Penny Crayon is a 1989 British children's television series that tells the adventures of a very intellectual and well-meaning (but occasionally mischievous) schoolgirl from London who loves to draw, and her escapades accompanied by her best friend, Dennis. Using the magic crayons that she always carries with her, she brings everything that she ever draws to life, to either help them on their adventures or to get them out of tricky situations, and usually creating a world of chaos until it is either erased or washed away.
The origins of Penny's crayons was never explained or hinted at in the series; however series creator Peter Maddocks released a prequel story, along with an adaptation of the episode 'Dickens of a Mess', in digital format in 2012, which told the story of how Penny came to have her magic crayons.[3]
Penny Crayon is a highly intelligent and resourceful schoolgirl, with a Northern accent and who loves drawing. She has magic crayons and pencils that can draw on any surface including brick walls, cave interiors and even the inside of a whale's mouth. She is voiced by comedy actress Su Pollard, whose face Penny visually resembles.
Dennis Pillbeam (his surname is never given on-screen but is mentioned in literature accompanying the series) is Penny's best friend, an excitable, good-natured yet simple boy who can often be heard praising Penny's cleverness or bravery. He was the only other regular character in the series, voiced by Peter Hawkins, who had also done voice-work for Maddocks Animation's previous television series.
Origin and productionedit
Penny Crayon was produced for the BBC in the United Kingdom. first broadcast weekly as part of Children's BBC on BBC1 from 14 September 1989. It was made by Maddocks Animation, which had previously produced Jimbo and the Jet-Set and The Family-Ness, and utilized much of the same production staff, as well as featuring the vocal talents of Peter Hawkins in all three series.
Twelve episodes were produced in a single production run, although spread across two separate broadcast runs in 1989 and 1990 respectively.[4] The series was subsequently repeated a number of times, airing into the early 2000s and was also later repeated on GMTV2 with Bertha.
Penny Crayon had first appeared read as a story in an early episode of Playdays (broadcast at that time under its original title of Playbus, and before the show's rotation of stories featuring recurring characters had fully set in place).[5] In that story, not animated but read out over static images drawn by Peter Maddocks, when a school trip to the zoo is rained off, Penny tries to entertain her disappointed classmates stuck inside school by drawing zoo animals on the walls of the school hall (including a Tyrannosaurus rex), which come to life and cause havoc around the school. When she and Dennis can't catch them to erase them, she eventually draws a huge cage to put them all in, thus allowing her to rub them out. This early version of Penny had darker hair – she was given blonde hair in the following series to match that of Su Pollard, and both her and Dennis' appearance was modified for the subsequent series. One of Dennis' lines ("Mum will be furious when we get home and she hears about this!") suggests that Penny and Dennis might be siblings, though this was never mentioned in the series. The story was one of several submitted by independent writers for the new daily series, and although a selection of rotating story characters was soon picked for Playbus, it was well-enough received that then-Head of Children's Programmes Anna Home recommended that Hawkins might develop it as a series.
Due to the original Penny Crayon story appearing on Playbus, some episode guides to the series erroneously list thirteen episodes.
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Penny Crayon is a 1989 British children s television series that tells the adventures of a very intellectual and well meaning but occasionally mischievous schoolgirl from London who loves to draw and her escapades accompanied by her best friend Dennis Using the magic crayons that she always carries with her she brings everything that she ever draws to life to either help them on their adventures or to get them out of tricky situations and usually creating a world of chaos until it is either erased or washed away Penny CrayonCreated byPeter MaddocksVoices ofSu Pollard Peter HawkinsOpening theme Penny Crayon Ending theme Penny Crayon Instrumental Country of originUnited KingdomNo of series1No of episodes12 1 2 ProductionExecutive producersMaddocks AnimationParkfield PublishingRunning time10 minutes per episode approx Original releaseNetworkBBC1TV2BBC KidsBFBSSSVC TelevisionRelease14 September 1989 1989 09 14 1 October 1990 1990 10 01 RelatedJimbo and the Jet Set The Family Ness The origins of Penny s crayons was never explained or hinted at in the series however series creator Peter Maddocks released a prequel story along with an adaptation of the episode Dickens of a Mess in digital format in 2012 which told the story of how Penny came to have her magic crayons 3 Contents 1 Characters 2 Origin and production 3 Episodes 4 Home releases 5 References 6 External linksCharacters editPenny Crayon is a highly intelligent and resourceful schoolgirl with a Northern accent and who loves drawing She has magic crayons and pencils that can draw on any surface including brick walls cave interiors and even the inside of a whale s mouth She is voiced by comedy actress Su Pollard whose face Penny visually resembles Dennis Pillbeam his surname is never given on screen but is mentioned in literature accompanying the series is Penny s best friend an excitable good natured yet simple boy who can often be heard praising Penny s cleverness or bravery He was the only other regular character in the series voiced by Peter Hawkins who had also done voice work for Maddocks Animation s previous television series Origin and production editPenny Crayon was produced for the BBC in the United Kingdom first broadcast weekly as part of Children s BBC on BBC1 from 14 September 1989 It was made by Maddocks Animation which had previously produced Jimbo and the Jet Set and The Family Ness and utilized much of the same production staff as well as featuring the vocal talents of Peter Hawkins in all three series Twelve episodes were produced in a single production run although spread across two separate broadcast runs in 1989 and 1990 respectively 4 The series was subsequently repeated a number of times airing into the early 2000s and was also later repeated on GMTV2 with Bertha Penny Crayon had first appeared read as a story in an early episode of Playdays broadcast at that time under its original title of Playbus and before the show s rotation of stories featuring recurring characters had fully set in place 5 In that story not animated but read out over static images drawn by Peter Maddocks when a school trip to the zoo is rained off Penny tries to entertain her disappointed classmates stuck inside school by drawing zoo animals on the walls of the school hall including a Tyrannosaurus rex which come to life and cause havoc around the school When she and Dennis can t catch them to erase them she eventually draws a huge cage to put them all in thus allowing her to rub them out This early version of Penny had darker hair she was given blonde hair in the following series to match that of Su Pollard and both her and Dennis appearance was modified for the subsequent series One of Dennis lines Mum will be furious when we get home and she hears about this suggests that Penny and Dennis might be siblings though this was never mentioned in the series The story was one of several submitted by independent writers for the new daily series and although a selection of rotating story characters was soon picked for Playbus it was well enough received that then Head of Children s Programmes Anna Home recommended that Hawkins might develop it as a series Due to the original Penny Crayon story appearing on Playbus some episode guides to the series erroneously list thirteen episodes Episodes editThis section needs a plot summary Please add one in your own words August 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message No TitleOriginal air date1 The Tower of London 14 September 1989 1989 09 14 2 The Cookery Class 21 September 1989 1989 09 21 3 A Circus Lion 28 September 1989 1989 09 28 Note This was the first episode produced and shares some story elements of the original Penny Crayon story read on Playbus 4 An Amusement Park 5 October 1989 1989 10 05 5 The Waxworks Museum 12 October 1989 1989 10 12 6 The Pantomime 19 October 1989 1989 10 19 7 A Haunted House 26 October 1989 1989 10 26 8 A Silly Day Dream 2 November 1989 1989 11 02 9 The Camping Holiday 10 September 1990 1990 09 10 10 The Treasure Hunt 17 September 1990 1990 09 17 11 A Dickens of A Mess 24 September 1990 1990 09 24 12 The Dog Show 1 October 1990 1990 10 01 Home releases editIn 1989 and 1990 Parkfield Publishing released two video cassettes with four episodes on each one VHS video title Year of release Episodes Penny Crayon Volume 1 MKC 0001 1989 The Circus Lion Waxworks Museum Cookery Class Pantomime Penny Crayon Volume 2 MKC 0002 1990 Tower of London Amusement Park Camping Holiday Treasure Hunt In 1992 TeleVideo A division of Direct Entertainment Group released three videos with four episodes on each tape VHS video title Year of release Episodes The Adventures of Penny Crayon Camping Holiday TELVID 22 1992 Camping Holiday Waxworks Museum Haunted House Cookery Class The Adventures of Penny Crayon Dog Show TELVID 23 1992 Dog Show A Dickens of a Mess Pantomime Tower of London The Adventures of Penny Crayon Treasure Hunt TELVID 24 1992 Treasure Hunt Amusement Park Circus Lion Silly Daydream In 1994 Carlton Home Entertainment released a single video with only four episodes VHS video title Year of release Episodes Penny Crayon As Seen on TV 30073401430 1994 Camping Holiday Waxworks Museum Haunted House The Cookery Class Several book adaptations and a 1990 annual were also released References edit Toonhound website listing February 2020 Classic Kids Tv website listing February 2020 Amazon co uk Penny Crayon the Prequel Peter Maddocks amp Marian Bonelli February 2020 Toonhound broadcast dates of episodes February 2020 BBC One London 24 October 1988 February 2020 External links editToonhound Penny Crayon at IMDb nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Penny Crayon amp oldid 1204027298, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
