Sorry Parents — the Teletubbies Are Back

Some of television’s most beloved (and reviled) children’s characters are headed to streaming. The first trailer for Netflix’s upcoming “Teletubbies” revival series has been released, promising a return to the long-running franchise’s bizarre world.

First created in 1997 by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport, “Teletubbies” is a British children’s show aimed at toddlers. Named after the main characters — a bizarre quartet of multi-colored, toddler-like creatures with antennae on their heads and television screens on their bellies — the show follows them exploring and playing in the grassy landscape they call home. The original show ran for five seasons and over 300 episodes and developed a global following thanks to syndication in over 120 countries. Even outside of its target demographic, the show quickly became famous for its surreal tone and character designs, and attracted sometimes bizarre controversy — such as when televangelist Jerry Falwell accused one of the Teletubbies, Tinky Winky, of being a “covert homosexual symbol.”

The Netflix revival brings back much of the crew that worked on a revival series that aired from 2015 to 2018 on Nick Jr. in the United States. The Teletubby performers from that series — Jeremiah Krage, Nick Kellington, Rebecca Hyland, and Rachelle Beinart — return to don the costumes of Tinky Winky, Dipsy, La-La, and Po, while narration duties pass from Daniel Rigby to “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” star Tituss Burgess. The trailer promises a series similar in tone and format to the original, with Burgess reintroducing the Teletubbies to a new audience and singing the show’s ear-worm theme.

“Over the hills and far away, Teletubbies come to play,” Burgess narrates in the trailer. “Teletubbies love tubby custard, Teletubbies love dancing, Teletubbies love the Tiddlytubbies, and the Teletubbies love each other very much.”

Netflix’s “Teletubbies” revival is produced by WildBrain Teletubbies Productions. Kate Bennetts, Maddy Darrall, Steven DeNure, Billy Macqueen, and Michael Towner executive produce. The first season will consist of 26 12-minute episodes, each written by Catherine Williams.

The “Teletubbies” frolic onto Netflix November 14. The show will be available in all countries, with the exception of the franchise’s native U.K. Watch the trailer below.

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