Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom
Genre	Fantasy Supernatural
Created by	Mark Baker & Neville Astley
Directed by	Mark Baker Neville Astley Phillip Hall (2012) Joris van Hulzen (2012)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	96 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Phil Davies
Running time	52 x 11 minutes
Distributor	E1 Entertainment
Release
Original network	(United Kingdom) : Nickelodeon
First shown in	United Kingdom
Original release	April 24, 2009 – present
Chronology
Related shows	Peppa Pig
External links
Website

Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom is a British animated pre-school children's television series originally broadcast on Nickelodeon UK.

It is broadcast across Nickelodeon's 43 international channels throughout Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.

The show is created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, and produced by Phil Davies at Astley Baker Davies (the company responsible for Peppa Pig). Many of the actors who lend their vocal skills to characters in Peppa Pig also work on Little Kingdom. These include John Sparkes, Sarah Ann Kennedy, David Rintoul and David Graham. The music is produced by Julian Nott, who is noted for his "Wallace and Gromit" scores.

Plot

The show is set in a Little Kingdom, which is ruled by King and Queen Thistle, who live in the Little Castle. The Little Kingdom has a population of Elves who live in The Great Elf Tree, an oak tree set with windows and laid out like an apartment block. The Elves run a factory under the Great Elf Tree where they make toys and wands in the wand factory and also run the Elf Farm and a windmill. The Kingdom also has a population of Fairy Princesses, who live in the fairy village in houses made out of toadstools. Others that live in the Kingdom are the Dwarves, Mrs. Witch and Mr. Gnome.

Characters

• Ben Elf:

Ben is an elf and one of the main characters alongside Princess Holly. He lives with his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Elf. He lives in the Great Elf Tree, number 4. He can be quite tentative when it comes to using magic. Ben wears a blue shirt, a blue pair of shorts and blue triangular hat with an oak leaf sticking out and has red hair. Ben is a young Elf. He has many friends, and his best friend is Princess Holly.
Ben is voiced by Preston Nyman.

• Holly Thistle:

Holly is a fairy and one of the main characters alongside Ben Elf. She lives with her parents, King and Queen Thistle, and with her little sisters, Daisy & Poppy. She likes to use magic despite the risk of things going wrong. Her best friend is Ben Elf. She wears a pink dress, a small crown, and has blonde hair.
Holly is voiced by Sian Taylor.

• King Thistle:

King Thistle rules over the Little Kingdom. He is the husband of Queen Thistle and Princess Holly, Daisy, and Poppy's father. He is often hungry and grumpy, and sometimes hates having a bath. He has no hair, but he does have a brown beard. He wears a brown shirt and has a dark yellow crown.
King Thistle is voiced by Ian Puleston-Davies.

• Queen Thistle:

Queen Thistle is the Queen in the Little Kingdom and the wife of King Thistle. She is Princess Holly, Daisy, and Poppy's mother. Queen Thistle does not appear as often as Holly, but she is very responsible and she is not angry most of the time. She wears a turquoise dress and has a shiny crown and has blonde hair. Queen Thistle is Queen Marigold's younger sister.
Queen Thistle is voiced by Sara Crowe.

• Daisy and Poppy:

Holly's cheeky little twin sisters. They're not very good at magic, but this doesn't stop them from trying, They are quite cheeky and usually end up causing trouble with magic. Daisy wears a yellow dress, while Poppy wears a red dress, and they both have brown hair. As Daisy and Poppy are very naughty, Holly sometimes dislikes her sisters.
Daisy and Poppy are voiced by Zoe Baker.

• Nanny Plum:

Nanny Plum is Holly, Daisy and Poppy's nanny and 'teacher', and a general housekeeper for the King and Queen. She is very good at magic and capable of speaking many animal languages (including ones which she claims to be a bit difficult such as Mole, Aardvark, Ant, Centipede and Alien). She often ends up into all kinds of trouble which she was trying to prevent Holly and friends from getting into. She is also a tooth fairy. She wears a purple dress and has black hair. Although being quite bossy, she is very good at cleaning with magic. She rivals the Wise Old Elf. She is a teacher at the Fairy School and also works as a maid.
Nanny Plum is voiced by Sarah Ann Kennedy.

• The Wise Old Elf:

An elf that lives in the same tree as Ben at the top in room 98. He also is the Wise Old Tailor, the elf doctor and the librarian. He also runs the Elf School and The Elf factory. His hat contains an oak leaf. He rivals Nanny Plum and strongly disapproves of magic, but used to admire magic. He had three sons, two of which are pirates, Redbeard the Elf Pirate and Captain Squid, and a sensible son who later decided to be a Viking, as shown in the episode 'Fathers Day'. The Wise Old Elf's real name is Cedric. He went to college with Granny and Granpapa Thistle. He has a twin brother, an Arctic Elf named The Wiser Older Elf.
The Wise Old Elf is voiced by David Graham.

• Mr. Elf:

Mr. Elf is Ben Elf's father. His job is to deliver items to various places such as food in the Little Kingdom as well as working for the elf farm and is the pilot of the Elf Plane. Mrs. Elf complains he always works too hard. He likes all fairies. He is often grumpy.
Mr. Elf is voiced by John Sparkes.

• Mrs. Elf:

Mrs. Elf is Ben Elf's mother. She has a lily leaf and a flower in her hat and she has brunette hair. She likes to repeat things over and over until someone says "Thank you, we get the idea". Originally one of the smarter characters, as the show progresses she becomes one of the sillier characters.
Mrs. Elf is voiced by Judy Flynn.

• Gaston Ladybird:

Gaston is a male ladybird who lives in a small cave. He likes his house being messy as well as food that is "smelly and foul". He doesn't mind giving Ben rides when Ben needs to fly. Nanny Plum translates for him quite often. He acts quite similar to a dog, making a barking sound when he 'speaks', and fetching sticks. Gaston has two nieces, Amber and Emerald, and a nephew, Keith.
Gaston is voiced by Taig McNab, who is also credited as Editor for Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

• Violet Fairy:

Violet is a fairy who is one of Holly's friends. She wears a violet dress and has violet hair.
Violet is voiced by Lucy Moss.

• Strawberry Fairy:

Strawberry is a fairy who is one of Holly's friends. She wears a light green dress and has red hair. She constantly wants to play the villain in her games with Ben and Holly, often using magic against them.
Strawberry is voiced by Zara Siddiqi.

• Fleur Fairy:

Fleur is a fairy who is one of Holly's friends. She wears a red dress, a red bow and has black hair.
Fleur is voiced by Alice May.

• Rosie Fairy:

Rosie is a fairy and is one of Holly's friends. She wears a blue dress and has black hair. Rosie is voiced by Oriana Pooles in season 1, and Chaniya Mahon in season 2.

• Tangerine Fairy:

Tangerine is a fairy and is one of Holly's friends. She wears a dark orange dress and has orange hair. Tangerine is voiced by Oriana Pooles.

• Dorothy Fairy:

Dorothy is a fairy and is one of Holly's friends. She wears a periwinkle dress and has dark blue hair. Dorothy is voiced by Lucy Moss.

• Barnaby Elf:

Barnaby is an elf and is one of Ben's friends. He has a sister called Nettle. He wears a brown shirt and brown shorts. He likes to play football. His hat has a wheat leaf in it. He has blond hair and his uncle is Redbeard, a pirate.
Barnaby is voiced by Stanley Nickless.

• Jake Elf:

Jake is an elf who is one of Ben's friends. He wears a grey hat with a yellow leaf on it . Jake is voiced by Jonny Butler.

• Oli Elf:

Oli is an elf who is one of Ben's friends. He wears a green hat with a green leaf on it. Oli is voiced by Oliver May.

• Lizzy Elf:

Lizzy is an elf who is one of Ben's friends. She wears a hat with a pink flower in it.
Lizzy is voiced by Cecily Bloom.

• Granpapa Thistle:

Granpapa Thistle is King Thistle's father. He is a fairy with a white moustache who lives in a castle in the clouds and his real name is Victor.
Granpapa Thistle is voiced by Alexander Armstrong.

• Granny Thistle:

Granny Thistle is King Thistle's mother and also Granpapa Thistle's wife. She is a playful fairy whose real name is Millicent. Granpapa and Granny Thistle were Wise Old Elf's college classmates long time ago.
Granny Thistle is voiced by Morwenna Banks.

• King and Queen Marigold:

King and Queen Marigold are relatives of the royal Thistle family. Holly and her family fear that they are "boring and snooty" yet their characteristics often turn into the opposite. King Marigold wears a blue-white-red shirt, purple pants with yellow ankles and has a dark yellow crown, and Queen Marigold wears a gold dress with pink stars and turquoise ankles and has pink hair. Queen Marigold is Queen Thistle's older sister.
King and Queen Marigold are voiced by John Sparkes and Morwenna Banks, respectively.

• Sam Thistle:

King and Queen Marigold's son, King and Queen Thistle's nephew and Holly, Daisy and Poppy's cousin. He wears a red-white shirt, blue pants with purple ankles and a dark yellow crown, and has brown hair. He's a fairy. He has two twin brothers, Lettuce and Carrot.Prince Sam is voiced by Richard Ridings.

• Redbeard the Elf Pirate:

Barnaby's pirate uncle. He claims to be a pirate, yet is good in nature. He is polite but often overdoes it, such as by kissing Nanny Plum's palm every time he talks to her. Redbeard is the son of the Wise Old Elf as shown in the episode 'Fathers Day. He wears a pirate hat.
Redbeard is voiced by David Rintoul.

• Tarquin:

One of Daisy and Poppy's friends. He is featured in "The Party" and refers to himself in the third person, (e.g."Tarquin likes parties!"). He is Marta and Sid's brother who come to Daisy and Poppy's magical party.
Tarquin is voiced by Jonny Butler.

• Raspberry:

One of Daisy and Poppy's friends. She is featured in "The Party". She is Strawberry's rude little sister who also has a rude wand that sticks its tongue out. She has red hair.
Raspberry is voiced by Abigail Daniels.

• Nettle:

One of Daisy and Poppy's friends. She is featured in "The Party". She is Barnaby's little sister. She has a stinging nettle in her hat which stings every time a person touches it. She continuously stings King Thistle.

• King Leopold / Mr. Gnome:

A Garden Gnome who is featured in several episodes. He likes to eat and sleep. He once appeared as King Leopold and made the whole Little Kingdom prepare for his visit.
Mr. Gnome is voiced by David Graham

• Big Bad Barry:

An enormous fish that Mr. Elf has tried to capture many times. Holly, King Thistle and Ben tried to capture him despite Mr. Elf's warnings and they too were no match.
Big Bad Barry is voiced by Richard Ridings.

• Lucy:

Lucy is a human girl (considered a 'giant' to the citizens of the little kingdom) and one of Ben and Holly's friends. She lives with her parents.
Lucy is voiced by Abigail Daniels.

• Rex:

A black and white dog who is Lucy's pet. He starts licking the Wise Old Elf every time he sees him.

• Mrs. Fig:

Mrs. Fig is the teacher of the Magic School. Nanny Plum used to go there and Holly and her friends went there when they were old enough. Despite being a fairy, she detests magic and says the most important rules of magic are "Don't use magic" and "Magic should only be used for serious things". Mrs. Fig is often grumpy that the Wise Old Elf made a jelly flood in the magic school. Mrs. Fig is voiced by Morwenna Banks.

• Mrs. Fotheringill:

Mrs. Fotheringill is Daisy and Poppy's playgroup teacher. She is featured in Daisy and Poppy's Playgroup.

• Captain Squid:

Captain Squid is an Elf Pirate and one of the Wise Old Elf's sons. He is always in competition with his brother Redbeard, who is also an Elf Pirate.
Captain Squid is voiced by Andy Hamilton.

• Fairy Mayor:

This character is based on Boris Johnson, the mayor of London. He is Strawberry's dad and the vet's husband. He wears a sash from the shoulder to waist, with emblems of the Little Kingdom. He doesn't like "big people"because they always step on fairies and elves. Fairy Mayor is voiced by Alexander Armstrong.

• Miss Cookie:

She is the teacher at Lucy's school and once locked Ben and Holly in a drawer! She too is a big person, who only knows about the little kingdom.
Miss Cookie is voiced by Naomi Wilkinson.

Geography

At the start of every episode a map is shown and the Wise Old Elf will say "Today's adventure starts at the (Setting of the episode)" At the very centre of the map is The Meadow. Other locations include:

• Gaston's Cave (North West)
• The Elf Windmill (North East)
• The Beehive (North East) (season 2)
• The Great Elf Tree (East)
• The Elf Farm (further East)
• The Frog Pond (South East)
• The Royal Golf Course (which eventually becomes a crazy golf course) (South West)
• The Fairy Village (South-West) (season 2)
• The Little Castle (West)
• Mrs Witch's House (further West)
• Mrs Fig's Magic School (South)
• The Lake (further North)
• The Magic Bus Stop

In the episode Picnic on the Moon, the Wise Old Elf says "Today's adventure starts in outer space." The map says that the Little Kingdom is located in Mercia, England, United Kingdom.

Each area of the trees that surround The Little Kingdom are named as:

• Picnic Hill (North West) (season 2)
• The Little Forest (North West)
• Elf Oak Wood (North East)
• Lucy's House (South East) (season 2)
• The Pine Forest (South East)
• The Bramble Woods (South West)

Blackberry's Holiday

Written Language

Most of the text seen the episodes is in Lorem ipsum, a dummy text used in the printing industry and based on Latin. However, English text does occasionally appear. There are also some examples of a runic script (loosely based on Futhorc) that appear in the dwarf mine and in secret tunnels beneath the little castle.

Voice cast

Character	Voice	Magic Gender
Ben Elf	Preston Nyman	Male Elf
Princess Holly	Sian Taylor	Female Fairy
Gaston the Ladybird	Taig McNab	Male Ladybird
Nanny Plum	Sarah Ann Kennedy	Female Fairy
King Thistle	Ian Puleston-Davies	Male Fairy
Queen Thistle	Sara Crowe	Female Fairy
Mrs Elf	Judy Flynn	Female Elf
Mr Elf	John Sparkes	Male Elf
Wise Old Elf	David Graham	Male Elf
Violet	Lucy Moss	Female Fairy
Strawberry	Zara Siddiqi	Female Fairy
Prince Blackberryl	Lasindu Nanayakkarall	Male Fairy

Episodes

Main article: List of Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom episodes

External links

• Official Website of Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom
• Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom on Nick Jr. UK
• Official Twitter as voiced by Nanny Plum, Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom