Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa Laa and Po were famous to children back in the '90s. These colorful creatures were part of "Teletubbies," a TV show from the United Kingdom, which was geared towards preschoolers. Despite its international popularity, the show would stop airing in 2001.
Fourteen years later, however, BBC announced that it will be rebooting the series in the U.K. for 2016 via the CBeebies channel, according to Huffington Post. Young viewers in the United States will also get to watch the series, as it will be carried by Nickelodeon, under Nick Jr.
Sixty new 12-minute episodes are expected to be broadcasted once the rebooted series airs, and in its new offering, the quartet will feature an all-new "21st century touch screen tummies," according to The Guardian. These screens will be the medium from which live action movies will be presented based on the perspective of a child. The set will also be enhanced, with Teletubbyland and Home Hill featuring eco-friendly windmills. The flowers all around the area will also be made from natural materials and with a state of the art digital technology, viewers will be able to watch these bloom from a bud to a full-blown flower with each episode.
The new "Teletubbies" will also feature new cast members who will lend their voices to some of the characters. Jim Broadbent, who is most noted for his work in "Harry Potter" as Horace Slughorn, the potions teacher, will be the voice of the trumpet, who does the announcements on the show, as earlier announced by BBC. He will be joined by Fearne Cotton, one of Britain's most familiar TV presenter, who will be the trumpet's female voice.
Jane Horrocks, the star of the comedy series "Absolutely Fabulous," will be the voice of the tubby phone, a new mobile gadget that has been added to the series to ensure that the revamp is aligned with today's technologies, while Daniel Rigby from "Eric and Ernie" will be its narrator. Actress Antonia Thomas will also be in the cast, providing the voice for the opening and the closing of each episode.
"It's a no-brainer to do more Teletubbies because it's got such a big international profile. You can't blame them for doing it, you can just withdraw into your shell," said Anne Wood, who was the co-creator of show back in 1997, as she tells The Guardian. Wood, however, is no longer part of the reboot.
