Randy and His Friends

Randy and His Friends is a British-Australian stop motion animated television series which was aired on ABC and BBC1. It was created by Tony Bazell who is an English actor which is the one who created Randy the Blue-Grey rabbit in early 1951. it was first aired on November 11, 1974, and ended on December 25, 1985 on Christmas Day.

Premise
Randy and his rabbit friends goes on their adventures to find the quest for the problem solving, but something went wrong as they will stop the villains.

Main characters

 * Tony Bazell as Randy, a blue-grey rabbit which is a main character. he was adopted by his owner after he was separated from his parents, and he is also from London.
 * Richard Pearson as Jerry A. Cottontail, a brown and white rabbit who came from Wales and a friend of Randy.
 * Peter Sallis as Hopper J. Bunnie, a Tan Rabbit who is a friend of Randy.
 * David Jason as Billie Q. Hare, a Belgian Hare who is a friend of Randy.
 * Roy Kinnear as George R. James, an inventor and founder of the British rabbit hutch who is the owner of Randy.
 * John Hurt as Basil, a white rabbit (actually a Polish Rabbit) who is a friend of Randy.
 * Anne Reid as Toodles, an English Spot Rabbit who is now love interest of Basil.
 * Richard Briers as Spotty (1974-1982), a Holland Lop who is a friend of Randy which he is taken over by his sister Sweetie after his death.
 * Susan Sheridan as Priscilla, an English Spot rabbit who is a friend of Randy.
 * Sheridan also voiced Sweetie (1982-1985) who is a sister of Spotty, and a friend of Randy.

Recurring characters

 * Michael Hordern as Tommy the last Swan rabbit (1976-1983)
 * Ron Moody as David (Randy’s father) and Harold the Lionhead Rabbit
 * Andrew Sachs as Cookie the Havana Rabbit
 * Tom Kenny as Timmy the Hare (1982-1983), an American rabbit who came from America.
 * Lulu as Michelle the English Lop
 * Siem van Leeuwen as Goose the Deilenaar, a Dutch character who now lives in London which he speaks Dutch in sixth season.
 * Ian Carmichael as Edward the Czech Spot, which he lived in England after he left Czechoslovakia.
 * Beryl Reid as Mrs. Jackson, Jerry’s owner.
 * Brian Trueman as Alfred the Cuban Brown, came from Cuba which he only lived England.

Development
In 1948, Tony Bazell who would be acting in the film is going on his walk as he saw a grey rabbit outside the city, which he is on his way to be playing as a character in films. he wanted to make the character based on the real life grey rabbit named Chewie, which he lives in England.

Bazell created the Randy the Blue-Grey rabbit character in early 1951 as he uses the rabbit-like character ideas, his idea has his mind to create his act on the test for the series.

the series was developed in 1971 after his creation and acting, he started to do some voice acts of the character. the series has been made to be broadcasted in 1974 after three years of development.

Animation
The animation has worked for stop motion by the British animators in early 1972. it was originally recorded for stop motion as it was filmed in London.

Music
The British music composer Herbert Chappell has scored music in 1974 through 1980 as it was involved for catchy music which for memorable theme for the main character.

In 1980, the Czechoslovakian musician Petr Skoumal was scored many musics which between memorable tunes for the main character and the other music which is made.

Broadcast
The series was first aired on BBC1 on November 11, 1974 while ABC airs the series on November 12 of that year, the series was aired internationally (like ČST, ARD, DR1, etc.). in United States, it was aired on January 12, 1976 which broadcasted on CBS on early Sunday mornings.

Sequels and adaptations
The sequel series which is called A Rabbit Called Basil: A Hare’s Story which was broadcasted on June 12, 1986, and it was ended on May 21, 1991 which was aired on BBC1 in UK. the series is all traditionally animated which is a cartoon, and features new characters.

In 1992, it was adapted into a Czech-Australian series named The Rabbit Called Cuddles which is also based on Pat & Mat, and its 1989 film. It has focused on the white rabbit named Cuddles which goes on the journey with his friends, and has also focused on his owners and families. the characters has probably added to the series as well.

The series was adapted into the film which was released on August 1995, the film is actually traditionally animated for the British-Australian film.

The third series which was called Priscilla Tales: The Wild Adventures which was aired on CBeebies on October 11, 2004, and ended on June 2, 2017. it was about the English spot rabbit going on her journey with her newest friends, and some of her oldest friends.

The fourth series has started to be made which was named Randy’s Tales: The Friendship Returns which was aired on CITV which broadcasted on June 26, 2019.

Home Media
The series was released on the complete boxset in early 2007, the complete series was also released by different distribution on June 2019.

The series was first released on VHS on August 1984 by The Video Collection in United Kingdom, and the last series was released on VHS on May 1994 by the said distributor.

In United States, it was released on VHS by Strand Home Video on June 1993. it was released on DVD for the first time by Shout! Factory in 2017 which was digitally remastered, and was streamed to five streaming services.

In Australia, it was released on VHS by ABC Video on July 1986 through June 2003. It was released on DVD by ABC DVD (such as the complete seasons, and its complete series) on May 2006 through 2021.

Trivia

 * the series was first broadcasted on BBC1 in United Kingdom on November 11, 1974 while it was intended to broadcast children’s television series.
 * Spotty is the only character before Sweetie took over the role in 1982.
 * It was the only stop motion series which the animators has done making them in 1974 through 1985.
 * The series has their own sequels, but the said series was adapted into an Australian-Czech series.
 * The series was first shown to have Randy modeled in the first episode which he has more fur than the second episode of the first season.
 * The Czechoslovakian musician Petr Skoumal scored the series in 1980 after Herbert Chappell finished the score in later that year of 1980s.