Tweenies

The Tweenies consist of Bella, Milo, Fizz, Jake, Doodles, Izzles, Max, Judy, and are sometimes joined by Max's sister Polly. Other characters have appeared occasionally, including Milo's uncle, Mickey, his father, Jake's mother, Fizz's mother and father and Bella's grandmother. There have also been several animated characters. The four main characters appeared in the first episode "Tweenie Band", which was filmed on 3 August 1998 at Elstree Studios and aired on 6 September 1999. The Tweenies were played by only one set of actors, while the voices and animatronics were provided by other actors. Unless otherwise indicated, all the following actors and voice talent were in the show from 1999 until its last episode, "What Makes Summer?" on 25 July 2002.

• Bella (operated by Tamsin Heatley and sometimes Esther Collins; voiced by Sally Preisig 1999-2000, Emma Weaver 2000-2002 in the UK, Alyson Court in the US) is a six-year-old blue-skinned girl with blonde hair, usually accompanied with a red hair ribbon. As the oldest and tallest of the Tweenies, she is bossy and likes her own way. Sometimes she causes things to go wrong with her overconfidence, but she apologises for her mistakes. Her favorite colour is red. Although Bella comes across bossy she is very helpful and caring to the younger Tweenies, in particular Jake; who she tends to look after whenever he is upset or in need. She loves reading, painting and acting. Her best friend is Fizz.
• Milo (operated by C.H. Beck 1999-2000, Matthew Lyons/Kate Ryan 2000–2002; voiced by Bob Golding in the UK, Tracey Moore in the US) is a five-year-old purple-skinned boy with black hair. He is energetic, friendly and cheerful, though sometimes impulsive. He loves football and magic. His favorite colour is blue. He has a brother named Dean and an uncle named Mickey. He is best friends with Jake and often treats him like a little brother.
• Fizz (operated by Jenny Hutchinson 1999-2000, Angela Reynolds 2000, Francesca Anderson 2001–2002; voiced by Colleen Daley in the UK, Lisa Yamanaka in the US) is a four-year-old yellow-skinned girl with brown beaded hair. She is mild-mannered and sometimes shy, but can get whiny and stroppy for the smallest reasons. Fizz's best friend is Bella. She loves ballet, dressing up, the colour pink and playing with dolls.
• Jake (operated by Samantha Dodd 1999-2002 voiced by Justin Fletcher in the UK, Colin O'Meara in the US) is a three-year-old orange-skinned boy with a blonde Mohican. Being the youngest Tweenie, he sometimes feels left out and excluded from the other Tweenies' games when he is not big enough to join in. He is sweet and has a close bond with Doodles, but he sometimes shows signs of being homesick and is prone to temper tantrums when frustrated. His favorite colour is green. He will often turn to Bella or Doodles for support or advice when sad or upset. He sometimes gets words mixed up. He loves being a superhero, playing pretend and catch. His best friend is Milo.
• Max (operated by Simon Grover/Matthew Lyons (some episodes); voiced by Bob Golding in the UK, James Rankin in the US) is a pink-skinned, middle-aged man who is one of the two managers of the playgroup of the Tweenies. He speaks with a slight Yorkshire accent. He loves trains, animals and exploring the outside world. Max is the stricter one of the grown-ups.
• Judy (operated by Simon Grover/Sinead Rushe (outside); voiced by Sinead Rushe in the UK, Caroly Larson in the US) is a green-skinned woman who is the other of the playgroup managers. She loves gardening, reading and being creative. She speaks with a Northern Irish accent.
• Doodles (operated by Alan Riley and John Tobias; voiced by Justin Fletcher in the UK, James Rankin in the US) is a red and yellow male dog. Doodles is a very friendly, calm dog. His favorite colour is yellow. He loves going for walks with Max and can often be seen looking out for Jake.
• Izzles (operated by Fiona Watkins; voiced by Colleen Daley) is a purple and white female dog, who was first introduced in 2001. Unlike Doodles she is a puppy and therefore much younger and very energetic. Her favorite colour is purple. At first her antics were not to the Tweenies liking, more so Jake but she has since calmed down and settled in. The girls often like to dress her up in fancy stuff. She is also a companion for Doodles.

• Bella's Grandma (operated by Matthew Lyons; voiced by Tamsin Heatley/Colleen Daley) is another blue-skinned Character who only appeared in Jake And The Beanstalk, "I Can't Get To Sleep" (voice only) and "Weddings are Fun" (physical appearance). She has the responsibility for Bella when her parents got divorced. They go out on days out on the weekend because she has is wealthy. She also had a keyworker/husband named Peter, who speaks with a Cockney accent and has seen Bella a lot of times since she was born.
• Bella's Grandpa (operated by John Tobias; voiced by Bob Golding) is also a blue-skinned character who only appeared in "Happy Grandparents Day". He shares the same voice with Max but with a lowered voice and a Cockney accent instead of a Northern one. He also has much money and pennies and they go on day outs during the weekends. He also has magic fingers for when he says snap the magic will begin, he also has the responsibility for Bella.
• Polly (operated by Kathy Ryan; voiced by Colleen Daley) is a pink skinned character that appeared in "Oh I Forgot", It's The Thought That Counts", "Teamwork", "Weddings are Fun" and "Happy Grandparents Day". She is Max's sister and also a keyworker to Fizz's mum and dad. When they were kids, they lived by the seaside and often went to the pier for the promenades the pier holds. When she goes to the playgroup for visits, she brings a story and some sweets along with her.

Data from AllMusicCharts.com

Data from AllMusicCharts.com

These were released by BBC Worldwide and some various DVDs are still available in retailers.

Many of the above videos have also been dubbed into other languages. In addition, several of the Tweenies videos were produced in special versions for retailers with additional footage (for example, the "Party Games, Laughs & Giggles" video distributed at Marks & Spencer stores carried two additional segments, adding ten minutes to the video's running time). Many of the above videos were also released as DVDs under different names. iTunes has released a Best of Tweenies volume 1 which consists of the first six episodes of the series.

From 1999 until 2006, various books were released from Tweenies, based on the episodes that were mostly aired. There were also annuals that were released from 2001–2006 and other books, based on each character from Tweenies.

From the late 90s into the early 2000s, the Tweenies were one of the most popular set of children's TV characters at the time, which led to a wide range merchandise being sold. Many toys were sold in various retailers, such as Toys "R" Us, Argos, & Woolworths. Merchandise included soft toys, playsets, collectible figures, board games, jigsaws and puzzles, talking toys, the video games Tweenies: Doodles' Bones and Tweenies: Game Time, and many other products.