Numbertime is a BBC educational numeracy television series for primary schools that was aired on BBC Two from 20 September 1993 to 3 December 2001. For its first four series, it was presented by Lolita Chakrabarti. El Nombre, an animated character used throughout the series, eventually became the concept for his own educational BBC children's television program; his name means "The Name" in Spanish, and not "The Number", which would be "El Número". The third line of his opening song and his farewell catchphrase were also changed several times during the series' run, to reflect their focus - however, the original ones ("Writing numbers in the desert sand" which was also used for the seventh series, and "Adios amigos, and keep counting" which was also used for the fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth series) remain the most famous.
For the second series, El Nombre's tagline and farewell catchphrase were changed to "Drawing shapes in the desert sand" and "Adios amigos, and keep shaping up" respectively, while for the third series, they were changed to "Righting wrongs in the desert sand" and "Adios amigos, over and out" respectively; however, for the fourth series, his tagline was changed to "Counting numbers in the desert sand" (which was also used for the ninth series), and for the third episode of the fourth series, his farewell catchphrase was changed to "Adios amigos, and fetch some water". For the fifth series, both his tagline and farewell catchphrase were changed to "Telling time in the desert sand" and "Adios amigos, 'till the next time" respectively, while for the sixth series, his tagline was changed to "Using numbers in the desert sand"; finally, for the eighth series, his tagline was changed to "Counting money in the desert sand".
Series 1: Numbers 1 to 10 (Autumn 1993)
The first series, which is aimed at four- to five-year-olds, comprised ten episodes focusing on the numbers 1-10, in order; each episode opened with Lolita introducing herself to the viewer, and pulling the number for the episode off its string (which was hanging from the studio ceiling), then pushing it into its correct hole in a wall, and singing the main theme, One to Ten, as each of its holes lit up in turn, which was repeated throughout the programme. In between, there were comedy sketches (mostly based on nursery rhymes and fairy tales), and animations, the most famous involving El Nombre, the Mexican gerbil who parodied Zorro, showing little Juan how to draw numbers as his four-piece mariachi band played The Mexican Hat Dance (and said "Again!" once he had finished, as it gave them an excuse to play again), and a sequence encouraging the viewer to spot things of the number for each episode - it was the same video, with a different number of things each time (and a recurring song, Numbers All Around, which was sung by a group of children). Each episode ended with Lolita singing a song (or occasionally, introducing an animation), after which she would set viewers the challenge of looking for things in the number of the week's episode before saying that she would "see them next Numbertime".
This series was originally aired on Mondays as part of the Daytime on Two strand at 9:45am, and repeated at 2:00pm on the same day; in Scotland, the 2:00pm repeats were replaced with broadcasts of BBC Scotland's own schools series Over the Moon with Mr. Boom.
Episode 1: Number 1 (20 September 1993)BBC Two England - 20 September 1993 - BBC Genome
The Narrator proudly presents Nursery Rhyme Theatre No. 1 - Little Miss Muffet with several interruptions, and Little Jack Horner has one minute to Find 1 Plum on Sammy Sallow's game show of the same name; if he succeeds, he can choose one prize - one mountain bike, or one computer, or one picture of Sallow. This episode also ends with One Finger, One Thumb, Keep Moving, which is sung by the group of children who sang Numbers All Around earlier on in it.
Episode 2: Number 2 (27 September 1993)BBC Two England - 27 September 1993 - BBC Genome
The Narrator introduces Nursery Rhyme Theatre No. 2 with Marvo the Magician (and his Two Amazing Dickie Birds), and Sammy Sport reports on Jack and Jill's attempt to break the world record for the fastest time to run up a hill, fill a pail with water, and take it back down the hill again (under 2 minutes); this episode also ends with Lolita singing The Animals Went in Two by Two.
Episode 3: Number 3 (4 October 1993)BBC Two England - 4 October 1993 - BBC Genome
Sammy Sport is joined by Baa-Baa Black Sheep for the results of the "Win a Bag of Wool" competition, while Goldilocks invites viewers to Guess Whose House (for Sammy Sallow's game show of the same name); the Numbertime Top Ten also brings the viewers, at No. 3, the ever-popular "Three-Sided Triangles", who sing an original song named We're Triangles (Oh Yes We Are).
Episode 4: Number 4 (11 October 1993)BBC Two England - 11 October 1993 - BBC Genome
Farmer Giles introduces the finals of One Girl and Her Sheep at which Little Bo Peep and her dog Shep are competing, and the Knave of Hearts talks to the Queen of Hearts about her famous royal tarts; Lolita also tells the viewers to "grab their partners and take the floor" as she introduces a quartet of dancing squares, who sing an original song named Do the Square Dance.
Episode 5: Number 5 (18 October 1993)BBC Two England - 18 October 1993 - BBC Genome
Australian chef Wally Bee (and his assistant, Bruce) attempt to show the viewers how to cook five fat sausages on a barbecue for Barbecue Time, and Harry Headline pays a visit to the home of the Five Pigs Family for Five Minutes' Fame; Little Juan also has his 5th birthday in this episode's El Nombre sketch, and this episode ends with Lolita singing Fly, Little Dickey Birds, Round and Round.
Episode 6: Number 6 (1 November 1993)BBC Two England - 1 November 1993 - BBC Genome
A gardener named Fred enlists the help of his family in pulling up his enormous turnip for Garden Time, and Mr. and Mrs. Jones have to Take 6 Eggs on Sammy Sallow's game show of the same name and put them on either side of a seesaw to make it balance, for which they have three attempts to do so; this episode also ends with Lolita singing This Old Man in voiceover.
Episode 7: Number 7 (8 November 1993)BBC Two England - 8 November 1993 - BBC Genome
Sammy Sport travels to Scotland to see a remarkable fishing contest between the famous Seven Fat Fishermen, to see which one of them can catch the biggest fish on a bridge on the banks of the Clyde, and ordering seven lots of fish and chips turns out to be more trouble than it is worth for the Shopkeeper and his Customer (who has got seven children, and they all want fish and chips); this episode also ends with Lolita singing In My Little Garden, Now Promise You Won't Laugh (also known as One Potato, Two Potato).
Episode 8: Number 8 (15 November 1993)BBC Two England - 15 November 1993 - BBC Genome
Sammy Sport travels down to Shoeburyness to interview the Old Woman who Lives in a Shoe (who has 8 children), and the Policeman enlists the viewers' help in finding Wee Willie Winkie for Crime Spot; it is also evening in Little Juan's town in this episode's El Nombre sketch, and this episode ends with Lolita imagining what the world would be like if everything was eight-shaped as she visits the Planet of the Eights to sing an original song about it (and this is the only occasion in this series that she is not seen in her usual purple outfit, but a silver spacesuit).
Episode 9: Number 9 (22 November 1993)BBC Two England - 22 November 1993 - BBC Genome
Lucky the Cat looks back over her nine lives, as she guests on This Is My Life, and Harry Headline comes to the garden of Miss Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, to look at the wonderful display of flowers for Garden Time; unfortunately, he ruins her chances of winning their "Best Flowers Competition", and she ends up coming ninth. This was also the only episode for this series to not end with a song - instead, Lolita shows the viewers a homemade necklace which has nine beads (three red, three blue, and three yellow), in reference to the episode's third animated sketch.
Episode 10: Number 10 (29 November 1993)BBC Two England - 29 November 1993 - BBC Genome
Farmer Giles (and his dog, Scruff) show viewers a wonderful, new, and very quick way to mow a meadow for Farming News, and Sammy Sport travels to Ten Pin Alley to watch Ten Pin Pete attempt to become the new Ten Pin Champ; Lolita also shows the viewers ten Russian dolls, and this episode ends with Ten in the Bed (which is, again, sung by the group of children who sang Numbers All Around earlier on in it). Also, because this episode was the last in the series, Lolita did not tell the viewers that she would "see them next Numbertime".
Writer: Christopher Lillicrap Cast: Tony Bluto, Joanna Brookes, Regina Freedman, Jenny Jules, Andy McEwan, Mo Sesay El Nombre voices (uncredited): Sophie Aldred, Kate Robbins, Steve Steen Education Officer: Su Hurrell Music: Andrew Dodge Animation: Ealing Animation, Hedley Griffin, Peter Lang, Alan Rogers, Marcus Parker-Rhodes Film Camera: Nick Squires Film Sound: Eric Wisby, John Hooper Film Editor: Nick Hutchings Vision Mixers: Carol Abbott, Hilary Briegel Camera Supervisor: Eric Metcalfe Resource Co-ordinator: Roxanna White Studio Lighting: Bryn Edwards Studio Sound: Martin Deane Costume Design: Colin Lavers Make-up Design: Jane Walker Videotape Editor: John O'Connor Assistant Floor Manager: Sally Bates Production Manager: Oliver Cookson Production Assistants: Amarjit Ram, Hilary Hardaker Design: Bob Steer Executive Producer: Judy Whitfield Director: Andrea Christodoulou Series Producer: Clare Elstow © BBC Education MCMXCIII
In 1994, BBC Enterprises (now BBC Worldwide) released a video entitled "Number Time" (BBCV 5359, and spelled with two words), containing sixty minutes of edited highlights from this series (it was the only one at the time); it was later rereleased as the second half of a "two-on-one" video in 1997 with the Words and Pictures "Alphabet Fun Time" video (BBCV 5357), which had originally been released at around the same time and contained fifty-eight minutes of highlights from that show's 1992 series (the "two-on-one" video in question was entitled "Alphabet Fun Time and Number Time", BBCV 5987, and it was rereleased in 1999). This series was later re-released in full as a "Video Plus Pack" in 1996 - only slightly altered to remove the episodes' opening titles.
From 22 September to 1 December 1998, the BBC broadcast a "revised" version of this series as a lead-in to the sixth series; in place of Lolita, Bill (introduced in the fourth series) and Bernie (who joined him in the fifth one) introduced each episode with a number line of their own (however, Lolita's voice was still heard narrating some re-used animated sketches). All episodes except Numbers 1, 4 and 9 had the original live-action sketches replaced with the Dolls' House sketch (again, see Series 5), however in the episodes that retained the original live-action sketches, the prize scene in the Find One Plum sketch was cut, and the One Girl And Her Sheep sketch was omitted. The El Nombre sketches in the revised series were slightly lengthened, and sequences of children discussing the ten numbers (in the vein of those discussing the time-related concepts covered by the fifth series) were also introduced; although the Planet of the Eights sketch was also re-used, the vocal track was redubbed and Lolita was edited out of it. Whilst the Numbers All Around song sung by a group of children was retained in the revised series, the other two songs sang by them, the One Finger, One Thumb, Keep Moving song had the children forming the number one and shouting out it's number cut at the end of the song, and the Ten In The Bed song had a new video of the ten children in the bed whilst retaining the original song.
Numbers Plus (1994)