Rosie and Jim

Characters

Rosie is a female rag doll puppeteered and voiced by Rebecca Nagan. She carries a bag with her name on it, wears a yellow dress, red stockings, green shoes, brown earrings and necklace, and has long shaggy black hair tied in a red ribbon. From series 2 she was given a darker skin colour. She sometimes calls Jim "Noggin".

Jim is a male rag doll puppeteered and voiced by Robin Stevens. He carries a notebook in which he sometimes draws things he has seen. He has short red hair and wears light brown trousers, a shirt with a red scarf, a white-with-red-stripes sock, brown boots and a brown waistcoat. His skin shade changed slightly throughout the series.

Duck is an animatronic wooden model of a duck who sits on top of the narrowboat Ragdoll. Voiced by Robin Stevens, he quacks and flaps his wings when no humans are around to signal that the coast is clear. He is the only character to interact with all three presenters. Rosie and Jim live on the narrowboat Ragdoll, which had three owners during the series.

John "Fizzgog" Cunliffe, an author, presented from 1990 to 1992 for 50 episodes; he broke the fourth wall and directly addressed Rosie and Jim. Pat "Loopy Lobes" Hutchins, an illustrator, presented from 1995 to 1996 for 45 episodes; she was the only female presenter. Neil "Tootle" Brewer presented from 1997 to 2000 for 80 episodes.

Episodes

The series included episodes such as "Locks", first broadcast on 3 September 1990, in which John plans to take the Ragdoll up the canal to Dudley by navigating a series of locks. In "Painting" (10 September 1990), tree branches scratch the boat's paint, so John buys paint while Rosie and Jim learn about mixing colours. "Supermarket" (17 September 1990) sees John shopping at Sainsbury's while the rag dolls have other ideas. "Tunnel" (24 September 1990) involves John travelling through a tunnel, leaving the dolls to experience darkness.

In "Horse Towing" (1 October 1990), the tiller breaks and a horse tows the boat to a repair point. "Glass" (8 October 1990) follows John to a glass factory while the dolls play in a sandpit. "Boat Building" (15 October 1990) visits the boatyard that built the Ragdoll, and the dolls make paper and foil boats. "Washing" (22 October 1990) has John at a launderette.

"Coal" (29 October 1990) involves a trip to a coal mine. "Clipping" (5 November 1990) shows sheep shearing and John trimming his beard.

Home media releases

Video Collection International Ltd. released VHS tapes of the series from 1991 through the Central Video imprint, later via Carlton Home Entertainment's CTE Video, then back to Video Collection International until 2004. 2Entertain released a promotional DVD in the Daily Mail in 2005. Platform Entertainment released The Bumper Pack DVD in 2016.