British weather, co-ordinated outfits and sisterly love: introducing Nelly & Nora

CBeebies new series - launching just in time for summer - is about two young sisters having fun and playing in all different types of weather in a holiday park in Ireland. CBeebies Grown-ups had a quick chat with the producer of the series to find out what we can expect and what inspired Nelly & Nora...

Hi Gerard, can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your role on Nelly & Nora?

I’m the Producer of Nelly & Nora and it was my role to get the show made and delivered on schedule and budget. Making a show like this can be very challenging, and our team are dealing with everything for the first time as this is a brand new series! We have to learn about the characters, find their voices, learn about their environment and create sound and music to accompany the great stories. But at the same time, that’s what makes it wonderful – when everything comes together and works the whole team feel a great sense of achievement. I get to work with very talented people and I make sure they have what they need and help them achieve the goals of the series.

Tell us a little bit about the series itself…

Nelly and Nora is set in a beautiful camping park, overlooking the sea and focuses on two young sisters – Nelly, 5, and Nora, 4 – who spend their holidays and weekends there with their Mum and Dad at the family’s mobile home.

Nelly and Nora love the freedom of the camping park, where they’re able to spend most of their time outdoors having exciting adventures and making a lifetime of memories! Being outside so much means that the weather plays a major part in the girls’ daily fun – windy days can be chaotic, rainy days make raindrop music and sunny days can be just too hot. Through their exciting adventures, though, Nelly and Nora discover that the weather is something to be embraced and enjoyed whatever it’s doing!

The series aims to introduce children to the wonders of the weather through the fun that Nelly and Nora have as they encounter different conditions. The girls’ clothes always reflect the weather they experience that day — for example, on rainy days Nelly and Nora’s raincoats are patterned with clouds and raindrops, and on cloudy days, their dresses have cloud patterns.

What inspired Nelly & Nora?

Shortly after I became a dad to two daughters (born in 2008 and 2009 only 13 months apart, commonly known as ‘Irish twins’!) I began to feel very strongly about how their childhood might be spent outside of school and during the holidays. I think this was driven by my memories of my own childhood holidays. So in 2010 I bought a mobile home on a farm where they had dedicated 2 fields beside a beach as a camping park. 

For the first 4 years of visiting the park, the girls just played on the swings and in the sand surrounding it. They were almost always outdoors, it didn’t matter if they got wet and their clothes were brown from soil and sand – they didn’t care, so (except for the washing) why should we?

It struck me that as adults we have an obsession with the weather and we tend to let it determine what we do and when we do it. Meanwhile the girls were just adapting, raincoats on, raincoats off, wellie boots off, sandals on, jackets off, swim togs on – they loved dressing for the weather and having fun whatever the conditions. This is a big influence on Nelly and Nora and their many different outfits. So that’s what inspired the series, sisters very close in age having all-weather adventures.

In what way does weather and the outdoors play into the series?

The weather is the driver of every story and was a very important part of the story creation and scripting process. No story idea was approved unless it was set in the weather. We cover all seasons and all weather types across all the stories. It makes the show very unique and provided a great storytelling device. On a hot humid day Nelly’s curly hair can get very big or hail stones can interfere with Nora’s tin-can phones attached by string. Overall it shows us the importance of getting outside and adapting to whatever nature may throw at us. Nelly & Nora always find ways to have fun or make fun, for example they spend a great afternoon listening to the wind making many things like the clothes line ‘talk’. 

What do you think little ones and their parents will take from watching the show?

We made a very simple opening sequence that begins every episode where you’ll see the girls singing, dancing, laughing and caring for each other – that relationship is something that has been an important message of the show from the very beginning. Children will enjoy working out what the weather is going to be in each programme and they’ll come to recognise this from the different outfits that the girls wear. Each episode is nicely paced and allows the story to develop, so it doesn’t feel too frenetic. Hopefully, Nelly and Nora can also remind parents that children adapt easily and encourage families to get outdoors and have fun in all types of weather!

Do you have a favourite episode or moment from the series

I love “The Shadow Castle” (an episode about the girls building a sandcastle) – it’s so simple, so beautiful, a great story and really just captures what the series is all about – children having fun. Nelly and Nora’s sandcastle may not be perfect but when the sun sets, they’re sure it went to bed in their castle, how cute is that?

In “Moon Path” they follow a moon path while looking for a lost cat called Morris. I like this episode because it has an amazing music score and is so cinematic. I also love our opening sequence – it took us 9 months to figure out what we wanted, but it was well worth the wait – and I’m hoping it will bring back the wiggle! 

Nelly & Nora on the CBeebies website.