Ned's Bicycle

Ned's Bicycle is the first episode the 1st series of Teletubbies.

Plot

UK British Version

We are introduced to the Teletubbies as they ride down the slide inside Home Hill. They enjoy Tubby Toast until the Magic Windmill spins. Following this, the characters watch a boy named Ned and his father getting ready for a bicycle trip. Po finds a flag and leads Tinky Winky on a march across Teletubbyland. Dipsy and Laa-Laa see the flag and join in. The Magic Windmill spins again and the Teletubbies go to watch a Magical Event. The Teletubbies gasp in excitement as an Animal Parade marches through Teletubbyland. Afterwards, the animals march/fade away. The Magic Windmill stops spinning and it's time for Tubby Bye-Bye.

Featuring: Ned and Nigel Frost (Ned's Dad)

US American Version

The Teletubbies wake up to do their exercises. A voice trumpet instructs them on what exercises to do. After a while, they get tired of repeating the same exercises over and over again and run away until the windmill spins. Then, they watch a boy named Ned and his father getting ready for a bicycle trip. Po finds a flag and leads Tinky Winky on a march across Teletubbyland. Dipsy and Laa-Laa see the flag and join in. Then the Teletubbies have a Big Hug and they do the Up and Down Dance (shortened version) before Tubby Bye-Bye.

Trivia

This is the first episode for a few things:
- The first appearances of Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po, The Sun Baby, Animals from the Parade and Ned.
- The first episode to star Dave Thompson as Tinky Winky (suit performer), Mark Heenehan as Tinky Winky (voice), John Simmit as Dipsy, Nikky Smedley as Laa-Laa, Pui Fan Lee as Po, Tim Whitnall as The Male Narrator (UK), Toyah Wilcox as The Female Narrator (UK), Eric Sykes and Gary Stevenson as the male voices of The Voice Trumpets (UK), and Jess Smith as The Baby Sun.
- It's the first episode where Tinky Winky is picked for the TV Event.
- It's the first episode when there's no goodbye after the TV event. Instead, Ned waves his hand without saying a word, however, the US version of Favourite Things has the voiceover saying "Bye" to Ned.
- The first time an episode features the Animal Parade. Although the US Version of this episode doesn't have a magical event, but only features a dance.
- The first time the Animal Parade doesn't have the Elephant Trumpet noise.
- It's the first episode that was directed by David G. Hillier.
- The first episode with Po's Scooter.
- The first episode to include the Home Hill 1 Opening Shot. Also, the Magic Windmill can be heard whooshing in the background.
- The first episode to include Home Hill 2, which is the Birds Eye View 1.0 windmill animation with no sparkles. A fade effect is also used.
- The first episode was filmed in August 1996.
- The first episode to use the 1995-2000 Ragdoll logo.
- The first episode to use the 1988-1997 BBC logo.
- The first episode to use the E-mu Proteus 2 Orchestral, E-mu Proteus 3 World, Korg M1 and Kurzweil Mark 152 Digital Grand Piano for the music by Andrew McCrorie-Shand.
- The first episode that any Teletubby fell over.
- It's the first episode where the Teletubbies eat Tubby Toast.
- It's the first episode without a dance. However, the US version has the Up and Down Dance.
- It was the first episode to air on CBeebies when the channel launched on 11 February 2002.
- It's the first episode to have Season 1 in the UK airing as well as international airing.
- It was also the first episode Laa-Laa pushed the button on the Tubby Toaster.
The US Version of this episode has the Up and Down Dance (shortened version) after the Flag segment instead of The Animal Parade.
Tinky Winky was the boo shouter but Po said goodbye for a final time. Po was the boo shouter in the US Version.
Po was the missing Teletubby in the UK Version. Laa-Laa was the missing Teletubby in the US Version.
The Tubby Toast segment was featured in the VHS Here Come the Teletubbies.
The Ned's Bicycle video was featured in the VHS Favourite Things.
After the Teletubbies watch the Animal Parade, a fade effect is used to the Magical Windmill stops spinning animation.
The original window magic windmill animation from this episode is also used in other episodes, which are See-Saw, Larette Tap Dancing and The Gingerbread Boy.
When the Teletubbies go to line up at the Magical Event place, they giggle. However, they are silent in most of the other episodes whenever they go to the Magical Event place.
The Sun Baby's laugh in this episode is noticeably different from her laugh in the following episodes.
This is the first appearance of the Windmill in the Original, Original Window, TV/Magical Event, Normal, Start Spinning (TV Event Version) and Stop Spinning animations.
This was the second episode of the show that aired in the US on PBS Kids, the first one that aired was Emily and Jester.
- This aired on April 7, 1998.
This is the first episode where the filming takes place on a farm in Wimpstone, Warwickshire. The same site where they shot "Tots TV".
The Brazilian Portuguese version has a different TV Transmission.