Fimbles is a British television programme designed for pre-school children. The characters names are Fimbo, Florrie & Baby Pom & they all live in a place called Fimble Valley. They are actors in fluffy suits & all look the same apart from their colour. Fimbo is yellow with green stripes & likes to eat crumble crackers, Florrie is blue with purple stripes & is always carrying a Fimble-like doll called Little
One & Baby Pom is pink with green stripes & generally follows the others like a toddler would. Other characters are a blue frog called Rockit, a purple & green striped mole called Roly Mo, a pink bird called Bessie & Bessies baby called Ribble. Roly Mo tells a story in every episode & either Roly Mo or Bessie give a summary at the end of the programme as to what has happened to the
Fimbles that day. There is a spin-off to the Fimbles called
The Roly Mo Show, starring Roly Mo.
When
The Fimbles arrived on kids TV in 2002, it unfairly drew comparison with
The Teletubbies. Beyond the furry man-sized suits, theres actually a lot more going for the show. Its the perfect successor in many ways, featuring just a few more characters & situations to appeal to children beginning to form & follow words.
Within each episode, something is found by one of the three Fimbles who populate the Purple Meadow. Near the Tinkling Tree, they experience the excitement of discovering something new & eagerly share it with their friends. This allows for the soothing tones of Roly Mo to relax everyone with a story tailored to the found object.
More often than not, the group is joined by the fluffy Mummy & egg family of Bessie & Ribble, whose wise observations always lead to a safety warning or two. The shows real star is left to last: the irrepressible Rockit the frog bounces all over the place causing chaos & hilarity simultaneously.
As a format, Fimbles is familiar enough for the kids to know what favourite bit to look forward to. Its also significantly different enough to distance itself from any previous show.
