''ChuckleVision'' is a popular British television series shown mainly on CBBC. New episodes are always first aired on BBC One, and occasionally episodes are shown on BBC Two. The first episode was shown on 26 September 1987. It follows the adventures of the Chuckle Brothers & the Patton Brothers, who find themselves in all sorts of situations that they must cope with. The twenty-first series of ChuckleVision started on 11 December 2009 on BBC One. A 3D movie is also in production and set to possibly be released in late 2012.

Plot

Episodes of ChuckleVision are usually independent. The basic plot to each show is the brothers undertaking some sort of job, task or adventure. They are often employed by a character known as ''No Slacking'', who is always played by the brothers’ real-life brother, Jimmy Patton. No Slacking is meant to be a different character in every episode he appears in; however, he is always known by this name owing to the catchphrase he always says to get the bumbling brothers to work properly. No Slacking usually appears several times in each series, although in recent years this number has been reduced to once or twice a series. In each episode his life is either ruined or otherwise inconvenienced by Paul and Barry. A large amount of the comedy is based on slapstick.

Their other real brother, Brian Patton, (who is a double act with Jimmy, the Patton Brothers) has appeared on and off since 1995. His character can often be heard to say, "Get out of it!", or "I may have misjudged you.".

On occasion, the jobs they carry out can be somewhat surreal or put them in surreal circumstances, this was very much enforced in the recent years of ''ChuckleVision''. Once, they babysat for a boy who got out of his bed, leaving a football on his pillow, leading them to believe that his head had come off. Another episode involves Barry being able to see an invisible leprechaun which Paul cannot see.

The duo also often carry out jobs and tasks given to them by "Dan the Van", who is never seen, except in one episode where the Chuckle brothers decide it upon them to make sure he arrives to the special meeting. However, Dan the Van's face cannot be seen, as he is covered in bandages all over, and wearing dark shades. In other episodes we hear of, or sometimes see, relatives of Dan the Van, for example Grandmother Lettuce the Van appears in Chuckle and the Pea and his niece can be seen in ''Dim Waiters''.

The format of the first two series (1987–1989) consisted of each episode focusing on a certain topic, a sort of humorous ''Blue Peter''. These episodes have rarely, if ever, been seen by the public eye since their original transmission. The opening title sequence was different too, with rings coming from the centre of the picture flashing in dark blue, mid-blue and light blue in a psychedelic fashion with yellow lettering "ChuckleVision" on a red rectangle repeatedly jump-zooming in and out and tilting from side to side as it does this, while the original version of the ChuckleVision theme tune plays. These opening titles are then followed by clips of the programme.

The brothers’ main mode of transport is "The Chucklemobile". It is a quadricycle with a red-and-white striped roof. Barry is usually relegated to driving, whilst Paul puts his feet up on the front bar. Paul only pedals as well as Barry twice in the whole series, in ''Safari Park Keepers'', when they are running away from lions and - though it is not shown very well - Paul also pedals at the end of ''Plumb Crazy'', when the pair have wrecked Mrs Blenkinsop's garden, and drive away before she comes back. The registration plate is Chuckle 1.

An exception to the usual format of stand-alone episodes came with the fourteenth series, broadcast in 2002. This used a continuous storyline involving the brothers’ hunt for a missing ruby. They continued a similar trend in the next two series, with two 3-part stories in Series 15, entitled ''The Purple Pimple'' and ''Magnetic Barry''. A two part story called ''Incredible Shrinking Barry'' appears in Series 16. From Series 17 onwards, this trend hasn’t been repeated.

Characteristics

Paul is the dominant of the two; it's often due to his blind confidence that the two end up in bother. When he realises he has made a mistake, he often blames Barry and also tends to make Barry do the hard work and takes the credit for himself. Neither brother is particularly bright, however Paul appears at times to possess more common sense than Barry, and Barry seems more aware of the fact their work is not appreciated by other people. Normally when a third party character is on screen the two brothers display an equal lack of intelligence. However, by the end, poetic justice is usually done and if either brother is to come out on top at the end of the episode, it will invariably be Barry. However, this war between the brothers only happens in about half the episodes. The classic episodes of the show often ended with the brothers running away from some angered third party they had been trying to help.

Paul and Barry both have iconic northern accents and have a number of catchphrases, some of which involve one brother replying to the other brother's line. Thus "To me" receives the reply "To you", and "'Course it is, silly me" is met with "Silly you". The line "Oh dear" is regularly followed by "Oh ''dear'', oh dear", and sometimes by "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear" when something goes wrong. This was inspired by the BBC comedy ''Hi-de-Hi!'', in which the character Spike used to say "oh dear, oh dear, oh dear" when something bad had happened.

There are often references made to Rotherham United F.C., whom the brothers support in real life. In "Football Heroes", Paul and Barry play for Rotherham F.C and score an own-goal.

Production

The programme has had numerous writers, including the Chuckle Brothers themselves. The main writer is John Sayle, who writes the majority of each series.

Series 14, along with the continuing storyline, saw another change. The length of the show was reduced from the usual 20 minute episode to 15 minutes. The main reason behind this was due to the BBC re-organising the schedule. This was also the reason why the BBC edited series 12 and 13 to fit in with the new 15 minute length.

Due to Paul and Barry having other commitments, Series 20 and 21 only feature six episodes.

Broadcasting

In the 8th episode of Series 4, entitled ''Bowl-derdash'', the theme tune was slightly altered. This theme tune has remained ever since, but was shortened in the seventeenth series and also edited for the shortened versions of Series 12 and 13. All the episodes in the fourteenth series display the BBC logo on the title scene and the unedited versions of series thirteen display the BBC logo on the side of the title scene, but none of the episodes from other series show this logo. Since the 2002 series during the end credits, outtakes and goofs are usually shown instead of stills.

The CBBC Channel hosted a ‘ChuckleZone’, which lasted an hour every Saturday morning showing three 20-minute episodes that were from earlier series (including the original versions of Series 12 and 13).

There have been 4 DVD releases of the brothers on stage: ''Pirates of the River Rother'', ''Spooky Going's On'', ''Indiana Chuckles and the Kingdom of the Mythical Sulk'' and ''The Chuckle Brothers In Trouble''. All these feature live performances of the brothers, one filmed at Blackpool, one at Scarborough, one at Darlington, and the other at York. The ''Chuckle Brothers In Trouble'' DVD filmed at York was a "rehearsal" performance. There has also been a VHS release entitled "Goofy Golfers" featuring 3 episodes of ChuckleVision.

In December 2008, there was a Christmas special (named ''The Mystery of Little Under-Standing''), in which the brothers uncovered a jewel thief.

The most recent series, the twenty first, consisting of 6 episodes, was aired between 11 December 2009 and Friday 18 December 2009.

In 2011 Delta Music released 6 episodes from the first ever series, on DVD. Featuring Fitness, Halloween, Antiques, D. I. Y, Open Ear and Christmas

References

External links

Chuckle Brothers Official Site

Category:ChuckleVision Category:1987 in British television Category:1987 television series debuts Category:BBC children's television programmes