"Bertha, lovely Bertha, you are a lovely machine
     And anyone who works with you will know just what I mean...."
 

     Bertha is a big green engineering machine, a marvellous mechanical production
     engine with a big toothy face who can be programmed to manufacture just about
     anything you want. She's housed at the busy Spottiswood Factory, owned
     by Mr Willmake.  Bertha's Chief Designer is Mr Sprott. He's asisted by
     young Tracy who, it must be said, often sorts out unforseen flaws and
     problems with her superior's design work...

     Other Spottiswood employees include Mr Duncan the foreman, Ted Turner who
     is Bertha's operator, young Roy Willing his keen-but-slow assistant, Nell and Flo
     who pack and stack Bertha's wares, Panjid the fork-lift driver, Mrs Tupp the
     tealady, and Mr Willmake's secretary Miss McClackerty.

       
     
     In the very first episode, "The Great Painting Job" we witness the construction
     of a minitaure robot designed by Tracy to act as a decorating machine.
     This is TOM - short for Talk Operated Machine. TOM isn't a particularly
     effective decorator, but he proves himself most able and becomes a regular
     member of the Spottiswood team...

     A charming little series this, with familiar Ivor Wood/Woodland Animations
     figures and sets and a theme song by Brian Daly, who would go on to write
     and sing that song for Postman Pat and Tom & Vicky's theme tune too.

 

    

     Nice to see you

     Next time you're watching, take a god look at Ted Turner. That long chin and his
     high moustache and sideburns make him look an awful lot like our favourite
     octogenarian entertainer Bruce Fosyth. And he sounds like him too!

 

     Wood you believe it

     Ivor and Josiane Wood set up Woodland Animations in 1975. They produced
     Postman Pat, Gran, Bertha and Charlie Chalk for the BBC. The company
     was subsequently bought by Entertainemt Rights, for £5.1m in
     December 2001. Ivor Wood passed away in October 2004....

 

     

     Bertha makes

    windmill money boxes    garden gnomes      beach balls        
    365 springs                 plastic bears          cuckoo clocks    
    Jack-in-the-Boxes        jigsaw puzzles        watering cans

    ...and TOM

 

    Bertha episodes

    The Great Painting Job                 More Speed, Less Work
    The Windmills                             The Big Order
    A Mouse in the Works                 The Burglars
    The Best Machine Competition       Bertha's Birthday Party
    TOM Gets Lost                            The Big Sneeze
    The Flying Bear                           Tom's New Friend
    The Tea Nurse

 

   Broadcast info

    The series premiered with "The Great Painting Job" which aired
    on BBC1, 1st April 1985 at 3.55pm.

    Scheduling of the first seven episodes was a bit stop-start, due to
    interruptions for the Easter and May Day holidays. Episodes eight to
    eleven were tagged on to the end of an Autumn rerun. Similarly, the last
    two episodes premiered in the midst of a third outing in 1986.
    Here are dates that each episode premiered:

   Ep 2 - 15th April 1985 at 3.55pm    Ep 8 - 5th Nov 1985 at 3.55pm 
   Ep 3 - 22nd April 1985 at 3.55pm    Ep 9 - 12th Nov 1985 at 3.55pm 
   Ep 4 - 29th April 1985 at 3.55pm    Ep 10 - 19th Nov 1985 at 3.55pm
   Ep 5 - 13th May1985 at 3.55pm     Ep 11 - 26th Nov 1985 at 3.55pm 
   Ep 6 - 20th May 1985 at 3.55pm    Ep 12 - 16th April 1986 at 1.47pm
   Ep 7 - 3rd June 1985 at 3.55pm     Ep 13 - 18th June 1986 at 1.32pm

 

    Bertha books

     Fans may want to check out the tie-in storybooks, adapted
     from the series by Eric Charles, and illustrated by Steve Augarde
     (he of Bump fame). They were originally published by Andre Deutsch
     in 1985/1986 and later, as Scholastic editions. Here are the titles:

     Bertha and the Great Painting Job
     Bertha and the Windmills
     Bertha and a Mouse in the Works
     Bertha and the Best Machine Competition
     Bertha and the Lost TOM
     Bertha and the Flying Bear

 

     Bertha on DVD

     Bertha
                Region 2 / 4 episodes / Four Front / April 2004

 

    produced by Woodland animations Ltd

    designed and produced
     by Ivor Wood

    director
     of animation:        Derek Mogford
    writer:                  Eric Charles
    film editor:            Martin Bohan
    music & lyrics:       Brian Daly
     title song vocals:   Guy Fletcher
                                Recorded at Havoc House studios
    sound:                  Clive Pendry
    voices:                 Roy Kinnear (+ narrator)
                               Sheila Walker

 

      On the web


      Little Gems
      The Gems have a scrolling page of screen grabs
      and info for you....



 
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