Teletubbies is a BBC children's television series, particularly aimed at young children, produced from 1997 to 2001 by Ragdoll Productions. It was created by Anne Wood CBE, Ragdoll's creative director, and Andrew Davenport, who wrote each of the show's 365 episodes. Narrated by Tim Whitnall, the programme rapidly became a critical and commercial success in Britain and abroad, particularly notable for its high production values; it won a BAFTA in 1998.

Although the show is aimed at children between the ages of one and four, it has been a substantial cult hit with older generations, including university students. "Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!", a single based on the show's theme song, reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1997 and remained in the Top 75 for 32 weeks, selling over a million copies.

The programme features four colourful characters: Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po who live in a futuristic dome (the "Tubbytronic Superdome"), set in a landscape of rolling hills. The environment is dotted with unusually talkative flowers and periscope-like "voice trumpets". The only natural fauna are rabbits (although birds are often heard, particularly blackcaps and wrens). The climate is always sunny and pleasant save for occasional inclement days, with rain and puddles, and snow at Christmas time.

The Teletubbies are played by actors dressed in bulky costumes, although the sets are designed to give no sense of scale. The costumes vaguely resemble large spacesuits, although the Tubbies appear not to wear real clothes. They are instead furry, and have metallic silver-azure rectangular "screens" adorning their abdomens. These screens are used to segue into short film sequences, which are generally repeated at least once. When the series is shown in different countries around the world, the film inserts are to be tailored to suit local audiences.

The Teletubbies have the body proportions, behaviour and language of toddlers. The pacing and design of the show was developed by cognitive psychologist Andrew Davenport, who structured the show to fit the attention spans of the target audience. The repetition of practically every word is familiar to everyone who has ever worked with young children. There was also help from Shatarra Willis the stage manager who helped the show to become a success.'

The Teletubbies speak in a gurgling baby language which is the subject of some controversy among educationalists, some of whom argue that this supposedly made-up talk is not good for children. (A similar complaint was made forty years previously about another children's series, Flower Pot Men). Tubbies are at the stage of understanding speech but not yet fully capable of articulating it, exactly like their target audience. They often simply groan in disapproval in situations where a human toddler would throw a tantrum. The Teletubbies' catch-phrases are Eh-oh (hello), as in: Eh-oh, Laa-Laa, to which Laa-Laa will respond, Eh-oh, [other Tubby's name]; "Uh-oh", a common toddler response to anything untoward; "Run away! Run away!", especially from Dipsy; and "Bye-bye" at least four times in a row. Laa-Laa, when flustered, will explode with "Bibberly cheese!", which is as angry as they get. Perhaps the most common exclamation, however, is "Big hug!" which one or more of the Teletubbies will invariably call for during the course of an episode, resulting in an enthusiastic group hug.

All the Teletubbies say "Bye-Bye" three times. The narrator bids each Teletubby goodbye, and they disappear, but reappear a moment later saying "Boo!". The narrator then says "No", and proceeds to say goodbye to each Teletubby again. The sun is then shown setting, and the Teletubbies each say goodbye again, before jumping down a hole in the roof of their house. Finally, one Teletubby says goodbye a fourth time- they pop out of a hole in the house and say "Bye-bye!". For special episodes, and at the end of the "Fun With The Teletubbies" cassette, all four Teletubbies say "Bye-bye" in this way. Many of the occurances of the show, including the end sequence, and the scene preceding the the short film broadcast on a characters tummy were shot only once, and the same scenes are used in each episode.

Tinky Winky (purple)
(Dave Thompson, Mark Heenehan, Simon Shelton): Male.
He is the largest of the Teletubbies, with a triangular antenna on his head. Tinky Winky is notable for the red luggage (described by the show as a "magic bag", but often described by other media as a handbag) he carries. His character has caused much controversy due to allegations that his character's behaviour carried homosexual undertones. He is also found dancing in a ballet-style tutu from time to time, which is also often worn by La-La.



Dipsy (green)
(John Simmit): Male.
He has a straight dipstick antenna on his head, hence his name. His favorite item to wear and carry with him is his black and white hat. Dipsy is the most obstinate of the characters, and will sometimes refuse to go along with the other Tubbies' group opinion. His face is also notably darker than the rest of the Teletubbies.



Laa-Laa (yellow)
(Nikky Smedley): Female.
She has a curly antenna and is very concerned with the welfare of all. She's the best singer of all the teletubbies. "Drama queen", party-girl and mother type. Her favourite thing is a bouncy, orange ball which is almost as big as her.



Po (red)
(Pui Fan Lee): Female.
Although many are unsure of Po's gender, or consider her to be male (possibly because of her scarlet color and tomboyish antics), she is clearly referred to as female in several episodes, such as "Dad's Portrait" (Episode 216, first broadcast 1998) and "Numbers:2" (Episode 30). Her antenna is short with a circle on top. Po is the smallest of all the Teletubbies and often the one who gets into innocent trouble. Her favorite thing is her scooter as she calls it ("Po 'cooter!"). Of all the Teletubbies, Po usually becomes most involved with the audience.



Noo-Noo
No gender specified.
Noo-Noo seems to be the Teletubbies housekeeper or cleaner, due to his resemblance to a vacuum cleaner, which is his initial purpose in the house. He hardly ventures outside, instead remaining indoors and constantly cleaning with his sucker-like nose. He does not speak like the other characters, instead communicating through a series of slurping and sucking noises. At times, Noo-Noo gets annoyed with the Teletubbies antics and can vacuum their food or toys. This usually prompts the Teletubbies to scold Noo-Noo through a cry of "Naughty Noo-Noo!". Usually after this, Noo-Noo flees and the Teletubbies pursue him comically around the house until they grow tired, are distracted by something, or forgive Noo-Noo. This sequence ends with them hugging him, or with him shooting out their absorbed objects.