Postman Pat

"[Postman Pat, Postman Pat, Postman Pat and his black and white cat."

1981 British stop motion series set around the life of postman Pat Clifton and his job as the only local postman for the village of Greendale. He is constantly accompanied by his black and white cat Jess. Fondly remembered by many Brits and considered a essential childhood show. Another version of the show was made in 2004 which expanded on the original concept slightly.

2008 has given us a new spin-off Postman Pat Special Delivery Service an "action packed" version set in the new town of Pencaster with Pat's reliable "PAT 1" red Royal Mail van being replaced by:

• An "Eco-Van" for large deliveries ("PAT 2")
• A "Mini Van" for smaller deliveries ("PAT 4")
• A motorbike ("PAT 5")
• And a Helicopter for tricky deliveries ("PAT 3")

First aired on BBC1 and still considered an essential CBBC show to this day.

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Examples:

• Affectionate Parody: Harry Enfield made a version titled Il Postino Pat, which changes the style to that of an Italian opera... and has Pat shot by fascists. Bonus points for having the same awkward walk and jerky movements of the stop motion animation transferred to the live actors.
• Blind Without'Em: Happens in this Specsavers advert.
• Cats Are Mean - Averted, Jess is sometimes mischievous but never mean.
• Character Name and the Noun Phrase - Or Postman Pat's [Fill the blank]
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: A few key supporting characters; Miss Hubbard, Peter Fogg, Granny Dryden, Major Forbes and Sam Waldron vanished when the series was revived.
• Cool Car - His bright red van.
• Expository Theme Tune - Yes, for the daily life of a postman.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming - Postman Pat or just Pat is in almost every title. Save two in the first season.
• The Kiddie Ride - The infamous van, which saw a redesign when license transferred to Fun2Learn after OMC electronics shut down manufacturing of the ride. Also available from Fun2Learn is the helicopter from Postman Pat: SDS. OMC Electronics also made a ride with a strange design where kids sat on a sack of mail next to Pat. Notably though, the rides are popular enough in the UK to warrant an appearance (albeit apparently in the form of a generic postie van modified to play the Postman Pat theme tune) in the Mr. Bean episode Mind The Baby, Mr. Bean.
• No Antagonist - Most episodes are like this, with inclement weather, lost kites, special events (such as fetes and birthdays) and too-small suits of armour amongst others typically being the things that drive the plot, rather than a conflict between characters.
• Offscreen Crash - In Postman Pat goes sledging.
• Oop North - Greendale is supposedly in Cumbria, and Pencaster is supposed to be in North Yorkshire.
• Role Called
• Screwed by the Network - The show seems to have been the 24/7 Nickelodeon Junior channel's least favorite program. By January 2011, all of the show's good timeslots were replaced with new shows that the channel actually liked airing, while Postman Pat was reduced to a single airing at 10:40 am on weekdays, when children are in school and unable to watch it. So, in April 2012, when Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom was introduced to France, guess what show Nickelodeon Junior got rid of to make room? Correct!
• Slice of Life
• Token Minority - The Baines Family, Token Asians added to the cast for the 00s series.
• Spin-Off - Spun off twice: First into Postman Pat: Special Delivery Service, and at the same time Jess got his own show targeted at toddlers, Guess with Jess.
• Vanity License Plate
• Darker and Edgier: The hilarious parody dub "Pat's Banging Day Out"