Roary the Racing Car, stylised as ROARY: The Racing Car, is a British preschool animated television series created by David Jenkins and produced by Chapman Entertainment for Five and Nick Jr. that aired from 7 May 2007 to 29 September 2010. The series was animated by Cosgrove Hall Films for its first series, while Chapman took over animation production for the second series. It follows the adventures of Roary and his racing car friends at Silver Hatch racetrack.
Contents
Overview
Plot
The series follows the lives and adventures of five anthropomorphic racing vehicles, Roary, Maxi, Cici (Zizzy in the US), Drifter (Dragga in the US), Tin Top, and the people who they work for, Big Chris the Mechanic, Marsha the Race Marshall and the owner of the racetrack, Mr. Carburettor.
Setting
Roary the Racing Car is set around a fictional motor racing circuit called Silver Hatch (a portmanteau of the names of the two British Grand Prix racing circuits, Silverstone and Brands Hatch). The majority of the action takes place at the track's pits and workshop, although we often follow the cars on their laps around the track. Occasionally, the characters venture to external locations such as the nearby beach.
Sometimes, a race will happen, which will take up most of the episode.
Narration
Every story begins and ends with some brief narration normally from racing car driver Sir Stirling Moss, who is also used as a voiceover. The US version is narrated by American stock car driver Sam Hornish Jr.
Characters
Vehicles
Roary (voiced by Maria Darling) is a red British-accented Formula Ford car who is the primary protagonist of the show and Silver Hatch's number 1 car. Roary has a healthy rivalry with Maxi, and the two are often at odds. However, they demonstrate that they care deeply for each other and frequently spend time together. Although Roary is young and somewhat inexperienced at racing, he is constantly learning from his friends and fellow racers. He occasionally finds himself in difficult situations, but he always makes amends. Roary is intelligent, friendly to everyone around him, and eager to learn. His best friend and love interest is Cici, while his other best friend is FB.
Maxi (voiced by Marc Silk) is a yellow mock Italian-accented Formula One car who is very hot-tempered, loves to show off, and is obsessed with winning. He is Silver Hatch's number 5 car, and is usually very grumpy, stubborn, arrogant and pessimistic, as well as snooty at times, often only thinking about himself and not caring about others. He is sometimes irresponsible and reckless, occasionally doing stunts that are harmful and risky. He is Mr. Carburettor's favorite race car at Silver Hatch, and has a very healthy rivalry with Roary when it only comes to certain things, such as when they often argue over who is the best. Max occasionally bullies and belittles Roary, but does show that he still cares a lot for him deep down.
Cici (Zizzy in North America) (voiced by Maria Darling) is a pink and purple French-accented rally car who is very bubbly, playful and friendly and is Silver Hatch's number 3 car. She is Roary's best friend and love interest as she has a massive crush on Roary ever since his first day at Silver Hatch. She is also a hybrid car that runs on oil, solar energy, and electric energy. This alternative energy is a focal part of the episode "Cici Gets Fired Up".
Drifter (Dragga in North America) (voiced by Marc Silk) is an orange mock Japanese-accented drift car and is Silver Hatch's number 6 car. He is the most technologically advanced car at Silver Hatch, as he has been shown to digitally project images on occasion. He is known for his serene, reserved personality and rarely gets angry or upset. When he does, it is to a much less extreme degree than the others. Drifter is also the most docile car, rarely disobeying any orders. Before a race, Drifter likes to calm down by practicing his Tai Chi. His best friend is Tin Top. He has a rocket-powered nitro reserve booster.
Humans
Christopher "Big Chris" (voiced by Peter Kay in the UK and Kerry Shale in the US) is the mechanic of Silver Hatch who is slightly absent-minded and Big Christine's son. Despite the absent-mindedness, he is shown to be the main authority figure when Mr. Carburettor is not around, and has a very fatherly relationship with the cars, treating them like his own children. He loves to eat pizza and doughnuts, but he is never shown to develop any health problems from them, except perhaps his weight, but we are never shown or told that his addiction, as it were, caused it. He seems to sing as a side-hustle as well, when off duty, as seen in episodes like "Stars and Cars" and "Cici Spectacular".
Marsha (voiced by Maria Darling) is the racing marshal of Silver Hatch and PC Pete's sister. She waves the flag when the race begins, and also is the one who takes calls from her workstation.
Mr. Antonio "Tony" Carburettor (voiced by Tim Whitnall) is the flamboyant and short-tempered Italian-accented owner of Silver Hatch and "Mama" Mia's son. He loves singing opera, and can be shown as somewhat vain when it comes to his track.
Farmer Jeffrey "Jeff" Green (voiced by Tim Whitnall) is a West Country-accented farmer who is very humble and slightly messy. The Silver Hatch racing crew often comes to his farm to buy its products, and he and FB once saved Cici from a mud trap during a storm in the episode "Roary Sees Red".
Margaret "Mama Mia" Carburettor (voiced by Maria Darling) is Mr. Carburettor's Italian-accented mother. She is very prim and proper, and occasionally, like her son.
PC Pete (Officer Pete in North America) (voiced by Dominic Frisby) is a police constable who is Marsha's brother. He is shown to be friendly, but is quite a stickler for certain rules. Too much of one it would seem, as portrayed in the episode "Law and Order".
Big Christine (voiced by Peter Kay in the UK and Kerry Shale in the US) is Big Chris' mother who loves dancing.
Graeme Murray Walker (voiced by himself) is the world's class commentator. He once had a rivalry with Big Chris, until they became good friends with each other.
Animals
Flash (Furz in North America) (voiced by Marc Silk) is an anthropomorphic rabbit who likes to cause lots of trouble on the racetrack, but not in a bad way. He also has a yellow skateboard, which he rides to get around Silver Hatch.
Molecom (voiced by Dominic Frisby) is an anthropomorphic mole who wears glasses, and is a skilled mechanic and banjo player. He is, however, not a good race marshal, as seen when he and Marsha swap jobs for the day.
Dinkie (vocal effects performed by Marc Silk) is an old grey donkey who lives on Farmer Green's farm. He is the only major animal character who is not anthropomorphic.
Production
Roary the Racing Car uses a combination of computer-generated imagery and stop motion animation; the latter was initially provided by Cosgrove Hall Films, the producer of Noddy's Toyland Adventures, Engie Benjy , Little Robots , Fetch the Vet, the third to sixth series of Postman Pat , Pocoyo, the original 1981 Danger Mouse series, Count Duckula, The Wind in the Willows and many other series, and later by Chapman Entertainment's own in-house studio, along with its sister show Fifi and the Flowertots .
The series was created by David Jenkins, who spent four years working in senior management at Brands Hatch Race Circuit. The idea was conceived while watching the Grand Prix on television with his then 18-month-old son, Tom. It was designed and developed by Keith Chapman, creative director of Chapman Entertainment and the creator of Bob the Builder (both 1999 and the 2015 reboot series), Fifi and the Flowertots, and later, Paw Patrol and Mighty Express, with Greg Lynn as the series' executive producer. When the show came to the U.S., HIT Entertainment handled the distribution rights, along with Fifi and the Flowertots. The theme music was produced by Alan Coates and Kim Goody. For scenes that were too difficult to film in stop motion, Chapman asked Studio Liddel to provide CGI animation. The sets and models were made using photographs of their stop motion models.