Teddy Edward

1 9 7 3 (UK)
13 x 5 minute episodes

Narrated by piercing blue-eyed veteran BBC newsreader Richard Baker (who had previously voiced Mary, Mungo and Midge), Teddy Edward related the activities of the titular Teddy Edward and his animal pals – Snowy Toes the panda, Bushy the bushbaby and Jasmine the rabbit – on their travels to various parts of the world and their explorations of subjects such as rain, snow, fishing and mountains.

The storytelling narrative was accompanied by continuous incidental music and ambient sound effects, while the vision was simply a series of photographic stills, with the cameraman using slow zooms and moving the camera at an angle to represent motion and keep things interesting.

Teddy Edward started life as a series of books written by Patrick Matthews in the early 1960s, which were inspired by a real teddy bear owned by his daughter, Sarah.

Following Matthews’ death in 1996, the original Teddy Edward was sold at auction to a Japanese collector of teddy bears named Yoshihiro Sekiguchi for £34,500.