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Series / In the Night Garden...

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Isn't that a pip?note 

The night is black, and the stars are bright,
And the sea is dark and deep,
And someone I know is safe and snug,
And drifting off to sleep.

Round and round, a little boat,
No bigger than your hand,
Out on the ocean,
Far away from land.

Take the little sail down,
Light the little light.
This is the way,
To the garden in the night.
— The opening

A British children's television series that aired on The BBC's preschool channel CBeebies from 2007 to 2009, and is intended to give children something calming to watch at night. Ragdoll Productions (of Teletubbies fame) is the production company behind this show.

The show takes place in the eponymous Night Garden, which is a forest housing the show's characters. Among said characters are Igglepiggle, a teddy bear-like blue character who only speaks in squeaks; Upsy Daisy, a brown-skinned human-like girl; Makka Pakka, a tan character who lives in a small cave in the Night Garden; the Tombliboos, a trio of human-like characters who live in a big bush; and the Pontipines, a big family of tiny humanoid creatures who live in a small house they share with their neighbors, the Wottingers (which are literally another family of Pontipines but with blue clothing instead of red clothing).

The show has an official website that can be found here.


In the Trope Garden...

  • Alien Geometries: In regards to the Ninky-Nonk, a train without tracks, and the Pinky-Ponk, an airship. When these vehicles are boarding, they are just large enough for all potential passengers to fit in them, but when they're actually in motion the Ninky-Nonk is small enough to run up trees and over branches, while the Pinky-Ponk is small enough to get knocked off course by a toy ball.
  • Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: The Tittifers, a group of live birds that were enhanced in CGI to give them brighter colors.
  • Ambiguously Human: Upsy-Daisy has a human's build, but she has odd hair and doesn't talk like a human.
  • Art Shift: Whenever the narrator tells the characters a bedtime story at the end of each episode, the story is illustrated in 2D as opposed to the usual live-action.
  • Cartoon Creature: Makka-Pakka's species is indeterminable.
  • Catchphrase: The narrator often says "Isn't that a pip?" towards the end of the episode.
  • Character Tics:
    • Upsy-Daisy blows kisses a lot and her hair sticks up when surprised.
    • Iggle Piggle falls over when scared.
  • Dance Party Ending: Most episodes end with the entire cast assembling at the Gazebo for this, albeit as a prelude to the actual end of the episode.
  • A Day in the Limelight: The Pontipines and the Wottingers got their own episode called "Oh Look! It's the Wottingers!". Aside from the narrator, the other characters don't even appear for most of the episode.
  • Every Episode Ending: The end of an episode was signalled by all of the Tittifers singing a song together. After this, the narrator would tell one of the characters a story (read: a short summary of everything that happened in that episode). After this, all of the characters would go to sleep, except for Igglepiggle whose goodbye sequence wrapped up the episode.
  • Gender-Equal Ensemble: A variant where the ensemble in question isn't the main characters. The Pontipines (and by extension the Wottingers) consist of a mother and father, four boys and four girls.
  • Go-to-Sleep Ending: Each episode ends with everyone going to bed.
  • Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: The Tombliboos wear only pants.
  • Informed Species: Igglepiggle is apparently supposed to be a teddy bear, but he doesn't resemble one, looking more like a humanoid with a bean-shaped head instead.
  • Living Ship: The Pinky-Ponk, a blimp, is a downplayed example as it cannot speak, nor does it appear to be organic in any way, but it can at least move completely on its own and appears to fall asleep at the end of every episode with the narrator including it, along with the Ninky-Nonk, in the "goodnight"s.
  • Living Toys: Almost all the characters (apart from the Tittifers) are supposed to resemble dolls or other toys. All of them being different sizes also corresponds to how a child's collection of toys are also different sizes to one another.
  • Massive Numbered Siblings: The Pontipines and Wottingers each have eight kids each.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: The Tombliboos brush their teeth as a hobby.
  • Narrating the Obvious: The narrator will say, "The Tittifers have sung their song" right after they do.
  • Neat Freak: Makka-Pakka's main interest besides rocks is washing things.
  • No Name Given: The individual Pontipines, Wottingers, Haa-Hoos, and Tittifers are unnamed.
  • People in Rubber Suits: Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka and the Tombliboos are puppets of this kind.
  • Phrase Catcher: Several characters prompt phrases from the narrator:
    • When Iggle-Piggle falls over (which appears to be his nervous tic), the narrator will say, "Don't worry, Iggle-Piggle."
    • When the Tittifers sing, the narrator will say, "The Tittifers have sung their song."
    • At the end, he always says, "Go to sleep, [so-and-so]" to everyone but the Wottingers.
  • Platonic Life-Partners: Iggle-Piggle and Upsy Daisy are platonic boy/girl best friends.
  • Pokémon Speak: Everyone except for Igglepiggle and the Pontipines (who both speak in squeaks) talks like this. However, all of the speaking characters can also say "Pip pip onk onk", which means "See you later, I'm sure".
  • Sentient Vehicle: The Ninky-Nonk, a train, is similar to the Pinky-Ponk since it can't speak and doesn't appear organic, but can move on its own and appears to fall asleep at the end of each episode.
  • Title Drop: The narrator says "What a funny Ninky-Nonk!" several times in the episode "What a Funny Ninky-Nonk".
  • Word Salad Lyrics: All of the characters had their own little songs which the narrator would sing when they first appeared in any episode. All of them have gibberish lyrics. Here is Igglepiggle's song for an example:
    Yes, my name is Igglepiggle
    Iggle piggle wiggle niggle piggle
    Yes, my name is Igglepiggle
    Iggle piggle wiggle niggle woo!

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