Line #18 Series/FourwaysFarm


1	[[quoteright:262:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fourways_farm_0.jpg]]
2	->"''Oh, the wind blows east and the wind blows west on Fourways Farm...''"
3	-->-- '''First words of the TitleThemeTune'''
4
5	''Fourways Farm'' is a British ScienceShow for children by CASE Productions and Dutch Education Television for Creator/Channel4, which was broadcast during Channel 4 Schools between 1993 and 1996 and regularly repeated until 2007. While it appears to be animated using StopMotion, the characters are actually robots which are animated electronically a la ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}''.
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7	The show is narrated by Creator/MartinJarvis, who also voices every character. Set on a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin small farm called Fourways]], the show follows the escapades of a collection of farm animals on their day-to-day lives and interactions with the world around them. The cast consists of:
8	* '''Voltaire''': The show's CharacterNarrator, the cockerel on the farm's weather vane who relates the goings-on at the farm to the viewer.
9	* '''Davenport''': A black-and-white dog, excitable and always up for an adventure.
10	* '''Brenda''': A fussy white duck to tends to complain a lot.
11	* '''Ginger''': A lazy ginger cat with a posh Edinburgh accent who rarely gets involved with the other animals, but is the smartest of all of them.
12	* '''Martha''': A gentle, motherly cow. The most thoughtful of the animals, who ponders on the subject of the episode.
13	* '''Dudley''': A pig who's "much too fat" with a love for turnips and a pronounced West Country accent.
14	* '''Godfrey''': A great big horse with a Yorkshire accent, gloomy and pessimistic.
15	* '''The Rat Pack''': Three bad rats named '''Uno''', '''Duo''' and '''Trio''', who are always trying to scam the other animals out of food in one way or another.
16
17	Each episode has the animals making some sort of scientific discovery in the course of their day, although they may not understand what they're seeing at first. The episodes cover a wide range of concepts, including reflections on water, the relationship between water and ice, the phases of the moon, gravity and the nature of death and life. Usually, what they discover is part of a solution to a problem on the farm, or part of the Rat Pack's schemes. At the end of the day, as they settle down for the night, the animals talk about what they've seen, trying to explain to themselves what has happened and where else the things they've seen might apply in the real world. It must be Britain's answer to ''Series/BeakmansWorld''!
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19	Episodes were once available on Website/YouTube, but have since been taken down. A video collection of four of the original VHS releases, containing the majority of episodes, can be found on the [[https://archive.org/details/fourways-farm-vhs-collection/Fourways+Farm+-+Ups+%26+Downs+and+Other+Stories.mpg Internet Archive]]
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21	!!This show provides examples of:
22	* AgonyOfTheFeet: Godfrey suffers this in ''Floating and Sinking'' after he accidentally kicks a stone he mistook for a turnip (long story).
23	-->'''Godfrey:''' By 'eck! That turnip were a bit stale!
24	* AnimalStereotypes: Martha the cow is [[KindheartedSimpleton gentle and sweet natured]], Dudley is a glutton with [[TrademarkFavouriteFood a love of turnips]], Davenport is a playful and energetic dog, Ginger is [[CatsAreSnarky often frustrated by the lack of intelligence the other animals display]], Godfrey is [[TheEeyore very downbeat and miserable]] and the rats are [[YouDirtyRat small time con artists and tricksters.]]
25	* AnvilOnHead: Or, rather, bucket on head, followed by rats on head, and then [[RuleOfThree bucket on head again]]. Poor old Godfrey.
26	* BigEater: Dudley's primary character trait, especially where turnips are concerned.
27	* BritishBrevity: 25 episodes aired within 1994-1996.
28	* ButtMonkey: Godfrey is often on the receiving end of misfortune. As he himself puts it, "Only painful things happen to me!"
29	* CatchPhrase: Martha usually says "I wonder..." at the end of each episode, usually in relation to the events that have taken place. She also tends to say "Well, maybe, just maybe..." when she has a theory on something.
30	** Davenport has "I say, what's going on?" whenever anything new and exciting happens.
31	** Brenda has "Typical! Absolutely typical!" as a grumble of complaint.
32	** Dudley often exclaims "I loves it, I do!" for anything he enjoys.
33	** Godfrey often mutters "There's bound to be a catch" in reference to the rat's schemes. He's usually right, of course.
34	* CatsAreSnarky: Ginger usually remains aloof to the other animals, and often makes sarcastic remarks on their naiveté about particular subjects. She tends to save her most cutting remarks for the rats, for whom she has little patience.
35	-->"They used to say the moon made people go mad. It certainly made you all a wee bit potty!"
36	* CharacterNarrator: Voltaire the weather cock, who watches over the farm and narrates the events of each episode.
37	* CirclingBirdies: Godfrey ends up seeing stars ''three times'' after multiple taps on the head in ''Ups and Downs''.
38	* ConMan: The Rat Pack are a whole trio of these, playing on the general naiveté of the other animals to swindle food from them.
39	* DangerThinIce: ''A Drop of the Hard Stuff'' has Godfrey falling through Brenda's frozen pond when the sun comes out and melts the ice. Luckily, the animals fetch Martha and pull him out.
40	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: The Rat Pack's schemes are almost always doomed to fail, either due to Duo messing things up, unlucky circumstance or Ginger's intervention.
41	* HiddenDepths: Godfrey often reveals facts about his past life, such as the time he was offered to be racehorse in ''Ups and Downs'' or his football talents in ''Floating and Sinking''.
42	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
43	** Ginger usually remains aloof to the other animals, but she won't hesitate to help them in a crisis. When [[SickEpisode Davenport falls ill]], she's quick to go get the right medicine from her doctor before the rats try to offer a placebo.
44	** The rats may be con artists, but they still have somewhat friendly relations with the other animals and have moments of decency. They are particularly solemn in the episode ''Birth and Death'' when they find a dead bird, and go out of their way to help raise its chicks.
45	* {{Keet}}: Davenport. In fact, it's when he ''stops'' being this in ''Sickness and Health'' that causes the animals to realize something's wrong.
46	* NeverSayDie: Averted, big time. The episode ''Birth and Death'' tackles the subject of death right from the start - it opens with Davenport and the rats finding a dead bird. There's no sugarcoating it, either, with Davenport and the other rats having to explain what death is to Duo, who, much like any other child, doesn't understand what's happened at first. The farm as a whole even holds a funeral for the bird and wish it "all the best".
47	** ''Snow Problem'' has a genuine emergency when Dudley gets hurt and the animals have to figure out how to get him back to the farm before he freezes to death.
48	* NumberTwoForBrains: Duo is the second rat and not the smartest of the bunch. If the rats' latest trick isn't undone by Ginger, then it's by Duo's clumsiness or idiocy. (Sometimes it's both.)
49	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Davenport falls ill in ''Sickness and Health'', he becomes grouchy and snaps at everyone he comes across. Martha is the one who remarks something must be very wrong for him to not be his usual cheerful self.
50	* OncePerEpisode: The episodes usually end with the animals talking about their day in the barn as they settle down for the night.
51	** They also start with the camera zooming in on Voltaire as he comments "On Fourways Farm..." before starting the narration proper.
52	* PaletteSwap: Davenport is one of Dusty from Fireman Sam.
53	** Trio is simply a lighter version of Uno and Duo.
54	* StockAnimalDiet: Bones for Davenport and bread for Brenda.
55	* ThePlace: Fourways Farm itself.
56	* ThePigPen: Averted. While Dudley enjoys a good roll in the mud, he doesn't seem to be any dirtier or messier than the other animals.
57	* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: The animals ostensibly work on the farm, as the TitleThemeTune makes reference to "work to do and jobs to be done". Yet the animals are never seeing doing any actual labour or agricultural work at any point - the show focuses more on them playing, relaxing or puzzling over their latest scientific observation.
58	* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Averted apart from when the rats wear clothes. If they do, expect Trio to wear a bow behind her head or a pink hat and scarf in the snow.
59	* TitleThemeTune: Three versions. One at the start of the show, one at the end, and an extended one at the end of ''Sound of Music''.
60	* ThemeNaming: Uno, Duo, and Trio are all named for numbers in the Spanish alphabet.
61	* TrademarkFavouriteFood: Bones for Davenport, apples for Godfrey, turnips for Dudley. The episode ''Who's Been Eating?'' also reveals that Brenda likes bread.
62	* TricksterArchetype: The Rat Pack.
63	* [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Where The Hell Is Fourways Farm?]]: While Fourways Farm is obviously set in the British countryside, it's never stated just ''where'' it is. Not helping matters is the fact that every character has [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents a different regional accent]].
64	* YouAreFat: Dudley is, according to the theme song, "much too fat". Not that he seems to mind.

Context Series / FourwaysFarm