honest, it's best we don't.
MechaNick
Our first preschool series, MechaNick consisted of 80 x 7'00" episodes across two series for Five. Set in Tooley Town, MechaNick follows the adventures of a mechanic called Nick and his friends Austin, Em, Lucy and Spanner the dog.
Full of songs, fun, adventure and the catchphrase "Where there's a wheel, there's a way!", MechaNick was narrated by Hugh Laurie and written by a team including TV legend Brian Cant.
MechaNick has sold around the world, dsitributed by Southern Star.
Pen Monkeys
The world's first topical animated sketch show, predating 2DTV by a good few weeks, Pen Monkeys was a one-off comedy special made for Channel 4. The challenge was to make a full half-hour of animation in a week. Oh, and make it bitingly satirical and funny too.
Mixing 2D, 3D, hand-drawn and computer-generated animation, Pen Monkeys was put together by fine writers and consultants such as David Quantick, Jo Caulfield, Simon Hoggart and Jackie Clune, and poked fun at everyone from John Prescott to Gerry Adams, via Robbie Williams and Posh'n'Becks.
It whetted C4's appetite for more, and we made another topical sketch special called Sexbar which went down equally well. It featured a celebrity-encrusted bar which travelled around on wheels, and giant celebrity babies destroying London to the charity single-type song Kill The Children.