Brum (Show)

Brum is the name of the British children's television series about the adventures of a little yellow car that lives in a motor museum and has adventures in the Big Town which is really Birmingham. It was adapted for television by Anne Wood, and the series has been broadcast in over seven territories and has spawned five television seasons (and a new rebooted animated series also confirmed). The show debuted on September 26th, 1991, and lasted for 3 seasons and 66 episodes, until it ended on November 4th, 2002.

The series is currently produced by DHX Media and WildBrain.

In November 2015, it was announced that filming of the series would transfer to WildBrain Studios in Boulder, Colorado and that it would be CGI animated. CGI was first used during the new reboot trailer for the faces of the car and animals, The first fully CGI production, Brum's Car Wash Adventure was released in Spring 2016. The remainder of the series was CGI animated for two seasons. In May 2017, it was announced that WildBrain Studios would take over animation duties.

About[]

Brum is the story of a small yellow replica car who ventures out into the "Big Town" when his owner isn't looking, and gets up to all manner of adventures. Each episode begins and ends in the same way, with Brum leaving the other cars in the motoring museum when the owner's back is turned and heading out to explore the Big Town, before eventually returning to his place. Each series has had its own background music. From series 1-2 the introduction music was the same but in series 2 they used different instruments. From Series 3-5 the music become jazzy.

The motor car can express himself in various mechanical ways including opening and closing his doors and bonnet, "bobbing" his suspension, and flashing and swiveling and flaps his bonnet up to make him angry, but in the first two series, he does not. Sometimes you can tell from his eyes. The actors in Brum don't speak – mime and off-screen narration help propel the story. It was therefore easy to prepare episodes for airing in other countries, and the series has been broadcast in many parts of the world and in many languages.

The stories are set in the city of Birmingham, England, since in addition to its onomatopoeic nature of a car engine revving, "Brum" (as a contraction of "Brummagem") is a common colloquial name for Birmingham. Although later series make no direct mention of Birmingham, calling it simply the "Big Town", many of the city's streets and landmarks can be seen in each episode.

The show was written by a range of writers. Anne Wood primarily wrote all the first series, while the second was written by Tom Poole, Dirk Campbell, Andrew Davenport and Morgan Hall. The last two series were written by the existing Ragdoll team.

The motor car itself – a half-scale replica of a late-1920's Austin 7 "Chummy" convertible – was designed and built by Rex Garrod. It is now housed at the Cotswold Motoring Museum, which is also where the opening and closing sequences of the programme were filmed.

History[]

Brum was first broadcast in 1991 and the last live-action series was broadcast in 2002. It was initially directed, written and produced by Anne Wood and initially narrated by Toyah Willcox, Tom Wright and Sarah Wichall. The show was first aired on BBC One, and also aired in the United States on Discovery Family, and on ABC in Australia (6 October 1993 – 26 December 2008). A new CGI-animated series, aimed at young preschool children, was produced in 2016.

February 2016 saw the release of a rebooted Brum, made by American entertainment company WildBrain. The show now takes place in a white world instead of the Big Town and features new friends for Brum. The first episode, "Brum's Car Wash Adventure", premiered on March 4, 2016 via the official Brum YouTube channel. A total of 25 CGI episodes were produced, with a second series currently airing.

Another series, this time animated using Toon Boom Harmony Animation called “Brum & Friends” premiered on the channel in September 2017.

Brum's VHS and DVDs went extremely wild in the UK and Australia, but US VHS and DVD releases weren't as popular.

The font shown on the DVD releases of Brum on the back cover telling you the disc details and the front cover telling you the title of the video (Airport & Other Stories, Soccer Hero, etc.) is RitaFurey Regular, it was unknown until a Fandom user named Datboyelijah479 went over to WhatTheFont and solved the mystery.

Characters[]

1990s[]

Brum: The main protagonist of said show. He goes on adventures centering the city called "Big Town".
Museum Owner (Mike Cavanagh): The owner of the car museum where Brum lives. He is the only human character who appears in every episode and the only character who is apparently oblivious to Brum's adventures, despite finding items in Brum's backseat at the end of each episode in Series 1 and 2. The actor, Mike Cavanagh, actually owned the Cotswold Motor Museum until 1999.
The Lollipop Lady (Shirley-Anne Bohm): A lady who helps people, and Brum, cross the road safely, she appears in every episode in the second series.
WPC Truncheon (Deborah Grant): the police officer in Big Town.
The Big Town Robber (Andrew Davenport): Always up to mischief, the robber's antics include stealing the trophy for the big race. Brum is usually the one that foils his plans as seen in "Brum and the Big Chase/Dancing in the Street", and "Brum and the Big Town Race/Brum and the Trophy".
Mr. and Mrs. La-Di-Dah: A posh married couple who regularly featured in the second series.
Mr. and Mrs. Doolally (Mark Barnsley) A friendly, if slightly absent-minded, couple who regularly featured in the first and second series.
Vicky Spoon: A regular cast member of the second series, Vicky is Brum's special friend.
Micky Mender: A handyman, a regular cast member of the second series.
Big Town Bullies (Shazad Mahmood and Georgina Treharne)
The Scrap Dealers (Dave Evans and Mark Walter)
Two Masked Bank Robbers (Robert Goodman and Barry Robinson)

2000s[]

Traffic Policeman (Mark Powlett): A "knockabout" policeman, who owns a horse called Arrow.
Granny Slippers (Linda Kerr Scott): An old lady who wears slippers wherever she goes. She also has a kitten named Lucky.
The Visiting Man (Jos Houben): A tourist who loves taking photographs with his camera, especially Brum.
Mr. Brillo (Rob Thirtle): A man who lives next door to Granny Slippers. His favourite picture is the Gnoma Lisa. He has loads of gnomes in his garden.
Gorgeous Gordon (Enoch White): A self-centred, full-of-himself hairdresser who wears a wig as hair.
Bob & Job (Kevin McGreevy & Adam Schumacher): Two comically clumsy men, who wear green dungarees and yellow T-shirts and help the town in a way of slapstick style from Laurel and Hardy.
Scruffy: Brum's friend, a dog who loves burying things.
Big Town Mayor (John Woodford): The town manager.
The Visiting Lady (Iona Kennedy / Carole Davies): The Visiting Man's wife who lives in the town.
The Mayoress: The mayor of Big Town
The Celebrity (Johnnie Fiori): A celebrity who appeared in the episode 'Brum and the Airport Adventure' when she had her jewels stolen by Bubble & Squeak at the Big Town Airport.
Sally: A woman in the Big Town who had her cake stolen by teenagers on her birthday in the episode "Brum and the Birthday Cake/Brum and the Cake Gang".
Policewoman (Lisa Allen)
Rob & Nick (Dan Carey and Jason Segade): A bumbling pair of thieves who are best known for stealing Mr. Brillo's gnome, robbing the golf buggy at the Big Town Golf Course, a posh celebrity's dog, Money hat from the artist and a waiter's apron at the pizza restaurant.
Bubble & Squeak (Chalky Skywalker Chawner and Paul Jackson): A pair of thieves who appeared in Brum and the Airport Adventure, Brum and the Bank Robbers/Brum and the Heavy Safe, and Brum and the Golden Loo.
Big Bad (Paul Filipiak) Appeared in Brum and the Pantomime Cow/Brum and the Theatrical Thieves, Brum and the Snow Thieves, Brum and the Splash and Grab and Brum - Chasing Balloons.
Big Bad's 1st Girlfriend (Christine Nayrolles) Appeared in Brum and the Snow Thieves, Brum an the Shop Window Dummy/Brum and the Mannequin.
Big Bad's 2nd Girlfriend (Kay Stanley) Appeared in Brum and the Splash and Grab.
Big Bad's Girlfriend (Justine Marriott) Appeared in Bushes on the Run.
Big Bad's Assistant (Eric Mallett) Appeared in Brum and the Pantomime Cow/Brum and the Theatrical Thieves with Big Bad, Bushes on the Run with his girlfriend.
The Shadow (Miles Anthony) A menacing thief who appeared in Brum and the King of Thieves and Brum and the Gorilla Caper.
Pickpocket Polly (Catherine Marimer): A thief who stole a wallet from a visiting man, and, of course, she took the items from people and put them in her swag bag.
Penny Pincher (Julia West) Appeared in Brum and the Music Box and Brum and the Stopwatch Botch.
Cake Gang: (Kerry Dean, Gavin Cooper, David Smith, Charmaine Samuels and Liam Mullan) : A group of greedy teenagers who stole a birthday cake from Sally in "Brum and the Birthday Cake/Brum and the Cake Gang".
Magic Paul (Andy Dawson) a Magician who is his assistant of Pickpocket Polly.
The Beady-Eyed Robber (Heather Tyrrell) Appeared in Brum and the Stolen Necklace.

Episodes[]

This is the list of all 66 episodes, from the show, "Brum". 3 seasons were aired.

Series 1 (September 26th - December 19th, 1991)[]

1. Brum to the Rescue - 4 February 1991/1997 (production), 26 September 1991/1997 (TV)
2. Brum and the Kite – 11 February 1991/1997 (production), 3 October 1991/1997 (TV)
3. Brum and the Scrapyard – 18 February 1991/1997 (production), 10 October 1991/1997 (TV)
4. Brum at the Opera – 25 February 1991/1997 (production), 17 October 1991/1997 (TV)
5. Brum and the Mad Mower – 4 March 1991/1997 (production), 24 October 1991/1997 (TV)
6. Brum at the Seaside – 11 March 1991/1997 (production), 31 October 1991/1997 (TV)
7. Brum and the Little Girl Lost – 18 March 1991/1997 (production), 7 November 1991/1997 (TV)
8. Brum and the Wheels – 25 March 1991/1997 (production), 14 November 1991/1997 (TV)
9. Brum and the Stilt Walker – 1 April 1991/1997 (production), 21 November 1991/1997 (TV)
10. Brum and the Removal Van – 8 April 1991/1997 (production), 28 November 1991/1997 (TV)
11. Brum and the Magician – 15 April 1991/1997 (production), 5 December 1991/1997 (TV)
12. Brum and the Runaway Pram – 22 April 1991/1997 (production), 12 December 1991/1997 (TV)
13. Brum on Safari – 29 April 1991/1997 (production), 19 December 1991/1997 (TV)

Series 2 (October 6th - December 29th, 1994)[]

14. Brum and the Helicopter – 6 October 1994/2000
15. Brum and the Crane – 13 October 1994/2000
16. Brum Goes Ice Skating – 20 October 1994/2000
17. Brum Dances in the Street – 27 October 1994/2000
18. Brum at a Wedding – 3 November 1994/2000
19. Brum and the Rascally Robber – 10 November 1994/2000
20. Brum and the Supermarket – 17 November 1994/2000
21. Brum and the Very Windy Day – 24 November 1994/2000
22. Brum and the Street Party – 1 December 1994/2000
23. Brum and the Naughty Kitten – 8 December 1994/2000
24. Brum and the Marching Band – 15 December 1994/2000
25. Brum and the Flood – 22 December 1994/2000
26. Brum Goes House Painting – 29 December 1994/2000

Series 3 (September 3rd, 2001 - November 4th, 2002)[]

This season no longer included a narrator but instead it had children commenting on what was happening. This season shows Brum as a super car, stopping thieves in many of the episodes and even had a new song at the end of each episode which is praised even today.

27. Brum and the Airport Adventure – 3 September 2001/2007
28. Brum and the Naughty Dog – 10 September 2001/2007
29. Brum and the Pizzeria – 17 September 2001/2007
30. Brum and the Gymnast – 24 September 2001/2007
31. Brum and the King of Thieves – 1 October 2001/2007
32. Brum and the Skateboarding Bride – 8 October 2001/2007
33. Brum-Chasing Balloons – 15 October 2001/2007
34. Brum and the Stolen Necklace – 22 October 2001/2007
35. Brum and the Pantomime Cow – 29 October 2001/2007
36. Brum and the Runaway Train – 5 November 2001/2007
37. Brum and the Birthday Cake – 12 November 2001/2007
38. Brum and the Mobile Phone – 19 November 2001/2007
39. Brum-Bushes on the Run – 26 November 2001/2007
40. Brum and the Diamond Dog – 3 December 2001/2007
41. Brum and the Music Box – 10 December 2001/2007
42. Brum and the Runaway Statue - 17 December 2001/2007
43. Brum and the Snow Thieves – 27 December 2001/2007
44. Brum and the Kitten Rescue - 8 April 2002/2008
45. Brum and the Splash and Grab – 15 April 2002/2008
46. Brum and the Golden Loo – 22 April 2002/2008
47. Brum and the Golf Buggy – 29 April 2002/2008
48. Brum the Soccer Hero – 6 May 2002/2008
49. Brum and the Rampant Robot – 13 May 2002/2008
50. Brum and the Shop Window Dummy – 20 May 2002/2008
51. Brum and the Bowling Alley – 27 May 2002/2008
52. Brum the Basketball Star – 3 June 2002/2008
53. Brum and the Gorilla Caper – 10 June 2002/2008
54. Brum and the Runaway Sofa – 17 June 2002/2008
55. Brum and the Kidnapped Garden Gnome – 24 June 2002/2008
56. Brum and the Runaway Ball – 1 July 2002/2008
57. Brum and the Stunt Bike Rescue – 2 September 2002/2008
58. Brum and the Stopwatch Botch – 9 September 2002/2008
59. Brum and the Cream Balloon – 16 September 2002/008
60. Brum and the Pickpocket – 23 September 2002/2008
61. Brum and the Daring Gnome Rescue – 30 September 2002/2008
62. Brum and the Mischievous Mouse – 7 October 2002/2008
63. Brum and the Bank Robbers – 14 October 2002/2008
64. Brum and the Runaway Rickshaw – 21 October 2002/2008
65. Brum and the Paint Pandemonium – 28 October 2002/2008
66. Brum and the Crazy Chair Chase – 4 November 2002/2008