Engie Benjy
A mechanic who fixes vehicle troubles for his friends.
Engie Benjy is a British stop motion animated pre-school children's television series produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for ITV's strand, CITV. The series aired from September 2002 until November 2004, spanning four series and fifty-two episodes.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Animation; Children's animation
- Opening theme
- "Engie Benjy" by Clint Boon
- End theme
- "Engie Benjy" by Clint Boon (Instrumental)
- Runtime
- 10 minutes (Series 1-2), 11 minutes (Series 3-4)
- Starring
- Ant and Dec
- Les Dennis
- Teresa Gallagher
- David Holt
- Creator
- Bridget Appleby
- Director
- Chris Taylor; Lyndon Evans
- Executive producers
- Mark Hall
Facts from the source article.
Characters
Engie Benjy, voiced by Declan Donnelly, is the blue-haired mechanic protagonist who repairs his friends' vehicles. His pet dog Jollop provides vocal effects by Anthony McPartlin. Dan the Van is Engie Benjy's breakdown van. Other characters include Astronaut Al (voiced by Les Dennis), Driver Dottie (Teresa Gallagher), Farmer Fred (David Holt), Fisherman Fin (David Holt), Messenger Mo (David Holt), Pilot Pete (Les Dennis), and Trucker Troy (Anthony McPartlin), Engie Benjy's cousin and owner of Big Rig the Truck, introduced in the third series following a pay dispute.
Development
Clint Boon, the keyboardist from the Inspiral Carpets, wrote and performed the theme tune, while Ant and Dec provided the character voices. The show was the brainchild of Bridget Appleby at Cosgrove Hall Films, making its debut on CITV before also appearing on Nick Jr. A Welsh version was broadcast on S4C. Production ran to four series, each containing 13 episodes, with initial airings spanning 2002 to 2004. The programme found its way into more than 80 countries. Overseas, it could be seen on Australia’s ABC and Nick Jr, TVNZ in New Zealand, Central in Singapore, Sveriges Television in Sweden, France 5 and Piwi+ in France, YLE in Finland, NRK in Norway, Discovery Kids across Latin America, RTP in Portugal, IRIB in Iran, NPO Zappelin in the Netherlands, and on Çufo, Bang Bang, and Top Channel in Albania. It also aired on Rai Yoyo in Italy, KIKA in Germany, Alter Channel in Greece, Hop! Channel in Israel, EBS in South Korea, TVP in Poland, Radio Television of Serbia, Radio and Television of Slovakia, Télé-Quebec in Canada, Radiotelevizija Slovenija in Slovenia, Stöð 2 in Iceland, and Sonce TV in Ukraine. From September 2018 to July 2021, reruns were shown on ITVBe’s LittleBe block. In 2009, Engie Benjy joined other well-known children’s characters in Peter Kay’s Animated All Star Band for The Official BBC Children in Need Medley.
Merchandise
The first two series of Engie Benjy were released across four VHS and DVD volumes by Video Collection International and Granada Video. Granada Ventures later put out two DVDs covering all of Series 3 and 4. In May 2003, BBC Multimedia obtained the video game rights from Granada Media and released Engie Benjy: Time for Teamwork for PC. Shindo Production re-released it as a DVD game in 2006, along with other BBC Multimedia titles.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes of Engie Benjy are there?
Engie Benjy has 52 episodes across 4 seasons.
When did Engie Benjy end?
Engie Benjy last aired on 29 November 2004.
More in Television Series by Cosgrove Hall Films
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