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''Underground Ernie'' is a 2006 British

educational Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

computer animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

produced by Joella Productions for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

on both

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

and

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, and sold internationally by BBC Worldwide. It is set in ''International Underground'', a fictional worldwide underground railway network, based on 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 ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

, and focuses on the everyday adventures of Ernie, a friendly underground supervisor, Millie, his multilingual colleague, and Mr. Rails, the lovable maintenance man. The locomotives under Ernie's watchful eye all have characters of their own. There is

Bakerloo The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End of London, West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, ove ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

and the twins, Hammersmith & City. From time to time they are joined by their friends from across the world including;

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. The show is aimed at children between the ages of three and eight years old. The initial (one and only, so far) series had twenty six

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning t ...

s, lasting twelve minutes each. In October 2005, the series was officially announced, with it premièring the following year. Its first showing on was on Monday 5 June 2006 on

at 9:00am. It later premiered on

till

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

2006.

Creation

Writer John Deery and musician Sid Rainey, formerly of the band Compulsion, formed a production company in 2000 by the name of Joella Productions. During a brainstorming session, Sid came up with the idea of a children's TV series based on the names of tube stations, which is how Underground Ernie was born.

Premise

The series is focused on the adventures of Ernie, the controller of International Underground. He works with his colleagues, computer expert Millie who loves all things international, and Mr Rails, the maintenance man who's been working at the railway for over 25 years. The trains have their own characters too. Bakerloo is the detective of the Underground, while Hammersmith and City are two fast and furious twins who love quizzes and banking. Victoria is the oldest and has seen it all. She acts as a grandmother figure to all the trains, offering a helping hand whenever they need guidance, and Circle is the hippy chick, who loves nature and animals, as well as helping her friends out. Jubilee is the youngest of the team, and he's gadget mad, as well as being very mischievous. Over the course of the series, they are joined by their friends from across the world, such as the snooty Paris, gentle giant Moscow and fun-loving Brooklyn. In each episode, Ernie comes across a problem that he needs a fix, needing the help of the trains or passengers, or both.

Premiere

In its premiere run, ''Underground Ernie'' was broadcast twice a day five days a week, firstly on BBC Two at 9 am, and then repeated on CBeebies at 4.30 pm. In the series premiere, "Pop Decoy", pop superstar "Sam 7" is performing at the theatre, and Jubilee has to get him there without hundreds of fans finding out. Alas, the excitable Jubilee can't keep a secret, and he and Ernie have to come up with a plan to get Sam 7 safely to the theatre. UndergroundErniePoster

Production

At one point during production, Canadian-based distributor Fremantle Corporation was involved in the distribution.

Design

All the visuals for the show are produced using CGI computer graphics, and that largely explains the high cost of the production (£4 million

The first series was produced using

LightWave LightWave 3D is a 3D computer graphics program developed by NewTek. It has been used in films, television, motion graphics, digital matte painting, visual effects, video game development, product design, architectural visualizations, virtu ...

3D softwar

Some critics have pointed out the similarities between ''Underground Ernie'' and ''

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'', in that all 2 series feature anthropomorphic locomotives. Whilst acknowledging a similarity, the producers make it clear that this is very different from ''Thomas'', and is very much based in the twenty first century. Despite being underground metro trains, they often travel overground through the open countryside to various stations, including a

seaside resort A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...

. The overall design is inspired by the real London Underground, and Transport for London has allowed the series to use design elements directly taken from their brand, in particular the use of their distinctive Underground logo, or 'roundel' as it is known. 3D Films (who previously animated another series called Wheels on the Bus) is responsible for the animation provided, even though both Joella Productions and 3D Films had a bad relationship during production.

Characters

Humans

* Underground Ernie is the eponymous supervisor who owns the International Underground station (voiced by ex

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

sports presenter In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has p ...

). * Millie (voiced by Emma Weaver) is a computer expert working on the network, and the co-owner of the station. * Mr. Rails (voiced by Howard Ward) is the maintenance man. * Dan and Sam (voiced by Chris Jarvis and

Tim Whitnall Timothy Charles Whitnall (born 27 June 1961) is an English actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is known for playing Angelo in the long-running CITV series '' Mike and Angelo'' and narrating the BBC children's TV programme ''Teletubbies'' fr ...

) are Ernie's mischievous nephews, They like to cause a lot of trouble around the international underground.

Trains

The majority of the

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

are trains, most of which take their names from the lines of the

network, although in Underground Ernie's world, it is called "International Underground". *

(voiced by Howard Ward) is an eccentric and has a

deerstalker A deerstalker is a type of cap that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the cap's popular association with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it has become stereotypical headgear f ...

hat similar to that of

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

(the

Bakerloo line The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partly ...

used to terminate at

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

, where the fictional detective lived at number 221b) but has a profile resembling that of the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

, the victor of the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, after the Waterloo Underground station (Bakerloo is short for ''Baker Street & Waterloo Railway''). *

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

(voiced by

) is twin brother to City, a fast and furious train who is a general knowledge "whizz". He wears blue

spectacles Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples o ...

. *

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

(voiced by Chris Jarvis) is Hammersmith's twin brother, and is also fast and furious, but is an expert in mathematics and finances (presumably a reference to ''the'' City, where many of the banks and financial businesses in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

are based). He wears pink spectacles. Hammersmith and City are usually coupled back end to back and travel together as one train. *

(voiced by

Janet Brown Janet McLuckie Brown (14 December 192327 May 2011) was a Scottish actress, comedian and impressionist who gained considerable fame in the 1970s and 1980s for her impersonations of Margaret Thatcher. Brown was the wife of Peter Butterworth, who ...

) is the oldest train, and is like a mother to the other trains. She wears a

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

, to suggest the link between herself and

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, but visually appears more like a

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

of the former

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. Although Victoria is presented as the oldest character in the series, the Victoria line in real life is actually one of the newest lines – only the

Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in east London and in the suburban north-west, via the Docklands, South Bank and West End. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the Underground network, although some secti ...

, opened in 1979, is newer. *

(voiced by Chris Jarvis) is a "hippy chick"—always helpful and rarely loses her cool. *

(voiced by

) is the youngest train, and is into

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

s, and all the latest

gadget A gadget is a mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as '' gizmos''. History The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in glassmaking that was develo ...

s and technology. He can be mischievous, but is still well liked. There are also five international trains, which Millie visits when she goes abroad every weekend. She always bring back exciting stories for Ernie, as well as a souvenir: *

(voiced by Howard Ward) is from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, is decked out in the American Stars and Stripes. *

(voiced by Emma Weaver) is from Australia, always wants to go to the

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

. *

(voiced by Howard Ward) is from Russia. He is strong, fast and likes to clear snow off the tracks. He often uses the wrong word when trying to use various English phrases, such as saying "as fit as a fishcake" instead of "as fit as a fiddle". *

(voiced by Chris Jarvis) is from France. He's snooty, but kind. *

(voiced by

) is from Japan, and has a super-speed booster. He is decked out in a Rising Sun decorated

bandana A kerchief (from the Old French ''couvrechief'', "cover head"), also known as a bandana, bandanna, or "Wild Rag" (in cowboy culture), is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the head, face or neck for protective or decorative purpos ...

Episodes

In each twelve minute episode Ernie faces a problem, which he needs to fix with the help of the trains. This will typically involve one of the locations on International Underground or visitors coming via the Underground, often both.

Broadcast

Channel 4 were originally slated to show the series, but after a lot of deliberation, the BBC brought the rights to the series in 2005. In its premier run, Underground Ernie would be broadcast at 9am on BBC 2, followed by a repeat on the

channel at 4:30pm that afternoon. BBC 4 showed an episode as part of their themed "Tube Night" on 18 March 2007.

Merchandising

Toys

In November 2005, ''Halsall International Ltd''. announced that they had secured the rights to produce merchandising linked to ''Underground Ernie'

The products became on sale by September 2006, with a comprehensive range being available in 2007. The use of

names and trains is a deliberate step to lead into merchandise, merchandising suitable for children's gifts the revenue, from which were shared with Transport for London. ''Halsall International Ltd'' have, since 2009, have stopped making 'Underground Ernie' models. From 2007 up until 2009,

Bachmann Bachmann is a surname of Switzerland and Germany. It originates as a description of the bearer as dwelling near a brook (''Bach''), such as a farm "Hofstatt am Bach" also called "Bachmanns Hofstatt" near Hinwil or Dürnten (recorded 1387), or the ...

produced an

HO scale HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced apart for modelling standard gauge tracks and trains in HO.NMRA"M ...

Underground Ernie range, which was discontinued after the show was taken off air.

DVDs

Warner Vision International released four compilation DVDs of the show, which were later compiled into a boxset forming the complete first series. These releases are now out of print, and are very hard to find.

Day Out with Underground Ernie

In 2008, one railway in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

called the ''

Eastleigh Lakeside Steam Railway Lakeside Country Park is a country park just south of the town of Eastleigh in Hampshire. The park covers 60 acresDay out with Thomas'' took over where it left off.

Underground Ernie charity evenings

As well as ''Days Out with Ernie'', in 2008 and 2009, two ''Underground Ernie'' fundraising events were held at the railway which were hosted by The Karen Ingram Foundation With over £3,500 raised on the night at the first event, which raised money for the hospital which cared and looked after Karen Ingram, for whom the events were in memory of. Co creator John Deery also attended the special charity evening, along with his family. With Eastleigh no longer hosting events involving ''Days Out with Ernie'', a final fundraiser was held at the railway in 2010, however this was not themed to Ernie, due to the railway no longer having the Ernie characters available to use.

Theme song

The show's theme song, performed by members of

The Wonder Stuff The Wonder Stuff are a British alternative rock band. Originally based in Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England, the band's first lineup released four albums and nearly 20 singles and EPs, enjoying considerable chart and live success in the ...

under the name "HRB Music", is called "The Importance of Being Ernie". This is a reference to

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

's play ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

'' (Ernie is short for Ernest).

Future

A second series has been on the cards since 2006. Co-creator John Deery has been seeking a £5.5 million investment in a bid to break the US market, with funds raised from that going towards making a second series. This hasn't happened yet, however. According to creative director Adam Batham, the strained relationship between 3D Films and Joella Productions prevented another series from being made.

References

External links

''Underground Ernie'' website

Underground Ernie Facebook Page

Underground Ernie Twitter Page
* *
Gary Lineker talks about his role as Underground Ernie – audio option

Joella Productions website

Transport for London website

TfL article about Underground Ernie

* ttp://www.room512.com/ernie.htm Article about Underground Ernie
BBC News item about the new series

BBC Programme copy

BBC Press Office interview with Gary Lineker about Underground Ernie

Toys and Playthings article about merchandising for Underground Ernie
{Dead link, date=July 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=no
An MPEG clip of the show
BBC children's television shows British children's animated adventure television series British children's animated comedy television series British children's animated fantasy television series British computer-animated television series 2006 British television series debuts 2009 British television series endings Works set on the London Underground 2000s British animated television series 2000s British children's television series CBeebies