citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message cosgrove hall films industry television production and film studio fate absorbed into itv plc successor cosgrove hall fitzpatrick entertainment ltd. founded 1976 defunct 2009 headquarters manchester uk key people brian cosgrove mark hall 1936 2011 1 website chfentertainment.com cosgrove hall films aka cosgrove hall productions was a british animation studio founded by brian cosgrove and mark hall ; its headquarters was in chorlton cum hardy manchester . cosgrove hall was once a major producer of children s television and animated programmes ; cosgrove hall s programmes are still seen in over eighty countries . the company was wound down by its then owner itv plc on 26 october 2009 . 2 contents 1 history 1.1 stop frame productions 1.2 cosgrove hall films 2 series & productions 2.1 1970s 2.2 1980s 2.3 1990s 2.4 2000s 3 dvd releases 4 references 5 external links history edit stop frame productions edit brian cosgrove and mark hall first met while both were students at manchester college of art and design which is now part of manchester metropolitan university . 3 they later became co workers at granada television where they produced television graphics . 3 hall left his job in 1969 and founded his own production company stop frame productions . 3 cosgrove joined the company shortly after its establishment . 3 their first projects for stop frame included public service films and television commercials for such companies as the tvtimes . 3 from 1971 to 1972 the company released the animated series the magic ball which they created in a renovated shed located in the yard of cosgrove s father in law . 3 hall directed two animated productions for stop frame captain noah and his floating zoo which was released in 1972 and the television series noddy which aired in 1975 . 3 the company also produced opening credits and graphics for children s series such as rainbow in 1972 . 3 cosgrove hall films edit stop frame productions ceased production and was closed in 1975 . 3 however cosgrove and hall were able to find new work in animation specifically due to their earlier work on the 1972 series rainbow . the producer of rainbow thames television an itv company created a new subsidiary animation studio called cosgrove hall films . 3 thames hired and commissioned cosgrove and hall as lead animators to create new animated programs for this new studio based on their earlier work with rainbow . thames television also hired john hambley as cosgrove hall films first executive producer . 3 in 1993 the ownership of cosgrove hall was transferred to anglia television following the loss of thames itv licence and following a series of takeovers and mergers ownership finally belonged to itv plc. its first series was chorlton and the wheelies the lead role being named after the suburb of manchester where the company was based the other characters were placed on wheels as this made the stop frame animation easier . danger mouse was one of the studio s earliest international successes . the studio made 161 episodes between 1981 and 1992 . in each one danger mouse the world s greatest secret agent and his well meaning but useless sidekick penfold outwit the evil baron silas greenback and assorted baddies . in 1983 the studio made a 75 minute film the wind in the willows based on kenneth grahame s classic story of the same name . it won a bafta award and an international emmy award . subsequently the studio made a 52 episode tv series based on the characters between 1984 and 1990 . all the music and songs for the feature and series were written by keith hopwood late of herman s hermits and malcolm rowe . the stone roses guitarist john squire worked on this series . count duckula was a spoof on the dracula legend ; its title character is the world s only vegetarian vampire . he aspires to be rich and famous . originally he was a villain henchman recurring in the danger mouse series but got a spin off series in 1988 that rapidly became one of cosgrove hall s most successful programmes . both shows also aired on nickelodeon in the united states during the late 1980s and were popular in the ratings for the channel . in 1987 the studio produced a full length feature of roald dahl s the bfg music and songs by keith hopwood & malcom rowe . truckers the first book in the bromeliad was the studio s first collaboration with the best selling author terry pratchett . the 1991 series follows the efforts of a group of gnomes whose spaceship crash landed on earth 15 000 years ago to return home . in 1997 cosgrove hall films produced two series for channel 4 based on wyrd sisters and soul music two novels from pratchett s discworld series . in 1999 they produced ids for cartoon network when the channel s european outlet could use some new ids . one of the studio s specialities was producing programmes for young children . they made 39 episodes of noddy s toyland adventures 1992 1999 and 52 of bill and ben 2001 for the bbc . like bill and ben the 52 episodes of andy pandy 2002 were based on the classic characters from the 1950s . inspiral carpets drummer craig gill was involved in the early stages of this project although the music and songs were written by keith hopwood and phil bush . in australia all of them were aired on abc although danger mouse count duckula and alias the jester later aired on network ten . the studio also made ghosts of albion 2003 for the bbc s first fully animated webcast . this gothic tale is set in a 19th century london swarming with demons . website visitors could learn about the production and help to develop the story . the studio also produced scream of the shalka a doctor who animated story for the bbc website . in 2006 they animated the missing first and fourth episodes of the doctor who serial the invasion for a dvd release . other animations made by the studio include the foxbusters victor and hugo avenger penguins jamie and the magic torch fetch the vet and albie . they have also produced the new episodes of postman pat . they had also tried to make their first cgi animated show theodore but this failed due to itv s absorbing of the company . the pop singer and musician bernard sumner worked for cosgrove hall from 1976 to 1979 as a tracer . in 2008 shortly after granada television became the only surviving franchisee of independent television in england and wales all except four staff were made redundant by itv and moved in house to the granada television studios in manchester . this ended 30 years of the studio in chorlton . the reasons are complex but it was mostly as a result of the company s owner itv granada s lack of interest in investing in cosgrove hall . a financial review decided that the company was no longer viable . uk animation production industry is in general struggling because of increasingly tough competition from state subsidised production in countries such as canada france and the far east where the industry is growing and very buoyant . the company was again put under review by itv plc in october 2009 being absorbed and ceasing to exist a few months later . the land occupied by cosgrove hall s studios in albany road chorlton adjacent to the town s telephone exchange which had stood empty for two years was finally sold in summer 2010 to a housing development company . the intention was to demolish the historic studios and build retirement flats . citation needed during 2012 the studios were finally demolished as part of the above development . urban explorers who visited the site during the demolition found and photographed some models and backgrounds used in previous productions . coincidentally during april of that year it was announced that during the previous summer prior to the death of mark hall he and brian cosgrove had pitched the idea of resurrecting the brand to possible investors . brian cosgrove is now executive producer at chf entertainment as was hall until his untimely death . on 18 november 2011 it was announced that mark hall had died of cancer at the age of 75 . 1 now chf entertainment are actively working on a number of television series including pip which is aimed at pre school children and herogliffix which is for older children . series & productions edit 1970s edit sally and jake thames for itv 1974 to 1978 noddy 1975 tv series chorlton and the wheelies thames for itv 1976 to 1979 jamie and the magic torch thames for itv 1976 to 1980 grandma bricks of swallow street thames for itv 1977 to 1978 captain kremmen 1978 1980 the talking parcel itv 1978 cinderella 1979 1980s edit cockleshell bay 1980 1986 the pied piper of hamelin thames for itv 1981 danger mouse thames for itv 1981 to 1992 the wind in the willows thames for itv 1983 to 1988 alias the jester thames for itv 1985 to 1986 the reluctant dragon thames for itv 1987 creepy crawlies itv 1987 to 1989 count duckula thames for itv 1988 to 1992 central for itv 1993 a tale of two toads thames for itv 1989 the bfg 1989 1990s edit oh mr. toad thames for itv 1990 the fool of the world and the flying ship thames for itv 1990 the sandman partnered with mackinnon productions channel 4 television corporation 1991 victor and hugo thames for itv 1991 1992 terry pratchett s truckers thames for itv 1992 noddy s toyland adventures bbc worldwide 1992 to 2001 sooty & co. granada for itv 1993 to 1998 opening sequence only avenger penguins 1993 1994 oakie doke bbc 1995 to 1996 fantomcat 1995 to 1996 sooty s amazing adventures meridian for itv 1996 to 1997 brambly hedge 1996 to 1998 enid blyton s enchanted lands 1997 the animal shelf 1997 2000 father christmas and the missing reindeer 1998 mimi & scruff as part of jamboree 1998 rocky and the dodos central for itv 1998 rotten ralph fox family 1998 2001 lavender castle citv 1999 to 2000 the foxbusters 1999 to 2000 2000s edit fetch the vet itv 2000 to 2001 vampires pirates & aliens 2000 bill and ben cbbc cbeebies remake 2001 2003 andy pandy cbeebies remake 2002 2009 engie benjy itv 2002 to 2005 little robots create tv and film limited 2002 2003 adventurers masters of time 2003 postman pat 2003 2008 100 % people 2004 fifi and the flowertots nick jr. 2005 2009 albie channel 5 kid clones 2005 doctor who scream of the shalka webcast an animated reconstruction of the invasion and the infinite quest . the likeaballs 2006 roary the racing car nick jr. 2007 ongoing eddie retractorhead nickelodeon 2008 pocoyo partnered with zinkia entertainment danger mouse cbbc reboot 2015 dvd releases edit most of the works produced by cosgrove hall throughout its history are now available on dvd thus for the very first time for some of them as listed below . the bfg on both normal and digitally restored versions the pied piper of hamelin the reluctant dragon 2002 alias the jester the complete series avenger penguins the complete series chorlton and the wheelies the complete collection count duckula the complete collection danger mouse the complete classic collection noddy s toyland adventures the complete collection coming soon the wind in the willows the complete collection truckers tv series the complete series references edit a b danger mouse