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Something Special (TV series)

Something Special is a British children's television programme starring and presented by Justin Fletcher. It was created and produced by Allan Johnston. It is broadcast by the BBC, debuting on 1 September 2003. It is designed to introduce children to Makaton signing, and is specifically aimed at children with delayed learning and communication difficulties. It is aired on the CBeebies channel and is currently the longest running CBeebies programme and the longest running preschool series in Britain. In the past, it started out as a BBC Schools programme in 2003, before being show on CBeebies in 2004 (Channel) and 2005.

Synopsis
It is presented by Justin Fletcher ("Justin") and features various other characters and clips of children with disabilities. Justin speaks as well as signing, and a spoken narrative is provided over the clips of children. The other characters played by Fletcher are the Tumble Family. Mr Tumble, who is a clown, Grandad Tumble, Fisherman Tumble, Lord Tumble, Chef Tumble and Baker Tumble. Other members of the Tumble family have made appearances including two Aunts, Polly and Suki (as in the nursery rhyme "Polly Put the Kettle On") and Baby Tumble. In Series 10, 3 animal characters were introduced to the series, Spotty the Horse, who is Mr Tumble's horse that has appeared in the episodes "Animals" and "Animal Keeper", Dennis the T-Rex, who is a dinosaur who has only appeared in the episode "Dinosaurs" (The T-Rex is also a display at Paultons Park where it was filmed) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, who appears in the episode "A Magical Christmas". In 2025, the show added a new "rotating presenter" format; with Ben Cajee and Maddie Moate added to the presenting cast. Fellow CBeebies presenter George Webster, who was added to the cast in the previous season, will continue to make recurring appearances in episodes hosted by Fletcher. ==Format==
Format
; Series 1 and 2 (2003–2006): Justin showcases things in a white screen set, with the Mr Tumble sections in the middle of the episodes. Each episode has a duration of 15 minutes. ; Mr Tumble shorts (2007): From 2007, CBeebies occasionally showed short programmes consisting of the Mr Tumble sections from the various episodes, without the sections featuring Justin. ; Series 3 - "Out and About" (2008)”: The first "Out and About" series featured Justin wandering out of the white screen set through the magic doors and into a different location set within the UK. Each episode has a duration of 20 minutes. ; Series 4-6 - "Out and About" (2010–2011)”: Series 4 of the show followed the Out and About format of Series 3 and introduced a new character, Lord Tumble. The series has Mr Tumble and the other Tumble characters primarily based in "Tumble House", a large detached house located in extensive grounds close to the sea, located in Porlock, Somerset. The house and grounds are populated with large coloured spots, balloons and similar circular / spherical items in keeping with the spots on Mr Tumble's costume. The episodes typically feature Mr Tumble sending photographs of items he is interested in finding out about to Justin using his "Spotty Bag". Justin, with the assistance of the children with him, locates these items or activities and in return sends associated items back to Mr Tumble. There is typically a link in the theme between the actions of Mr Tumble and the other Tumble characters, and the activities Justin and the children participate in. ; Series 7-present: “We're All Friends" (2012–present)”: In 2012, a new series, "Something Special – We're All Friends" started, introducing some minor changes to the Out and About format. This format change included a change of location, and introduced the "Tumble Tapp", a tablet computer. ==Series overview==
Episodes
Series 1 (2003) Series 2 (2006) Series 3: Out and About (2008) Series 4: Out and About (2010) Series 5: Out and About (2010) Series 6: Out and About (2011) Mr Tumble's Special Day Out (2012) Series 7: We're All Friends (2012) Series 8: We're All Friends (2014) Series 9: We're All Friends (2016) Christmas Special (2017) Series 10: We're All Friends (2018) Something Special at the Proms (2018) Series 11: We're All Friends (2020) Easter Special (2022) Christmas Special (2022) Series 12: We're All Friends (2023-2024) Series 13: We’re All Friends (2025) ==Theatre show==
Theatre show
In 2015, a theatrical production called The Tale of Mr Tumble was performed, starring Justin Fletcher as Mr Tumble and Ronni Ancona as The Unsmiling Principle. The show follows the Mr Tumble character as a baby and as a young boy. A filmed version of The Tale of Mr Tumble aired on CBeebies in March 2016. ==Awards==
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