Candy Guard
| Pond Life | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Animation, Comedy, Television comedy |
| Created by | Candy Guard |
| Voices of | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 21 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Original release | 1996 – 2000 |
Pond Life is a British animated television series that was written and directed by Candy Guard and follows the misadventures of its neurotic and self-obsessed protagonist, Dolly Pond. Two series were broadcast on Channel 4 in 1996 and 2000. A series of 13x11minute episodes was screened from 3 to 18 December 1996, mainly at 5.45pm, but two episodes exploring more adult themes were reserved for a double screening at 11.25pm. This series was repeated between March and June 1998. A second series of 7x30minute episodes followed between 19–30 September 2000 to tie-in with Channel 4's Animation Week of 23–29 September 2000.
The series began life in 1992 with a pilot episode entitled I Want a Boyfriend ... Or Do I?, co-commissioned by Channel 4 and S4C.
Pond Life was Guard's second breakthrough and was commissioned by Channel 4 in 1996. Scheduling problems marred the series' reception; it was originally intended for broadcast at 9.45pm, but was shown four hours earlier, which required edits to remove adult language. It was shown at the same time as Australian soap Neighbours, and was aimed at the same core audience as the soap. Despite these problems, Pond Life won several awards and received a Writer's Guild nomination for Best Sitcom. Guard was pleased because it was up against several live-action comedy series, including Only Fools and Horses. A second series was broadcast in 2000.
Although Pond Life is a traditional hand-drawn cartoon, the comedy series was directed at adult audiences and specifically targeted at female viewers.
Series One
Boyfriend - Dolly bumps into an old friend from school, Sid, and the two get along well. However, when Belle points out that Sid fancies Dolly, she becomes incredibly nervous and makes a mess of things. Dolly then becomes obsessed with the idea of a relationship with Sid.
Holiday - Dolly persuades Belle to go on holiday to Greece; but while Dolly wants a cultural trip, Belle just wants to sunbathe and enjoy nights out. When Belle has a holiday romance with a Greek barman, she and Dolly decide to enjoy the holiday separately - but neither gets what she was hoping for.
Bitter and Twisted - Struggling with a bad back and depression, Dolly sees both an osteopath and a counsellor. While Dolly is very keen on her handsome Australian osteopath Keith, counsellor Ruth seems to need help more than Dolly does. Dolly's feelings for Keith don't appear to be reciprocated, but she's shocked to discover she does have an admirer amongst her therapists after all...
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