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was it Ben?" the narrator would trill in a quavering soprano; the culprit would then confess, before the gardener's footsteps would be heard coming up the garden path; the flower pot men then would vanish into their pots and the "Goodbye" screen would appear. The final punch-line was, "..and I think the little house knew something about it; don't you?".
254:
Typically, while the "man who worked in the garden" would be away having his dinner, the two flower pot men, Bill and Ben, would emerge from their pots. After a minor adventure, a slight mishap would occur, for which someone would then take the blame: "Which of these two flowerpot men, was it Bill or
40:
288:
The puppets were made to look as if they were made from flowerpots. Cupcake holders were used for their hats, which sometimes caught onto their strings. Peter particularly praised Audrey's puppetry for being very precise. The scripts were written in
English, with Peter translating them into
960:
and later maintained she did invent the characters used in the BBC series; this prompted lawyers, acting on behalf of the estate of the show's creator, Freda
Lingstrom, to threaten Brabban with litigation if she appeared on television to propagate this claim.
939:
characters after her younger brothers. All three sources later corrected their statements. Brabban sold three stories about a Bill and Ben to the BBC in the 1950s; but other than their names, they bore no resemblance to the
1151:"Andy Walmsley (18th December 2022) "70 years ago today BBC tv airs the first showing of Bill and Ben 'The Flower Pot Men'. Actor Peter Hawkins and puppeteer Audrey Atterbury talk to Jane Markham in 1989" - Twitter"
285:, who voiced both Bill and Ben, inventing their gibberish language, named Oddle-Poddle. He based the language on select words such as "Slogalog" (Slowcoach the Tortoise) and "Haddap" (Hello).
267:
got the idea for the show after spending time in her woodshed with a flowerpot. She assembled the production crew, which consisted mainly of those who had worked on her previous show
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listings feature Maria as the narrator, with Gladys singing the songs (including Little Weed's "Was It Bill Or Was it Ben?"); however when Bill and Ben appeared on
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called
Slowcoach and, in one particular episode, the trio meet a faintly mysterious character made out of potatoes, Dan the Potato Man.
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flower pots who live at the bottom of an
English garden. A third character, Little Weed, of indeterminate species resembling either a
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Retired headteacher Hilda
Brabban created an unrelated set of characters also named Bill and Ben. These have been confused with the
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991:", named the group after the show, although it caused controversies with people suggesting it may have had something to do with
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with a smiling face, is shown growing between two large flowerpots. The three are also sometimes visited by a
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in 1952. Both programmes were produced by Freda
Lingstrom. During her later life Brabban suffered a
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Julia
Whitaker (nee Williams), claimed to have voiced Weed uncredited, while obituaries for
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The show was the basis for a comic strip of the same name in the children's magazine
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There has been no confirmation of Maria and Gladys's roles within the series.
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respectively. The confusion also affected the BBC panel show
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Still from original BBC series, with Little Weed (centre)
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is a
British programme for young children produced by
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British television series revived after cancellation
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features the story of Bill and Ben, two men made of
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1196:. Season D. Episode 8. 10 November 2006.
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16:British children's television series
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1169:- Pugwash, Windy and Barney McGrew"
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1084:"BFI Flowerpot Men, The (1952-54)"
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1248:"The Original Flower Pot Men"
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929:in the 2004 episode
883:"Musical Vegetables"
816:"Musical Vegetables"
682:6 May 1953
337:"Musical Vegetables"
19:For other uses, see
211:was aired in 2001.
1236:. 5 February 2003.
985:The Flower Pot Men
946:Listen with Mother
131:Production company
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1387:Watch with Mother
1268:Independent.co.uk
1233:Independent.co.uk
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123:Running time
31:
25:
1414:Bizzy Lizzy
1190:Descendants
1013:Radio Times
927:Stephen Fry
877:"Scarecrow"
819:"Scarecrow"
625:"Boot Race"
481:"Scarecrow"
110:of episodes
70:Narrated by
1528:Categories
1442:Fingerbobs
1400:Andy Pandy
1324:BBC Online
1131:- Puppets"
1093:9 December
1039:References
874:"Stickmen"
854:"Stickmen"
848:"Cabbages"
776:1953-06-10
758:1953-06-03
740:1953-05-27
722:1953-05-20
715:"Umbrella"
704:1953-05-13
686:1953-05-06
668:1953-04-29
650:1953-04-22
643:"Acrobats"
632:1953-04-16
614:1953-04-09
596:1953-04-02
578:1953-03-26
560:1953-03-19
542:1953-03-12
524:1953-03-05
517:"Mud Pies"
506:1953-02-26
488:1953-02-19
470:1953-02-12
452:1953-02-05
434:1953-01-29
416:1953-01-22
409:"Stickmen"
398:1953-01-15
391:"Tiny Men"
380:1953-01-08
362:1953-01-01
355:"Cabbages"
344:1952-12-25
326:1952-12-18
275:Maria Bird
270:Andy Pandy
259:Production
237:terracotta
173:1953-06-10
163:1952-12-18
118:Production
74:Maria Bird
50:Created by
1456:The Herbs
993:marijuana
851:"Bellows"
825:"Icicles"
799:Episodes
661:"Bellows"
607:"Icicles"
245:dandelion
241:sunflower
99:of series
1505:Trumpton
1435:Clangers
886:Cabbages
553:"Babies"
445:"Stilts"
293:Episodes
249:tortoise
60:Starring
1470:Mr Benn
1428:Chigley
1407:Bagpuss
1174:YouTube
1136:YouTube
774: (
756: (
738: (
720: (
702: (
684: (
666: (
648: (
630: (
612: (
594: (
576: (
558: (
540: (
522: (
504: (
486: (
468: (
450: (
432: (
414: (
396: (
378: (
360: (
342: (
324: (
319:"Seeds"
228:Premise
218:titled
181:Related
171: (
167: –
161: (
156:Release
146:Network
91:English
1067:13 May
979:Legacy
965:Comics
958:stroke
305:series
999:Notes
972:Robin
932:Bills
916:Ariel
308:Title
243:or a
1350:IMDb
1095:2021
1069:2018
1019:and
793:VHS
1348:at
1322:at
1192:".
1057:BFI
301:No.
135:BBC
108:No.
97:No.
1530::
1299:.
1265:.
1230:.
1210:.
1194:QI
1171:.
1133:.
1118:^
1086:.
1055:.
995:.
975:.
922:QI
766:26
748:25
730:24
712:23
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676:21
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604:17
586:16
568:15
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532:13
514:12
496:11
478:10
303:in
113:26
1378:e
1371:t
1364:v
1303:.
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23:.
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