You can count on us, we're the Numberblocks!
Numberblocks is a British children's CGI-animated TV series currently running on CBeebies since 2017. The Show teaches children about numeracy, including simple arithmetics. It was created by Joe Elliot, who also created Alphablocks.
The show follows the adventures of cute block characters in Numberland, with the number of blocks determining which numeral they stand for and a tiny black floating number above them to show how many blocks they are made of, which they call a Numberling. When one of the blocks hops on top of another, they transform into a different character to make a new number. It helps toddlers and young kids learn numeracy skills, especially how to count and do simple maths.
See also Alphablocks, another block show created by Joe Elliot that ran between 2010 and 2013 while reruns are still airing, and Colourblocks, another show by Joe Elliot made in 2022.
This show provides examples of:
- 6 Is 9: In "The Wrong Number", Nine asks One to help him find the thief who stole everything from his apartment. It turns out that he actually went into Six's apartment, but because the number on the door was upside-down, he thought it was his own apartment.
- 13 Is Unlucky: Whenever Thirteen says his name, he splits into ten and three.
- Affably Evil: The Terrible Twos are normally Laughably Evil Harmless Villain twos, but in "Peekaboo" they're… nice? Or at the very least, they don't Poke the Poodle like they normally do.
- Ambiguous Situation: Does Seventeen know that pretty much everything he painted in his debut became real?
- Amusing Injuries: More like amusing reaction to an injury. In "Fifteen," Eight breaks his leg and yells "Octoblock, ouch! I've got an octo-boo-boo!"
- And the Adventure Continues: As appropriate for an educational show about numbers. Several season endings encourage the watcher to keep asking questions and learning.
- Twenty-One's personal gimmick: she goes "on and on".
- Art Initiates Life: Seventeen, though he seems oblivious.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: In "The Case of the Missing Blocks", Big Tum grows to a big size after the word Big is spelt.
- Born Lucky: Seven is known for having good luck, in reference to the Lucky Seven trope. Fourteen, Twenty-One, and presumably other multiples of seven, are also prone to luck when they split.
- Born Unlucky: Thirteen, who cannot say his name without splitting into Ten and Three. Twenty-Six is also shown to split into two Thirteens upon hearning his name, so it's possible that all multiples of thirteen are like this.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Sometimes, a Numberblock will address the viewer during the show.
- The Bus Came Back: Zero returns in "Fifteen's Minute of Fame" after being absent for 25 episodes since her debut episode.
- Cartoon Creature: Squarey and Oblongy. They just look like furry rectangles, and are also examples of All Animals Are Dogs.
- Character Catchphrase:
- Three: "Look at me!"
- Seven: "That was lucky!"
- Eight: "Octoblock, [command]! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, [said command]!"/ "Have no fear, Octoblock is here!"
- Thirteen: "Unlucky me!"
- Fourteen: "Extreme!"
- Fifteen: "Hush, hush!"
- Eighteen: "Refreshing!"
- Twenty-Four: "Super-Duper!"
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Thirty-One only appeared in his figured-out form in "Figure It Out" and isn't seen nor mentioned again after this episode.
- Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: Not a comic-book based property, but Fifteen is referred to only by her real name. Averted with Eight, codename Octoblock, but his identity is no secret.
- Counting Song:
- "10 Numberblobs and Me" has the Numberblocks counting to their number along with a different number of objects (from one bun and one sun to ten pens and ten hens).
- There are many songs about the multiplication tables that list all the numbers up until tennote .
- Distressed Dude: In "Octoblock to the Rescue", Eight is captured by the Terrible Twos and suspended over a giant pie. The other Numberblocks rescue him.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Eleven can be briefly seen on the sidewalk in one scene of "The Wrong Number", an episode before her proper debut.
- Fingerless Hands: The main characters have little nubs for hands and feet, making their limbs look like sausages.
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: At the end of "The Legend of Big Tum", Big Tum eats the camera.
- Friendly Tickle Torture: Eight briefly tickles the cast in his debut episode.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble:
- For numbers One to Ten, there are five females (One, Three, Five, Six, and Ten) and five males (Two, Four, Seven, Eight, and Nine).
- For numbers Eleven to Twenty, there are five females (Eleven, Twelve, Fifteen, Sixteen, and Nineteen) and five males (Thirteen, Fourteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, and Twenty), meaning that from numbers One to Twenty, there are a total of ten females and ten males.
- Gentle Giant: Blockzilla seems big and imposing at first, but is a perfectly sweet creature who just wants to play with others.
- Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: Near the end of "Octoblock to the Rescue!", Octonaughty tries to escape from Eight and as he escapes, he stands midair next to a cliff until he realizes he doesn't know what's down in the pit and then, he falls into a giant pie.
- Invisible Anatomy: Seventeen allegedly keeps his brush behind his "ear," Six mentions that her step squad have their "fingers" on buzzers, and Twelve tells the compounds to touch their "toes." The Numberblocks are not drawn with any of these body parts.
- Lampshade Hanging: One acknowledges that she only has one eye when she says “No, this is my eye.”
- Lucky Seven: Seven considers himself lucky all the time.
- Master of Disguise: Subverted with Fifteen. She calls herself one, but it's an Informed Ability, and she has only been seen using the occasional Paper-Thin Disguise.
- Nearly Normal Animal: The Cat Up a Tree in "Fifteen" is mostly a normal cat, but has human-like facial expressions.
- Numerological Motif: Several of the Numberblocks have a design and/or interests classically connected to their number:
- Three is a clown as clowns use 3 juggling balls and there are three points of a jester's cap.
- Four loves squares since he is a square number
. - Five loves stars as they have five points and hands (to give "high fives").
- Six loves dice as they have 6 faces.
- Seven loves rainbow as there are 7 colors of the rainbow and is lucky because of the Lucky Seven trope.
- Eight is an octopus-themed superhero as octopuses have 8 legs.
- Nine: Same as Four.
- Ten: Same as five, plus rockets (a ten-second countdown).
- Eleven: Football (of the European variety).
- 13 Is Unlucky.
- Fifteen is a "Super Secret Step Squad" as a reference to her being a triangular number.
- Twenty-Two: Same as Eleven.
- Twenty-Four: Like Twelve, she has a watch, and wands with images of the Sun and the Moon.
- Twenty-Seven's gimmick centers around her being a cube number.
- Thirty-One loves calendars as a month has 31 days at maximum.
- Thirty-Two's gimmick is based on powers of two.
- Obliviously Superpowered: Implied. Seventeen doesn't show awareness to his paintings becoming real, but since he watches it happen, it's quite possible that he knows.
- Official Couple: It's heavily implied One and Two are more than just best friends.
- Overt Operative: Fifteen. You wouldn't know it from how she looks around to prevent anyone from hearing her tell you she's a secret agent, but it seems she told everyone anyway. She's called "Agent Fifteen" in Step Squads, meaning they know she's an agent!
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Inverted with Five and Fifty (who are blue female Numberblocks) and Eight and Eighty (who are pink/magenta male Numberblocks).
- Real After All: In "How To Count" when the numberblocks believe that one of their four flapjacks is missing after Three miscounts them, Three suspects this to be the fault of a block creature called The Flapjack Snaffler, which at first seems to be made up, especially since she describes him as having 3 of every body part (which later results in her misidentifying Five as him). However, at the end when the problem is resolved, they notice that all of their flapjacks have disappeared for real, as the camera cuts to the Flapjack Snaffler hiding in the trees behind them, exactly as how Three described him.
- Rhymes on a Dime: Six constantly speaks in rhyme.
- Rubber Man: Eight has the ability to stretch his limbs really far. So far, his record is nine blocks.
- Shout-Out: The episode featuring the Star Block titled "Block Stars" is a long one to Star Wars: A New Hope, including a Trench Run.
- The episode "Double Trouble" has One (who eventually multiplies into Eight) exploring a cave a la Indiana Jones. Four says "Why did it have to be round things?", Eight makes the Wilhelm Scream, and One of her even has to save her hat from being stuck inside a collapsing temple.
- In "More to Explore", we see a sketch of the Forty-Two, who wears a dressing gown and carries a towel, mimicking Arthur Dent (as a reference to 42 being the answer to life, the universe and everything).
- The episode "Odd Side Story" references the opening act to West Side Story, as well as its title.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Twelve and Eighteen turn out to be siblings, even though they're complete opposites.
- Silly Animal Sound: Sixteen often snorts like a pig.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Three toward the beginning. The episode "How to Count" is spent watching her miscount just so she can say her name. She gets better about this, but still has her moments.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Fifteen understands the Nearly Normal Animal Cat Up a Tree, even though it can only meow.
- Superhero Origin: Eight acquired his superpowers when he was tickled by a radioactive octopus.
- Tickle Torture: The Terrible Twos and Terrible Twenties like to tickle other Numberblocks with feathers, which is how they Poke the Poodle.
- Totally Radical: Fourteen speaks like this.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: The Hundreds after One Hundred all look very much alike their one-percenter counterparts, except every square is replaced by a 10x10 checkerboard. Same for the Thousands, except they're made of 10x10x10 cubes. Subverted and downplayed in that they haven't been stated to be blood family.
- Unknown Character: Pi and 42, who both have official artwork but have never physically appeared in an episode.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Numberblocks are able to shift their blocks around into new shapes. Nineteen's and Twenty-Eight's personal gimmicks are based around this fact.
- Wannabe Secret Agent: Exaggerated for Fifteen, who has a spy lair but can't even stay hidden long enough to be an agent proper.
- Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: Whenever someone is scared, shocked or freaked out, their pupils shrink.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Four is afraid of round things, demonstrated in episodes like "Octoblock to the Rescue" where he freaks out upon getting trapped in a bubble and in "Eleven" where he can be seen cowering in fear of a football in a few scenes. Strangely, he dosen't have this reaction when meeting the Circle in "Flatland," but does when he sees a circle in "Go Go Domino."
