Rubbadubbers

Plot

Seven anthropomorphic bath toys called the Rubbadubbers live a peaceful life in the bathroom of a house somewhere in England. The toys belong to two children who live at the house named Benjie and Sis (however, they are never seen or heard by viewers). Whenever the children or anyone else isn't in the bathroom, the Rubbadubbers come to life and usually begin a fun activity.

However, in every episode, one of the toys (excluding Winona) become frustrated with the way a certain activity or situation goes. They then wish for it to go as planned by beginning the wish with "If only-". Suddenly, they begin dreaming about an alternate reality where the wish comes true. When they immediately realize this, they are surprised and say, "I said, if only!". Some of the other Rubbadubbers appear in their dream world as well, where they play different versions of their regular selves in order to either assist or hinder the character that made the wish.

It always turns out that the chosen Rubbadubber's wish never goes the way that they planned, much to their disappointment. They then complain again with another "If only-," wish, which automatically ends the dream. When the dream disappears, the Rubbadubber says "Oh, I'm back!" or "Oh, I'm back in the bathroom!" and they learn to be careful with what they wish for, and then decide that instead of changing the real-world situation to their will, they should simply leave it as it was and find a way to deal with it or even have fun with it. All the Rubbadubbers are then happy again. Every episode ends with Reg the robot, one of the Rubbadubbers, announcing to the others that Benjie and Sis are arriving in the bathroom for a bath. The toys then excitedly prepare themselves for it, ending the episode.

Characters

Rubbadubbers

• Tubb the Frog (voiced by John Gordon Sinclair) is a male Scottish rubber frog sporting a yellow, green and red T-shirt and patterned shorts. He is the ringleader of the Rubbadubbers and is admired by everyone for his cool attitude, but can sometimes get in over his head. He enjoys cleaning anything with his cotton bud and floating on a green lilypad.
• Sploshy the Starfish (voiced by Maria Darling) is the Rubbadubbers' silly mischief-maker. She has suction cups behind every one of her five arms, is dark reddish-pink at the front and yellow at the back, speaks with a childish English accent, is energetic (she is often seen cartwheeling) and is known to have a hot and short temper.
• Finbar the Great Mighty Shark (voiced by Sean Hughes) is a clockwork shark with an arrogant and self-centered attitude; he often refers to himself in third-person and enjoys playing games that involve pretend hunting and scaring. He also frequently uses the word 'mighty' in place of 'very' to describe things. He is less of a menace than he lets on, being just as willing to play in games with the others. In the dream worlds, he usually plays the role of rivals or villains, such as robbers, monsters and even his regular self.
• Terence the Bubble-Bath Crocodile (voiced by John Gordon Sinclair) is Amelia's closest friend who can blow bubbles through his nostrils and dislikes getting splashed, often avoiding liquids and water altogether. He has a favourite, red toothbrush for cleaning his singular tooth.
• Winona the Whale (vocal effects performed by Maria Darling) is the only Rubbadubber who cannot speak as well as cannot at all make 'if only-' wishes, but she can still make squeaking sounds in order to communicate with the other Rubbadubbers in a similar way to Sweep from The Sooty Show. She can also squirt water from her small blowhole.
• Reg the Robot (voiced by John Gordon Sinclair) is the sentry of the Rubbadubbers who speaks with a distinctive stammer where he cannot finish saying a word and says a similar word to that instead. Just like Terence, he avoids water, as simply getting splashed makes him short-circuit. He plays with the others but is always on the lookout for Benjie and Sis' presence in order to make the Rubbadubbers prepare themselves for bath time. At the end of every episode, he announces their arrival with his catchphrase: 'Rubbadubbers! Rubba-dubbers! Benjie and Sis/the children are coming! It's Bathtime scramble!'
• Amelia the Submarine (voiced by Maria Darling) is very athletic and has a large, red pair of retractable wings. Likely named after Amelia Earhart, she and the Rubbadubbers often call her 'the flying submarine'. She is very energetic (like Sploshy), rarely seen with a frown, loves to try new things, and takes great pleasure in flying around the bathroom and performing tricks.

Other

• Lawrence (voiced by John Gordon Sinclair) is Terence's imaginary friend in the second episode of the first series. He is exactly identical to Terence, only he has two teeth and a blue tie. In the 'if only-' sequence, he demonstrated that he was better than Terence in every way possible.
• Benjie and Sis are the two young owners of the Rubbadubbers that are never seen or heard on-screen. They are two human siblings that are presumably British. Whenever they need to use the bathroom, Reg the Robot alerts the Rubbadubbers to prepare for their arrival. They also leave things in the bathroom that prompt the Rubbadubbers to start playing a game.

Episodes

Series 1 (2002)

Series 2 (2003)

Note: This episode was retitled "Soccer Player Tubb" for North American broadcasts, being the only episode to receive one.

Series 3 (2004)

Series 4 (2005)

Mini Adventures (2003)

A series of twenty-six shorts, dubbed as Mini Adventures for DVD releases, were produced for North/Latin American broadcasts. While they never aired on television in the United Kingdom, twelve of the shorts were released on DVD.

Release

Home media

United Kingdom

HIT Entertainment released three DVD and VHS releases of the series. "Here Come the Rubbadubbers" was released on 12 May 2003. "Splish! Splash! Splosh!" was released on 1 September 2003 and "Bathtime Scramble" was released on 23 February 2004. Each release contains four episodes, with the first two releases also containing some of the shorts. The three DVDs were reissued as part of a boxset on 12 March 2007, while an additional release, "Swimmin'", was released as a Carry Case DVD on 9 April 2007.

United States

HIT Entertainment released four DVD and VHS releases of the series, titled "Here Come the Rubbadubbers" on 27 January 2004, "Tubb's Pirate Treasure" on 16 March 2004, "High Noon in the Bathroom" on 13 July 2004 and "Finbar, the Mighty Movie Star" on 12 October 2004. Each release contained five episodes.

References

References

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