Postman Pat, Britain's number one cartoon mailman, is my second-in-rank comforting character (unlike the 2003 and so on). Do you see his cute facade? And his wholesome attitude? That's what got me started on binge-watching his classic show in early 2022.
If you do not know what "Postman Pat" is, it is an 80's stop-motion series in the UK, centering around the life of a friendly mailman, Pat Clifton, in a country village known as Greendale. The series mainly consists of wholesome scenes and cute puppetry design. Overall, I consider the first season the best of all, because of its relaxing moments (e.g. when Pat comes to take a nap underneath a tree), and aesthetic. Ken Barrie has even given his all to voice-portray every single character in the show. What a large W for him.
Besides Postman Pat himself, there are also his friendly neighbors. Ted Glen, the handy man; Alf Thompson, the farmer, and Dorothy, his wife; Rev. Timms, the vicar, and Rebecca Hubbard (my personal favorite), the strong-willed church lady, etc.
Let's get back to the show, generally. John Cunliffe, the creator of the series, has also penned many picture book stories. They're all cute and stay true to the source material. To see somewhat all of them, you can check out the Archive.
If you're feeling kinda bold, you can also check out the post-modern fan-fiction that was on the original "Postman Pat" website (All of these are fan-made audiobooks created by me). It is important to note that these stories have darker themes, so please guard your kids.
(The season two was still quite nice) Sadly, as the seasons progressed through decades, it became mainly targeted to the fellow kids, with the kid characters taking 100% of the spotlight. It's very annoying for fans of the old series. We wanted to see more of the Greendalians' everyday life. And, where is the grandma character? the church lady? They were fan favorites.
And this series became at its worst around 2008, when it rebranded itself as "Special Delivery Service", focusing on Pat making laser-focused special deliveries. What a formulaic execution. What happened to the magic of the original show? All gone, reduced to oblivion, because of the executives. Then in 2014, a LITERAL movie came. And guess what? Instead of a return to the 80s, it centers on the SDS too! And Pat's journey to fame (a cliched plotline). Finally, what put the cherry on top is the year 2017, when all aspects of the postman were shut down, never to return for many years...