Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom

hideThis article has multiple issues. Please help or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (August 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Much of the information in the article is unsourced, and this article also needs some spelling, word choice, and grammar cleanup, and general trimming of the 'Characters' section. Please help if you can. (August 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom
Genre	Fantasy
Created by	Mark Baker & Neville Astley
Written by	Neville Astley Mark Baker
Directed by	Mark Baker Neville Astley Phillip Hall (2012) Joris van Hulzen (2012)
Opening theme	Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom opening theme
Composer	Julian Nott
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	104 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Debbie Macdonald (2008-2011) Joan Lofts (2008-2011) Laura Clunie (2008-2013) Layla Lewis (2008-2011) Olivier Dumont (2012-2013)
Producer	Phil Davies
Running time	104 x 11 minutes
Production companies	Astley Baker Davies The Elf Factory Rubber Duck Entertainment (2008) E1 Kids/Entertainment One Family (2009–2012)
Distributor	Contender Entertainment Group (2008-2009) Entertainment One (2009-present)
Release
Original network	Channel 5 Nick Jr.
Picture format	HDTV
Audio format	Stereo
First shown in	United Kingdom
Original release	6 April 2009 (2009-04-06)[1] – 24 December 2013 (2013-12-24)
External links
Website

Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom is a British-Canadian animated television series.^[2] The show was created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, and produced by Astley Baker Davies and Entertainment One (the companies responsible for Peppa Pig).^[3] Many of the voice actors who worked Peppa Pig have lent their voices to the show; these include John Sparkes, Sarah Ann Kennedy, David Rintoul and David Graham. The music is produced by Julian Nott, who is noted for his Wallace and Gromit and Peppa Pig scores.^[4] Ben and Holly is the third show to be produced by Astley Baker Davies.

Overview[]

The main characters are Ben and Holly. The show is set in the Little Kingdom which is (according to the theme tune) "hidden amongst thorny brambles". The Little Kingdom is ruled by King and Queen Thistle of the Little Castle, where they live with their three daughters, Holly, and their mischievous younger twins, Daisy and Poppy. The elves live at the Great Elf Tree, which plays the role of a school, library, mission control service, apartment block, and factory for toys and wands all in once. Elves hold the belief that they should never arrive late to anything. Civil fairies live in the Fairy Village, which consists of toadstools that are used as houses that have no food or comfort.

Fairies use magic and most of the fairies are named after flowers and plants. (e.g. Holly is named after a holly) Elves have their own catchphrase, "...and I'm an Elf!" (or "We're Elves!"), and fairies also have their own catchphrase, commonly "I'm a fairy". Elves tell the time with wristwatches and/or clocks, while fairies tell the time in very unconventional ways like from a dandelion. The Elves operate Elf Rescue, the Elf Farm, and the Elf Windmill. King Thistle likes to play golf and crazy golf at the Royal Course. Ben and Holly have a ladybird friend called Gaston. Nanny Plum and the Wise Old Elf are characters too, and they have important jobs to do in the context of the show. Mr and Mrs Elf are Ben's parents.

Episodes[]

Characters[]

Main characters[]

• Ben Elf is one of the main characters alongside Princess Holly. He lives with his parents, Mr and Mrs Elf. He lives in the Great Elf Tree, number 4. He can be quite tentative when it comes to using magic, as Ben is a young elf. He does not have any siblings, but has many friends, and his best friend is Princess Holly. Ben is voiced by Preston Nyman.
• Holly Thistle is a fairy and one of the main characters alongside her best friend, Ben Elf. She is the cheerful, tidy And clever princess who lives with her parents, King and Queen Thistle, and with her little sisters, Daisy and Poppy. She likes to use magic despite the risk of things going wrong. Her best friend is Ben Elf. Holly is voiced by Sian Taylor.
• King Thistle rules over the Little Kingdom. He is the husband of Queen Thistle and Princess Holly, Daisy, and Poppy's father. He is often hungry and grumpy, and sometimes hates having a bath. He dislikes celebrating his birthday because it reminds him he is getting older. When he was Holly's age, he was known as Prince Thistle. King Thistle is voiced by Ian Puleston-Davies.
• Queen Thistle is the Queen in the Little Kingdom and the wife of King Thistle. She is Princess Holly, Daisy, and Poppy's bubbly and sensitive mother. Queen Thistle is Queen Marigold's younger sister. She is one of the few people who can handle looking after Daisy and Poppy, though at times even she can be overwhelmed by the trouble they cause with their magic. Queen Thistle is voiced by Sara Crowe.
• Daisy and Poppy are Holly's little twin sisters. They are not very good at magic as they are only toddlers, but this does not stop them from trying. They are quite cheeky and usually end up causing trouble with magic. As Daisy and Poppy can be very naughty, Holly sometimes dislikes her sisters. Due to the trouble they cause with their magic, most of the adult characters are wary of them, though Queen Thistle seems to be able to deal with them for the most part. Daisy and Poppy are voiced by Zoe Baker.
• Nanny Plum is Holly, Daisy, and Poppy's nanny, and a general housekeeper for the King and Queen. She is very good at magic and capable of speaking many animal languages (including ones which she claims to be a bit difficult such as Mole, Aardvark, Ant, Centipede and Alien). She often ends up in all kinds of trouble when trying to help Holly and friends. She is also a tooth fairy. Although being quite bossy and savage, she is very good at cleaning with magic. She rivals the Wise Old Elf mainly due to their differing opinions over the use of magic. She is a teacher at the Fairy School and also works as a maid. Nanny Plum is voiced by Sarah Ann Kennedy.
• The Wise Old Elf lives in the same tree as Ben at the top in room 98. Since he is the series' "Jack of all trades", he also is the Wise Old Tailor, the elf doctor and the librarian. He also runs the Elf School and The Elf factory. He rivals Nanny Plum and strongly disapproves of magic, but used to admire magic and enjoyed himself when he was briefly given the ability to use magic. He also secretly used magic to fuel the Elf Engine that runs the Elf Factory, as it is clean energy ("a very small Carbon Footprint") and never runs out except on No Magic Day that occurs every blue moon. He has four kids, two of which are pirates, Redbeard the Elf Pirate and Captain Squid, a teacher for Daisy and Poppy's playgroup named Mrs Fotheringill, and a sensible daughter named Yasmin, as shown in the episode 'Fathers Day'. The Wise Old Elf's real name is Cedric. He went to college with Granny and Granpapa Thistle, Mrs Fig is his wife, He also has a twin brother, an Arctic Elf named The Wiser Older Elf. The Wise Old Elf is voiced by David Graham.
  A running gag is that Elf Rescue is a parody of International Rescue in the 1960s television series Thunderbirds, with comparable rocket-powered rescue vehicles and similar strident accompanying music. David Graham, who voices the Wise Old Elf, also voiced Parker the chauffeur in Thunderbirds.
• Gaston the Ladybird is a male ladybird who lives in a small cave. He likes his house being messy as well as food that is "smelly and foul". He does not mind giving Ben rides when Ben needs to fly. Nanny Plum, who understands Ladybird language, translates for him quite often. He acts quite similarly to a dog, making a barking sound when he "speaks", and fetching sticks. Gaston has a brother, Tony, a sister-in-law, Pam, two nieces, Amber and Emerald, and a nephew, Keith. Gaston is voiced by Taig McNab, who is also credited as Editor for Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom. Gaston also has a production company named after him, "Gaston's Cave Limited" and it is currently credited for season 6 of Peppa Pig.

Minor characters[]

• Miss Jolly is a snail riding teacher and a pet trainer. She also has a snail called Trigger.
• Redbeard the Elf Pirate (Nigel) is the pirate uncle of Barnaby Elf, and brother of Fred Elf. He is introduced in series 1, episode 31, where it is also revealed that his real name is Nigel. He sails the oceans in a pirate ship named Pedro, though his size prevents him from engaging in acts of actual piracy, and he is more of a treasure hunter and explorer. He is quite smitten with Nanny Plum whom he considers to be his sweetheart, although Nanny seems to have little interest in him romantically. He has a pet parrot, Polly, although she is normal-sized and barely fits inside Redbeard's ship. Redbeard is voiced by David Rintoul.
• Mrs Fig is the teacher of the Magic School who notably speaks with a Scottish accent. Nanny Plum used to go there and Holly and her friends went there when they were old enough. Despite being a fairy, she detests magic and says the most important rules of magic are "Don't use magic" and "Magic should only be used for serious things". As a result, the Wise Old Elf likes her as they have similar views on magic. Mrs Fig loathes Nanny Plum, who is implied to have been her worst student as she does not adhere to Mrs Fig's ideas on magic. Mrs Fig is voiced by Morwenna Banks.
• Mrs Fotheringill is Daisy and Poppy's playgroup teacher. She was at one point sent back in time to the age of the dinosaurs by Daisy, Poppy, and the other fairy children in her playgroup. She seems to be American due to her accent and when she called Gaston a "ladybug" (not to mention mistaking his gender). Mrs Fotheringill is voiced by Morwenna Banks.
• Mr Elf is Ben Elf's father and Mrs Elf's husband. He is very serious and often likes hard work. He is the food deliverer to the fairies and elves, and delivers presents to Father Christmas. He once enjoyed being a sailor, but because of the fish "Big Bad Barry", who ate most of his boats, he decided to retire.
• Mrs Elf is Ben Elf's mum and Mr Elf's wife. She is a very caring and cheerful female adult elf who enjoys taking holidays (although it was her desire thanks to Mr Elf's hard-working attitude which probably kept them from doing so). Whenever referring to something that often repeats, she says the mentioned verb multiple times, such as saying the dwarves "dig and dig and dig and dig and dig....." until she is politely cut off by a character. She is voiced by Judy Flynn.
• Mr Gnome is a gnome that often wanders around the Little Kingdom ever since Nanny Plum magicked him into the Kingdom to keep moles out of the golf course. He later turned out to be a lazy, talkative, and gluttonous annoyance to the entire kingdom. After his debut appearance, whenever the characters find him, they scream in horror "Ah! The Gnome!" with a bass drum soundtrack representing the characters' fear.
• Gloria Gnome is Mr Gnome's "girlfriend". She was introduced in the episode, "Springtime". Gloria is voiced by Judy Flynn.
• King and Queen Marigold are the king and queen of a far-away kingdom far from the Little Kingdom. They are often described as "snooty" characters who tease and laugh at the Thistle's misfortunes, such as judging the Little Castle, calling it a "shady-old" castle. But when the Thistle family's plans go disastrously wrong, the Marigolds unexpectedly find it "modern" and "daring" instead of teasing them as Queen Thistle predicted. The Marigolds are a cheerful, happy - go - lucky and snooty satire of high-brow trends in modern art and fashion. Queen Marigold is Queen Thistle's cheerful and talkative sister, making the Marigolds part of the Thistle family and the uncle and aunt of Holly, Daisy, and Poppy. Queen Marigold is voiced by Morwenna Banks.
• Milicent "Granny/Grandmama" Thistle is King Thistle's mother. She often believes in using strong and dangerous magic and became a bad influence to Daisy and Poppy by teaching them how to do it and giving them the wands of their great-grandparents (which is a reference to how some grandparents spoil their grandchildren). It was she who revealed that The Wise Old Elf used to love magic, right before the Monkey's Kittens incident.
• Victor "Grandpapa" Thistle is the father of King Thistle and the husband of Milicent. He is "extremely bonkers" and also believes in using wacky and dangerous magic. He, Milicent, and the Wise Old Elf (who they referred to by his real name, Cedric), attended the same college, and like Milicent, he too also spoiled Daisy and Poppy in his last appearance, "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" (not to be confused with the theatrical film of the same name) by expecting to take them to a volcano.
• Mrs Witch is a witch who lives in a small cottage in the Little Kingdom. Although there was a time Holly wanted to know if she was evil, she turned out to be a nice witch who only gets angry or does something bad (like when she turned Nanny Plum into stone) when she is insulted, especially the fact that she is touchy about her private cat, Moggy.
• Captain Squid is a superheroine pirate, She is Redbeard The Pirate's sister, Holly is one of her biggest fans, Captain Squid is voiced by Andy Hamilton.
• Barnaby Elf is a cheerful, loud, talkative And giggly friend of Ben, Barnaby is voiced by Stanley Nickless.
• Rosie is a curious, fun - loving, lighthearted, clever and smart fairy who is friends with Holly, Strawberry, Fleur, Violet, Orange, Blueberry, Lily And Lizzy, Rosie is voiced by Chaniya Mahon.
• Strawberry is a little fairy who is best friends with Holly and often attends lessons with her. She is very cheerful, cute, happy - go - lucky, bubbly and silly, and has her hair styled in a small tulip-bun. Her mum is the vet of the Little Kingdom. Strawberry is voiced by Zara Siddiqi.
• Fleur is a calm, quiet and shy friend of Holly and attends school with the other fairy children (most of them were female for an unspecified reason). She sometimes got turned into a cat by Daisy and Poppy and when she played a game where she was the antagonist, Holly was the "damsel in distress/victim", and Ben was the hero by being a "knight in shining armour", she forgot to magic away the tower and her witch's outfit when her mum called her for dinner. Fleur is voiced by Alice May.
• Fairy Mayor is a character based on Boris Johnson, the former Mayor of London,^[5] Current Prime Minister. He is Strawberry's dad and the vet's husband. He does not like "big people" because they always step on fairies and elves. Fairy Mayor is voiced by Alexander Armstrong.
• Zyros is an alien that lives on Planet Bong, he gets offended when he is called a baby. As seen from the episode shooting star. He likes magic jelly, he has a fear of big people. Zyros's last appearance was brief at Lucy's house on Christmas Day. The character was voiced by Bram Karek.
• Katy
• Yasmin is the manager of The Fantasy Girls and the daughter of The Wise Old Elf and Mrs Fig, Yasmin Is Voiced By Yasmin Shaboo.
• Yumina is Holly, Daisy and Poppy's older other sister and the leader of The Fantasy Girls, Yumina is voiced by Estelle.
• Raven is the daughter of Redbeard The Pirate and a member of The Fantasy Girls, Raven is voiced by Teresa Gallagher.
• Clara is a member of The Fantasy Girls, Clara is voiced by Marieve Herington.
• Flora Glitters is the jocund and talkative Crystalwood news reporter, Flora is voiced by Kate Micucci.
• Lily is Holly's old best friend, She and Holly both share the same thing in common, Including the Captain Squid franchise, Lily is voiced by famous race car driver Danica Patrick.
• The Asian Emos are the stars of Ben and Holly's favorite TV show " The Emos of Asia ", They are voiced by Teresa Gallagher.

Broadcast[]

In the United Kingdom and Ireland the show was broadcast on Channel 5 kids programming block, Milkshake. It was also broadcast on Nick Jr. UK and Ireland. In Canada, the show was broadcast on Treehouse TV. In the United States, the show was broadcast on Nick Jr. The series also airs on Baraem in Qatar. On 1 June 2021, the entire show became available on Netflix.^{[citation needed]}

It was broadcast across Nickelodeon's channels throughout Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America.^{[citation needed]}

Reception[]

Common Sense Media gave the show a 4 out of 5, calling it "charming" and saying it promoted friendship and perseverance.^[6] The Toy Insider also gave the show positive review, saying it was entertaining and also taught positive values.^[7]

References[]

External links[]

• Official Website of Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom
• Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom on Nick Jr. UK
• Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom at IMDb