Randy and His Friends

Randy and His Friends is a British-Australian stop-motion animated series created by Tony Bazell. it was broadcasted on BBC1 and ABC in UK and Australia in 1974, and ended on December 1985. Tony Bazell is an English actor which is the one who created Randy the Blue-Grey rabbit in early 1951, and wanted to make a series about him.

It follows with the 1972 theatrical short about Randy and his friends which is called The Day That The Rabbits Came in The Morning, and the 1986 animated series A Rabbit Called Basil: A Hare’s Story.

Synopsis
Randy was adopted by his owner named George R. James after a separation of his parents, he goes on his adventures with his new friends (Jerry, Hopper, Billie, Basil, Toodles, Priscilla, and Spotty). but they know how to stop the villains or the hunters from getting them into dangers, they would save the animals from being endangered before it’s too late.

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 he passed away.
 * 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 late 1940s, Tony Bazell acted in several films but in theatre counts, he wanted to do a TV show about a rabbit named Randy. he discovered the Blue of Sint-Niklaas rabbit named Chewie, he gave him some inspiration of him. in 1951, he created the Randy rabbit character which puts blue and pure grey fur on the puppet in order to preform the puppet act in the theatre. in 1965, he wanted to make the TV series about him and his new friends, so he decided to take on his voice acting career and began working on his first TV series featuring Randy. the fact where he had chosen the rabbit which is the best preforming work that he made his puppet, while animators made the character in plasticines and faux furs with use of markers and colored pencils to use colors for the main characters in the British stop-motion studio.

Animation
The animators began filming the series between early 1972-August 11, 1974, the materials uses the backgrounds, props, animals, people, and other materials. the series has been continued filming since most of 10 seasons until 11 season has the series finished. television series remains stop-motion until 1986 to have traditionally animated to their sequel, which the production was moved on.

Music
Herbert Chappell scored the television series’ music which is very famous for Randy’s theme, the other theme he scored is Basil’s, Toodles’, Priscilla’s, and other themes. he also scored some music from the episodes between 1974-1980.

In 1980, Petr Skoumal scored the music in the series, the theme of Randy is re-scored for the imaginary music. he also scored the themes of the other characters, and some music in count which became famous in Czechoslovakia. the music from “Garden” (from “…a je to!”) was famous for the episode of season nine called “The Invasion of the Garden Moles”, which it had gone viral on social media. it was also used in some episodes credited to the company from Czechoslovakia, and became popular around the world.

United Kingdom
The series was premiered on BBC1 on November 11, 1974 while Australian premiere on November 12 of that year, the series was mostly became popular in United Kingdom. it was ended on December 25, 1985 as it would be continuing with A Rabbit Called Basil: Hare’s Story while the series ended.

Australia
The series was premiered on November 12, 1974 on Australian Broadcasting Corporation, it became popular in Australia and United Kingdom as well. it was ended on December 26, 1985 as the series continues with A Rabbit Called Basil: A Hare’s Story in 1986.

United States and Canada
The series was premiered on CBS on November 16, 1974 as part of Saturday Night Block, the series became popular in United States. it was also aired on CBC, which is later became popular in Canada. It was ended on December 28, 1985, which continuation of A Rabbit Called Basil: A Hare’s Story.

Czech Republic and Slovakia
The series was premiered on May 11, 1975 on ČST as it was therefore picked up ČST Bratislava's children's section for later on, it became popular in Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic and Slovakia). it ended on January 13, 1986, when it continued with A Rabbit Called Basil: A Hare’s Story on September 13, 1986.

It was ran as this rerun in 1992 in Czech Republic and Slovakia, such as ČT1 and STV.

International
The series was premiered internationally in 1975 (and moreover of these years), the series became popular in other countries. it was ended in 1986 (and moreover of these years).

Switzerland
Similar to Pat & Mat episodes that got banned before, The German-language station Schweizer Fernsehen banned some of the episodes of Randy and His Friends because of the high dark matter subjects that deemed too dark for viewers. somehow the version are passed for the Switzerland networks.

Middle East
Coming soon!

Iran
Coming soon!

Fox Kids airings
Coming soon!

Turkey
Coming soon!

Sequels and Adaptations
The series premiered on June 12, 1986, the series was named A Rabbit Called Basil: A Hare’s Story which is created by the British studio Cosgrove Hall Films, produced by Czech studio Krátký film Praha and the Australian studio Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was ended on May 21, 1991 when the cliffhanger ending holds up with Basil being unconscious.

In 1992, there is a cross between the said series and Pat & Mat which the series was named The Rabbit Called Cuddles being premiered on June 6 of that year, it was aired on ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), FOX, and YTV in Australia, United States, and Canada. It was ended on May 25, 2002 when it holds to the cliffhanger ending with Cuddles before the events of Journey Into Space.

The film was released in 1996 which is called Randy’s Adventure: Tales of the Great Forest which is based on the series of the same name.

The sequel to the series was called Priscilla’s Wild Tales: The Rabbit Adventures which is premiered on May 8, 2004, and it was ended in 2017. it was aired on ABC and Cbeebies in Australia and United Kingdom.

There is a 2019 animated series called Randy’s Friendship Returns, it was premiered on June 18 on ABC and Cbeebies in Australia and United Kingdom. In 2022 which has announced that Basil Jr. Tales: A Rabbit Adventures in England Forest will premiere on both BBC and ABC in 2024 in United Kingdom and Australia after the series finale and a closure of Cbeebies for online only.

In 2022, the television animated reboot for the series of same name will premiere on January 24, 2023. which Randy and his friends will return but combining the series with Pat & Mat, same absences for Basil, Toodles and children were matched as 1992 in the same way.

United Kingdom
The first VHS tape was released by Video Collection International in 1987 through 1998. It was released on VHS in 1987 to 1990 by Tempo Video along with A Rabbit Called Basil: A Hare’s Story, and also released on VHS by Pickwick Video in 1989 through 1990s.

It was later released on DVDs in 2000s to current by Acorn Media International, HiT Entertainment, Delta Entertainment, Clear Vision, and other home entertainment distributors in the UK. It was later streamed on all streaming services in platforms in 2021.

United States
The series was first released on VHS by Strand VCI Entertainment in 1990, it was also released on VHS by Strand Home Video in 1992 to 1994 besides Thomas and Friends. it have found that the series was actually first released on VHS in 1984 to 1987 by Children's Video Library.

The series was released on VHS by Video Treasures in 1987 to 1998, willingly along with A Rabbit Called Basil: A Hare’s Story and The Rabbit Called Cuddles. the series was released on DVD for the first in 2003 by Mill Creek Entertainment for the complete first to eleventh seasons.

It was digitally released on DVD by Shout! Factory in 2022, and it was streamed on all digital streaming services which is digitally remastered.

Czech Republic
Bonton first released the series on VHS and DVDs in 1994 to 2007, as this series was first came to the home media in Czech Republic. by the following releases with the said series, A Rabbit Called Basil: A Hare’s Story, and The Rabbit Called Cuddles which is in video releases to be on VHS and DVDs in 2002-2007.

However it was digitally remastered when it was released on DVD in May 2019 by Magic Box a.s. as the series is now acquired by Studio PatMat s.r.o. in 2022.

Trivia

 * The series has some episodes were removed from some international broadcasting channels, like the other series.
 * In the first episode of the series, Randy has more fur than the second episode does.
 * The series was intended to have only stop-motion animated show.
 * The next series was intended to have 2D animation is A Rabbit Called Basil: A Hare’s Story.

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.