Pob's Programme

Pob's Programme
Created by	Anne Wood
Developed by	Ragdoll Productions
Starring	Robin Stevens
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	82
Production
Running time	25
Release
Original network	Channel 4, PBS
Original release	1985 – 1990

Pob's Programme is a children's television programme which was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 between October 1985 and November 1987. The programme is presented by a puppet named Pob (played by puppeteer Robin Stevens), who speaks a primitive version of English and who supposedly lives inside the viewer's TV (the casing and red, green and blue electron guns visible behind him). Music was composed and performed by Mike Stanley. The opening titles of the show consist of the character breathing on the camera lens (this breathing was often mistaken for spitting, given the loud noise accompanying it and the thick condensation appearing on screen), and tracing his name in the condensation. Each week on the programme, a celebrity guest visits Pob's garden, and entertains him — though Pob and the guest never appear on screen together.

Pob's Programme was created by Doug Wilcox and Anne Wood of Ragdoll Productions, which also created Rosie and Jim. Wood went on to create the Teletubbies.

In a typical episode, the celebrity visitor to the show finds a label attached to a piece of string on the gates of Pob's garden;

The celebrity guest then follows the woollen string, winding it as they go, and encountering a second label;

Ultimately the wool is found to be Pob's unravelled jumper, and he is awoken to trace his name on the screen. Over the course of the programme, the celebrity guest reads a story, and solves a word puzzle with Pob.

Over 24 celebrity visitors appeared on Pob's Programme like Nigel Hayes, some appearing twice. The visitors, many of them well known as actors, included Roy Castle, Madhur Jaffrey, Brian Blessed, Hannah Gordon, Su Pollard, Kathy Staff, Spike Milligan and Toyah Willcox. One episode was filmed on location at Birmingham Children's Hospital with Polly James as a patient.

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