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Wikipedia / Button Moon

Button Moon is a British children's television programme, created by Ian Allen, produced by Thames Television, and broadcast originally 8 December 1980 to 1 December 1988 on ITV. The series focuses on the adventures of the Spoon family, who visit the titular lunar object that orbits their planet via a homemade rocket. Each episode was ten minutes long, with each of the show's series series consisting of thirteen episodes.

Stories for each episode involved many of the characters and props being based on kitchen utensils and household objects, with each plot involving members of the Spoon family experiencing an adventure on Button Moon, before viewing a story being played out in another world. The show received numerous VHS and DVD releases, as well as being sold to several countries outside the United Kingdom.

Production

In 1978, Ian Allen came up with the concept of Button Moon as a stage show for Playboard Puppets in 1978. In 1980, Allen was approached by the producers of the children's series Rainbow, who were looking to introduce new recurring story features for the programme. Discussions for implementing his concept into the programme later determined his idea would be more suitable to be its own stand-alone programme, with Thames Television green-lighting a pilot episode. The broadcast later proved popular, leading Thames to commission additional episodes for their schedules.

Production of each episode saw Allen work alongside fellow puppeteers that included John Thirtle, Francis Wright, Alistair Fullarton, Robin Stevens, Sue Dacre, Chris Leith, Judith Bucklow, Ian Brown, Rhiann West, and Tony Holtham. Stories were narrated by Robin Parkinson, with the show's soundtrack written by Peter Goslin; the show's theme tune was composed and performed by Peter Davison and Sandra Dickinson, who were married at the time.

Episode list

Series 1 (1980–1981)

Series 2 (1981–1982)

Series 3 (1983)

Series 4 (1985)

Series 5 (1986)

Series 6 (1987)

Series 7 (1988)

Home Media

VHS

DVD

Broadcast history

Button Moon originally aired between 8 December 1980 to 1 December 1988. Repeats were later made available on UK Gold (since 1993), The Children's Channel, Nick Jr. and Nick Jr. Classics. In June 2024, all episodes were made available on streaming platform ITVX as part of a Premium subscription.

Alongside the United Kingdom, the show has also been broadcast internationally:

In Germany, the series with its English voiceovers was broadcast on the BFBS as well as its former network known as SSVC Television.

  • SSVC also broadcast the series internationally, including to the Falkland Islands, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Belize and Bosnia.

  • In Zimbabwe, the series was broadcast on ZBC.

  • In Kenya, the series was broadcast on VOK (now KBC since 1989).

  • In Hong Kong, the series was broadcast on TVB.

  • In Iceland, the series was broadcast on BBC Prime with its original English language.

Stage Show

A live stage show was later conceived by Ian Allen, and was tour across England in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.

Litigation

In 2013, Allen filed a lawsuit against Kapow Gifts and its owner, Robert Redshaw, accusing them of breaching his copyright on Button Moon and its characters. In court, he revealed the company had manufacutered memorabilia based on the show illegally in 2009, after he had refused to sell the rights to his character to Redshaw, which the United Kingdom's Trading Standards later requested be destroyed. Redshaw was found in breach of copyright, and ordered to pay compensation to Allen, along with legal costs.

References