Baby Jake is a British children's television programme originally broadcast in the UK. It first aired on 4 July 2011.[1] Baby Jake is also available on BBC iPlayer for over a year, and YouTube.

Baby Jake
Sibsey Trader Mill in Lincolnshire was the location used in the filming of the opening and closing sequences of Baby Jake
StarringAdamo Bertacchi Morroni
Franco Bertacchi Morroni
Kaizer Akhtar
Steve Blum
Dee Bradley Baker
Nika Futterman
David Boat
David B. Mitchell
James Wilson
Opening theme"Baby Jake"
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes52
Production
ProducerMaddy Darrall
Running time11 minutes
Production companiesDarrall Macqueen Ltd
Jam Media
Original release
NetworkCBeebies
Release4 July 2011 (2011-07-04) –
15 October 2012 (2012-10-15)

Production edit

The programme cost £1.85 million pounds to produce, and was funded by the Irish Film Board[2] and CBeebies.[1]

Darrall Macqueen originated the series and produced the animated elements of the programme through JAM Media.[2] JAM Media are an Irish animation studio who also made Tilly and Friends.[3] Maddy Darrall was quoted by the Metro as gaining inspiration for the show from watching her 7-year-old nephew understanding her 1-year-old son.[4]

The series is animated by Jam Media in Dublin, and the lead writer is Dave Ingham (Charlie and Lola, Koala Brothers).

Characters edit

“Baby Jake” (vocal effects provided by Adam Bertacchi Morroni) is the main character of the show. He is a playful baby who imagines many different adventures.

“Issac” (portrayed by Franco Bertacchi Morroni and voiced by Kaizer Akhtar) is Baby Jake's older brother who narrates magic adventure stories.

“Nibbles” (vocal effects provided by Dee Bradley Baker is rabbit who lives in the forest and is one of Baby Jake's magical friends.

“Sydney” (vocal effects provided by Nika Futterman) is a monkey who lives in the jungle and is one of Baby Jake's magical friends.

“Captain Spacie (vocal effects provided by Steve Blum) and the Hamsternauts (vocal effects all provided by David Boat) are hamsters dressed up as astronauts that live in outer space and are one of Baby Jake's magical friends.

“Pengy Quinn” (vocal effects provided by David B. Mitchell) is a peinguin who lives in the arctic and is one of Baby Jake's magical friends.

“Toot Toot” (vocal effects provided by James Wilson) is a magical tractor that Baby Jake rides in.

Location edit

The windmill featured in the series is Sibsey Trader Mill just outside the village of Sibsey near Boston in Lincolnshire. In the programme, it is shown as a large family home with additional floors, rooms and windows rather than a working mill, although it shows full working sails. Wheat harvesting in fields in and around the mill at the time had to be delayed to allow filming to take place back in the late summer of 2010 so that they had the correct ripened wheat colours.[5]

Series edit

Series one of Baby Jake ran in the UK each weekday from July to August 2011 and consisted of 26 episodes in total.[6]

Series two began on 10 September 2012 also consisting of 26 episodes.[6]

Series two was the last series commissioned. There has been no request for a further series since. The series has also been shown on Al Jazeera.[7]

Reception edit

The show was relatively popular at launch compared to other BBC Children's TV programs, occupying all top five positions on the BBC CBeebies iPlayer for a week.[8] In 2013 the show received a UK Broadcast Award.[9] Its rating on IMDb was 5.4/10.

Episodes edit

Series 1 (2011) edit

No.TitleOriginal air date
1"Playing Chase"4 July 2011 (2011-07-04)
2"Peek-a-boo"5 July 2011 (2011-07-05)
3"Tummy Sliding"6 July 2011 (2011-07-06)
4"To Wriggle"7 July 2011 (2011-07-07)
5"Tickle Toes"8 July 2011 (2011-07-08)
6"to Say Hello"11 July 2011 (2011-07-11)
7"Cartwheeling"12 July 2011 (2011-07-12)
8"Spinning in Space"13 July 2011 (2011-07-13)
9"To Bumpety Bump"14 July 2011 (2011-07-14)
10"Flappy Clapping"15 July 2011 (2011-07-15)
11"Being Upside Down"18 July 2011 (2011-07-18)
12"Playing Ball"19 July 2011 (2011-07-19)
13"Making Noise"20 July 2011 (2011-07-20)
14"Bouncing Apples"21 July 2011 (2011-07-21)
15"To Copy You"22 July 2011 (2011-07-22)
16"Jumping"25 July 2011 (2011-07-25)
17"To Hum Along"26 July 2011 (2011-07-26)
18"Surprising You"27 July 2011 (2011-07-27)
19"Sticky Fun"28 July 2011 (2011-07-28)
20"To Stompety Stomp"29 July 2011 (2011-07-29)
21"To Roll and Ride"1 August 2011 (2011-08-01)
22"Swinging"2 August 2011 (2011-08-02)
23"Footprints"3 August 2011 (2011-08-03)
24"The Boogie Beat"4 August 2011 (2011-08-04)
25"Party Time"5 August 2011 (2011-08-05)
26"Being Funny"8 August 2011 (2011-08-08)

Series 2 (2012) edit

No.TitleOriginal air date
27"Popping Peas"10 September 2012 (2012-09-10)
28"Stretching"11 September 2012 (2012-09-11)
29"His Spinning Hat"12 September 2012 (2012-09-12)
30"Chasing an Egg"13 September 2012 (2012-09-13)
31"Wobbling"14 September 2012 (2012-09-14)
32"Spinning a Web"17 September 2012 (2012-09-17)
33"Musical Statues"18 September 2012 (2012-09-18)
34"A Picnic Feast"19 September 2012 (2012-09-19)
35"Bath Time"20 September 2012 (2012-09-20)
36"Waving"21 September 2012 (2012-09-21)
37"Space Painting"24 September 2012 (2012-09-24)
38"Building"25 September 2012 (2012-09-25)
39"Jiggle and Shake"26 September 2012 (2012-09-26)
40"Balloons"27 September 2012 (2012-09-27)
41"Pretend"28 September 2012 (2012-09-28)
42"Ballet Dancing"1 October 2012 (2012-10-01)
43"Cuddles"2 October 2012 (2012-10-02)
44"Making Honey"3 October 2012 (2012-10-03)
45"Knock Knock"4 October 2012 (2012-10-04)
46"His Watering Can"5 October 2012 (2012-10-05)
47"Cardboard Boxes"8 October 2012 (2012-10-08)
48"Pushing Buttons"9 October 2012 (2012-10-09)
49"Playing House"10 October 2012 (2012-10-10)
50"Gallopy Gallop"11 October 2012 (2012-10-11)
51"Pretty Lights"12 October 2012 (2012-10-12)
52"Christmas"15 October 2012 (2012-10-15)

References edit

  1. ^ a b Maggie Brown (25 June 2011). "Baby Jake, the real 10-month-old set to be a star of children's TV". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Irish Film Board/Bord Scannán na hÉireann - About Irish Film / News / Irish Animation Firm JAM Media Announces 22 New High Spec Animation Jobs". www.irishfilmboard.ie. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ^ "BBC - Tilly and Friends - Media Centre". Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Baby Jake set to be the star of new CBeebies show". Metro.co.uk. 26 June 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  5. ^ "A windmill in Lincolnshire stars in new CBeebies series". BBC News. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Baby Jake". iMDb.
  7. ^ Wolfe, Jennifer (21 November 2012). "Al Jazeera Picks Up 'Baby Jake'". AWN. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Shingle dabbles in 'Baby' babble". Variety. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  9. ^ Courtney, Kevin (5 March 2013). "Drawing inspiration from the Celtic Tigger". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 November 2019.

External links edit