''Gran'' is a British short-lived

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

animation television series narrated by Patricia Hayes and directed by Ivor Wood. There were only two main characters, namely Gran and her grandson, Jim, and they were lucky and kind. Despite moderate popularity with young audiences in the mid-1980s, the series has not been seen on UK television since being repeated as part of the Tiny Living broadcasting block on Living TV in the late 1990s, and no further episodes were made.

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

released all 13 episodes on Region 2 DVD in the U.K. on 7 March 2005, but the release has since been discontinued.

Synopsis

At first glance you may think Gran is like any other Grandma, but she's not. Along with her grandson Jim, she takes part in different crazy adventures. Each episode sees Gran performing weird and wacky tasks – growing her runner beans up a dinosaur's skeleton, hang gliding, knitting a giant scarf to wrap around her house in the winter, and cross country motorbike racing. But one thing's for sure – she'll always be wearing her pink slippers.

Production and broadcast

The programme made by

Woodland Animations Ivor Sydney Wood (4 May 1932 – 13 October 2004) was a prolific Anglo-French' animator, director, producer and writer. He was known for his work on children's television series. Born in Leeds to an English father and a French mother, his famil ...

was created and written by

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

and Joanne Cole. Ivor Wood produced thirteen five-minute short film episodes in 1982 and the series was broadcast on the BBC between 17 February 1983 and 12 May 1983,.''Gran'' at Toonhound
/ref> In 1984 the BBC also screened the series as part of its '' See-Saw'' children's television strand (the "new" name for the cycle originally known as '' Watch with Mother''). The series was then regularly repeated until 1989. Children's books based on the series, written by

and illustrated by Joanne Cole were also released in 1983. The shorts were also shown in the United States as part of the

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 ...

series '' Eureeka's Castle'', in the Latin American release on Cartoon Network's sister channel

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...

. and, the Canada version, release on

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and "cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts an ...

Episodes

Music

Finnish

Songs in the Finnish dub were sung by the actors of YLE Import re-using the De Angelis's music but with new Finnish lyrics. In the Finnish dub some scenes are cut, which includes musical numbers in some episodes.

Home media

UK VHS release

Castle Communications released one video of ''Gran'' with 12 episodes on it and it later got repackaged as a single title by the Castle Communications 'Playbox' brand of children's video titles (Cat. No. PVC 121). On 1 June 1999, Castle Home Video (a division of Castle Music Ltd) had released a single video of ''Gran'' with all 13 episodes of the entire show on it (including ''Gran's Old Bones'' as its first episode along with the 12 other episodes of ''Gran'' from its original Castle Communications video release). GOOF: The cover of ''Gran'' (CHV 2051) mistakingly contains 12 episodes on the back cover and credited as "12 classic episodes" on the front cover whereas the actual video cassette contained all 13 episodes of ''Gran''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gran (Tv Series) 1982 British television series debuts 1983 British television series endings BBC children's television shows 1980s British children's television series British children's animated comedy television series British children's animated drama television series British stop-motion animated television series Television series by Universal Television DreamWorks Classics