The Slow Norris

The Slow Norris is a British children's television programme that aired on CITV from 4 September 1995 to 23 December 1999.^[1] The programme portrayed moral tales and fables through various anthropomorphized creatures.^[2]

There was also a version produced for American television by Hollywood Ventures which ran on the educational channel, PBS in the fall of 1997.

Main characters

• The Slow Norris (voiced by Nick Ryan) - The lead character is a large, hairy Bigfoot-like creature who - although not very clever (and somewhat naive) - is willing to learn and participate in stories and activities. The Slow Norris lives in a cave-like dwelling within a forest.
• Allie (played by Buddie Maddicott) - As the only human character, Allie is the group's natural leader. She travels through the woods on her bicycle to visit the Slow Norris. Allie has a magic book which shows Slow Norris what things are or an animated story featuring Jane the Fairy and her frog Ferdy. Allie is voiced by Buddie Maddicott, a relation of the show's producer Dan Maddicott^[3]
• Ben Beetle (voiced by Gary Martin) - Ben Beetle is a wise insect who spends much of his time sat on a toadstool with his walking stick. Ben Beetle is voiced by Gary Martin.
• Walter the Worm (performed by Karen Prell) - Walter the Worm lives in a house made of mud and talks with a slight stutter.
• Jane the Fairy - An animated fairy who only appears in Allie's magic book. She wears a lilac dress and a leaf hat.
• Ferdy the Frog - He is Jane's froggy conpanion. He's very sensitive and bit naughty sometimes.
• Stork - A white stork. She appears in "Things That Fly" and is only seen throughout the 1996 series.

Episodes

Episodes include one where Allie shows the Slow Norris a story of someone baking a cake, in her magic book. In another, the Slow Norris is putting off tidying the cave where he lives. Allie shows him a story involving a fairy named JANE whose house has a leak due to a hole in the roof. Jane's friend, a frog named Ferdy is supposed to fix the roof, however doesn't. The pair go out on a train journey to have a picnic with Jane's gran; Ferdy is desperate for the toilet whilst on the train. They return home to find it has rained and Jane's house is now flooded. This persuades the Slow Norris to tidy his cave. In one episode, Walter the Worm loses his tail cosy, only to find later on that the Slow Norris has it.

In a later series, the opening music gained lyrics sung by Allie.

Cast

• Buddie Maddicott - Allie

Puppeteers

• David Barclay -
• Mike Quinn -
• Karen Prell - Slow Norris (facial puppeteer), Walter the Worm
• Katherine Smee -

Voices

• Gary Martin - Ben Beetle^[4]
• Nick Ryan - Slow Norris^[4]

References