Titch      (1997-2000)
  
    producers: Hutchins Film Co. Ltd.
                      for Yorkshire Television
    animation: stop-motion animation
      episodes: 39 x 10mins

 
    "I'm growing a bit every day, every day..."
 

   Were you a "titch", growing up? - You know how it goes. You're the smallest
   in the family, the one who's always left out, overlooked or ignored whilst everyone
   else gets to do the fun stuff. Or at least, that's how it feels, when you're very
   small.

   Titch often finds himself in just such a scenario. His older siblings, Mary and
   Peter always seem to be up to something in which he can't participate, like
   going with Father to see the Wanderers play football. Then there's Aunty Margaret
   and Baby Joe, always hogging the limelight. Still, Titch is a resourceful
   chap, and he's soon seeking out his own fun with Grandpa, or his best friend
   Sam, or best of all, with the family's black and white cat, Tailcat. And then
   there's the ever-present comfort of his little yellow chair. Handy for giving him
   a boost at times, and equally-good for resting as his endeavours take
   their toll.

   "And when I am big I'll be good at the games
    They say I'm too little to play"

   This beautifully understated stop-motion series was adapted from Pat Hutchins'
   picture books, and it places you right down, in the midst of Titch's little world.
   We never see the adults' faces as they roam through frame, always busy
   doing something. We see Mary and Peter, though, and we regularly see them
   fobbing off their little brother with scowling, freckled faces. They convey that
   on-off sibling rivalry and cruelty that's so common, as everyone tries to grow up
   together and find their own space within the ever-changing dynamics of
   a young family.

   Pat Hutchins is a big name in little picture books. She received the prestigious
   Kate Greenaway Medal for "The Wind Blew", in 1974. Folks growing up in the
   90's will also recognise her for her on-screen role as the narrowboat owner in
   three series of "Rosie and Jim".

   "Titch" is imbued with admirable melancholy, thanks in no small part to
   Michael Nyman's roundabout theme song and incidental score. The series
   goes quietly about its business as we follow the the lad's little voyages of
   discovery. They're the trials and tribulations we all experience as we grow up,
   and yet we so-often become oblivious to them in others, once we become
   adults. Toonhound reckons "Titch" is the spiritual successor to Alison
   Prince's Joe...

    Titch books
    by Pat Hutchins
  
   Titch (1971)
   You'll Soon Grow Into Them, Titch (1983)
   Tidy Titch (1991)
   Titch and Daisy (1996)

  

   broadcast info

    The series had its ITV premiere on 26th September 1997...

 

    Titch episodes

 

     Titch on DVD


      Titch: Snowy Day
                Region 2 / six episodes / Right Ent. / Jan 2006

      Titch: The Picnic
                Region 2 / six episodes / Right Ent. / April 2006

 

   Titch by Pat Hutchins