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Tales From Fat Tulip's Garden

1985 - 1987

Tale of two frogs

Episode 1

Two frogs, Ernie & Sylv go looking for a new place to live after their pond dries up. They end up exploring Fat Tulip's garden and kitchen, where Ern takes an interest in the washing machine.

A load of old rubbish

Episode 2

Thin Tim has come to stay with Fat Tulip, forcing him to clean up the airing cupboard and the rest of his house. Then Inspector Challenor arrives to shed light on a missing key.

Meet a dog called Dorian

Episode 3

Thin Tim wants to do odd jobs around the house, but Fat Tulip would rather play Frisbee. When it lands right in the apple tree, local policeman Inspector Challenor and his new dim-witted dog Dorian arrive to help.

Swimming in custard

Episode 4

Fat Tulip is throwing a party, but has eaten all the food on the way back from doing the shopping. When everything else goes wrong and Fat Tulip is just about to give up, a bunch of mince decide to help him out.

Rip up the roses

Episode 5

Nasty toads Peter Paul & Mary have totally messed up Fat Tulip's Garden. Nice frogs Ernie and Sylv mean to find the culprits of this dirty deed, even though they expect they might be terrible stinky monsters.

Fred the baddy

Episode 6

Fat Tulip gets a kipper in the mail, meaning Fred the Baddie is coming to stay. So he decides the best thing to do is to pretend not to be home. But a note on the door does not stop Fred the Baddie, who can't read.

The tortoise who climbed mountains

Episode 7

Ernie and Sylv meet Lewis Collins, a tortoise who imagines himself to be very heroic, fast and strong. He first plans to jump over Fat Tulips house, but decides that would be too easy. He proceeds to dig a tunnel under it instead

Bees know best

Episode 8

One thousand two hundred and seventeen bees are looking for a new place to stay. Ernie & Sylv invite them to join them in Fat Tulip's Garden, but Fat Tulip and Thin Tim take objection.

No hiding place

Episode 9

Ernie & Sylv are playing hide and seek. But when Ern hides in a bucket, he ends up down the well in Fat Tulip's garden. Soon all the other insects and animals think there's a monster (possibly several of them) down there.

Fistful of bluebottles

Episode 10

Ernie & Sylv and all the other young creatures are off to training camp in the woods. But one of the teachers, Mary toad, is helping her kin Peter and Paul cheat at all the tasks.

Mice with Measles

Episode 11

All the mice in their hole that connects to Fat Tulip's kitchen are ill and Ernie and Sylv are looking after them. Fat Tulip isn't feeling very well either and asks Thin Tim to bake him a cake.

The ugliest possible face

Episode 12

A lot of different animals are practicing for the Ugliest Possible Face competition. Ernie and Sylv try to cheer up Mary toad by having her compete as well

Seven washing machines

Episode 13

Fat Tulip's washing machine is broken and his door number is missing. The morning after he hangs up an orange peel shaped like a six to serve as a door number, seven washing machine salesman visit him, bringing along seven washing machines to demonstrate

Never eat a tortoise

Episode 14

Thin Tim insists that Fat Tulip loses some weight and forces him to exercise in the garden and go on a diet. But Fat Tulip fills the shed with cakes and sweets for midnight snacks. Ernie and Sylvie want to investigate, but Lewis Collins the tortoise insists that he goes in first, disguised as a fruitcake

Top Cast

Tales from Fat Tulip's Garden was a children's TV program in the mid-1980s, starring Tony Robinson. It was produced by Debbie Gates for Central Independent Television and aired on British TV network ITV from 1985 to 1987, in a 4:00pm timeslot, with each episode lasting about 10 minutes. Robinson would tell children's stories directly to camera in an English garden setting, and would put on all the voices himself. The show was written by Debbie Gates and Robinson and carried by Robinson's unique and engaging storytelling style, which was semi-improvised. Robinson hoped to provoke the imagination and produce a sense of immediacy in contrast to the shortcomings he saw in children's television at the time. The majority of the programme was filmed in the house and garden of Little Monkhams, a property in Woodford in the Redbridge Borough of London. Further scenes were filmed in the part of Epping Forest facing the house

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