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Budgie the Little Helicopter is a series of children's books and animated television series relating to a fictional character 'Budgie' and his friends. The characters were based on the books by Sarah, Duchess of York. The show was coproduced by Fred Wolf Films Dublin, The Sleepy Kids Company and Sarah, Duchess of York for The west version of HTV for ITV and Scottish Television Enterprises, and originally aired on British television in 1994 on CITV, where it ran for 39 episodes. A range of videos, books, and toys were released under the Budgie label.
On release of the first book, the Duchess was accused by the media of copying the idea for the series from an out-of-print 1960 book Hector the Helicopter, by A.W. Baldwin, which she denied.
Main aircraft
Budgie the Little Helicopter (Voiced by Richard Pearce) — Budgie is a small blue helicopter (that seems to resemble a Bell 206) with a big yellow cap covering his entire airframe. He lives and works at Harefield Airfield, and he and Pippa are best friends. He can be cheeky and troublesome, but he works hard too, and continuously tries to please Lionel. He will also bravely come to the assistance of people in danger. He hates going through the heli-wash, and avoids doing so whenever he can. A white teddy bear named Snowy can almost always be seen carried in a pocket on Budgie's starboard side (although in "Budgie Takes a Catch", he was changed to two lollipops instead). His catchphrase is "Rocketing Rotors!"
Pippa the Green Plane (voiced by Abigail MacVean) — Pippa (inspired by a Piper Warrior aircraft) is a small green single-engined monoplane with a tuft of yellow hair and a big pink bow. She was the second aircraft to arrive at Harefield Airfield, and at first, teased Budgie and called him a yo-yo. After a race and several comparisons about who was the best, they both became firm friends. She enjoys helping out, and also loves using the heli-wash (as opposed to Budgie).
Chuck the American Helicopter (voiced by Kerry Shale) (was stated in the second TV episode as being a Boeing CH-47 Chinook) - is a twin-rotored helicopter. He comes from America and does not understand British English well. He sometimes gets cocky and likes to show off, but this led him to trouble when he disrupted an air show and finished up in a pond. He also has a bad habit of calling Lionel "Captain".
Lionel the Aircraft in Charge (voiced by Jeremy Nicholas) - Lionel is the senior helicopter in the series (influenced by a Westland Lynx). He does not take kindly to Budgie, Pippa, or especially Chuck causing trouble and making themselves nuisances, but he keeps things in order with his patient but firm ways. He insists on cleanliness from all aircraft at all times. His catchphrase is "Juddering joysticks!"
Other aircraft
Patsy the American stunt plane (was stated by Lionel as being a Pitt's Special).
Jasper Jeer-jet. Jasper was a joker to start off and kept on radioing Harefield Airfield pretending there was an emergency, but when he really did need help in a storm, Budgie came to his rescue, and since then Jasper has realised it is not a good idea to play the fool all the time.
Henley the three-winged propeller-driven 1930's airliner
Gus the Guppy (based on an Aero Spacelines Super Guppy), is a huge American transport aircraft.
Harvey the grey Royal Navy BAE Sea Harrier jet fighter. Harvey appeared in All at Sea and Boats, Boots and Budgie. His name was revealed in Blown Up Let down. He speaks with a traditional Royal Navy pilot voice.
Harvey's 2 BAE Sea Harrier brothers
Buddy the Sikorsky Skycrane
3 French Super Jets (from Budgie Barges In)
Genevieve – a French female Jodel D11 aircraft (The Air Show and Budgie Barges In)
White jet plane with blue line (only appeared in magazines)
Other planes and helicopters (only appeared in books)
Monsieur the Mime Helicopter (only appeared in books)
Bobby the Blue Helicopter (only appeared in books)
Western the Mexican Plane (only appeared in books)
Unnamed blue helicopter (only appeared in magazines)
Hot air balloons (only appeared in The Balloon Goes Up)
Spaceship (only appeared in magazines)
Non-aircraft characters
Dell the yellow Baggage cart Towing Truck (voiced by Jeff Rawle, who also serves as the narrator)
A CGI Remake of that series is in Pre-production being produced by UmberellaFX, with Sophie Aldred will be voicing as Budgie. coming in 12 March 2018.
Home video releases
In 1997, UAV Entertainment released some episodes of the series on individual VHS tapes and the complete series tapes were also released. A 1997 film special titled Budgie the Little Helicopter: The Movie also was released on VHS and Redesigned into a Theatrical-release by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment. Two DVDs were released in the UK in 2004 and 2006 with selected episodes. In 2007 Jigsaw Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Australia and New Zealand.
