Teletubbies interview with Jim Broadbent

Jim Broadbent is being the voice of a Voice Trumpet in the new Teletubbies, as well as announcing the Teletubbies at the start of the show.

Published: 19 October 2015
The Voice Trumpet is up there as one of the strangest and most satisfying jobs I've done, but in my career, I have played quite a lot of inanimate objects and vegetables and pigeons and robots! At one point I was a talking lavatory seat!
— Jim Broadbent

Who do you play in the new Teletubbies?
I have the proud role of announcing Teletubbies at the top of the show. I've got quite a big and important involvement! I'm also one of the voices of the Voice Trumpet, who comes up out of the grass occasionally and makes announcements.

There are different voices for the Voice Trumpet, but what the Voice Trumpet does, is to inform the Teletubbies of what they have to be doing or where they have to be or what's coming for them. They also have the role of getting the Teletubbies involved in playing games and having fun.

Can you identify with the role?
The Voice Trumpet is basically my voice and my character, to a certain extent, an extreme end of my character. When you're playing with little children sometimes you have to tell them, 'No, now it's time you go to bed,' or, 'Now it's time to stop playing and have your tea,' or whatever it is, and then moments later you're crawling around the floor and riding on your back being silly and ridiculous.

Today I’ve been recording the Voice Trumpet, encouraging the Teletubby Tinky Winky to gallop and behave like a horse saying, 'Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up,' and, 'Clippety-clop, clippety-clop, clippety-clop.' Tinky Winky gets very involved in it and gets quite carried away.

How does this role differ to other roles you’ve played in your career?
I'm always on the lookout for something new and different that I haven't done before. A lot of the roles I've done are pretty strange. I've never got an idea of things I want to play, because I think the things that other people come up with are actually more original and unusual than anything I could imagine.

The Voice Trumpet is up there as one of the strangest and most satisfying jobs I've done, but in my career, I have played quite a lot of inanimate objects and vegetables and pigeons and robots! At one point I was a talking lavatory seat!

What influences your decision to take a role?
I choose roles for all sorts of reasons, but it's basically the script it has to be a good script. But if I think I can do justice to the character or if I can have fun with it and when it's something new that I haven't done before.

Was it an easy decision to say yes to your role in Teletubbies?
It's an irresistible offer really, to be part of the Teletubbies world. You really do feel as if you're actually in that rather lovely green countryside with the Teletubbies when you're recording. That's what I was looking forward to, and it was really like that!

Who will you watch the new series of Teletubbies with?
I'm very excited, because when the Teletubbies comes to air I've got a few great nieces and nephews, and some which are arriving, more or less, as we speak. So, I'll be able to present this to them and they will love it, I'm sure.

Some Teletubbies facts!

  • The new series features 60 brand new 14 minute long episodes
  • The original series was filmed outdoors, but filming for the new series has been brought indoors into a studio in Twickenham, London using pioneering new production techniques
  • Many familiar outdoor elements remain including Home Hill and the Windmill. Even the positioning of the pathways remains faithful to the original series
  • The new Windmill has a more natural look and, in reality, is 25cm high
  • A 1:20 scale 3D printed model of Teletubbyland was built. Measuring 3m x 3m, it represents the 360 (degree) world around the Teletubbies’ home, known as Home Hill
  • There are 20,000 laser-cut flowers and 40,000 real dried flowers on the Teletubbies landscape model. The flowers were all hand-painted and placed onto the model to make them look natural and realistic
  • There are 4 varieties of flowers on the model- buttercups, poppies, daisies and cornflowers
  • The grass is 6mm high and was chopped and trimmed with nail scissors, hairdressing scissors and beard trimmers to give the natural feel of a meadow. Longer pieces of grass were also added by hand. After grass cutting, the model was sometimes hoovered with a hand vacuum
  • Teletubbyland has 5 variations of hillock. They are 4cm high on the model but, after clever compositing, an 8 foot tall Teletubby will stand on them.
  • The countryside horizon backdrop is modelled on the hills of Bourne End, Buckinghamshire
  • The size of the Teletubbies’ tummy screens have changed to reflect modern televisions and are now 16:9
  • The Noo-noo is the original Noo-noo, but lovingly restored with a brand new engine and colourful makeover
  • The Tubby Phone is a touch-screen phone which plays music, speaks and takes photos – the voice is that of Jane Horrocks!
  • The Dup Dup is a brand new lift connecting the Teletubbies’ dome and the hills. It replaces the slide which was used in the original series
  • The Tubby Custard Ride is a brand new toy for this series. It is 10 meters in length and splats out pink custard for the Teletubbies
  • Tubby Custard is made from a diuretic food thickener with added pink dye
  • The structure of the inside of the Teletubbies Home Hill is a large inflatable which requires constant air to keep it up. The Dome is 5 metres high and was deflated each night once filming had finished
  • The new series features a brand new Sun Baby! This iconic part is being played by 18 month old baby Berry from London, who replaces the original Sun Baby who is now 19!
  • The title sequence for the theme tune was recorded by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
  • The live action sequences which appear in the Teletubbies’ tummies are still a key feature of the show. Filmed from a child’s perspective, each short film corresponds to the theme of the episode. Instead of being shown again in its entirety, only highlights of the first film will be repeated in the new series.