Mop and Smiff
| Mop and Smiff | |
|---|---|
| Genre | animation/Children's |
| Created by | Mike Amatt |
| Written by | Mike Amatt |
| Directed by | Sid Waddell |
| Voices of | Timothy West (Mop), Prunella Scales (Smiff) |
| Theme music composer | The Thornsett Brass Band |
| Opening theme | "Mop and Smiff, they are two of a kind" |
| Ending theme | "When the walking is done, they've had their fun" |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | David Brown |
| Editor(s) | Martin Bohan |
| Running time | 15 minutes (Series) |
| Production company(s) | BBC Manchester Network, New Broadcasting House |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Original release | 1984 – 1989 |
Mop and Smiff is a children's television programme broadcast on BBC1 and ITV released in 1984. The show creator Mike Amatt also acts himself with his dog Mop and cat Smiff. Mop and Smiff was a television series aimed at preschoolers.[1]
Characters
Mike Amatt is shown to be a writer and cartoonist.
Mop is an old English sheep dog.
Smiff is an ordinary cat
Setting
The show used a Portmanteau Format with a small cartoon show embedded inside a narrative. The show starts with detailing a day of Mike, Mop or Smiff in real camera recording format. When they return home later, Mike would use the day's events for artistic inspiration to draw a cartoon. The show cuts into Mike's imagined animated sub-story with Mop and Smiff as talking friends who care for each other and go on their own adventure. The show's drawback was that the kids of the age group for which he show was intended for, would like the animated shorts but lose their attention on the live filming. The title theme was written and sung by Mike and was played by The Thornsett Brass Band.
Mike, Mop and the Moke
A spin-off series, Mike, Mop and the Moke, was produced in 1985, and featured Amatt and Mop driving to various seaside towns in an Austin Champ.[2]