The Sheep in the Clover Field
is the fifth episode of the first series of Postman Pat.
Plot[]
It is a cloudy morning, but the sun brightens up, and Pat is having a late day after his van gets stuck in the mud, when he is forced to stop because of Sam Waldron's van. Peter Fogg soon comes along in his red tractor to pull Pat out. When he arrives at the Post Office, Pat tells Mrs. Goggins about his van getting stuck. She shows him a newspaper article about Major Forbes' bull and warns him to be careful not to encounter the bull when delivering a letter to the Major.
Later Ted stops Pat and they have to get some sheep out of a field filled with clovers due to the gate being left open by some careless campers. Pat and Ted get chased by the Major's bull and Ted thinks he's broken his ankle so Pat goes to fetch Dr Gilbertson from the village, then Dr Gilbertson bandages Ted's ankle (which isn’t broken, just badly sprained), then Pat takes Dr Gilbertson and Ted home.
Pat continues on his way, as he still has a lot of post to deliver. When he sees Alf and Dorothy coming along the other way, Alf thanks him for getting the sheep back into their field and says he will have a talk with the campers about leaving gates open. Pat sets off again; after a busy morning of rounding up the sheep, dodging the bull and fetching Doctor Gilbertson, he realises how late he is with the post and will have to get a move on to get it all delivered by the end of the afternoon.
Characters[]
- Pat Clifton
- Jess
- Mrs. Goggins
- Ted Glen
- Alf Thompson
- Doctor Gilbertson
- Sam Waldron
- Peter Fogg
- Major Forbes' Bull (unseen in person)
- Dorothy Thompson (does not speak)
- Major Forbes (mentioned)
- Mrs. Atkinson (mentioned)
- The Campers (mentioned)
Vehicles[]
- PAT 1
- SAM 1
- The Yellow Tractor
- The Red Tractor
- The Plough
- Doctor Gilbertson's Car (mentioned)
Locations[]
Trivia[]
- The Farmer's Song is played in this episode, although the instrumental section of the song is skipped.
- This episode marks the official introduction of Doctor Sylvia Gilbertson.
- This is the first episode not to have Pat's name in the title.
- The scene of Pat waiting for Peter to come and tow him out of the mud was later referenced and shown in Postman Pat's ABC. The only difference was that Tom Pottage was not present in the original version, which he was in the drawn animation version. Also, Sam was not present either and the tractor stopped alongside the van instead of arriving from the other direction.
- In Welsh, the title of this episode is called "Yr Awyr Iach" (Healthy Air).
- The book version is called "Postman Pat to the Rescue".
- This is the first episode where there is a mention of Pencaster.
- This is the first episode where there is a mention of Major Forbes. He would later be seen in person in Postman Pat takes the Bus.
- In the Welsh and Dutch versions, the sound effect of the sheep bleating overlaps and does not fade out straight away after Pat and Ted close the gate, but it does in the UK version.
- When Jess meows just before the end of the Farmer's Song in all language dub versions, the meow is a bit quieter than it is in the UK dub.
Goofs[]
- The audio goes fuzzy when Pat says "No, and I don't think I want to either," and when Mrs Goggins says "There's a letter for the Major, so you might meet the bull."
- Sam would never have been able to get into his van to drive away for help, as his door is too close to Pat's van and he would not have been able to open it.
- If Pat squeezed his van past Sam's, there would not be enough space for Pat to avoid breaking off one of either his or Sam's wing-mirrors.
- When Pat stops to ask Sam to deliver Mrs Atkinson's letters, he is parked further forward from Sam's van, but when Pat's van gets stuck in the mud, it is positioned further back alongside Sam's.
- In a long shot of Pat driving out of the village after picking up Doctor Gilbertson, the Doctor and Jess are not sitting next to him.
- During the long shots of Pat driving through the valley, he is not wearing his hat and glasses and Jess is not sitting next to him.
- As Pat's van did not have an extra seat at the time, Doctor Gilbertson had to sit on top of Jess' basket.
- In real life, it would be illegal for Ted to ride in the back of PAT 1.
- When Doctor Gilbertson gets out of the van, her hat looks slightly squashed.
- A crossroad sign is seen when Pat is at a T Junction in the village.
- When Ted falls while chasing the sheep, the leaves on the bush next to Ted twitch.
- As Doctor Gilbertson helps Ted get up after bandaging his ankle, the grass beneath him moves.
Home Media Releases[]
UK
AUS |