Commissioned by BBC Children’s and airing on CBeebies from 4 February 2019, Moon and Me is produced by Andrew Davenport’s Foundling Bird, in association with Sutikki, the kids and family division of Bento Box Entertainment. The Commissioning Editor for CBeebies is Michael Towner. Pepi Nana, Moon Baby and their friends are waiting for your call with the Moon & Me Call & Learn Phone by VTech! A Hollywood entertainment company, Bento Box Entertainment, partnered with Davenport’s Foundling Bird business to bring to produce Moon and Me, which is designed to relax toddlers and prepare them for sleepy-time. Magical Toy House Pepi Nana is a very magical toy - at night, when the Moon shines, she comes to life. Pepi Nana begins every episode by sitting down at her desk and writing a magical letter to the Moon. Moon and Me is a classic series of gentle and emotive tales about a magical toy, Pepi Nana, who lives in a Toy House with a “family” of comical toy friends. Together they welcome a special visitor from the Moon, Moon Baby, who opens a magical way into Storyland, where they share the wonderful stories waiting for them.

Moon and Me - ABC Kids Moon and Me - ABC Kids

Inspired by well-loved tales of toys that come to life when nobody is looking, Moon and Me is the comical story of a special friendship between two characters from completely different worlds. Moon and Me, launching as part of the newly re-vamped CBeebies Bedtime from 4 February, is a 50x22’ magical new series for pre-school, created, written, composed and produced by Andrew Davenport (Teletubbies, In the Night Garden) and told by Nina Sosanya (Good Omens, W1A, Last Tango in Halifax, Killing Eve, Love Actually). The series eschews CGI. “We use puppetry to make the toys come alive and stop motion animation for Moon Baby. We’re trying to make a different world that doesn’t look like anything else out there. It’s a handcrafted with 500 individually-designed props and furnishings. The viewer is at eye level and sees the whole toy house.” In The Night Garden was another billion-pound hit for Davenport (BBC) Debuted in 1997 and has now seen by an estimated billion children in 120 countries. Controversy followed the four creatures with televisions on their abdomens who played each day in Teletubbyland.Davenport emerged with “a show that wears its emotional heart on its sleeve. Pepi Nana and her friends share books, write letters to each other, draw pictures, make things, invent things and go in search of adventure together.” ‘Tiddle-toddle’ Inspired by well-loved tales of toys that come to life when nobody is looking, every enchanting episode of Moon and Me begins with a child gently putting a selection of favourite toys - Pepi Nana, Colly Wobble, Little Nana, Lambkin, Mr. Onion, Sleepy Dibillo and Lily Plant - to bed in their Toy House. But Pepi Nana is a very special toy - at night when the Moon shines, she comes to life, then sits down at her desk to write a letter to the Moon. Moon Baby, who lives there, receives the letter and visits the Toy House for tea. By playing magical music on his kalimba, he wakes up the other toy friends so they can all join in a new story together. Voice activated play allows your little one to pretend call the Moon & Me characters and develop listening and role-play skills with the 6 exciting activities!

Moon and Me - Pepi Nana and Moon Baby - Rainbow Productions Moon and Me - Pepi Nana and Moon Baby - Rainbow Productions

The show breaks new ground in its technical, visual and conceptual ambition and combines the latest production methods, using a combination of sophisticated puppetry and stop-motion to bring the colourful Moon and Me world to life. The Toy House alone features over 500 incredibly detailed, individually designed, hand-built and hand-painted miniature props and furnishings, with hidden messages for children to discover in many of the patterns and decorations. Andrew Davenport is renowned for creating premium quality television for young children, built on a special regard for play. Moon and Me’s narrative and structure has, in part, developed out of Foundling Bird’s own Toy House Play Observation Project, conducted in partnership with the University of Sheffield, which looked at the way children engage with toy houses in contemporary play. Voiced by actress Nina Sosanya, the series breaks new ground in its technical ambition and is based on the latest insights into how pre-school children explore their innate curiosity. In The Night Garden and Teletubbies creator We went to Sheffield University and set up an observational project. We had children playing in toy houses and set up a microphone inside. It was like a Big Brother house for toys.” The magical world of play and discovery created by Andrew is both timeless and captivating, and embodies CBeebies’ mission to light up little learners. — Cheryl TaylorThe series “taps into children’s innate curiosity and desire to create through their play routines, forming their own imaginary worlds and relationships through their toys.” Michael Towner, Commissioning Editor at CBeebies, said it was “vital” for children to experience quality UK-originated pre-school programming.

Moon and Me joins CBeebies Bedtime Tiddle toddle! Moon and Me joins CBeebies Bedtime

Davenport, 53, who has a BSc in speech sciences, conducted his own academic research before embarking on the project. “I was interested in the literary storm of ‘toy house’ stories in the middle of the nineteenth century which are still in print today,” Davenport told i. Pepi Nana is one of the main characters in Moon And Me. She is a girl toy doll who wakes up in the night from the moon's shone. She has appeared in every episode in the show. Her catchphrase is "Tiddle Toddle". She never says anything other than that, but the narrator does, making a new phrase that the narrator has said something different from "Tiddle Toddle". When magical toy Pepi Nana wakes up during the night, she writes a letter to the moon. She meets a new friend, Moon Baby, and all the toys wake up, ready to begin their adventures. More

With friendship at its heart, and inspired by pre-school children’s toy-house play, Moon and Me explores the special bonds between the characters, and how they demonstrate kindness, empathy and consideration to each other - and to their newest friend, Moon Baby. Move over Tinky Winky and Igglepiggle – meet Moon Baby, Colly Wobble and the magical Pepi Nana, with her catchphrase “tiddle toddle!”. Davenport already has plans for fifty more Moon and Me episodes although his shows appear about as regularly as new Kate Bush albums. “I’d love to make the next one in less than ten years time,” he admitted. “This is just the time it takes to develop a show like this. Moon and Me just felt like the right thing to do next.”