''Tube Mice'' is a British children's

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

for television produced in 1988 about the adventures of mice who dwell in the tunnels of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

, the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

system locally referred to as 'the tube'. The real life mice themselves are often referred to as 'tube mice' by Londoners. The series was created by Sara and Simon Bor at Honeycomb Animation for

Television South West Television South West (TSW) was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from studios at Derry's Cross in Plymouth, Devon. History Origins and Launch On 28 Decembe ...

and was screened on

Children's ITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

. It later aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

on cable television and on

Tiny Pop Tiny Pop (styled as tiny POP) is a British free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. Broadcast on many of the major digital television platforms in the UK, Tiny Pop, which was ...

on free to air satellite television. ''Tube Mice'' was also broadcast in several countries around the world such as

SABC2 SABC 2 is a South African family public television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). SABC 2 broadcasts programming in English, Sepedi, Afrikaans, Venda, and Tsonga. As of August 2018, the channel started broad ...

in South Africa, BFBS and SSVC Television in Germany, M1 in Hungary, Channel 5 in Singapore and TV One (as well as once on Channel 2) in New Zealand. It also features the voices of George Cole and

Dennis Waterman Dennis Waterman (24 February 1948 – 8 May 2022) was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including ''The Sweeney'', '' Minder'' and '' New Tricks'', singing the theme tunes of th ...

of ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'' fame.

Overview

The four main characters were mice living at Oxford Circus Underground station. They use the Tube to get around London, taking them to wherever their latest adventure was supposed to take place. The mice had their own society, using rubbish thrown away by humans (the mice had a strict code prohibiting theft). They had their own compartments on Underground trains and decorated their tunnels with reused junk. This society included mouse businessmen, mouse underground supervisors and even mouse

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Characters

The characters were all based on recognisable

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

"types". The main characters were: *Bubble – A streetwise and confident female

Rastafarian Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...

mouse, originally from a

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdicti ...

. Voiced by Sheila Hyde. *Squeak – An

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...

fieldmouse who initially comes to London seeking his inheritance, but who decides to stay at Oxford Circus. His and Bubble's names are a pun on the English dish

bubble and squeak Bubble and squeak is a British dish made from cooked potatoes and cabbage, mixed together and fried. The food writer Howard Hillman classes it as one of the "great peasant dishes of the world".Hillman, pp. 62–63 The dish has been known sin ...

. Voiced by

Rupert Farley Rupert Charles Farley (born 4 August 1957) is an English actor and voice artist. He has had various roles in movies such as ''From Hell'', ''The Young Poisoner's Handbook'', ''Shakespeare in Love'' and ''Mrs Brown''. He is probably best known f ...

. *Vernon – A wheeler-dealer of a mouse, dressed as a

teddy boy The Teddy Boys or Teds were a mainly British youth subculture of the mid 1950s to mid 1960s who were interested in rock and roll and R&B music, wearing clothes partly inspired by the styles worn by dandies in the Edwardian period, which S ...

. His greed and schemes would often form the basis of the adventure – often because he was rarely as clever as he thought he was. He was voiced by George Cole, and his character was remarkably similar to

Arthur Daley ''Minder'' is a British comedy-drama series about the London Organized crime, criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television, and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV for ten ...

, Cole's character in the popular television series ''

''. *Toaster – Vernon's dim-witted sidekick. He dressed like a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

. Although he would follow Vernon anywhere, his stupidity and love of food would often scupper any plans they had. He was voiced by

, also enjoying success in ''Minder'' at the time. Geraldine and Adrian Powell’s beloved cat was named after this character. Other characters included: *Bo Heemy – A mouse artist. His name is a pun on "

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

" *Mickelmouse – An MP at

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, sitting in the Mouse of Parliament. *Rapper – A mouse who talks only in the form of

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

. *Derby – A mouse Underground attendant, usually found leaning on his broom, asleep.

Episodes

*We Are The Tube Mice (05.09.1988) *Escape From The 31st Floor (06.09.1988) *The Riddle (07.09.1988) *Break Out (08.09.1988) *Mouses Of Parliament (12.09.1988) *Take Away (13.09.1988) *High Fliers (14.09.1988) *Catastrophy (19.09.1988) *Hank's In Town (20.09.1988) *No Tea For Two (21.09.1988) *Mice On Ice (22.09.1988) *Tails From The Crypt (26.09.1988) *The Last Post (27.09.1988) *Phantoms Of L'Opera (28.09.1988) *Defective Detective (29.09.1988) *Waxworks (03.10.1988) *Art Show (04.10.1988) *Grated Cheese Robbery (05.10.1988) *Earthquake (06.10.1988) *Best Kept Station (10.10.1988) *Rap That Rat (11.10.1988) *What A Difference A Day Makes (12.10.1988) *Marathon Mice (13.10.1988) *Library (17.10.1988) *End Of The Line (18.10.1988)

Style

Unlike the later ''

Underground Ernie ''Underground Ernie'' is a 2006 British educational computer animated children's television series produced by Joella Productions for the BBC on both CBeebies and BBC Two, and sold internationally by BBC Worldwide. It is set in ''Internationa ...

'', this series was set on a rather true-to-life version of the London Underground, right down to litter and graffiti. The style of animation was very distinctive, using strange angles and perspectives, and using

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

backgrounds. The series made heavy use of the

ransom note effect In typography, the ransom note effect is the result of using an excessive number of juxtaposed typefaces. It takes its name from the appearance of a stereotypical ransom note, with the message formed from words or letters cut randomly from a ma ...

where writing appeared on screen, giving the series a very punk feel.

Transmission guide

*Series 1: 26 editions from 5 September 1988 – 18 October 1988

External links

Toonhound article
* {{Honeycomb Animation 1988 British television series debuts 1988 British television series endings 1980s British animated television series 1980s British children's television series Animated television series about mice and rats English-language television shows ITV children's television shows Nickelodeon original programming Television shows produced by Television South West (TSW) TVNZ 1 original programming Works set on the London Underground