Strange Hill High (TV Series 2013–2014) Poster

(2013–2014)

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7/10
Stop-motion/puppet animation that's too cool for school.
ChrisRichmond11 June 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Animated adventures of three (Muppet-style puppet) pupils: Mitchell (Doc Brown), Becky (Emma Kennedy) and Templeton (Richard Ayoade - the IT Crowd - stealing the show) at a slightly paranormal school with a Basil Fawlty lookalike headmaster, Mr Abercrombie (Jonathan Keeble). Although clearly aimed at kids (it is screened on CBBC in the UK) the writing team is headed by Josh Weinstein (The Simpsons, Futurama) so it is witty and warped enough for adults too, who will perhaps catch more of the cultural references (eg a scene in the school kitchen is reminiscent of Jurassic Park). The cast also includes John Thomson and Caroline Aherne in various roles. Spoiler alert: A sample plot involves the school cook being kidnapped and replaced by the tooth fairy, who is scheming to steal the students' teeth by serving up sugary sweets to build a very special Mouth Organ.
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7/10
An obscure and underrated gem!
gporcelli-4123526 June 2019
Unlike many other nowdays cartoon like "Uncle Grandpa", "Breadwinners", "Teen Titans Go!" or "The Amazing World of Gumball", Strange Hill High shines for its clever humor and likeable characters. It's such a shame to me to see how it was poorly followed by viewers (it got between 100.000-300.000 viewers for each episode) and it ended after two seasons. It tells the misadventures of a group of puppets inside their big school. While the concept may not sound original the writing team did an amazing job to give us fresh stories (one of the team also worked for "The Simpsons"). Not all the episodes are funny or memorable, some episodes are trashy (like one were a human coach comes out of a big plant), some others are clichè and in one episode there was a character (Templeton's cousin) that was an annoying and offensive french stereotype. Like I said before, the show has clever humor and very funny jokes that successfully resembles the british humor. I think this is one of the few shows which really do have british humor and not other british cartoons like "The Amazing World of Gumball" where you see a huge pink rabbit dancing and singing on the roof wearing only his briefs (that's not british humor in my opinion). It's such a shame it ended so soon because I always wanted to see Mitch's father: Tony Turner.

Final score 7/10 (Good!) Strange Hill High is a show that deserves much more popularity and success than it got (in my opinion).
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8/10
Should have gone on for much longer and distributed on the main BBC rather than children's BBC
punyerd27 October 2022
At first this might seem like another kids' show, but adults will also enjoy it due to certain references and parodies, some genuine laugh out loud moments, and also the show basically being a parody of The Twilight Zone. Some episodes are directly taken from that show, a few others are just terrible, but the rest are good and original. The show also has Richard Ayoade and Doc Brown voicing the main characters, who are brilliant.

All in all, this show needs to be revived on the main BBC channels with a bit more adult content to draw people in, and it will probably go on for years if that happens. Give what we got a chance, and it just might happen.
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10/10
Great program
benjaaminoooo8 June 2014
This is one of the best shows on CBBC. It has great wit and humor as well as clever parodies. The style is extremely unique and amazing to look at. This show deserves to go on for a long time. Especially good voices are Emma Kennedy, Richard Ayoade and Melissa Sinden. The best episodes in season one where 'Teachers' Pets' and 'Snoozical'. One of the best things in Strange Hill High is the amazing writing team which manages to create great, fresh stories. The lighting is also great and the best scene is the library which contains 1000s of different books and an amazing staircase. Finally, the music and songs are brilliant, especially one in 'Big Templeton is Watching You!'.
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10/10
Great show for kids AND adults!
hazzalc16 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This show is one of the better children's TV shows out there at the moment. It's an animated sitcom done mainly using a combination of stop motion animation (done using vinyl figurines) and puppetry. The show centers around 3 best friends - Mitchell, the new kid at school, Becky, the introverted social outcast and Templeton, the eccentric geek (who, I should mention, is voiced by Richard Ayoade of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and IT Crowd fame - his character in this is a spoof of his character in The IT Crowd) - and their adventures at the school the attend, Strange Hill High, where many weird and wonderful things happen. Their adventures and plans are often foiled (briefly) by their headmaster, Mr Abercrombie, who doesn't really seem to have any regard for anyone or anything but himself (he's let the school go to rack and ruin because he's stingy, he sometimes doesn't remember the pupils' names, etc.).

The episodes are full of jokes that kids AND adults will get. There are a few adult references which kids won't get, however - for example, in one episode, there is a reference to "A Streetcar Named Desire", as well as a few references to Monty Python thrown in here and there for good measure.

In a way, the show almost like a children's version of surrealist comedies like Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Mighty Boosh. It is worth checking out if you are a fan of those shows or of animation in general.
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9/10
We need to bring this show back
chinbagdeluxe25 February 2023
Though a lot of sitcoms try to use the American high school as a setting for stories, it's refreshing to see one set in a British one. Instead of the typical school jock or nerd, the characters are based off common personalities found in the UK and are 100% the best part of the show. I can't think of a single character I don't like or haven't met at some point. You have Mitchel, Becky and Templeton as the main three, Mitchel serving as the rebellious main character, Becky as the voice of reason and Templeton as comic relief, though the other two have many funny moments. You also have the other students. The main bully group of Tyson, the dense big guy, Bishop, who may be my favourite character, acting as the "bling" kid who has literally no knowledge of anything, and another guy who I can't remember the name of but I feel like I've met a lot of people like him. You also have the mean girls, who should be self explanatory. Along with these groups you have some more weird, stand-alone students like Mathew, who is literally just insane, the twins, who are also insane, Gazza, a mute spray-painter, Samia, who is most likely paralysed and is doing her own thing and Donald, a meek student normally in the background. Then you have the staff. You have Mr. Garden, the English teacher, who is way to happy about his situation, Ms. Grimshaw, the old receptionist who is always making announcements and looking for an excuse to give students detention from the cameras, Ms. Grackle, the unfair and cruel music teacher, NIMROD, a robotic maths teacher from the war, Mr. Balding, the history teacher who has probably lived through the events that he teachers, Murdoch, the cleaner who's also a pirate for some reason, the cook, who is pretty normal, the art teacher, who is extremely weird, and Headmaster Abercrombie, who is always trying to get rid of Mitchel. On top of all of this, you also have a variety of monsters, items and strange, SCP like occurrences that the kids either exploit or try to survive. Not only does every character have important roles in multiple episodes, but are developed and fleshed out throughout the show. Every character has at least one funny line, and each story is very unique. The art style is a puppetry-CGI blend too, and every episode starts and ends with a rap unique rap. So yeah, like most great British TV shows, it was funny, smart and alround very unique, but ended far too soon. 9/10.
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10/10
Impossible to now see
peterbrady-147829 May 2021
Fantastic show. A junior version of mighty boosh.

But UK now impossible to watch the show anywhere, anyhow.

DVD only has season 1 part 1 available. Why aren't the rest available to buy?
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