What's the story in Balamory, wouldn't you like to know?
Balamory is a 2002 British children's series all about the life of the residents in Balamory, a fictional Scottish island based on Tobermory.
The show ran for four seasons from 2002 to 2005 on CBeebies.
What's the story in Balamory?
- Alliterative Name: PC Plum, Penny Pocket, Suzie Sweet and Josie Jump.
- Art Evolution: The Season 3-4 intro is re-animated with better CGI.
- Buccaneer Broadcaster: The episode "Pirate Radio" has Edie McCredie unknowingly broadcasting all over Balamory using her aunt's old transceiver, which she hasn't got a license for. The things that pick the signals up are a tap, a phone and a kettle.
- Catchphrase "What's the story in Balamory?"
- Christmas Episode: "Panto" and "Seeking Santa", the latter of which was a DVD exclusive.
- Color-Coded Characters:
- PC Plum: White
- Edie Mc Credie: Blue
- Spencer: Orange
- Penny Pocket and Suzie Sweet: Light blue and Red
- Archie: Pink
- Josie Jump: Yellow
- Miss Hoolie: Green
- Extra-Long Episode: "Seeking Santa".
- Fake Interactivity
- Miss Hoolie generally starts each episode by looking to the camera and saying something along the lines of “Oh, I know you, what was your name again?”, and after a beat, confirming she does remember the viewer.
- The "Which Coloured House are We Going To?" songs are performed in an inquisitive manner, as if the character is asking the titular question to the viewer.
- Homemade Inventions: Archie makes tons of these, most of which have yogurt pots on them.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Prevalent, but most notable in the case of Suzie and Penny who run the village shop and cafe. If their actresses are accurate, the pair are thirty-eight years apart (Mary Riggans (Suzie) was sixty-seven when the show premiered, while Kim Tserkezie (Penny) was twenty nine)
- Gratuitous Italian: In the Spaghetti Day episode, Edie sings some bad Italian while playing an accordion.
- Leitmotif: Every character has one of these. They got changed from Season 3 onwards, though.
- Logo Joke: In Edie's second "Let Me Take You On a Journey" (used from Season 3-4), the logo at the beginning is a parody of the early 90s BBC 1 globe.
- Man in a Kilt: Archie often wears one. Ironically, his actor Miles Jupp isn't actually Scottish.
- No Communities Were Harmed: Balamory is based on the Scottish burgh of Tobermory.
- Once per Episode: The "Which Coloured House Are We Going To?" song and the character song.
- Only Shop in Town: The Pocket and Sweet shop is this.
- Plot-Driven Breakdown: The episode "Broken Down Bus" has Edie's bus break down in the middle of the road and PC Plum trying to find both the bus and Edie.
- Product Placement: The Spice Girls CD "Spiceworld" is the driving force for "Likes and Don't Likes". "Spice Up Your Life" is even played within the episode.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Archie. His house is even painted pink.
- Trademark Favourite Food: Listed in the Balamory annual:
- Miss Hoolie: Italian food, lasagne
- Edie McCredie: Thai food
- Archie: Yogurtnote
- Josie Jump: Beans on toast
- Suzie Sweet: Meatballs and Balamory Buns
- PC Plum: Spaghetti
- Spencer: Olives and cheese
- Penny Pocket: Smorgasbord
- Token Minority: Penny Pocket has a wheelchair and is the only disabled character.
- Unconventional Food Usage: Defied in an episode, where a clown wants to buy real custard pies to throw instead of props, but Susie refuses to let him "throw good food".
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: The only thing we know about Balamory's location is that it's on an island in one of Scotland’s archipelagoes, as evidenced by how characters refer to mainland Scotland as "the mainland". It is based and named after Tobermory, which is a seaside town on the Isle of Mull. A large number of scenes were shot there, most prominently in the case of the town’s harbour, which features brightly-coloured houses and shops that match up with the fictional town. In contrast, Archie's castle is the real life Fenton Tower, which is located in East Lothian, not the Isle of Mull. Then there's the fact that Miss Hoolie's nursery was shot in Glasgow. So who knows where this place really is?
- World Tour: Edie's implied to have gone on one of these.
