Numberjacks is a British children's television series that originally aired on CBeebies on BBC Two in the UK between October 2006 and 2009, and on the CBeebies channel also. It was first shown on BBC Two at 10am on 16 October 2006. It was then repeated on CBeebies at 11am and 3pm on the same day. BBC Two only showed it for a week due to the half term break and then the future episodes were shown on CBeebies at 11am. Re-runs of the episodes were shown regularly on CBeebies (when it was on BBC2, it was only on occasionally, and when it first appeared, it was only on for a week) until October 2015. It was produced by Open Mind Productions for the BBC and features a mixture of computer-generated animation and live-action.
The Numberjacks are animated characters (the numbers 0 to 9) who live in an ordinary sofa and solve problems outside; each episode has the same structure. At the beginning of the episode, some of the Numberjacks are engaged in an activity, that would have relevance to the problem that is later discovered - then, an "agent" (who was a live-action child) calls in and describes the problem that is occurring. One (or two) of the Numberjacks go out into the real world to solve the problem while the remaining Numberjacks stay in the sofa and watch their progress on a screen. As soon as the problem is understood, 5 imagines what else could go wrong if the problem wasn't solved (often wondering what would happen to the Dancing Cow, who never actually made any physical appearance in the real world).
Once outside, the Numberjacks are shown in a live-action setting (although themselves still animated); they diagnose their problems by examination, and with help from additional ideas from the agents, who call into the base. The problem can either be caused by one of the antagonists, or one of the younger Numberjacks (0, 1 or 2) escaping from the sofa and inadvertently making things go wrong. Problems are solved by using "Brain Gain," a magical force of power activated by use of a machine in the sofa and transferred to the Numberjack.
Once the problem is solved, the Numberjacks return to their base, replay what happened on a screen and then challenge the viewer to think about a related problem and "call the Numberjacks"; the problems encountered are all based upon simple mathematical concepts, and the programme is intended to stimulate young children's interest in mathematics. On satellite, digital, and cable TV, a link to Numberjacks often appeared in the corner of the screen and sometimes on (for example) gardening programmes as a way of helping people with basic numeracy.
The Numberjacks are the heroes; each of the numbers 0 through 9 is an individual character and each is broadly the age of his or her number. The male Numberjacks are even numbers and the female Numberjacks are odd numbers - however, 1 is voiced by a male actor (Dylan Robertson, who also voices 0).
0 (lime), 1 (purple) and 2 (orange) are too young to go out on missions and are usually only seen inside the sofa, although sometimes they escape and cause problems of their own (like 0 does in the first episode, The Trouble with Nothing). Also, in One Won, 1 becomes enormous, as a result of the Brain Gain sent to her (and prevents the Numbertaker from sucking her up).3 (pink), 4 (blue), 5 (turqoise) and 6 (yellow) are the main characters and appear in every episode; 3 is considered "too small a number" to go into the real world by herself in early episodes, but graduates to doing so (initially with 4, 5, or 6) in the later ones. 3 once becomes a 4 to prevent the Numbertaker from sucking her up, 4 once becomes a symmetrical 4, a 5, a 6, a 14, a 1, a 2 and an 8, and 6 once becomes two 3s to solve a puzzle set by the Puzzler (given that six is two lots of three). Also, in A Different Sort, 4 becomes green (as opposed to his original colour of blue), tiny, enormous, and finally "wibbly-wobbly".7 (red), 8 (sky blue) and 9 (green) are older and have their own missions, but are occasionally seen if they become involved in a problem (such as that occasion when 0 accidentally made all of the other Numberjacks disappear); they live in another part of the sofa.There are five evil villains, the "Meanies", who often cause trouble for people; the Problem Blob, the Puzzler and the Numbertaker are male villains, while the Shape Japer and Spooky Spoon are female villains. Spooky Spoon also seems to appear more often than any of the other Meanies.
The Problem Blob is a green blob, with a single eye on the tip of his long tongue, who spits out lumps of green slime that cause anything they touch to suffer from a particular problem; he is usually found in dark corners and does not speak, as he just heaves and splutters and makes noises. No one likes the Problem Blob - and in Almost Human, Numberjack 4 gets slimed and thinks he is a person while the person, thinking he is Numberjack 4, became the "Numberjack Man". The Problem Blob causes more trouble than any other Meanie.The Shape Japer is a purple sphere (with an "angry" face and sharp teeth) who causes problems by changing the shape or size of objects; she flies though the air and does not speak so much, but laughs a lot. She is able to change her shape from sphere to cube at will, and still smiles even when not happy - and in the second series (2009), the shape of her teeth are changed to semicircles, instead of triangles (but only in the UK version).The Puzzler is a bald, floating head of a human (with tan skin, some orange hair, a pair of green glasses, a mustache, an earring, blue eyes, and a goatee) who traps the Numberjacks inside puzzle bubbles or causes other problems and sets mathematical puzzles that have to be solved to make the problems go away; he is arguably the most fearsome enemy of the Numberjacks, as any Numberjack unable to solve one of his puzzles may be trapped in a puzzle bubble forever. He is quite intellectual and is secretly pleased when the Numberjacks solve his puzzles - and in the second series (2009), the Puzzler no longer "exploded" when defeated, but instead leaves the Numberjacks (however, he still often speaks in rhyme, like Gruntilda from the Banjo-Kazooie games). The Puzzler is also an ex-discjockey (and arguably the hardest Meanie for the Numberjacks to defeat).Spooky Spoon is an anthropomorphic fuchsia spoon who mixes things up, and the Numberjacks have to sort them out; she wears a yellow necklace and can masquerade as a "regular" spoon (even though she is pink). She considers herself superior to everyone around and has a particularly strong dislike for 5, whom she views as a rival - and in the second series (2009), her mouth has an inner part, instead of a hollow mouth (again, only in the UK versions). Spooky Spoon is the easiest Meanie for the Numberjacks to defeat, and has the most appearances.The Numbertaker is a parody of The Undertaker, and is a live-action man (with an exaggerated top hat and a white robe), who removes numbers (or numbers of things); as numbers themselves, the Numberjacks have to be particularly careful when dealing with him. He utilizes a "number sucker upper", a "number grabber", a net, a magnet, a long pointed pole, a hook, and sometimes his own hands to steal things - and he sometimes becomes his alter ego, the Numbermaker, causing problems by creating higher numbers of things. He neither speaks in any of his appearances, nor smile much either; he has been multiplied twice; on both occasions the multiple versions of him despised each other and all ended up sucking each other up in 'Into The Teens' and 'Half Time'. Also in 'Half Time', he halved Numberjack 4 twice, and Numberjack 3 inadvertently doubled 4 three times (which meant that 4 needed the Numbertaker to halve him again).The first series, consisting of 45 15-minute episodes, was premiered on BBC Two on 16 October 2006, while the second one, consisting of 20 15-minute episodes, was premiered on CBeebies in 2009; both "specials" were also exclusive to DVD.
Royal Television Society Educational Television Awards 2006Awarded Best Schools Programme - 0-5 Years (for the episode "Nine Lives")Royal Television Society Educational Television Awards 2007Awarded Best Schools Programme - 0-5 Years (for the episode "Zero the Hero")Numberjacks Are On Their Way (Volume 1) (Early issues of this volume have 3, 4 and 5 watching 6 on a TV on the cover)
1. The Trouble With Nothing2. Going Wrong, Going Long4. In, Out, Shake It All About10. 4 He's A Jolly Good Fellow11. Boxing Day17. Off ColourCalling All Agents! (Volume 2)
3. Sphere Today, Gone Tomorrow5. One More Time8. Getting Heavy13. Nine Lives24. One Won27. Best EstimateStanding By To Zoom! (Volume 3) (This volume also contained a special free Christmas CD, which was released in December 2007)
6. Forward Thinking7. 7 Wonders9. Belongings18. A Game Of 2 Halves29. Zero The Hero33. Being 3Brain Gain! (Volume 4) (Early issues of this volume have 5 in the centre of the cover while later reissues have 4 instead)
14. Takeaway15. The Cuck-Cuck-Cuck-Oo-Oo-Oo Bird19. Out For The Count22. 3 Things Good32. Fair Shares44. Data DayCounting Down To Christmas! (Volume 5)
20. The Container Drainer23. Say What You Mean26. May the Fours Be With You37. Time Trouble41. 2, 4, 6, 846. Counting Down To Christmas (17 minutes)Seaside Adventure (Volume 6)
30. Bad Circles31. Famous Fives34. Into The Teens47. Seaside Adventure (45 minutes)Other merchandise
Books based on the episodes Sphere Today, Gone Tomorrow, In, Out, Shake It All About, 4 He's A Jolly Good Fellow, and Out of Order were released in 2008, along with a sticker book based on the episode Stop and Go in 2009; three sticker scene books were also released in 2008, along with two board books entitled 3 and Me! and 4 and More!, a "pocket library" of six board books (one for each Numberjack from 1-6), a "magic doodle" book, a "magnet book" including ten Numberjack magnets, a "chalkboard" activity book and a "bumpy line" colouring book in 2009, a "bumper activity book" in 2010 and two hardcover annuals for 2009 & 2010 in August 2008 & 2009. A "10-Minute Tales" book based on the episode Fair Shares was also released in 2010 - which had an accompanying CD.Four craft kits for a Numberjack 3 tambourine (which depicted her as red), a clock, a reward chart, and a mobile were released in 2008.Socks featuring the Numberjacks (in sizes 3-5½, 6-8½ and 9-12), along with pyjamas featuring them (for ages 1–4) were released in 2008.Birthday cards featuring the Numberjacks, along with birthday and Christmas wrapping paper featuring them on five differently-coloured backgrounds (the birthday ones had "Happy Birthday" and the Christmas one had them wearing Santa Claus hats) were released in 2008.Plush toys of Numberjacks 0, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 were released in three sizes in 2008, but Numberjacks 1, 7, 8 and 9 were never produced; jigsaw puzzles, a board game, a skittle set, footballs in two colours, a tricycle, and pairs of roller skates (in sizes 6-8½) were also released at around that time, along with edible cake decorations featuring the Numberjacks (which could be personalised) in two shapes.