Boohbah is a British preschool television series created by Anne Wood and produced by Wood's company, Ragdoll Productions, in association with GMTV. It originally premiered on ITV on 14 April 2003. The series was later broadcast on Nick Jr.UK beginning on 2 April 2005.
The series, with 104 episodes, was designed for preschoolers aged three to six (a slightly older age group than Wood's previous show, Teletubbies).
According to Anne Wood, the show's visuals were inspired by scientific photographs of microscopic life and cell structures. The main characters, the Boohbahs, are "atoms of energy" who sleep in charging pods. Every episode follows the Boohbahs performing a dance routine where the audience is encouraged to participate. The creators at Ragdoll Productions designed the show as an interactive "televisual game" with an emphasis on spatial awareness, motor skill development and puzzle solving.
Characters
Episodes of Boohbah are divided into two main segments: one featuring the Boohbahs and another featuring the Storypeople.
Boohbahs
The series focuses on the Boohbahs, five colourful creatures who are described as "magical atoms" of energy. They are played by actors in full-body costumes. Their fur sparkles and shimmers with tiny lights, and they have big eyes and rows of lights for eyebrows. Each Boohbah is a different colour: Humbah, played by Emma Insley, is a yellow Boohbah. Zumbah, played by Alex Poulter, is a purple Boohbah. Zing Zing Zingbah, played by Cal Jaggers, is an orange Boohbah. Jumbah, played by Phil Hayes, is a blue Boohbah. Jingbah, played by Laura Pero, is a pink Boohbah.
Storypeople
The Storypeople are silent human characters whose actions are controlled by off-screen children using the magic word "Boohbah". Every episode of Boohbah includes a segment where the Storypeople are magically given a present. The Los Angeles Times called these segments "comic visual puzzles executed with vaudevillian flair." Grandmamma (Linda Kerr-Scott) – An elderly yet spry Caucasian woman. She has white banana hair and wears a dark pink housedress, pastel blue sweater, white socks, and red trainers. Grandpappa (Robin Stevens) – An elderly yet spry Caucasian man. He has white hair and a white moustache; he wears a long-sleeved yellow shirt, dark grey slacks, red braces, and white trainers. Mrs. Lady (Harvey Virdi) – An Indian woman. She has dark hair and wears a loose light blue blouse, loose bright pink trousers, and pink trainers. Mr. Man (Mark Ramsey) – A Black man. He wears a short-sleeved bright pink shirt, white trousers, and black trainers. Brother (Manuel Bravo) and Sister (Vee Vimolmal) – Always paired, they both appear to be in their late teens. Brother is a Spanish boy with short black hair; he wears a bright blue T-shirt, bright red knee-length shorts, and white trainers with pink laces. Sister is a Thai girl with hip-length black hair in a long ponytail; she wears a bright red T-shirt, bright blue capri pants, and white trainers with pink laces. Auntie (Sachi Kimura) – A Japanese woman. She has short black hair and wears a long-sleeved lavender blouse, black trousers, purple tights, and black shoes. Little Dog Fido (Dash) – A Jack Russell Terrier. He wears a red collar. He is the only character in Storyworld who is not wholly controlled by the magic word "Boohbah".
Development and broadcast
Production of Boohbah began shortly after Ragdoll released a direct-to-video Teletubbies release titled Teletubbies Go! in 2001, which featured segments of the characters exercising. The high sales of the release led to Ragdoll's fear of obesity in children and what led the company to develop an exercise-based programme.
In November 2002, ITV's pre-school strand CITV and breakfast franchisee GMTV signed a five-year broadcast commitment deal with Ragdoll where both broadcasters would share weekday and weekend broadcasts of the series in the United Kingdom respectively. 104 episodes were planned to be split into two series, with the first airing in Spring 2003, and the second series being broadcast in 2004. On the same day, it was announced that Video Collection International, who had a long-time home video agreement with Ragdoll, would release the series on VHS and DVD in the country.
The series premiered as planned on ITV on 14 April 2003 and later debuted on GMTV's weekend pre-school slot at the same time. Ragdoll held worldwide distribution rights to the series.