Watch out - the Space Sprogs are coming! (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Watch out - the Space Sprogs are coming!

MOVE over Teletubbies and step-down The Tweenies - the Space Sprogs are getting ready to take over children's television, says a Colesbourne family.

Andy Green is setting up what he hopes to be the next craze of fictional characters with his partner Dawn Melvin.

They have formed Planet Sprog Ltd, a production company, and are set to film at Blue Egg Studios in Upper Rissington next month.

Their three children Harriet, 12, James, 9, and Megan, 3 have been fans for years because of Dawn's imaginative bedtime stories.

"Dawn has been writing children's stories and creating visual characters on a non commercial basis for over 15 years," said Andy. "The first stories were 'The Adventures of Fickleby Frog' and were written when she was only 21 for a friend's children."

As a mother of three, there was always a need for new stories and characters and in 1998 The Space Adventures were born, he said.

"Then the audience grew. There were sleepovers and other children wanted to know what the characters were like," he said.

Eventually the family decided they needed visual stimulation.

"I'm in the media and Dawn is an artist and designer. Because of our jobs we buy a lot of products from China. "We took some designs of the characters with us on a business trip to Hong Kong and met up with a toy manufacturer. He made up six Sprogs and offered us £30,000 for the rights to the drawings. "That's when we thought there might be some commercial viability for the Sprogs," he added.

Dawn and Andy decided they would produce toys and children's books themselves and received thousands of orders when they appeared at the London Toy Fair in 2000.

Television companies also approached the couple about making a children's television series, as did companies interested in producing confectionery, clothing, toys, and computer games.

"It was phenomenal," said Andy. "We couldn't believe so many people were interested in taking our concept and making it into a television programme."

They met up with broadcasters in the United States, Britain and Asia.

"The more people we saw, the more we decided that the spirit of the Sprogs would be lost unless we did it ourselves," added Andy.

Six months ago they launched the Cheltenham based production company and are going to start filming Planet Sprog in puppet format in May.

"It is a great way of bringing a fantastic industry into the region and drawing on the talent round here," said Andy.

Picture: Andy Green with his Space Sprogs