The second series of the Postman Pat television series was first released on home media in 1996, and aired on television in 1997 in the UK and later that following year in Australia. All thirteen episodes were written by the creator John Cunliffe.
Production[]
Ivor Wood was finishing up at Woodland Animations. At Woodland alone he'd created the hugely successful Postman Pat along with Gran, Bertha and Charlie Chalk. As he was beginning to wind down to retirement, the BBC reared their head and persuaded a reluctant Ivor to produce a second series of Postman Pat. Ivor had to looked to fresh talent to animate Pat since the original animator for Series 1 and the specials: Postman Pat Takes the Bus, Postman Pat and the Toy Soldiers, Postman Pat and the Tuba and Postman Pat and the Barometer and the other Woodland Animation shows, Derek Mogford had left Woodland Animations and looked to a young George Laban to fill this role.
Just after finishing his work at Bumper Films, George sent his CV out to loads of people and got a phone call from Ivor asking "Have you ever heard of Postman Pat?". Funnily he got two offers at the same time, one for Molly's Gang based in Clerkenwell Studios, so he went for interviews for both on the same day. He got both jobs but took the chance to work for Ivor.
In December 1994, five days before Christmas, George received a letter of employment from Ivor Wood at his home in Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, asking him to work as an animator on Postman Pat Series 2. Because of this, George took this wonderful opportunity and did the animation work for the whole of Series 2.
Episodes[]
- Postman Pat and the Hole in the Road - A hole outside Thompson Ground is diverting all the traffic.
- Postman Pat and the Suit of Armour - Major Forbes and Miss Hubbard are opening up Garner Hall to the public.
- Postman Pat in a Muddle - Pat has to borrow Mrs. Goggins' spare glasses.
- Postman Pat Misses the Show - The school is holding a special art competition.
- Postman Pat Follows a Trail - Pat and Jess follow an entire length of string across the countryside.
- Postman Pat has the Best Village - Ted's lorry must be hidden to help Greendale win the best village competition.
- Postman Pat Paints the Ceiling - Pat is going to paint Granny Dryden's ceiling.
- Postman Pat Has Too Many Parcels - Sam Waldron's new catalogue leaves Pat overloaded with too many parcels to deliver.
- Postman Pat and the Big Surprise - Sara has to deliver the mail when Pat pulls his back out.
- Postman Pat and the Robot - Ted Glen invents a robot to help Pat deliver the post.
- Postman Pat takes Flight - Major Forbes is going to hold a film show at the school.
- Postman Pat and the Beast of Greendale - A strange creature is on the rampage in the village.
- Postman Pat and the Mystery Tour - Pat and Mr. Pringle are taking the school on a mystery tour in the Post Bus and are given clues along the way.
Characters[]
- Pat Clifton
- Jess
- Sara Clifton
- Julian Clifton
- Mrs. Goggins
- Ted Glen
- Alf Thompson
- Dorothy Thompson
- Bill Thompson
- Reverend Timms
- Julia Pottage
- Katy and Tom Pottage
- Arthur Selby
- Lucy Selby
- Sylvia Gilbertson
- Sarah Gilbertson
- Jeff Pringle
- Charlie Pringle
- Rebecca Hubbard
- Granny Dryden
- Sam Waldron
- Peter Fogg
- Major Forbes
- George Lancaster
Characters Introduced[]
- Lucy Selby's Pony
- Caroline (mentioned)
- The Radio Greendale Speaker (not seen)
- John the Weatherman (not seen)
- The Judges (mentioned)
- Mrs. Cockett (mentioned)
- Sid (mentioned)
- George (not seen)
- George's Wife (not seen)
Vehicles[]
- PAT 1
- PAT 2
- SAM 1
- The Yellow Tractor
- The Red Tractor
- The Plough
- Ted's Lorry
- Postal Trolley
- Postal Scooter
- Major Forbes' Hot Air Balloon
- Miss Hubbard's Bicycle
- Peter Fogg's Motorbike
- P.C. Selby's Bicycle
Cast[]
- Ken Barrie as Pat, Ted, Alf, The Reverend Timms, P.C Selby, Mr. Pringle, Granny Dryden, Sam, Peter Fogg, the Major, George Lancaster, the Radio Greendale Speaker, John, George and the Narrator
- Carole Boyd as Sara Clifton, Julian, Mrs. Goggins, Dorothy, Bill, Mrs. Pottage, Katy and Tom, Lucy, Doctor Gilbertson, Sarah Gilbertson, Charlie, Miss Hubbard and George's Wife
Songs[]
- Postman Pat
- The Farmer's Song (instrumental)
- Proper Sound (instrumental)
Trivia[]
- This series was the last of several things:
- The final series to feature a narrator.
- The final series to be animated by Woodland Animations.
- The final series that Granny Dryden appeared in.
- The last series where all characters have static mouths when they are talking; from Postman Pat and the Greendale Rocket onwards, all the characters have lip-synced vocalising.
- The last series to be released completely on VHS in Australia.
- This series is the only one to feature several things:
- The only series to exclude Jess from an episode.
- The only series to be subtitled "Postman Pat and his Black and White Cat", however, the enhanced remastered versions feature the opening and closing theme from 2003-2006 instead. The logo from the third - fifth series was also used in the intro.
- The only series not to be aired on CBeebies. That was until September 2007 where it last aired on BBC Two's CBeebies block.
- Nine out of the thirteen episodes have no music playing throughout the story and only have sound effects playing in the background.
- In this series, Ted was the only character apart from Pat to appear and speak in every episode.
- In the later reruns on CBeebies, the episodes were cropped from 4:3 to 14:9[1].
- Some recorded dialogue was used over and over again in all 13 episodes, such as Pat saying "Hello there", "Bye" or "Cheerio" and Miss Hubbard saying "Goodness me, Pat. I hope you'll take more care. It's taken a bit of a knock."
Gallery[]
