They don't actually live in a pond.
Pond Life was a British animated television series created by Candy Guard and produced by Collingwood & Co.. It ran for two seasons in 1996 and 2000 on Channel 4, and, despite being a cartoon, its target audience was women.The series revolves around Dolly Pond (hence the title Pond Life) and the trouble she has living in an unnamed cul-de-sac, in a flat below her ex-boyfriend Nobby, with a job at the local shop due to never having gone to college. The worst part? She's in her 30s!
Not to be confused with that "Pond Life".
Tropes seen in Pond Life:
- Accidental Misnaming: When Dolly's mother gets arrested during Birthday Suit, she gets identified as: "Fingers Pond."Shop assistant: I'm sorry, Mrs. Fingers, but you'll have to come with me to the office.Ivy Pond: She's delirious, my name's Ivy!
- A-Cup Angst: Dolly is often ridiculed for her small assets.
- Amicable Exes: Downplayed with Nobby and Dolly. Nobby is still in love with Dolly but Dolly always rebukes him and reminds him frequently that she doesn't love, fancy, or even really like him. That said they still hang out together a lot.
- Black Sheep: While Dolly's family have learned to accept her as the rebel, they find her rude behaviour intolerable.
- Blind Without 'Em: Dolly's father.
- The Bore: The episode "Good Looking Boyfriend" introduces Didier, who's drop dead gorgeous but every time he talks everyone else is bored to tears.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Dolly's niece and nephew come off as this, although they're usually only brats to her.
- Butt-Monkey: Dolly.
- Casanova Wannabe: Nobby can be this at times.
- Chubby Chaser: In the episode Fat, Dolly gains some weight, and starts dating one, not realizing he only likes her for her body.
- Cool Old Lady: Mrs. A, the shopkeeper.
- D-Cup Distress: Belle expresses this at times, although part of it is because she's overweight and Dolly isn't.
- Deadpan Snarker: Dolly.Mrs. A: You can be a shelf filler, and do the stock taking!
Dolly: (the camera pans to the lack of stock in the store) Oh, that'll be a challenge. - Dramatic Irony: In Fat, Dolly tries to lose weight in order to keep her new boyfriend while the audience knows he's into fat women.
- Dude Magnet: Gloria attracts a lot of male attention, and can even charm those that are already spoken for.
- Environmental Symbolism: Dolly has lived her whole life on the same cul-de-sac, echoing the 'dead end' life that she feels trapped in.
- Everyone Looks Sexier if French: The episode Good-Looking Boyfriend, introduced two French characters, Didier and Michelle, whom every other character perceived, as being drop dead gorgeous.
- Eye Glasses: Dolly never takes her glasses off.
- The only episode where she does is Fit, although even then we never see her face.
- First-Name Ultimatum: Nobby gets this a lot.
- Foil: Belle is this to Dolly in demeanour, behaviour and appearance.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Alana is married with children and more sensible than Dolly.
- Groin Attack: Dolly's father gets this in Bitter and Twisted.
- Happily Married: Alan and Alana.
- Jerkass: Dolly really is an unpleasant and bitter person, although a lot of her frustration comes from being stuck in her dead-end life and her parents' refusal to let her grow as a person.
- Mistaken for Gay: In Bitter and Twisted, when Dolly's therapist stands outside her flat serenading her, one of the other characters enters, and mistakes Dolly and the Therapist, for being a lesbian couple.Gloria: Dolly! I never would've thought... A woman!
- Mistaken for Pregnant: A shop assistant does it to Dolly, in the episode Birthday Suit.
- Mutual Envy: Dolly and Belle are jealous of each other's bodies, although in Dolly's case it's just Belle's chest.
- Oblivious to Hatred: Gloria never seems to pick up on the utter vitrol Dolly has for her.
- Operation: Jealousy: Dolly attempts this in Mr. Wrong, but Nobby already knows the guy Dolly is with is gay.
- Privileged Rival: Gloria Leaf's modelling career and steady boyfriend has given her a more affluent lifestyle than Dolly. She often brags about her success much to Dolly's annoyance.
- Smoky Voice: Mrs. A's masculine voice is a result of her smoking since the age of 8.
- Status Quo Is God: Dolly is constantly making resolutions to change her life. These changes never come to fruition due to her being a creature of habit.
- Tampon Run: The episode "P.M.T." deals with Dolly getting her period despite her vehement denial of it. She later requires a tampon after she finally admits she's gotten her period, with her mother bemoaning that Dolly is never prepared for it. Dolly compensates with a diaper that her mother has on her.
- Visual Pun: The show's intro, a play on Dolly's surname, is a symbolic fantasy sequence of Dolly attempting to swim up to the surface of a pond, only to be held back by a tangle of weeds held by the rest of the cast at the bottom of the pond.
- You're Just Jealous: In the episode Mr Wrong, Nobby says this to Dolly.
