Grandpa in My Pocket | |
---|---|
Created by | Mellie Buse and Jan Page |
Developed by | Mellie Buse and Jan Page |
Written by | Mellie Buse and Jan Page |
Directed by | Richard Bradley, Martin Franks and Iain McLean |
Starring |
James Bolam Jay Ruckley Josie Cable Zara Ramm Sam Ellis Harvey Thorn Sezen Djouma |
Theme music composer | Kate Edgar |
Composer(s) | Matt Dilley |
Country of origin |
United Kingdom England |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 5 |
No. of episodes |
55 (series 1) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
Sarah Colclough (BBC) Angus Fletcher (Adastra) Michael Towner (CBeebies) |
Producer(s) | BBC |
Location(s) | Location footage Suffolk and Norfolk. Studio - Enfys, Cardiff, South Wales. |
Running time | 12 minutes |
Production company(s) | Adastra Creative Ltd. |
Distributor | DHX Media |
Release | |
Original network | CBeebies |
Picture format | HD 16:9 |
Audio format | Full Broadcast |
Original release | 2009 |
External links | |
Official website |
55 (series 1)
26 (series 4)
26 (series 5)
Grandpa in My Pocket is a comedy drama series commissioned by Michael Carrington for CBeebies, the BBC's dedicated pre-school and nursery channel targeting children aged 1–6 years. The programme stars James Bolam as Grandpa, who owns a magical Shrinking Cap, which initially only his 9-year old grandson Jason (played by Jay Ruckley) knows about. The cap enables him to shrink to about 4 or 5 inches tall, run very fast, and bring objects to life. This allows him to experience many magical adventures which are told via voice-over narration by Jason, including finding a hamster under the floorboards, bringing a home-made robot to life, and driving Jason's toy car and biplane. The programme also stars Josie Cable, Zara Ramm and Sam Ellis. According to the BBC press office, "Grandpa In My Pocket explores the hugely important relationship between grandchildren and grandparents by turning it on its head".
Following the success of the first series, a second was commissioned in March 2009, with a third filmed in 2010. A fourth series was produced in 2013 with broadcast beginning in 2014. For the fourth series, Jason, who is now a teenager, has moved with his family into a windmill which they have opened as a hotel. Jason and Jemima's younger cousins Josh and Elsie (played by Harvey Thorn and Sezen Djouma) have come to stay for the summer, and the two become the series narrators as Grandpa decides to let them in on the secret of the Shrinking Cap.
The first three series of the show was set in the fictional location called "Sunnysands". The exterior scenes were filmed on location in the towns of Southwold and Aldeburgh, in Suffolk. The Masons' house was in Crabbe Street, Aldeburgh. The pier and the lighthouse were in Southwold. The bike and other shops were in Walberswick.
The Masons' windmill for the fourth series is Cley Windmill, located in Cley next the Sea in Norfolk.
A similar idea was used in The Dandy comic in the 1970s comic adventure strip Peter's Pocket Grandpa, which was based on an earlier prose text story called Jimmie's Pocket Grandpa which had appeared in The Dandy in the 1940s. This was parodied in the adult satirical comic, Viz, with its strip entitled "Mickey's Miniature Grandpa", who only thought he could shrink, but lacked the actual ability.