Andrew Davenport
Andrew Davenport is a British children’s television creator, writer and composer who co-created the pre-school series TeletubbiesTeletubbiesTeletubbies is a pre-school children’s television series co-created by the British company Ragdoll Productions and Andrew Davenport, first broadcast on the BBC from 1997; the brand later passed to the Canadian company DHX Media (now WildBrain), which added a 2015 series, a Netflix series and YouTube animation.Open the full entry with Anne WoodAnne WoodAnne Wood is a British children’s television producer who founded Ragdoll Productions in 1984 and co-created the pre-school series Teletubbies with Andrew Davenport; earlier she founded the children’s book magazine Books for Your Children and the Federation of Children’s Book Groups.Open the full entry and wrote all 365 episodes, later creating In the Night Garden and Moon and Me.
Contents16 sections
Key facts
June 1965Birth
Andrew Davenport, full name Andrew Philip Davenport, was born in June 1965 and is a British national.[1]
1989–1990Performs in Animal
He was one of the performers in the 1989 stage work Animal, with Kate France, Neale Goodrum, Gary Stevens and Penny Skerrett; set among hundreds of soft toys, it dealt with anthropomorphic projection, consciousness and empathy, and was performed in Glasgow, Leeds and London during the British Art Show 1990.[2]
1991–1992Develops Name
In 1991–1992 Name, originally performed by Gary Stevens and Caroline Wilkinson, was developed for three performers with him, and later with Neale Goodrum.[3]
1997Co-Creates Teletubbies
In 1997 Teletubbies launched on the BBCBBCThe BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the United Kingdom’s public broadcaster. Its predecessor was the British Broadcasting Company, formed in 1922, and since 1927 it has been established under a Royal Charter. It provides television, radio, and online services in the UK, is funded mainly by the television licence fee, and broadcasts worldwide in multiple languages through BBC World Service.Open the full entry.[4]
He co-created the series and wrote all 365 of its episodes.[5]
He recalled that Teletubbies was shot with actors in full-bodied costumes.[6]
October 2006Director of Ragdoll Productions
From October 25, 2006 to March 31, 2010 he was a director of Ragdoll Productions LimitedRagdoll ProductionsRagdoll Productions is an independent British children’s television production company that Anne Wood conceived in 1984; it made pre-school programmes including Pob, Rosie and Jim and Brum, and, with Andrew Davenport, Teletubbies and In the Night Garden. In 2013 its programme rights were sold to DHX Media (now WildBrain), while the company itself remained with the Wood family and went on to make Twirlywoos and B.O.T. and the Beasties.Open the full entry; between 2008 and June 2010 he was also a director of four other companies, including the one now named DHX Worldwide Limited.[1]
2007In the Night Garden
In 2007 the pre-school series In the Night Garden launched on CBeebies, running to 100 half-hour episodes; in October 2013 CBeebies signed a seven-year deal to keep it on air through 2020.[7]
The series was created by him and produced by Ragdoll Productions, and won a BAFTA.[8]
March 2012Heads Shine Group’s Pre-School Company
In March 2012 Shine Group announced a new company dedicated to pre-school content, with him, a long-time Ragdoll creative, as CEO from the following month.[9]
March 2014Foundling Bird Formed
Foundling Bird Limited was incorporated in London on March 3, 2014, registered for artistic creation.[10]
He has been a director of the company since that day.[11]
October 2016Partnership with Sutikki
In October 2016 Bento Box Entertainment launched Sutikki, a Los Angeles-based kids’ division, and he joined through his own production company, Foundling Bird; he was best known as creative director of Ragdoll Productions.[12]
Sutikki was to be the primary production partner on Foundling Bird’s next series.[5]
February 2017CBeebies Commissions Moon and Me
In February 2017 CBeebies commissioned the pre-school series Moon and Me, created, written and produced by him, from Foundling Bird and Sutikki; it follows toys that come to life when nobody is looking.[13]
The same month Hasbro became global master toy licensee for the 50 x 22-minute series, with a Playskool line planned for the UK.[14]
May 2018Universal Kids Acquires the Series
In May 2018 the US channel Universal Kids picked up Moon and Me for its US premiere.[15]
January 2019Moon and Me Premieres in the UK
Moon and Me premiered in the UK in January 2019 as his third CBeebies project; the series mixes stop-motion and live action, with all stop-motion work done in the UK by Mackinnon and Saunders.[16]
He said he developed the series over about five years, including a toy house play observation project with the University of Sheffield; it is shot at toy-house scale, with the character Pepi Nana about six inches tall.[6]
The Toy House set has 500 hand-built, hand-painted miniature props; he said the show had been “my total focus for the last five years”.[17]
May 2019US Premiere
The series was set to make its US debut on NBCUniversal’s Universal Kids on May 20, 2019; he has been called “the J. K. Rowling of the under-fives”.[16]
November 2025J.M. Barrie Lifetime Achievement Award
On November 6, 2025 he and Anne Wood jointly received Action for Children’s Arts’ 21st J.M. Barrie Lifetime Achievement Award, and he accepted it on her behalf.[18]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Ragdoll Productions: Official website: https://www.ragdoll.co.uk/ (opens in a new window)[19]
Sources
- Andrew Philip DAVENPORT personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK (opens in a new window)
- Animal (opens in a new window)
- Name (opens in a new window)
- Nickelodeon takes Teletubbies reboot (opens in a new window)
- Ex-Nelvana execs helm Bento Box's new kids division (opens in a new window)
- Moon and Me Creator Andrew Davenport on His Follow-up to Teletubbies (opens in a new window)
- CBeebies stays In the Night Garden for another seven years (opens in a new window)
- Golden Bear inks master toy license for In The Night Garden (opens in a new window)
- Shine launches new kids prodco (opens in a new window)
- FOUNDLING BIRD LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK (opens in a new window)
- FOUNDLING BIRD LIMITED officers - Find and update company information - GOV.UK (opens in a new window)
- Kids TV veterans launch Bento Box unit (opens in a new window)
- Andrew Davenport, Sutikki score CBeebies order (opens in a new window)
- Moon and Me lands Hasbro deal (opens in a new window)
- Moon and Me makes US landing on Universal Kids (opens in a new window)
- Andrew Davenport shoots for the moon (opens in a new window)
- New 'Moon and Me' Show Takes A Handmade Approach To Storytelling (opens in a new window)
- Action for Children's Arts 21st annual J.M. Barrie Lifetime Achievement awarded to Andrew Davenport and Anne Wood CBE. The Outstanding Achievement Award is awarded to The Story Museum (opens in a new window)
- About - Ragdoll Productions (opens in a new window)