''The Flumps'' is an animated television series, created and written by Julie Holder, and produced for the BBC by David Yates. The show was first broadcast by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 1977.

Overview

The plot revolved around the various adventures of a family of furry characters called The Flumps. It was created and written by Julie Holder and narrated by

Gay Soper Gay Soper is an English actress and singer. Her career includes singing ''Turn Back, O Man'' in the original 1971 London production of ''Godspell''. She sang the role of Madam Thenardier on the complete symphonic recording of ''Les Misérables ...

. The

theme tune Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

was played by George Chisholm on the

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

. In 1978, the BBC released a record, ''The Flumps'' (REC 309), that had 4 stories from the TV series narrated and sung by Gay Soper: "Keep Fit", "Balloons", "Moon Shot" and "Something Different". In 2000, ''The Flumps'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

. During early 2008, the theme tune was used in a series of adverts for Auto Trader magazine in the UK.

Characters

The various flumps were: *Grandfather Flump, who played a Flumpet (a type of trumpet) *Father Flump, a keen

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...

*Mother Flump, often seen cooking in the

kitchen A kitchen is a room (architecture), room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a Kitchen stove, stove, a sink ...

*Posie, a girl Flump *Perkin, a boy Flump *Pootle, the toddler Flump

Episode listing

Scheduling

''The Flumps'' was shown 21 times between 1977 and 1988, usually around 1.45pm, and usually on BBC1. The transmission runs were as follows: * 14 February – 9 May 1977 (Mondays) * 5 October – 28 December 1977 (Wednesdays) * 2 April – 25 June 1978 (Sundays) * 2 October – 25 December 1978 (Mondays) * 3 April – 26 June 1979 (Tuesdays) * 4 October – 27 December 1979 (Thursdays) * 1 April – 24 June 1980 (Tuesdays) * 28 September – 21 December 1980 (Sundays) * 7 April – 30 June 1981 (Tuesdays) * 9 October 1981 – 1 January 1982 (Fridays) * 6 April – 29 June 1982 (Tuesdays) * 3 October – 26 December 1982 (Sundays) * 6 April – 29 June 1983 (Wednesdays) * 9 January – 26 March 1984 (Mondays)During the first transmission run of 1984, one of the first five episodes was not shown. * 6 July – 28 September 1984 (Fridays) * 30 December 1984 – 24 March 1985 (Sundays) * 5 July – 27 September 1985 (Fridays) * 31 March – 23 June 1986 (Mondays) * 8 January – 2 April 1987 (Thursdays) * 8 July – 30 September 1987 (Wednesdays) on BBC2 * 20 April – 13 July 1988 (Wednesdays) on BBC2

Footnotes

References

External links

The Flumps dedicated website
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flumps 1977 British television series debuts 1977 animated television series debuts 1977 British television series endings 1970s British children's television series 1970s British animated television series Flumps, The British children's animated musical television series British English-language television shows British stop-motion animated television series BBC animated television series Animated television series about families