Numberjacks

Numberjacks is a British animated/live-action children's television series, aimed particularly at children aged two to five, which was formerly shown on CBeebies and occasionally on BBC Two in the United Kingdom. It was also shown on Tiny Pop until 2018. It was produced by Open Mind Productions for the BBC and features a mixture of computer-generated animation and live action. 67 episodes were produced. The show focuses on mathematics.

Numberjacks centres on the adventures of a group of anthropomorphic numbers. The main Numberjacks; Three, Four, Five, and Six, are the main protagonists of the series. They normally spend their everyday lives inside a sofa until a call comes in from real-life child Agents, who report problems that need solving. One or two of the Numberjacks fly out on location to investigate the issues, that are normally caused by the show's main antagonists - the Meanies. After much fun, adventure and powerful thinking, the Numberjacks win the day – until next time.

• Three (voiced by Alice Baker) - The youngest of the main Numberjacks, Three is pink, has blue eyes, and is still learning every day how to be a "big" Numberjack. Being young, she is quite cheeky, noisy, lively, mischievous; and is wanting to prove that she can do things even if she is not ready for them yet. In the Sofa's cosy room, she holds a collection of objects she deems her "beautiful things", and normally does not let the other Numberjacks touch them. In earlier episodes, she is not allowed to go on missions alone, but later on in the series she is proven responsible enough to go out to the real world. When she is not on a mission, Three is the principal operator of the Brain Gain machine in the sofa's Control Room. She looks up to nine as a motherly figure.
• Four (voiced by Jonathan Beech) - Four is dark blue, has brown eyes, and deems himself to be a regular sort of number. Although friendly and regular, he lacks in self-confidence and is not sure at times what to do and when not to panic. He enjoys fixing things, being that he is the Numberjacks' mechanic. When he is not doing work, Four likes to either be in the cosy room to read books, or train with the Bloop Ball in the gym. When he is not on a mission and prior to missions, Four is the main screen operator in the Control Room. He looks up to Eight as a big brother and has a special bond with him.
• Five (voiced by Laura Maasland) - Five is turquoise, has brown eyes, and enjoys being who she is as a Numberjack. She is the best jumper in the main cast and has a good fashion sense. When she is not doing missions, she can normally be found helping the younger Numberjacks progress to be bigger numbers, especially Two. In almost every episode, 5 speculates what else might go wrong, which the viewers see in 2D animation. She is Spooky Spoon's arch-nemesis.
• Six (voiced by Oliver Keogh) - Six is yellow, has blue eyes, and enjoys being a bigger number. He is quite a physical number who does some cool and flashy jumps. While deemed as the leader of the Numberjacks, he isn't as bright as Five. Six normally decides who goes on the Mission.

There are six recurring Numberjacks, the younger ones do not go on missions but occasionally cause trouble, while the elder ones go on their own missions.

• Zero (voiced by Dylan Robertson) - Zero is lime green, has blue eyes, and is the youngest out of the numbers. He doesn't do or say much at all and enjoys it that way. Although he can be quite troublesome and has occasionally escaped the sofa and making things disappear by saying "Zero!", Zero has proven to be quite useful in making numbers such as 10, 100 and 1000. He easily gets tired due to his young age.
• One (voiced by Dylan Robertson) - One is purple and the only numberjack with green eyes, and feels like she is in the centre of her own universe. She occasionally causes her own problems, but is well-being and with Zero, they can make ten. Because she is noticeably older than Zero, she can speak longer sentences and phrases, like "Just one, I’m only a little number." compared to him. She resorts speaking a bit shorter, though.
• Two (voiced by Robert Watson) - Two is orange, has hazel eyes, and hopes to be one of the "Big Numbers" someday despite still being a bit babyish. He can quickly flip from one state to the opposite, is busily into things and has a touch of “terrible twos”.
• Seven (voiced by Roz Ellis) - Seven is red, has brown eyes, and is always busy doing things. She has a wide variety of hobbies including singing and art (especially when it comes to the seven colours of the Rainbow), and is quite energetic and creative. She is also a motherly figure to the younger Numberjacks, and in the episode "Interesting Times", Seven acts as a Narrator.
• Eight - (voiced by Harry Munday) - Eight is sky blue, has brown eyes, and jumps the best of all the Numberjacks. Eight is cheerful, rounded, earthy, sporty, and game, he can go a little too far. Four looks up to him as a big brother.
• Nine - (voiced by Roz Ellis) - Nine is light green, has blue eyes, and is the “biggest” Numberjack. She enjoys organizing things and showing how to be calm in a crisis. Like Seven, Nine is a motherly figure to the younger Numberjacks, especially Three.

• The Numbertaker (portrayed by Ross Mullan) - A tall human who wears a white coat and hat, is normally taking numbers or "numbers of things", and has a rather sinister street performer side about him. He holds a number of attachments to take away numbers, including a vacuum-cleaner, a magnet, a net, a hook, and his “number sucker-upper”. On some occasions, he may transition himself to the "Numbermaker" and make numbers and add "numbers of things" instead.
• The Problem Blob (vocal effects provided by Bob Golding) - A green anthropomorphic blob that spits out green blobs which cause all sorts of random problems. He also has an eye on a stalk that can come out of his mouth at times. He was the first meanie to appear on the show, but has made the fewest appearances. He has blobbed two Numberjacks - Four and Six. He also once surrounded Five with blobs, causing her to go into a repetitive pattern.
• The Puzzler (voiced by Bob Golding) - A floating spherical face with moveable features. He enjoys setting up puzzles, and always speaks in rhyme. He tends to trap the Numberjacks in orange "Puzzle Balls" which only pop when a respective puzzle is completed. Although the hardest meanie for the Numberjacks to defeat, the Puzzler is easy to compromise as he stops his troubles once his puzzles are beaten, and enjoys a good challenge - to the point that he is pleased when his puzzles are solved. He was once a music DJ.
• Spooky Spoon (voiced by Rachel Preece) - An amphomorphic purple spoon who is normally source of problems with matching and connecting by mixing everything up. She is entirely self-centred, thinks of herself as being superior than anyone around her, and heavily dislikes Five, who she deems as her arch-nemesis.
• The Shape Japer (voiced by Rachel Preece) - A shape-shifting being who can float in the air. She often causes things to change shape or involve shapes. She is normally of a cube or a sphere, but she can also turn into a square, a circle, a cylinder, a cone or a triangle. She mainly laughs a lot, and doesn't speak many words. She lives in a cave near a beach, as seen in the Seaside Adventure special. She is the most frequent Meanie on the show.

When a meanie is defeated, the end of their theme song will play; this happens in most episodes, but not all of them.

Series 1, consisting of 45 15-minute episodes, first aired in Autumn 2006. Series 2, consisting of 20 15-minute episodes first aired on CBeebies in 2009.

• Royal Television Society Educational Television Awards 2006

• Awarded Best Schools Programme – 0–5 Years (for the episode "Nine Lives")

• Royal Television Society Educational Television Awards 2007

• Awarded Best Schools Programme – 0–5 Years (for the episode "Zero the Hero")

The Numberjacks Are On Their Way! (Volume 1)

• 1. "The Trouble With Nothing"
• 2. "Going Wrong Going Long"
• 4. "In, Out, Shake It All About"
• 10. "4 He's A Jolly Good Fellow"
• 11. "Boxing Day"
• 17. "Off Colour"

Calling All Agents! (Volume 2)

• 3. "Sphere Today, Gone Tomorrow"
• 5. "One More Time"
• 8. "Getting Heavy"
• 13. "Nine Lives"
• 24. "One Won"
• 27. "Best Estimate"

Standing By To Zoom! (Volume 3)

• 6. "Forward Thinking"
• 7. "Seven Wonders"
• 9. "Belongings"
• 18. "A Game Of Two Halves"
• 29. "Zero The Hero"
• 33. "Being 3"

Brain Gain! (Volume 4)

• 14. "Takeaway"
• 15. "The Cuck-Cuck-Cuck-Oo-Oo-Oo Bird"
• 19. "Out For The Count"
• 22. "3 Things Good"
• 32. "Fair Shares"
• 44. "Data Day"

Counting Down To Christmas! (Volume 5)

• 20. "The Container Drainer"
• 23. "Say What You Mean"
• 26. "May The Fours Be With You"
• 37. "Time Trouble"
• 41. "Two, Four, Six, Eight"
• 46. "Counting Down to Christmas" (25 minute film, available on DVD and online)

Seaside Adventure (Volume 6)

• 30. "Bad Circles"
• 31. "Famous Fives"
• 34. "Into The Teens"
• 47. "Seaside Adventure" (45 minute feature available on DVD and online)

• Official Numberjacks store UK
• Official website
• Numberjacks at BBC Online
• Numberjacks at BBC Online