Acamar Films has signed a new significant content deal with the BBC for a new series of its award-winning preschool property – Bing.
A further 26 x 7’ episodes are set to air on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer from 31 October following the launch of the new episodes on Acamar’s new app Bing: Watch, Play, Learn. BBC has also relicensed the original 78 episodes, bringing the total number of episodes to 104.
Adapted for television from the much-loved original books by author Ted Dewan, Bing celebrates the joyful, messy reality of preschool life and the everyday micro-dramas that all young children and the grown-ups in their lives will recognise.
Produced by Acamar Films in association with Dublin-based partner Brown Bag Films, Bing has seen extraordinary success since it launched in 2014. A ratings hit on CBeebies in the UK and the top rated preschool show on BBC iPlayer, the series also won an International Emmy Award in the Kids preschool category in 2016, a Writer’s Guild Award and a BAFTA nomination for best preschool series.
Commenting on this deal, Acamar Films CEO Mikael Shields said: “We are delighted to continue our long partnership with the BBC; it has been a treat to get back into Bing world with our writing-team, as well as with our amazing ensemble cast. We’re all excited to show these new episodes to our highly discerning audience.”
The new series of Bing boasts an extraordinary new voice cast: new-comer Rafferty Railton as Bing, award-winning actor David Threlfall as Flop and Noah Hicks as Pando along with original cast members; Akiya Henry as Amma, Eve Bentley as Sula, Jocelyn McNabb as Coco and Briony Hannah as Padget. Two new key characters join Bing and his friends in this series: Dr. Molly voiced by Tamsin Greig and Sula’s young cousin Nicky voiced by Xavi Nixon.
This new series will find Bing celebrating his birthday, and the entire cast celebrating Christmas and Halloween. New episodes also include stories about face painting, finding a fossil, a visit from the Fire Engine and camping in the garden.
In addition to the UK, Bing airs in 116 markets including: ABC and Nick Jr in Australia, Rai Yoyo and DeA Junior in Italy, Carousel and O! in Russia, Disney Junior in South East Asia, KiKa in Germany, NPO Zappelin in the Netherlands, VRT in Belgium, TVO and TFO Canada, Okto Singapore, S4C in Wales, Irish broadcaster RTE, SVT in Sweden, Clan TV in Spain, MiniMini and Puls TV in Poland, CBeebies in Africa, Norwegian broadcaster NRK, LTV Latvia, HOP in Israel, Czech TV in Czech Republic, M2 in Hungary, RSI in Switzerland and AMC in CEE.
Bing is also available on 3 airlines: British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Emirates. Its phenomenal success continues off-screen with a fantastic reaction from retailers across Europe to the toy launch from master toy partner Golden Bear, an already hugely successful and comprehensive licensing programme in Italy and expansion into new markets including Russia.