Rubbadubbers

Rubbadubbers is a 2002 British stop-motion children's television series produced by HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series aired from 2002 to 2005 on BBC2 in the United Kingdom. Created by Peter Curtis, it features seven friendly tub toys who come to life and tell stories.

Rubbadubbers
Genre	Children's television series
Created by	Peter Curtis
Written by	Marc Seal Jan Page Andrew Viner Tom Cocklin Andrew Brenner Sally Lever Hiawyn Oram Jocelyn Stevenson Hazel McBride Polly Churchill
Directed by	Brian Little Nick Herbert
Voices of	John Gordon Sinclair Sean Hughes Maria Darling
Theme music composer	KiCK Production
Opening theme	"Here Come the Rubbadubbers"
Ending theme	"Here Come the Rubbadubbers" (Instrumental)
Composer	KiCK Production
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	52
Production
Executive producer	Jocelyn Stevenson
Producer	Jackie Cockle
Editors	Zyggy Markiewicz Jane Hicks
Running time	10 minutes per episode (approx.)
Production companies	HIT Entertainment HOT Animation
Original release
Network	BBC2 CBeebies
Release	2 September 2002 (2002-09-02) – 14 February 2005 (2005-02-14)
Related
Bob the Builder

The series pilots were made before it was commissioned by the BBC in 2000: "Plugg" from 1999 and "Splish Splash Splosh!" from 2001.

Overview

Seven anthropomorphic, friendly British bath toys called the Rubbadubbers live a peaceful life in the bathroom of a house in the fictional Bathsville City. The toys belong to two children who live at the house named Benjie and Sis (however, they are never ever seen on-screen, not even their shadows). Whenever the children or anyone else are not present, the Rubbadubbers come to life and begin a fun activity.

But in every episode, one of the toys become dissatisfied with the way the activity or situation goes. He/she then wishes for it to go as planned by beginning the wish with 'if only...' . Suddenly, the Rubbadubber begins dreaming about an alternate reality where the wish comes true. Some of the other Rubbadubbers appear in the dream world as well, where they play different versions of their regular selves in order to either assist or hinder the character that made the wish. It always turns out that the wish goes wrong in the dream world, much to the character's disappointment.

Characters

Rubbadubbers

• Tubb the Frog (voiced by John Gordon Sinclair) is a male Scottish rubber frog and the leader of the Rubbadubbers.
• Sploshy the Starfish (voiced by Maria Darling) is the Rubbadubbers' mischief-maker. She has suction cups behind every one of her five arms, speaks with a childish English accent, is energetic.
• Finbar the Mighty Shark (voiced by Sean Hughes) is the bathroom's mischief-maker. He often calls himself in third-person 'the mighty, scary shark', while often playing games involving pretend hunting and scaring. He also frequently uses the word 'mighty' in place of 'very' to describe things.
• Terence the Bubble-Bath Crocodile (voiced by John Gordon Sinclair) is Amelia's closest friend who can blow bubbles through his nostrils and dislikes getting splashed, often avoiding liquid water altogether.
• Winona the Whale (vocal effects performed by Maria Darling) is the only Rubbadubber who cannot at all make "If Only" wishes, but she can still make squeaking sounds in order to communicate with the other Rubbadubbers.
• Reg the Robot (voiced by John Gordon Sinclair) is the supporting leader of the Rubbadubbers who speaks with a distinctive stammer. Just like Terence, he avoids water, as simply getting splashed makes him "short circuit". He also stutters rather often.
• Amelia the Submarine (voiced by Maria Darling) is the bathroom's first mate who has the nose of a clown. Likely named after Amelia Earhart, she and the Rubbadubbers often call her 'the flying submarine'.

Episodes

Series	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	13		2 September 2002 (2002-09-02)	2 October 2002 (2002-10-02)
2	13		17 February 2003 (2003-02-17)	20 March 2003 (2003-03-20)
3	13		3 May 2004 (2004-05-03)	1 June 2004 (2004-06-01)
4	13		15 January 2005 (2005-01-15)	14 February 2005 (2005-02-14)

Series 1 (2002)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Original air date
1	1	"Tubb the Pirate"	2 September 2002 (2002-09-02)
After getting scared by a pirate's hat, Tubb wishes to become a pirate so he can never be scared. In his dream, he becomes the captain of a pirate ship. However, when he and his crew arrive on an island, they are shooed off by two pirates called Rusty Reg and Terrible Terrence. When they begin to shoot cannonballs at them, they have to rely on bravery to save themselves.
2	2	"Terence's Double Trouble"	4 September 2002 (2002-09-04)
Terence wishes to have a friend just like him after the Rubbadubbers do not want to play with him. In his dream, he meets Lawrence, a character who looks and acts the same as him. They instantly become friends, but when Lawrence starts to impress the Rubbadubbers with his tricks as well as getting all the attention, thus overshadowing Terence.
3	3	"Reg the Monster"	7 September 2002 (2002-09-07)
Reg wants to finish his jigsaw puzzle in peace, so he becomes the "Leave Me Alone Monster" in his 'If Only-' sequence.
4	4	"Sploshy's Tail"	9 September 2002 (2002-09-09)
Sploshy wants to do tail tricks like Winona, so she gets herself a weird-shaped tail.
5	5	"Tubb the Magician"	12 September 2002 (2002-09-12)
Tubb sees Benjie's magic wand and wants to make things disappear for good, but it never works. Wishing that he was a magician, Tubb becomes just that in his dream. When he accidentally makes all his friends disappear, including Terence and Winona, he doesn't know how to get them back again. Luckily, Witch Sploshy saves the day after Tubb gives her the wand.
6	6	"Deep Sea Rug"	14 September 2002 (2002-09-14)
Reg wishes he could have fun in the water with the others without malfunctioning, so in his dream, he is tasked with guarding the royal treasure of King Tubb and Queen Sploshy of the deep ocean. When they leave, Reg accidentally lets in Finbar the thief and allows him to steal the treasure. When he gets away, Reg has to chase him down before it's too late.
7	7	"Scary Finbar"	17 September 2002 (2002-09-17)
After Finbar fails to scare any of his six friends, he wishes that he could scare them for real. When he dreams of becoming an even scarier version of himself, the others are just too scared to be with him, much to his disappointment.
8	8	"Train Driver Tubb"	19 September 2002 (2002-09-19)
When the Rubbadubbers find Benjie and Sis' homemade model train lying about on the bathroom floor, they begin playing on it, with everyone playing a different role. But Tubb starts to do everything himself, which upsets the others. Wishing he was allowed to do so, in his dream, Tubb becomes the driver of a train carrying passengers and real gold in the safe. When the Mighty Train Robbers hijack the train, however, they take Tubb and his passengers as prisoners and tie them up, but when the speed lever breaks and the train goes full speed, Tubb has to stop the train from derailing.
9	9	"Sploshy of the Arctic"	21 September 2002 (2002-09-21)
Sploshy transports herself to the Arctic after not wanting to cool off on a hot day.
10	10	"Sploshybird"	24 September 2002 (2002-09-24)
After disrupting the Rubbadubbers' quiet time, Sploshy becomes a bird who makes noise when she moves, but she is captured by two sound-seekers along with Tubb and Reg who are also noise-making birds.
11	11	"Terence Of Arabia"	26 September 2002 (2002-09-26)
After being splashed, Terence transports himself to a desert, where there is not much water and he must find an oasis for the other Rubbadubbers.
12	12	"Speedy Terence"	29 September 2002 (2002-09-29)
After losing a race thanks to being distracted, Terence wants to be fast, but he eventually realizes winning is not at all that important.
13	13	"Amelia the Babysitter"	2 October 2002 (2002-10-02)
Amelia wants to be in charge, all because she does not want to be told what to do. After babysitting the other Rubbadubbers in a cloud world, she learns that being in charge is too much responsibility and sings the song "It's Never Ever Easy".

Series 2 (2003)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Original air date
14	1	"Princess Amelia"	17 February 2003 (2003-02-17)
After bumping her nose, Amelia wants everyone to worry about her when they all worry about Reg instead, so she becomes a princess, with her servants, Tubb and Finbar, worrying about her and not ever letting her out of her bedroom, when she realizes everyone worrying about her is actually quite a bad thing.
15	2	"Rocket Sled Reg"	20 February 2003 (2003-02-20)
Reg wishes himself into having a faster sledge, but the sledge soon goes out of control in a crazy race.
16	3	"Terence the Shopkeeper"	22 February 2003 (2003-02-22)
Terence is being possessive of the new, fancy, bubble bath and soap bottles in the bathroom, and becomes even more possessive in his dream of being a shopkeeper.
17	4	"Tubb the Frog Prince"	25 February 2003 (2003-02-25)
After Tubb sees his friends read a fairy tale book, Tubb becomes a frog prince himself.
18	5	"Amelia and the Detectives"	27 February 2003 (2003-02-27)
Amelia needs a detective to help her find her missing sponge, not realizing she put it away in the first place.
19	6	"Footballer Tubb"	3 March 2003 (2003-03-03)
Tubb hates losing football games, so he wishes that he can win all the time.
20	7	"Finbar the Star"	5 March 2003 (2003-03-05)
Finbar becomes a movie star to get out of tidying up the bathroom.
21	8	"Spaceman Reg"	8 March 2003 (2003-03-08)
Reg wants to go to the moon after not knowing about it, where he meets all the Rubbadubbers as aliens and helps them solve a low-gravity problem.
22	9	"Doctor Terence"	10 March 2003 (2003-03-10)
Terence becomes a doctor to cheer his friends up and make them better.
23	10	"Super Amelia"	13 March 2003 (2003-03-13)
After Amelia and Finbar try to go outdoors with each other, Amelia wishes herself into superhero training.
24	11	"Sploshy the Stoneseeker"	15 March 2003 (2003-03-15)
Sploshy wants to collect stones after not sharing any with her friends.
25	12	"Sheriff Terence"	18 March 2003 (2003-03-18)
Terence makes his own rules but runs into trouble when his own rules get the better of him in the wild, wild, west.
26	13	"Tubb's Cake Mistake"	20 March 2003 (2003-03-20)
Tubb dislikes the pretend cake at a tea party, so he is transported to a cake shop to try real cake, but accidentally eats a cake meant for a competition.

Series 3 (2004)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Original air date
27	1	"Finbar's Rescuers"	3 May 2004 (2004-05-03)
Finbar does not want to be a rescuer in Sponge Rescue, so he wishes to be rescued instead.
28	2	"Finbar and the Green Hat Gang"	5 May 2004 (2004-05-05)
Finbar sets certain requirements for anyone who wants to be in his gang.
29	3	"Terence the Spy"	8 May 2004 (2004-05-08)
Terence wants to find out what his friends are planning for him, as it is a secret.
30	4	"Terence's Bubble Trouble"	10 May 2004 (2004-05-10)
Terence does not want to run out of bubbles, so he wishes that everything he touches turns into bubbles.
31	5	"Finbar's Important Part"	13 May 2004 (2004-05-13)
Finbar wants to join a band, but all the instruments are taken. He soon realizes something he has been taking for granted, with that being him as the singing role.
32	6	"Copy Sploshy"	15 May 2004 (2004-05-15)
Sploshy wants everyone to copy her dance exactly, instead of adding their own moves. When she wishes herself to Copyland, everyone soon starts copying her constantly, including when Sploshy is not dancing.
33	7	"Reg's Game Plan"	18 May 2004 (2004-05-18)
Reg does not have any new games in his memory banks, so he wishes himself to Game Land to think of something new.
34	8	"Farmer Sploshy"	20 May 2004 (2004-05-20)
Sploshy wants to live on a farm and drive around on a tractor all day, but she ends up neglecting all of her duties.
35	9	"Little Red Riding Tubb"	22 May 2004 (2004-05-22)
Tubb plays all the roles in a Little Red Riding Hood play, which leads to costume mishaps and stage hazards.
36	10	"Silly Sploshy"	25 May 2004 (2004-05-25)
Sploshy is in a silly mood, and wants all the other Rubbadubbers to clown around with her when they are supposed to be building a tower.
37	11	"Terence's Tires"	27 May 2004 (2004-05-27)
Terence wants new ties after Benjie and Sis rush off to buy new school uniforms.
38	12	"Reg in Squareworld"	30 May 2004 (2004-05-30)
After Reg cannot draw a sun properly, he wishes himself into a square world, where circles are illegal.
39	13	"Amelia the Driver"	1 June 2004 (2004-06-01)
Amelia has to dive to bring up Captain Terence's ship, the Jolly Bubble, from under the sea.

Series 4 (2005)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Original air date
40	1	"Finbar's Gift"	15 January 2005 (2005-01-15)
When the Rubbadubbers give each other Christmas gifts, Finbar wishes that he has all the presents on his own special day.
41	2	"Finbar and the Ghosts"	18 January 2005 (2005-01-18)
After Finbar is unable to scare his friends with a scary story, he wishes himself to a school of ghosts.
42	3	"Sploshy's Wishes"	20 January 2005 (2005-01-20)
After Sploshy's wish on a shooting star does not come true, she wishes for her own genie (that being Terence) to give her wishes in a dry, quiet oasis.
43	4	"Sporty Reg"	23 January 2005 (2005-01-23)
After not winning the bathroom games, Reg wishes himself into Sports World to find out his real strengths.
44	5	"The House That Tubb Built"	26 January 2005 (2005-01-26)
Tubb wants to build a house his way instead of following directions provided on a guide.
45	6	"Terence the Monster Hunter"	28 January 2005 (2005-01-28)
When Terence sees Finbar dress up like a monster in the bathroom, he wishes that everyone believed him in that it was a real monster.
46	7	"Reg and the Library"	31 January 2005 (2005-01-31)
Reg wants to read in peace, so he wishes himself to a library.
47	8	"Tufty Tubb"	2 February 2005 (2005-02-02)
Tubb wants to grow hair and styles it for a competition.
48	9	"Lighthouse Keeper Reg"	4 February 2005 (2005-02-04)
Reg does not want to take a break from keeping watch for Benjie and Sis, so he wishes for his own lighthouse.
49	10	"Tubb's Towers"	6 February 2005 (2005-02-06)
Tubb wants to run a hotel after trying and failing to read a letter from Benjie and Sis' grandmother in peace.
50	11	"Messenger Terence"	9 February 2005 (2005-02-09)
Terence wants to be first with the news, so he becomes a colonial explorer delivering news to a village on an island.
51	12	"Sky Painter Amelia"	11 February 2005 (2005-02-11)
Amelia wants to make pictures like her friends, but she cannot hold her paintbrush right due to not having arms.
52	13	"Finbar the Word Shark"	14 February 2005 (2005-02-14)
Finbar keeps losing a word game, so he wants to know all the words.

Shorts

These shorts were never seen on television in the United Kingdom, but six of them were released on DVDs.

1. "Row, Row, Row"
2. "Steamy Mirror"
3. "On A Roll"
4. "Swimming Races"
5. "Hide And Seek"
6. "Great Skate"
7. "Swimmin'!"
8. "Drip"
9. "Being Choosey"
10. "All Wrapped Up"
11. "Something Sticky"
12. "Having A Ball"
13. "Can You Remember?"
14. "Floaty Feather"
15. "Clean and Groovy"

VHS and DVD Releases

• Rubbadubbers: Here Come the Rubbadubbers!
• Rubbadubbers: Splish! Splash! Splosh!
• Rubbadubbers: Bathtime Scramble