Q Pootle 5 lands on CBeebies

Q Pootle 5, the friendly little alien who first appeared in the books by the hugely popular children’s author and illustrator Nick Butterworth, has made the leap from page to screen. Q Pootle 5 and his friends, Oopsy, Eddi, Stella, Ray, Groobie, Bud-D and Planet Dave arrive on CBeebies from Monday 29th July 2013.





We put your questions to Nick - and here are his replies...





Can you tell us a bit about how you’ve found the process of turning your much-loved Q Pootle 5 storybooks into an animated series?

It’s been a fantastic adventure! Daunting, exciting, sometimes frustrating, and, overall, great fun. It’s taken longer than I thought it would – about five years to date. And it’s been very different to the solitary process of writing and illustrating children’s books. I’ve really enjoyed working closely with the many talented people that it takes to make a TV series, not least, my wife Annette and our son, Ben.

Ben’s background is in film and TV and it was his idea that we should form our production company, Snapper, to make the programme. Annette – an ex-drama and English teacher turned writer – has been my best friend and business partner for ...ever! We have worked extremely well together, each having our own particular abilities.

We work with a small army of others and the commitment that they have shown really does seem like a labour of love! They include writers, the actors who voice the characters, musicians and not least, our animators, Blue Zoo. They turn my drawings of the characters, the spaceships, the sets and so much more into the stunning animation you see on screen.

What gave you the idea for Q Pootle 5’s character?

Q Pootle 5 just popped out of my pencil one day when I was thinking about a new character for a children’s book. I seem to think best with a pencil in my hand. Sometimes I draw letters or numerals like the fat friendly lettering of fairground signs. Sometimes I draw faces, or more often animal characters. It was probably drawing the horns of one of my favourite animals – the giraffe – that inspired me to draw an alien. Suddenly he was there. Then I drew his spaceship, with its tin cans and hair dryers (sorry, rocket boosters and lateral stabilising jets) and I knew immediately what kind of world this little person inhabited.

Will we be seeing characters like the Bladder Monsters or Planet Dave in the series?

The world of Q Pootle 5 had to be explored a lot more thoroughly than it had been in the two books before we could embark on a series of fifty two stories! Who are Q Pootle 5’s friends? What is their home planet like? What kind of homes do they have? When Ben came up with the idea that Q Pootle 5 would live in a silver caravan, I knew straightaway that we were on the same wavelength. From then on, the two of us had great fun coming up with the ideas that fleshed out the world of Q Pootle 5. It was then my job to draw it!

Gradually everything took shape. Some elements were drafted in from the books like Oopsy and Planet Dave. We haven’t ruled out the appearance of the Bladder Monsters, but as yet they haven’t shown their faces!

Who or what was your favourite fictional character as a child?

At pre-school age I loved Beatrix Potter’s stories, especially The Tale of Samuel Whiskers. I also liked the Animal Shelf series by Ivy Wallace. Getup Crusoe was my favourite, being about a giraffe. (Did he eventually lead to Q Pootle 5, I wonder?)

Like so many of my generation it was Enid Blyton who got me reading for myself and I loved the Famous Five series. But the book that really got me hooked was Treasure Island. It was a ‘big’ story that transported me to another time and place - it was as if I had sailed with them all on the Hispaniola on that great adventure. At the end of the book, Jim Hawkins had grown from boy to man and I felt that I, too, had grown up a little with him.

What was your earliest memory of being excited by space? How does it influence you?

I can’t remember a time when I haven’t loved looking up at the stars on an inky black night. My Granny – my Mum’s mum – was a lovely lady and she lived nearby. Sometimes, when I had spent the day at her house, she would bring me home and as we walked up the road in the dark we would look up to the stars and sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star together. (She taught me the second verse!)

When I was a bit older, my parents gave me three reference books that I pored over endlessly: the Pictorial Encyclopaedia series (I still have them.) The one on Scientific Knowledge fascinated me, particularly the section on astronomy. I learnt the names and order of the planets and was intrigued by a description as to how the earth might have been formed.

I’d have to say that I’m not a great sci-fi fan as such, but I love a good story wherever it is set. So often, space is portrayed as a weird, dangerous, scary place. Aliens are malevolent and seem intent on destruction! As a subject for young children, I thought it would be worth trying to paint an alternative picture of space as a place where friendship and kindness are celebrated in the ordinary things of life – a wonderful place where we could nevertheless feel at home.

What do you think children will take from the series?

I hope children will love it. I hope they will laugh. I hope they will want to play at being Q Pootle 5. I hope parents and grandparents will get roped into their games too! (Grandads will be perfect for being Planet Dave!) In a real sense, it is the way children play, the way their imagination trumps reality, that has inspired Q Pootle 5. It would be nice to return the compliment.

Do you have a favourite moment from the series?

I couldn’t single out one, I’m afraid! There are too many. I really like Groobie’s entrance for his concert in ‘Groobie Woogie on Planet Dave’. I love the little scene on The Crumbly Moon between Q Pootle 5 and Oopsy in ‘The Great Space Race’ and I do like the last scene with Q pootle 5 and Eddi in ‘Pootle’s House Guest’. Oh dear, I could go on and on..!



Visit the Q Pootle 5 website