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Wide-Eye

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Wide-Eye
GenreChildren's television show
Comedy
Written byJimmy Hibbert
Diane Redmond
Jan Page
Jo Allen
Directed byNeil Fitzgibbon
Voices ofAnton Rodgers
Jane Horrocks
Maria Darling
Jimmy Hibbert
Narrated byTim Woodward (only in the audiobooks)
ComposerKeith Hopwood
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producerTheresa Plummer-Andrews
ProducerClive Juster
Running time10 minutes per episode (approx.)
Production companiesKing Rollo Films
Abbey Home Media
Original release
NetworkCBeebies
BBC Two
Release29 September 2003 (2003-09-29) –
20 October 2004 (2004-10-20)

Wide-Eye is a British 2003–04 animated children's television series set in fictional Natterjack Forest. The series consists of a series of ten-minute episodes and is about a wise, old owl who lives in a tall tree with his young son, "Little Hoot", and his energetic female sidekick, "Flea".

Characters

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Main characters

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  • Wide Eye the Owl (voiced by Anton Rodgers) – The title character who lives in the tallest tree in the forest with his young son, Little Hoot and his sidekick, Flea. Wide Eye is fatherly, gentle and reliable. He mostly watches over all the animals to make sure they are all safe and happy and speaks in a deep voice.
  • Little Hoot – (voiced by Maria Darling) – Wide Eye's son. He is brave and strong, speaks in a high-pitched voice, is full of adventure and imagination, can see in the dark and is always eager to learn, although like many children, he is sometimes daunted by new challenges.
  • Flea – (voiced by Jane Horrocks) – Little Hoot's female sidekick and best friend who speaks in a childish English accent. Flea can jump the highest and she is always ready to join in with Little Hoot's adventures.
  • The Natterjack Toads (Nat voiced by Maria Darling, Flo voiced by Jane Horrocks and Jack voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – Three green and orange toadlets who live and play at Natterjack Pond.
  • Mother Natterjack – (voiced by Jane Horrocks) – A female orange toad who is mother of the Natterjack Toads.
  • Great Grandma Toad (voiced by Anton Rodgers) – Another female orange toad who is grandmother of the Natterjack Toads. She wears purple glasses and often cooks healthy food for all the natterjack toads to share.
  • Father Natterjack (voiced by Anton Rodgers) – A male green toad who is father of the Natterjack Toads.
  • 99 the Centipede – (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – Lives alone in a burrow dug deep into Natterjack Forest floor. Easily distracted, he tries his best to count and match his many pairs of coloured boots, but he keeps losing count, and is forced to start over and over again.
  • Conchita the Chinchilla (voiced by Maria Darling) – The friendly blue and white kind-hearted soul of the forest with good eyesight who speaks in a Chilean accent. Conchita lives under the roots of a tree. She dances and sings as well as cooking South American food for all the forest animals to share. She can often be seen wearing exotic Chilean clothing.
  • Rangatang the Orangutan – (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – Lives in a treehouse. He often plays jokes on the other forest animals as well as bringing fun and games to the forest and running a cornershop.
  • Hetty Hornet (voiced by Maria Darling) – Lives in a beehive and likes the forest to be clean and tidy. She always tries to keep the other forest animals on their toes by handing out useful little tasks to keep them busy.
  • The Fireflies – Several nocturnal fireflies who appear at night in Natterjack Forest. The fireflies themselves only make buzzing sounds instead of saying words.
  • Wily Komodo (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – Baby Komodo's dad who appears in almost every episode in the series. He almost always causes mischief in Natterjack Forest. He lives in a rocky, roofless den with his young son, Baby Komodo, and because time is never on his side, he causes nothing but mayhem wherever he goes.
  • Baby Komodo (voiced by Jane Horrocks) – Wily Komodo's young son who is fond of swimming. Although he desperately wants to be as silly as his dad, Wily Komodo, as well as be friends with the other natterjack forest animals, his main skills are dribbling, running, and even din-making.
  • Batwing the Bat (voiced by Maria Darling) – Wily Komodo's spy. She sleeps upside down in her rocky cave on the outskirts of the forest and can fly unaided, even at night.

Guests/Mentioned

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  • The Moon – A real, faceless, silent moon which appears every night of the year in Natterjack Forest. The moon is not always seen in the sky, but its only role is to brighten up the darkness in the forest between dusk and dawn every day of the year.
  • The Sun – A real, silent, faceless, dazzling, hot star which appears during various episodes, including Snapdragon Monster and The Forest Regatta. The sun generally shines in the sky above Natterjack Forest between Dawn and Dusk every day of the year, but, although it is not always seen in the sky and can hurt the forest animals' eyes and make them go blind, it is by far the most important source of energy for life in the forest.

Episodes

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No. Title Date
1"Little Hoot Learns To Fly"29 September 2003 (2003-09-29)
Wide Eye teaches Little Hoot how to fly. Little Hoot gradually gains courage to fly, which he uses to his advantage.
2"Message in a Bottle"6 October 2003 (2003-10-06)
Little Hoot and Flea pretend that they are stranded on a desert island in the middle of the sea.
3"Toad in a Teapot"13 October 2003 (2003-10-13)
Little Hoot and the Natterjacks set off to visit their Great Grandma. But, unknown to them, Wily Komodo is on their trail - alone.
4"The Weather Machine"20 October 2003 (2003-10-20)
While trying to find out about a forest feast, Wily Komodo mistakes a newly constructed weather machine for a flying machine.
5"Conchita's Party"27 October 2003 (2003-10-27)
Little Hoot and Flea prepare a special welcome home party for Conchita, while Batwing and the komodos attempt to crash it.
6"A Snowy Owl"3 November 2003 (2003-11-03)
Natterjack Forest is lying under a blanket of snow, leaving the Natterjack Toad Family homeless along with their lake frozen.
7"Snapdragon Monster"10 November 2003 (2003-11-10)
Little Hoot and Flea dig a big, deep hole, hoping to catch a Snapdragon Monster, but they trap Wily Komodo instead.
8"The Jolly Natterjack"17 November 2003 (2003-11-17)
Inspired by Father Natterjack's story about a sunken ship, Little Hoot and Flea learn to swim at Natterjack Pond before looking for treasure.
9"Rangatang's Shop"24 November 2003 (2003-11-24)
On a bright, sunny morning in Natterjack Forest, Little Hoot and Flea listen to their favourite story about how Rangatang came to Natterjack Forest and "set up" his corner shop.
10"Spotty Little Hoot"1 December 2003 (2003-12-01)
Little Hoot wakes up one morning with a tickly throat, a high temperature and several big, red spots on his face and body. Mother Natterjack and Batwing cure Little Hoot, and then Flea gets ill.
11"99's Boot"8 December 2003 (2003-12-08)
Wily Komodo steals one of 99's boots, which Flea is hiding in. Before long, everyone in Natterjack Forest, including Hetty Hornet, notices that Flea is missing, and they set out to find him, as well as 99's missing boot. Eventually, both lost things turn up in the most unexpected of places!
12"Komodo's Crossing"15 December 2003 (2003-12-15)
When Little Hoot and Flea are unable to use a bridge that they and the Natterjack Toad Family have built, thanks to a wicked woodland sprite, Wide Eye comes to the rescue, deciding that Wily Komodo is responsible for the sprite.
13"The Forest Regatta"22 December 2003 (2003-12-22)
The river has dried up and the water level in Natterjack Pond has fallen, all because Wily and Baby Komodo have built a dam out of rocks and tree branches which threatens to spoil a specially planned regatta.
14"Great Grandma's Birthday"29 December 2003 (2003-12-29)
Great Grandma Toad's 100th birthday party goes wrong, when Uncle Jolly's invitation goes missing, thanks to Wily Komodo.
15"Big Baby"6 August 2004 (2004-08-06)
Spring has sprung in Natterjack Forest, and there is one very interesting new arrival – a gigantic egg!
16"Wondrous Wishing Tree"13 August 2004 (2004-08-13)
It is autumn in Natterjack Forest and poor Wide Eye has a bout of flu, which a special-but-deciduous tree helps cure.
17"Hetty Hornet Gets Busy"20 August 2004 (2004-08-20)
Hetty Hornet is very busy, running the forest postal service, and it gets even more demanding when the wind mixes up the letters, causing everyone in the forest to receive the wrong messages. Hetty Hornet has some sorting to do.
18"Time For Bed"27 August 2004 (2004-08-27)
Little Hoot has trouble sleeping one night when he believes that a monster is on the loose. At least Wide Eye and Flea think that that is not true.
19"Firefly Moon"1 September 2004 (2004-09-01)
Pretending to be astronauts, Little Hoot and Flea try to capture the moon. In a pre-credits sequence, Baby Komodo tells Wily Komodo that he would like the sun as a present, but Wily Komodo just ignores him.
20"The Natterjack Band"8 September 2004 (2004-09-08)
Little Hoot and Flea recruit their friends from the forest for their band.
21"Batwing's Cave"15 September 2004 (2004-09-15)
Little Hoot and Flea visit Batwing's secret cave, but sadly, they are not alone. Wily and Baby Komodo are in hot pursuit – they want to steal some shiny crystals that live in the cave.
22"Zoom to the Moon"22 September 2004 (2004-09-22)
One night in Natterjack Forest, Little Hoot and Flea build a rocket to fly to the moon in. In a dream, Little Hoot and Flea count down to Blast Off and then, they fly to the moon in their rocket, regardless of them being confronted by Wily Komodo and Wide Eye.
23"The Special Club"29 September 2004 (2004-09-29)
With a newly-built play den, Little Hoot and Flea plan to organise a special club for any animal in Natterjack Forest who has a special talent, but, as usual, things do not turn out quite as expected.
24"A Winter Surprise"6 October 2004 (2004-10-06)
The entire forest is eventually transformed into a Winter Wonderland, in the middle of Summer!
25"The Natterjack Forest Fair"13 October 2004 (2004-10-13)
Everyone in Natterjack Forest prepare for the Spring fair on one beautiful sunny Spring day.
26"The Big Sleep"20 October 2004 (2004-10-20)
It is almost Mid-Winter's Day in Natterjack Forest, and some of the forest animals are preparing for hibernation, including Conchita.

See also

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