Green Balloon Club

Green Balloon Club
Genre Children's
Starring Jake Pratt
Isabella Blake-Thomas
Debbie Korley
Adam Wells
Thai Murray-Edwards
Aliex Yuill
Chris Howard
Bill Oddie
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 63
Release
Original network CBeebies
Original release 20 June 2008 (2008-06-20) – 29 May 2009 (2009-05-29)
External links
Website

Green Balloon Club is a BBC children's television program that started on CBeebies on 20 June 2008.[1]

Format

Series 1: Green Balloon Club (2008–2009)

Green Balloon Club is a wildlife club on CBeebies, both on screen and online. It is hosted by 4 children: Lily-Rose who loves flowers and plants, Ant whose specialty is minibeasts, Cat who is the animals expert and Jay whose interest is in birds. Together with Skipper the dog and their balloonist, Sky, the children fly around the UK looking out for other Green Balloon Club Members and having a look at what wildlife they have in their patch. Special reporters for the programme are Jelly ( The Story Makers, CBeebies Springwatch), Nature Chris and Bill Oddie. The programme was conceived and made by Clare Bradley, Lotte Elwell and the CBeebies Production team, and grew out of their previous award-winning work on CBeebies Springwatch and Autumnwatch.

The show was originally part of the "EcoBeebies" brand. It started with a launch show named Easy Peasy Eco Beebies on 13 June 2008, and this was followed by 48 episodes, one every week from 20 June 2008 to 29 May 2009.

Each episode starts with the children doing the register, then joining in with the "Green Balloon Club" chant. At the end of the show, the balloon "lands" and everybody sings a song.

Series 2: Green Balloon Scrapbook (2010)

In 2010, a new series of 15 episodes entitled "Green Balloon Scrapbook" was produced which showed "what the Green Team get up to when they're not in the Green Balloon. Different members of the team check the laptop to find out what the other members of the Green Balloon Club are getting up to". These programmes included 2 song specials. Additionally 5 holiday specials were produced in 2009 (broadcast 2010), with the team visiting the Isle of Arran and a further 5 holiday programmes from Belfast when the team became zookeepers in Belfast zoo for a week. Lastly, the Winter Special, a winter camping adventure which was the final programme, recorded in November 2009. "[2]

Songs

All the music for the series was written by Paul Moessl and performed by the cast.

Cast

The cast were ordinary children all found at extensive auditions. Jake Pratt was the only one of the children who was at drama school. Isabella Blake-Thomas was the youngest at just 5 when she started on the series.

Production Team

Episode list

Green Balloon Club

Episode Original air date Details
1 20 June 2008 Lily-Rose, Ant, Cat, Jay, Sky and Skipper the dog and Thando meet at the foot of the Green Balloon in a clubhouse, made from recycled bottles and boxes.
2 27 June 2008 The kids find out about animals under the water flecther & thando found sea fish
3 4 July 2008 The team find out about fruit and dragonflies and travel over the Scottish Highlands to find out what wildlife lives there.
4 11 July 2008 The gang are on a bug hunt and Jelly is visiting the Isles of Scilly.
5 18 July 2008 Lily-Rose plants some nasturtiums and find out about the night-time creatures.
6 25 July 2008 The team goes to the coast to find out about the wildlife living there.
7 1 August 2008 Ant brings a very special visitor to the club.
8 8 August 2008 The balloon travels over heathland and the children look out for wildlife.
9 15 August 2008 The team discover a forest of flowers and the ground crew learn how to do a buzzy bee boogie.
10 22 August 2008 The balloon is flying over the coast and the team explore under the sea.
11 29 August 2008 The team discover how sweet lavender is
12 5 September 2008 The Green Team use all their senses to explore the world around them.
13 12 September 2008 Jelly sends in her special report as she finds out what it is like to hug a tree. Jay and Ant will be showing us how tricky it is building a nest and Cat and Lily-Rose will be making paper cup squirrels.
14 19 September 2008 The Green Team are finding out about life on the waterways and Cat finds out about water voles. Jelly is spotting her very first Jay in Bill's garden.
15 26 September 2008 The balloon is heading to a mud festival in Wales and the green team are having lots of messy fun with compost and clay.
16 3 October 2008 Jelly meets up with Green Balloon Club members Louie and Stanley for a trip on a canal boat and look at the wildlife along the banks.
17 10 October 2008 The Green Team have a special visitor with them in the balloon. Basil the kitten has come to Balloon Club with Cat, and the team look at how he is like his larger African cousins.
18 17 October 2008 Today Jelly is harvesting apples in an orchard while Lily-Rose and Ant are starting a planting experiment to see if they can grow an apple tree. Cat and Jay are finding out about deer with the help of Green Balloon Club members
19 24 October 2008 The Green Team find out about owls and Club Members Ellie, Jodie and Erin meet a tawny owl. The Ground Crew check out what wildlife can be found on the seashore at this time of year and even try a bit of snorkelling.
20 (Halloween Special) 31 October 2008 It is Halloween and there are some spooky goings-on in the Green Balloon. Jelly visits Bill to see if her pumpkin has grown big enough to become a lantern, and looks for bugs in Bill's garden. Cat finds out about bats and asks why people find them scary. Also, the Green Team take on the challenge of the Tower of Flour.
21 7 November 2008 As part of the Autumnwatch season Green Balloon Club team are having a good look at Autumn – how the leaves change colour and whether it is possible to preserve their lovely shades. Jelly pays a visit to Bill Oddie and finds out what's happening in his bird boxes at this time of year. Many birds migrate now, but Jay and the Ground Crew have a look at the ones that stay at home and find out how experts research their lives.
22 14 November 2008 This week the Green Team are going wild about woods. Green Balloon Club member Ralf is reporting from a woodland event, finding out what fun can be had in your local wood.
23 21 November 2008 The Green Team are learning about hibernation and Jay is finding out if birds hibernate. Ant looks at hibernating insects and makes a bug box for minibeasts to sleep in over the winter. Lily-Rose is looking at how her seeds do in winter, while Cat finds the champion hibernator of them all – the dormouse.
24 28 November 2008 The Green Team marvel at just how athletic some creatures are. Green Balloon Club members from Cardiff show us what brilliant jumpers their local salmon are whilst the balloon is visited by a very athletic little friend: Georgina the ferret.
25 5 December 2008 The Green Team are starting to think about Christmas. They have an idea for making mini Christmas trees and Cat finds out about Pine Martens. Green Balloon Club members Josh, Oscar, Henry and Ben file a special report on winter vegetables, while the Ground Crew set out in search of badgers. We finally really get in the Christmas mood with our new song Whatever's Good at Christmas, featuring Bill Oddie and Jelly alongside the Green Team.
26 12 December 2008 Christmas is getting near and Sky has bought a Christmas tree for the Green Balloon. May and Alfie send in a report on choosing their Christmas tree too and the Green Team set about making decorations – festive snowflakes for the tree. Green Balloon club members Jorge and Zoe are lucky enough to meet some reindeer and send in a special report whilst Antoinne and Chantel set a seasonal spot to look out for this week. Bill Oddie, Jelly, Nature Chris and a host of children and animals join the Green Team for the fantastic Green Balloon Christmas song, Whatever's good at Christmas.
27 (Christmas Special) 19 December 2008 Christmas is almost here and the Green Team are thinking about presents. They receive a beautiful book, The Story of Christmas, and within its pages see the story of the Nativity told by the animals. Children from Hillhouse Primary school team up with Nature Chris and the animals from Lee Valley Farm to bring us the story. Back in the balloon the team look at the Christmas presents they could provide for their local wildlife and make a beautiful star for the Christmas tree. After a seasonal spot, the team join up with Bill Oddie, Jelly, the Nativity cast, Bollywood dancers, Irish dancers and break dancers in the Green Balloon's Christmas song, Whatever's good at Christmas.

NOTE: There was a two-week break between this episode and the next, due to the cast going on Christmas holidays.’’

28 9 January 2009 The Green Team are all together again and full of wishes for the New Year. Jelly and her friends find out how to recycle your Christmas tree, whilst Green Balloon Club members, Alice, Oscar and Rory, are having fun in the snow. Cat and Skipper are finding out about squirrels and Ant and Lily-Rose make a New Year collage showing all the wildlife they hope to spot this year.

NOTE: Jake Pratt was absent for this episode as he had the 'flu.

29 16 January 2009 It is January and Lily-Rose is feeling fed up with the Winter. Her flowers have died and there is no wildlife around to spot. The Green Team set about showing her that there is still plenty to do and see in the winter.
30 23 January 2009 The Green Balloon Club have a good look at the birds in the winter garden. Cat and Lily-Rose are making comical dancing birds and we have a close look at stoats who are also great movers. Green Balloon Club members Amy and Ellie set another widespread bird as this week's spot and finally the whole team imagine what it would be like to go flying South like a migrating bird.
31 30 January 2009 It is panto time in the Green Balloon. Join the Green Team as they tell the story of Lily-Rose Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolves. Green Balloon Club member Andrew shows us how to plant a tree and Bill Oddie introduces Jelly to some of the creatures that visit his garden.
32 6 February 2009 It is panto time in the Green Balloon. The Green Team learn how bread is made. Jelly files a special report from a flour mill and the team try their hand at making bread hedgehogs. Cat is finding out about real hedgehogs while Green Balloon Club members from the Lee Valley are looking for winter wildfowl and set us a seasonal spot.
33 13 February 2009 The first signs of Spring are starting to appear and birds are looking for places to build their nests and start a family. Jake is putting up a new home for his robins and introduces us to a family of blue tits. The Green Team have a look at the different homes that animals live in whilst Jelly visits some children in West Sussex who are making a wormery.
34 20 February 2009 Lily-Rose has lost her first tooth and she brings it in to show the Green Team. So Ant in turn shows her his collection of animal teeth and they look at what jobs the different kinds of teeth do. Jelly and Bill set up a fantastic experiment to see if they can see a snail's teeth. Green Balloon Club members Ellie and Tilly find some beautiful garden birds – but not the sort you usually find in your back garden.
35 27 February 2009 The team are joined by Nature Chris and are having a weather day. They discover different ways of making rainbows and have a look at one of Britain's most brightly coloured birds. Green Balloon Club members Megan and Ellie are out in the snow showing us how a hedge is planted, whilst Jelly and her friends are down on the farm to meet some racing pigs.
36 6 March 2009 The Green Team wonder when Skipper's birthday is, because she is a rescue dog and Cat does not know exactly when she was born. There is no time like the present, so the Team decide it is the perfect day to celebrate Skipper's birthday. Jelly and her friends visit the Dogs' Trust and find out about rescue dogs whilst Green Balloon Club Members Aaron, Alia, Lillas and Kyle report on the daffodils which have come into bloom where they live.
37 13 March 2009 The Green Team are finding out about creatures that communicate using vibrations. Green Balloon Club members Lukasz, Tabitha and Xavier are on the trail of a greater spotted woodpecker, whilst Jelly and her friends head to Scotland to go dolphin spotting. The Green team find out about how spiders use their webs and even make a communication system of their own.
38 30 March 2009 Spring is on the way. Ant has found his first ladybird of the year; it looks as if they are coming out of hibernation. Lily-Rose's hyacinth has bloomed and Green Balloon Club members Malikah, Centaine and Zahra are finding first buds and shoots where they live. Sky starts off a bean seed experiment whilst Jelly is visiting some friends who are working in a kitchen garden
39 27 March 2009 The Green Team are finding out about the life cycle. Ant has brought in some pupas that he is watching, hoping that they will soon hatch into butterflies. Green Balloon Club members Maisie, Christopher and Jada have found some frogspawn in their local pond, whilst Jelly and her friends are checking out the bird life on the estuary and Jay is finding out about puffins.
40 3 April 2009 The Green Team are going tracking. Every creature makes a different print, but can they recognise them? Green Balloon Club members Joanne, Jack, Jonathan and Niamh are on the East Anglian coast looking for a beautiful bird called an Oyster Catcher. The Ground Crew set off on a tracking mission too and find something quite a bit larger. Cat finds out about Hares, whilst Lily-Rose and Ant make a peacock using their own prints.
41 10 April 2009 Lily-Rose, Ant, Cat, Jay, Sky and Skipper the dog travel Great Britain in a green hot air balloon. The team have some very special visitors in the balloon: a pair of baby rabbits. Jelly and her friends set off to a city farm to discover what baby animals they have there, and at the same time get involved with some pig racing. Green Balloon Club members Ben, Elliot, Macey and Benjamin are planting some bulbs ready for summer whilst Lily-Rose is getting very excited about planting some vegetable seeds and growing her own dinner.
42 17 April 2009 The Green Team are joining the BBC's Dig In Campaign – time for some spring vegetable planting. Lily-Rose has a lovely new windowbox which she plants with carrots, beetroots, red lettuce and butternut squash, at the same time planting tomato seeds in a propagator. Ant and Cat think of a clever way to make seed markers from polystyrene food trays.
43 24 April 2009 Cat has brought a great toy farm to Club and the Green Team find out about baby farm animals. Green Balloon Club members Eddie, Joe and Bethany head off to a farm to find some baby animals and report back on them. Nature Chris has an amazing surprise for everyone – he's brought in an incubator. Could it be that a chick will hatch before their eyes? Jelly is visiting the Isles of Scilly and looking for seals – perhaps she will find a baby seal?
44 1 May 2009 The Green Team are amazed by just how fast things can grow. Green Balloon Club members Lydia, Thomas, Edward and Kimberley report on the beautiful bluebells in their local wood. The Ground Crew is up very early to listen to the dawn chorus. Jay and Cat find out how to replant their runner beans and kidney beans into larger pots as they have grown so much, whilst Lily-Rose and Ant find some clever ways of printing a vegetable garden
45 8 May 2009 Ant brings in his prize model of a stag beetle and the team find out about Britain's biggest insect, sadly under threat. Green Balloon Club members Robert, Alexia and Joshua report on what they are doing to help build homes for stag beetles. Jelly visits Bill Oddie and they go on a bug hunt to see what they can discover in his garden.
46 15 May 2009 The Green Team have built a fantastic den inside the Green Balloon and are thinking about animals that live in dens and under the ground. Green Balloon Club members, Jazmin and Pandora, report on a family of foxes that have made a den in their Auntie's garden, whilst Jelly has her very own den made specially for her at a Forest School. Lily-Rose and Ant make beautiful butterflies to decorate their den and Club Members Alex and Rebecca set this week's spot which should be appearing in a tree near you right now.
47 22 May 2009 The Green Team make their own nature worlds, and Cat and Ant make an ocean in a box. Jelly visits friends in the Scilly Isles and goes rockpooling. Also, Green Balloon Club member Harry visits his grandad's animal rescue centre and meets some tiny baby birds. Also, club members Rebecca and Christopher set the Spot of the Week.
48 (Season Finale) 29 May 2009 The Green Team think about the four seasons and try to decide which is best. Could it be spring as it's full of new things? Could it be summer because it is such fun? Could it be autumn because it is so beautiful? Or perhaps it's winter because it's so exciting? Green Balloon Club member Nansi shows the flowers and birds around Cardiff cathedral, while Jack and Dhunya set a special spot of the week.

NOTE: This was the last green balloon club episode until January 2010.’’|}

Ratings

Episode viewing figures from BARB.[3]

Episode no. Airdate Total viewers CBeebies weekly ranking
1
20 June 2008
342,000
7
2
27 June 2008
352,000
2
3
4 July 2008
290,000
4
4
11 July 2008
338,000
9
5
18 July 2008
504,000
1
6
25 July 2008
Under 294,000
Outside Top 10
7
1 August 2008
383,000
1
8
8 August 2008
Under 319,000
Outside Top 10
9
15 August 2008
Under 302,000
Outside Top 10
10
22 August 2008
Under 311,000
Outside Top 10
11
29 August 2008
Under 312,000
Outside Top 10
12
5 September 2008
Under 329,000
Outside Top 10
13
12 September 2008
Under 389,000
Outside Top 10
14
19 September 2008
Under 332,000
Outside Top 10
15
26 September 2008
Under 368,000
Outside Top 10
16
3 October 2008
Under 350,000
Outside Top 10
17
10 October 2008
Under 347,000
Outside Top 10
18
17 October 2008
Under 361,000
Outside Top 10
19
24 October 2008
Under 380,000
Outside Top 10
20
31 October 2008
Under 345,000
Outside Top 10
21
7 November 2008
Under 336,000
Outside Top 10
22
14 November 2008
Under 331,000
Outside Top 10
23
21 November 2008
Under 364,000
Outside Top 10
24
28 November 2008
Under 331,000
Outside Top 10
25
5 December 2008
Under 338,000
Outside Top 10
26
12 December 2008
Under 324,000
Outside Top 10
27
19 December 2008
Under 401,000
Outside Top 10
28
9 January 2009
Under 415,000
Outside Top 10
29
16 January 2009
30
23 January 2009
31
30 January 2009
32
6 February 2009
33
13 February 2009
34
20 February 2009

|}

Green Balloon Scrapbook

Episode Original air date Details Total viewers
1 13 January 2010 Skipper heads off on an adventure where she meets a monkey gang from South Africa. 278,000
2 20 January 2010 Skipper heads off on an adventure with a parrot party in the South American rainforest. 300,000
3 27 January 2010 Jelly is on a camping trip with some friends in Wales. 230,000
4 3 February 2010 Skipper heads off to the jungle where she meets a bird who can make the most amazing sounds. 268,000
5 10 February 2010 Ant is making his Bug Files at his local Tropical House. 249,000
6 17 February 2010 Jelly reports from the Welsh coast where she meets a surfing family. 236,000
7 24 February 2010 Skipper is off on an African adventure, where she meets a lot of water-loving hippos. 204,000
8 3 March 2010 Skipper heads underwater where she encounters a giant octopus. 193,000
9 10 March 2010 Skipper heads off to Antarctica where she goes for a long and cold walk with lots of penguins. 191,000
10 17 March 2010 Skipper heads off to South America on a multi-coloured Macaw adventure. 105,000
11 24 March 2010 Ant and his friend Bradley meet some big hissing cockroaches and have a race with them. 164,000
12 29 March 2010 Jay is out doing some birdwatching, he's looking at how autumn is a good time for birds.
13 23 December 2009 Winter Special 213,000
14 30 March 2010 Song Special part 1: The Green Team introduce their favourite songs in a special programme of music and verse. 203,000
15 31 March 2010 Song Special part 2: Ant is out looking for minibeasts. Can you guess what his favourite song will be? 350,000

Note: episode 13 was not shown between episodes 12 and 14, as it was shown within the Christmas schedule

References

  1. ↑ Tara Conlan (14 April 2008). "CBeebies to broadcast eco season". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  2. ↑ "Green Balloon Scrapbook". CBeebies. BBC. January 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  3. ↑ http://www.barb.co.uk/
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