Paddington is a British children's animated television series based on the Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond. Broadcast from 1976 to 1980, the series was scripted by Bond himself, and produced by FilmFair;^[1] it was narrated by Michael Hordern, who also voiced all of the characters.^[2]

Paddington is animated in stop motion. Paddington himself is a puppet in a three-dimensional environment, whilst other characters are paper cut-outs. The final television special used a slightly different technique using 2D drawn fully animated characters.

BBC1 premiered Paddington in January 1976; the series concluded in May, but was appended by two Christmas specials in December. A second series—retitled The Adventures of Paddington—followed in October 1979, and ran until April 1980. In all, 56 episodes were broadcast, followed by three television specials: Paddington Goes to the Movies (1983), Paddington Goes to School (1984), and Paddington’s Birthday Bonanza (1987).^[3]

Paddington was the first television programme adapted from the Paddington Bear stories. Paddington Bear (1989) was produced by Hanna-Barbera for broadcast syndication, while The Adventures of Paddington Bear (1997) was produced by CINAR and Protecrea.

Episodes of Paddington are based on stories published in the following books by Michael Bond:

• Paddington Bear - the protagonist, an accident-prone but well-meaning bear from Darkest Peru. He was named Paddington Brown by the Browns after they found him at Paddington Station as his Peruvian name was difficult to pronounce. He has a fondness for marmalade sandwiches and always keeps one under his hat for emergencies. He is initially found to be wearing a luggage label around his neck bearing the words "Please look after this bear. Thank you." He is also very polite, never addressing someone by their first name but always by their title (Mr., Mrs., Master or Miss).
• Mr. Henry Brown - the patriarch of the Brown family.
• Mrs. Mary Brown - the matriarch of the Brown family.
• Jonathan and Judy Brown - the Brown family children. It is never established if one is older than the other, leading to the perception they are twins.
• Mrs. Bird - the Browns' stern but ultimately friendly nanny and housekeeper.
• Mr. Gruber - the owner of the antique shop on Portobello Road which Paddington frequents for elevenses. He is an elderly man who hails from Hungary.
• Mr. Curry - the Browns' nasty next-door neighbour. He often seeks to get something for nothing and frequently addresses Paddington as "Bear!".

In 1975, FilmFair completed production of the first series, which comprised 30 episodes. The first series aired on BBC1 in 1976. The second series, which comprised 26 episodes, was titled The Adventures of Paddington. These aired in 1978 and 1979, followed by specials in 1980, 1984, and 1986. It later aired on Channel 4 with the series being shown on a wrapper programme called Take 5 which aired children's programmes that been previously shown on other networks.

In the United States, episodes of Paddington aired on Nickelodeon as a segment on the programme Pinwheel, and as part of the syndicated series Romper Room. The Disney Channel purchased broadcast rights to Paddington in 1989 for inclusion in the programme Lunch Box, and also aired the series as post-show interstitials until 1997.^[4][5]

In the Republic of Ireland, the series was broadcast on Raidió Telefís Éireann.

The series later aired in Singapore on Channel 5 as part of their children's block Kids Corner.

The series was also broadcast on e.tv in South Africa during the late 2000s and early 2010s.

In Brunei, the series aired on RTB.

In Japan, it was broadcast on NHK Educational TV from 1994 to 1997.

In Hong Kong, the series was transmitted on Rediffusion Television (which later became ATV in 1982) and aired as part of a children's block called The 5 O'Clock Club.

In Germany the series aired on ZDF, Super RTL in Toggolino, RTL II in Vampy, Sat.1, Tele 5 in Bim Bam Bino, VOX, Das Erste, Kinderkanal, BR, Hr, Rbb, MDR, NDR, WDR, SWR, SR, BR-alpha, One, 3sat, Eins Plus and EinsMuXx

In Italy, the series aired on Rai Uno in 1977.

In Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation broadcast the programme in the early 1980s.

In New Zealand, it was shown on TVNZ 1 (originally TV One) in the late 1970s and during the 1980s.

The composition that became known as the Paddington Bear theme was composed by Herbert Chappell and began life as incidental music for the 1972 BBC adaptation of Lord Peter Wimsey. Its first commercial release was on the b-side of the Lord Peter Wimsey theme single in 1972, where it was titled "Size Ten Shuffle" and credited to "Boyfriends".^[6] This recording - which is not the one actually featured in Paddington - has since appeared on several TV theme compilation albums.^[7]

The composition first became connected with Paddington in a theatre show, "The Adventures of a Bear Called Paddington", in 1973. The track now had lyrics (provided by Herbert Chappell's wife Brenda Johnson) and was retitled simply "Paddington Bear". A version performed by Bernard Cribbins appeared on a four-track single of songs from the show in 1974.^[8][9]

The piece was re-recorded (in two different versions) for the TV show; no performers are credited onscreen apart from composer Herbert Chappell. One of these takes was released on the 1976 album "Paddington's Party Record" which credits the performers as Freddie Williams and The Master Singers.^[10] This vinyl release remains the only source of the original televised version of the Paddington theme tune.

Paddington is seen in four adverts for Marmite in the late 2000s.^[12][13]

In 2009, the version of Paddington from this show appeared in The Official BBC Children in Need Medley by Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band alongside other animated characters.

• The Wombles (1973)
• Old Bear Stories (1993)