Oakie Doke

 ( British Children's Animated Adventure Television Series ) 

Oakie Doke is a British children's television programme that was broadcast from 1995 to 1997 on the Children's BBC block of the BBC. It was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films and was animated with Stop motion. The show ran for two series, each containing 13 episodes.

It also aired on ABC in Australia, TVNZ 2 in New Zealand, RTÉ Two in Ireland as part of their children's block The Den, Dubai 33 in the United Arab Emirates, Net 25 in the Philippines, SABC2 in South Africa, Mediacorp Suria and Okto in Singapore, TVP1 in Poland, ITV in Thailand, Arutz HaYeladim in Israel, ATV in Hong Kong as part of their children's block Tube Time, BFBS and SSVC Television as part of their children's block Children's SSVC in Germany, Yle TV1 in Finland and PBS in the U.S. as part of a programming block for children called Someday School.

The theme song was composed and sung by Ernie Wood who also composed the incidental music for the series.

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Characters

• Oakie Doke – the show's titular main character. A man who is made of acorns, twigs and leaves, and is friendly and eager to please.
• The Mole family – Mr Manny, Mrs Milly, Marcia and Marcus
• The Mice family (the Corncrackers) – Albert, Rose, Root, Snoot and Hickory (the latter of whom is the family's adoptive son, as he is a dormouse, in contrast to the rest of the family, who are Apodemus).
• The Frog family - Moses, Neptune, Abel and Granny Annie who pushes around a bowl containing three tadpoles, on a pram.
• The Hedgehog family (the Tickles) - Mrs Tickle, Lizzie, Libby and Shrimp
• The Squirrel family - Rufus, Rain and Hazel
• Dave and Denzil – two mischievous grey squirrels who communicate frequently with a cups and string phone.

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Plot synopsis Oakie Doke is a character who lives in an oak tree. His head is an acorn and he wears an oak leaf on his upper body. His skin is light green and he has distinctive rosy cheeks. He is very friendly and a well-respected member of the forest. He slides down the slide around his treehouse every morning and his friends include squirrels, mice, frogs, hedgehogs and moles.

In the show's opening titles, one of Oakie's friends would ring a bell at the bottom of his tree, which would wake him up. He would then ride a slide that wound round the trunk of the tree to the bottom. The episode then began. In a typical episode, there is a friend who has an everyday problem in the woods, to which Oakie immediately comes to their aid. There is usually a dilemma, but he helps the friend in need and is often assisted by his other friends from the forest. Many of the problems that arise are a result of the actions of Dave and Denzil, who are known to carry actions out without considering the consequences. However, they usually show some remorse when Oakie later confronts the pair about their behaviour.

Towards the end of each episode, after Oakie helps solve the problem, he states: "Well, it's just like I always say...", followed by a rhyming phrase. This phrase would be in relation to the solution of the problem. This is then greeted with approving laughter and applause from whoever is present at the time.

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Episodes

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Series overview

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Series 1 (1995)

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Series 2 (1997)

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Home releases In 1996, BBC Video released five episodes from the first series on VHS.

Oakie Doke (BBCV 5875)	5 August 1996

In January 2003, Cinema Club and Granada Media released two DVDs and videos of Oakie Doke, one with episodes 1–7, and one with episodes 8-13.

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External links

• Oakie Doke on Toonhound
• Oakie Doke and other Cosgrove Hall animations on Blueyonder

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