Review of Bob The Builder: Let`s Scram!

Introduction

Bob The Builder. Can We Fix It? Oh Please!!! Let`s Scram is a collection of five proper BTB episodes and four mini-episodes in which our eponymous hero solves a series of problems for his friends. The disc has a total running time of 68 minutes, fifty of which are the five adventures Benny`s Back; Spud`s Straw Surprise; Off Road Scrambler; Meet Marjorie and Muck`s Mud Hut. The other eighteen minutes are the "mini-projects" and the extras.

Rights owners Hit Entertainment have turned the series into a fully operational franchise with books and DVDs by the score to keep little `uns happy and parents peering anxiously into their wallets. The DVDs represent pretty good value for money, especially given the discounts widely available.

The Let`s Scram episodes come from the 2005 Project: Build It series, which sees Bob move to Sunflower Valley to build an environmentally friendly town in keeping with the surrounding countryside.

Video

The episodes are presented in their original 16:9 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio. Transfers are absolutely spotless (as one would expect), and colours are vivid.

Audio

The sound is in Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround. Apart from the maddening theme song, the charm of the series is in the voice talents, led by Men Behaving Badly`s Neil Morrissey who lends his tones to the little chap in the yellow safety helmet.

Features

The disc includes a short readalong adventure called "Bob And The Model Railway". There is also a photogallery and a link to Bob`s Website. The episodes are extensively subtitled for the hard of hearing (an option which is also an excellent reading tutor for young viewers, incidentally). The main menu includes a very brief promo for "Built To Be Wild", Bob`s forthcoming feature-length adventure.

Conclusion

One of the best of today`s children`s animation series. Every bit as charming an imaginative as classics like Camberwick Green and Trumpton. Five ten-minute episodes and four shorts make up a disc that can either be enjoyed in a single hour-long sitting or sampled an episode at a time.

Viewers should be warned that the disc auto-starts if left alone, so if your pre-schooler has mastered putting a disc in (come to think of it, he probably showed you how to do it) there`s a danger of perpetual Bob playing on your tv.