Teletubbies

About the series

Contains story spoilers.

Teletubbyland looks as though somebody has given an ordinary patch of countryside its own rules. Four brightly colored figures emerge from a home built into a green hill, rabbits move through the grass, and a baby's face smiles from the sun. Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po greet one another, play with familiar objects and respond to whatever arrives next. Teletubbies begins with the small scale of a young child's day: getting up, finding a toy, sharing a game and being asked to stop. Created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport, the original 1997 series makes those experiences into a strange but recognizable world, where an event can be worth repeating simply because it is enjoyable.

The four characters are easy to distinguish before they explain anything about themselves. Purple Tinky Winky is the tallest and carries a red bag; green Dipsy has a distinctive black-and-white hat. Yellow Laa-Laa enjoys her orange ball and the movement of dancing, while red Po travels on a scooter. Their antennas provide another set of shapes to recognize. These differences give an ordinary activity several possibilities: an object belongs to somebody, a friend may want to join in, and a familiar character can approach the same game differently. The group has a shared home without becoming a single personality. Much of its comedy comes from watching somebody pursue a small intention with their whole body.

The home turns daily routines into physical entertainment. Tubby Toast and Tubby Custard are treats, but making and eating them can also create a problem to respond to. Noo-Noo, the vacuum-like companion who tidies the interior, participates in the household rather than remaining a useful machine in the background. Cleaning may interrupt something the Teletubbies want to keep, giving them a reason to protest or chase him. The familiar setting makes that disruption manageable: the characters are dealing with a mess or a missing object in a place they understand. The machinery has its own rhythm and personality, so a routine can become a little performance even when nobody has set out to entertain anyone.

Outside, the green landscape leaves room for large, simple movements. A figure can appear over a hill, run toward a friend or stop to look at something without competing with a crowded city of details. The contrast between the Teletubbies' colors and the grass makes them immediately visible, while the home gives their wandering a point of return. Voice Trumpets rise from the ground to speak, prompt an activity or announce that a part of the day is ending. Those announcements offer structure without turning the world into an ordinary classroom. Something beyond the characters can set a boundary, yet the action remains attached to how they hear it, respond and occasionally hesitate before obeying.

The television screens on their bellies connect that invented landscape to children doing things in the real world. A short live-action sequence can show an activity, a place or a shared experience that differs from the Teletubbies' own play. The change in format is part of the show's identity: soft, costumed figures watch images of people whose movements and surroundings belong to another register. Returning to a sequence allows recognition to become an activity in itself. The viewer need not solve a mystery about what happens next. Anticipating a familiar moment, noticing a detail and joining in with a repeated response can supply the interest that another kind of series would obtain through surprise.

Speech works alongside gesture, sound and repetition. The characters use names, greetings, exclamations and fragments rather than holding long adult conversations. A movement or expression can carry a reaction before a phrase is available to describe it. That balance makes the performances central to the storytelling. The actors inside the costumes have to communicate intention through weight, direction and timing, while the round faces remain largely fixed. A pause before following another character or a sudden burst of running can therefore do work that a more verbal programme would give to dialogue. The result is a group whose feelings are readable even when their language remains deliberately limited.

The original run has no continuing quest in which the group must defeat an enemy or reach a final destination. Its recurring greetings, play and farewells create a cycle instead. Leaving can be a small emotional event because the characters would prefer the fun to continue, but the setting remains available for another visit. Later versions retained the central quartet while changing performers and adding elements such as the Tubby Phone and the younger Tiddlytubbies. Those additions belong to the revival rather than the original household. The continuity rests in the relationship between the characters and their world: familiar companions can encounter something new without requiring an entirely new explanation of where they are or why they care about it.

For an adult arriving at the series, its pace and repeated moments can seem unusually spacious. An activity is allowed to remain interesting after its basic idea has become clear. That gives the audience time to recognize a shape, a sound or another person's response rather than move immediately to the next complication. The appeal comes from belonging to an understandable little group in a landscape that still permits odd things to happen. Teletubbies gives considerable attention to the transition between doing something alone and doing it together. A toy, a dance or a piece of toast can become the occasion for that transition, making companionship visible through the ordinary business of a day.