Trivia / Bob the Builder

• Acting for Two: There are only three major voice actors in the UK dub of the original series voicing all the main characters; Neil Morrissey (Bob the Builder, Roley, Lofty, Farmer Pickles), Rob Rackstraw (Scoop, Spud, Travis, Mr. Bentley) and Kate Harbour (Wendy, Dizzy, Mrs. Potts, Pilchard, Bird). In the US dub of the original series, William Dufris voiced Bob, Farmer Pickles and Mr. Beasley, Alan Marriott voiced Scoop, Spud, Travis and Mr. Bentley, and Maria Darling voiced both Roley and Dizzy. In the "Project: Build It!", Emma voices Lofty and Benny, the former in the US dub only.
• Banned Episode: "Travis and the Tropical Fruits" from season 12 was skipped over by PBS, due to horse poop being a major part of the episode. Consequently, its sister episode "Scoop the Teacher" was also initially skipped, but was later aired on Sprout.
• Channel Hop:
  • In the United States, the show aired on Nick Jr. from 2001 to 2004. In 2005, the show moved to PBS Kids, where it aired until November 2018.
  • Reruns of Ready, Steady, Build! were added to Universal Kids in April of 2019.
  • The 2015 series moved to Qubo in August of 2019 for only Season 3.
  • In the United Kingdom, the 1998 series aired on CBBC from 1998 to 2002. In 2002, the 1998 series aired on CBeebies until 2015. In September 2015, the 2015 series aired on Channel 5.
• Crossdressing Voices: In the US dub, Roley and Lofty are voiced by Maria Darling and Sonya Leite respectively, making the latter sound more like a woman.
• Dueling Dubs: The show is broadcast in America with a different voice cast for each era of the show, as opposed to the original British version which used the same cast throughout most of the show. The original British cast was eventually replaced beginning with the 2015 reboot series. Additionally, beginning with the reboot series, Muck is a male in both the British and American dubs, whereas she was previously female only in the American dub.
• Kids' Meal Toy: In 2009, Red Rooster had a hard hat, a hammer, and a tool belt for boys. Bob was paired alongside Angelina Ballerina for girls.
• Network to the Rescue:
  • After PBS dropped the franchise in 2018, Universal Kids (which used to air the show back when it was called PBS Kids Sprout) picked it up on April 23, 2019, making it the second PBS show to return to the channel, with the first being Barney & Friends.^note Not counting Caillou since that show has always been on the channel, even after all the other PBS shows were nuked, and after the rebranding to Universal Kids Coincidentally, both series are owned by HIT Entertainment.
  • After the 2015 reboot was dropped from PBS, Qubo picked it up and started airing it on August 26, 2019 for only the third season but uses the UK dub. Qubo airs the reboot while Universal Kids airs Ready, Steady, Build!.
• The Other Darrin: Many of the characters were recast, even prior to the 2015 series.
  • Scoop in the American dub was replaced by David Menkin, as Alan Marriott left.
  • The British voice actor for both Spud and Mr. Bentley, Rob Rackstraw, left his own voice intact in the American dub, starting with the "Project: Build It!" era.
  • Most of the cast was replaced for Ready, Steady, Build!. Muck, in particular, was voiced by Sophie Aldred in the US dub (yes, the latest companion of Classic Who was on Bob the Builder for a time).
• Screwed by the Network: Once the reboot rolled around, reruns of the original series and Ready, Steady, Build! were wiped from the airwaves. The reboot used to be adored by PBS, but new episodes stopped airing after 2016 and the show was relegated to awkward time-slots on the weekends. The show's sole rerun on the 24/7 channel was erased in early 2018. All this culminated in PBS losing the rights to the franchise and removing the show from their website with the intent of replacing the show with Let's Go Luna!.
• Series Hiatus: The entire Bob the Builder franchise went on a three-year hiatus after the original series ended in 2011. It returned in 2015 with a series that ran until 2018.
• Similarly Named Works: The episode "Eskimo Bob" (which was renamed "Bob of the North" in North America) shares its title with a webtoon.
• What Could Have Been: Bradford Exchange planned to produce a series of wooden playsets based on Ready, Steady, Build! that would have been compatible with other wooden rail and road brands like BRIO, which had the Bob license from 2001 to 2003. However, the Bradord Exchange range was cancelled before it was released.
• Written by Cast Member: Lorelei King, Wendy's U.S. dub actor, received story credit for "Lofty's Shelter".

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