Morph (TV series)

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Morph
A model of the main character, Morph, on display at the National Media Museum, Bradford
First appearanceTake Hart, 15 February 1977
Created byPeter Lord
David Sproxton
Voiced byMerlin Crossingham
Motto"Ba ba ba ba, ba ba da!"
In-universe information
NationalityBritish

Morph is a British series of clay stop-motion comedy animations, named after the main character, who is a small terracotta-skinned plasticine guy, who speaks an unintelligible language and lives on a tabletop, his bedroom being a small wooden box. The character was initially seen interacting with Tony Hart, beginning in 1977, on several of his British television programmes, notably Take Hart, Hartbeat and SMart.

History[edit]

Morph with Peter Lord in 2014

Morph was produced for the BBC by Aardman Animations, later famous for the "Sledgehammer" music video, Wallace and Gromit, and Shaun the Sheep. Morph appears mainly in one-minute "shorts" interspersed throughout the Take Hart show. These are connected to the main show by having Hart deliver a line or two to Morph, who replies in gibberish but with meaningful gestures. Later on, Morph is joined by the cream-coloured Chas, who is much more troublesome and mischievous.

Morph can change shape. He becomes spheres in order to move around and extrudes into cylinders to pass to different levels of his environment. He can also mimic other objects or creatures. Morph lives in a wooden microscope box[citation needed] on an artist's desk. He and Chas both love to eat cake, as seen in many of the shorts. Most appearances of Morph revolve around his friendship and rivalry with Chas, with each often playing tricks on the other and laughing at each other's misfortune. While Morph's nature is that of an innocent, curious character, Chas is much more mischievous and prone to bad behaviour.

After Hart's shows ended, Morph and Chas appeared in shorts on the Children's BBC's successor programme SMart from 1994 to 2005.

Some of the early plasticine models of Morph were destroyed in a fire at the warehouse where they were being stored on 10 October 2005.[1]

Morph's 30th birthday was celebrated in 2007 by creator Peter Lord and celebrity fan and comedian Phill Jupitus at events for the Encounters Film Festival in Bristol. In March 2009, shortly after Hart's death, a flashmob of Morph characters was organised in London outside the Tate Modern art gallery.[2]

In 2009, the BBC drama Ashes to Ashes featured Morph in a guest appearance as a representation of a present-day medic.[3] Morph was used to give a comic feeling despite a very serious situation in episode 3 of the second series. The character was pictured in an episode of Take Hart; however, Morph appeared on the television after it was turned off, separating it from the context of the Take Hart episode.

On 29 October 2013, Peter Lord (co-founder of Aardman Animations), created a fundraising project on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. The campaign set a target of £75,000 to be used to fund 12 new one-minute episodes. The target was reached on 6 November 2013 after only nine days, attracting contributions from over 1,700 backers, who received a variety of rewards, including early access to the new animations and a small box of clay used in the production, depending on the individual's level of funding.[4][5] In January 2014, Peter Lord and Aardman began production on 15 new episodes featuring Morph. The new series premiered on Morph's official YouTube channel with 15 episodes from 4 July 2014 to 30 January 2015.

In 2015, a Morph experience opened at Land's End. The Land's End signpost was rebranded "Lamb's End" with original sets, models, and characters from a range of Aardman productions. Visitors were also able to star in a real Shaun the Sheep scene, using green screen technology, and meet other characters from the Aardman family, including Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit.[6]

Released between 20 March and 2 October 2015, HD-restored versions of The Amazing Adventures of Morph appeared on YouTube; and in the summer of 2015, Morph returned to TV on CBBC with the 15 new episodes.[7] From 6 November 2015 to 7 January 2016, The Lost Tapes from 2001 were revealed having been redubbed and remastered on YouTube. In March 2016, it was announced that Sky had made a deal with Aardman Animations to produce new Morph material to be directed at its child audience.[8] From 6 May 2016 to 15 September 2017, all clips captured from Take Hart were revealed on the Morph YouTube channel. In August 2017, new Morph merchandise was shown at Wallace & Gromit's Charity Shop.[9] Between 2 March and 14 September 2018, 15 more episodes of the new Morph series that were previously shown on Sky Kids were shown on YouTube. From 15 February to 17 May 2019, all 13 episodes of The Morph Files that were remastered into HD were released on YouTube.

In May 2019, Morph and Chas appeared in an advert for Tesco as part of the company's centenary celebrations, which also featured celebrities Anneka Rice and Derrick Evans (the latter more commonly known as Mr. Motivator).[10]

On 9 November 2020, the new Morph series, The Epic Adventures of Morph, appeared and began to stream on Sky Kids. The series features Morph, Chas, and two old characters—Delilah and GrandMorph—who were brought back to add more life to the show. There is also a very small cameo from Gillespie, who is another character from The Morph Files and The Amazing Adventures of Morph that was revived for the series.

Films, shorts, and TV series[edit]

1977–83 Take Hart
1980–81 The Amazing Adventures of Morph
1984–93 Hartbeat
1994–2005 SMart
1996 The Morph Files
1997 Morph TV (with Tony Hart)
1998 On Your Marks
2001 The Lost Tapes
2006 Morph (TV series)
2009 Ashes to Ashes (guest appearance)
2012 Ricky's Radical Reinventions
2014–present Brand New Morph
2019 Retro Morph
2020–present The Epic Adventures of Morph [11]
2021–present The Very Small Creatures (Opening) [12]

Series overview[edit]

Series Episodes
First aired Last aired
Original episodes 44 2006/4 November 2013 2006/23 October 2015
1 17 4 July 2014 6 March 2015
2 15 2 March 2018 14 September 2018

Original episodes (2006, 2013–2015)[edit]

The original 43 episodes of Morph were originally produced on the Aardman website back in 2006 and were re-used on Aardman's YouTube channel by around September 2008 until 2010, and Morph's YouTube channel from 4 November 2013 until 23 October 2015. The original episodes uses the same clips originally used from Take Hart, Hartbeat, SMart and The Morph Files.

# Episode Original airdate
101 (1) Hats 2006/4 November 2013
102 (2) No Entry 2006/4 November 2013
103 (3) Magic Boots 2006/4 November 2013
104 (4) Invisimorph 2006/4 November 2013
105 (5) Sweet Showdown 2006/4 November 2013
106 (6) The Amazing Mimic 2006/6 November 2013
107 (7) Get The Picture 2006/11 November 2013
108 (8) Cake 2006/14 November 2013
109 (9) Robomorph 2006/27 March 2014
110 (10) Messy April Fools 2006/1 April 2014
111 (11) Card Trick 2006/1 May 2014
112 (12) Ice Cream 2006/8 May 2014
113 (13) Row Your Boat 2006/15 May 2014
114 (14) Sailors 2006/22 May 2014
115 (15) Cleaning 2006/29 May 2014
116 (16) Minimorph 2006/5 June 2014
117 (17) Football 2006/12 June 2014
118 (18) Sitting Comfortably? 2006/19 June 2014
119 (19) Pudding Time 2006/26 June 2014
120 (20) Blancmange 2006
121 (21) Self Portrait 2006
122 (22) Sculpture 2006
123 (23) Bed Time 2006
124 (24) Paint Job 2006
125 (25) Toll Bridge 2006
126 (26) Invisidog 2006
127 (27) Morph Off 2006
128 (28) Pop 2006
129 (29) Still Life 2006
130 (30) Poser 2006
131 (31) Abominable Snowman 2006
132 (32) Dog Show 2006
133 (33) Cowboys 2006
134 (34) Sharpshooter/Silver Disc Shooting 2006/23 October 2015
135 (35) Dinner Time 2006
136 (36) Sea Shell/Rock and Roll Hole 2006
137 (37) Hide and Seek 2006
138 (38) Strong Morph 2006
(39) Sticky 2006
(40) The Painters 2006
(41) Cheese 2006
(42) Washing Machine 2006
(43) Bake Off 2006

Series 1: 2014–2015[edit]

The first series of the then-named Brand New Morph was released on YouTube from 4 July 2014 to 30 January 2015 with a Red Nose Day special being released on 6 March. The series also aired on CBBC throughout the summer of 2015.

# Episode Original airdate
201 (20) Twin Decks 4 July 2014
202 (21) Portable Hole 18 July 2014
203 (22) Great Outdoors 1 August 2014
204 (23) Stand Up 15 August 2014
205 (24) Fetch 29 August 2014
206 (25) Bin It To Win It 12 September 2014
207 (26) Stick Up 26 September 2014
208 (27) Hiccups 10 October 2014
209 (28) Box of Tricks 24 October 2014
210 (29) Selfie 7 November 2014
211 (30) Clean Sweep 21 November 2014
212 (31) Goal 5 December 2014
213 (32) Xmas 19 December 2014
214 (33) Sloped World 2 January 2015
215 (34) Chas Express 17 January 2015
216 (35) Picture Perfect 30 January 2015
217 (36) Red Nose Day 6 March 2015

Series 2: 2016[edit]

The 2nd series of Brand New Morph was released to Sky Kids in 2016 and then YouTube from 2 March 2018 until 14 September 2018, it is the first series being produced for Sky Kids, which streamed the first 2 series of Morph on Sky TV.

# Episode Original airdate
301 (37) Phosing 2016/ 2 March 2018
302 (38) One Man and His Dog 2016/ 16 March 2018
303 (39) Treasure Map 2016/30 March 2018
304 (40) Shadow Puppets 2016/13 April 2018
305 (41) Magic Doors 2016/27 April 2018
306 (42) Boot Camp 2016/11 May 2018
307 (43) Desktop Rodeo 2016/25 May 2018
308 (44) Tablet 2016/8 June 2018
309 (45) New Neighbour 2016/22 June 2018
310 (46) Birthday Party 2016/3 July 2018
311 (47) Portable Portals 2016/20 July 2018
312 (48) Lamp 2016/3 August 2018
313 (49) Remote 2016/17 August 2018
314 (50) Piñata 2016/31 August 2018
315 (51) Rappers Delight 2016/14 September 2018

Series 3: 2018[edit]

The third series of Brand New Morph made its way to Sky in 2018 and to YouTube on 12 February 2021 until 31 December 2021, with the episodes taking place during some special events that occurred during the year.

# Episode Original airdate
316 (52) Valentine's Day 2018/12 February 2021
317 (53) Pancake Day 2018/16 February 2021
318 (54) World Book Day 2018/4 March 2021
319 (55) Easter 2018/2 April 2021
320 (56) Beached 2018/25 June 2021
321 (57) Back To School 2018/3 September 2021
322 (58) Halloween 2018/29 October 2021
323 (59) Fireworks 2018/5 November 2021
324 (60) Christmas 2018/23 December 2021
325 (61) New Year 2018/31 December 2021

The Epic Adventures: 2020[edit]

The Epic Adventures of Morph made its way to Sky in 2020, with the series re-released on YouTube on 1 April 2022 until 8 July 2022, with the episodes' running time now extended to five minutes. Delilah and Grandmorph made their return to the series as main characters also. The Very Small Creatures still appeared from time to time and Gillespie made a cameo in 'Beanstalk.' Folly, along with Gobbledygook, however, did not appear once in the series.

# Episode Original airdate
326 (62) Tangled Web 2020/1 April 2022
327 (63) Pie Spy 2020/8 April 2022
328 (64) Chas Air 2020/15 April 2022
329 (65) Medieval Morph 2020/22 April 2022
330 (66) Size Matters 2020/29 April 2022
331 (67) Daredevil Delilah 2020/6 May 2022
332 (68) Finding Nailbrush 2020/13 May 2022
333 (69) Double Trouble 2020/20 May 2022
334 (70) Camping Caper 2020/27 May 2022
335 (71) Beanstalk 2020/3 June 2022
336 (72) Operation Sausage 2020/10 June 2022
337 (73) Dolls House 2020/17 June 2022
338 (74) Rainy Day 2020/24 June 2022
339 (75) GAME ON! 2020/1 July 2022
340 (76) Cheesed Off 2020/8 July 2022

Characters[edit]

Main[edit]

  • Morph – The protagonist with terracotta skin. He is a clay figure who can transform into many things. He is very clever, curious and creative, and has a good sense of humour.
  • Chas – Morph's cream-coloured best friend. Unlike Morph, he can't change shape. He is amoral, narcissistic, and dimwitted but has a good friendship with Morph, although this doesn’t stop him playing tricks on him at times. Chas was originally named Stu.[13]
  • Nailbrush – Morph's 'canine' companion, a barking, male nailbrush, thinking he's a dog. He is very loyal to Morph, although he sometimes gets him into trouble.

Supporting[edit]

  • Grandmorph – Morph's elderly, bearded grandfather, who travels by skateboard and frequently invents things. Although wise and kind-hearted, Grandmorph is very strict, and often punishes Morph and Chas when they misbehave.
  • Delilah – A bossy, bespectacled female character in a yellow dress with dark brown skin. She has a good relationship with Morph, although she gets in his way.
  • Folly – A scatter-brained girl made of tin-foil.
  • Gillespie – A large, blue friend of Morph's. He is very clueless and silly but is peaceable and often meditates.
  • The Very Small Creatures – An array of small plasticine balls with eyes who travel in a swarm; the smallest of the group, Little Green, features prominently on his own in a number of episodes.
  • Gobbledygook – A green, omnivorous alien child (who arrived on the table by sleeping near Morph's box in The Amazing Adventures of Morph, but in The Morph Files, he arrived by mistakenly being printed from a 'Space Invaders' style game).
  • The Paint Pots – A group of sentient paint pots who can morph their paint into facsimiles of people; unlike Morph and Chas, they are able to speak coherently (one of them even chides Morph for his non-existent linguistic skills on multiple occasions); they only appear in Take Hart.
  • Luxo the Lamp – A Luxo lamp who warns the others when Tony is entering the room; like the Paint Pots, it only appears in Take Hart, but later reappeared in a 2018 short in a silent role more akin to Luxo Jr.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Morris, Steven (11 October 2005). "Curses, Gromit!Fire destroys animation firm's history on eve of box office triumph". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Morph flashmob honours Tony Hart". News.bbc.co.uk. 1 March 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  3. ^ Mirror.co.uk (28 April 2009). "1980s kids' plasticine star Morph to star in Ashes To Ashes". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  4. ^ "'Bring back Morph' campaign launched". BBC News. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  5. ^ "All New Adventures of Morph from Aardman Animations". Kickstarter.com. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Bristol's Shaun the Sheep to be star of new family tourist attraction | Bristol Post". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  7. ^ Agency (20 May 2015). "Morph returns to TV after 15 years with new CBBC show". Retrieved 27 November 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  8. ^ Financial Times, 31 March 2016
  9. ^ "The Gromit Unleashed Shop". Wallaceandgromitcharityshop.org.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Even more prices that take you back | #Tesco100Years - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2019-05-13.
  11. ^ "The Epic Adventures of Morph to debut on Sky Kids". 28 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Aardman Working on First Preschool Series in over a Decade". June 2021.
  13. ^ "History".

External links[edit]