This article discusses the Children's television show. For the psychedelic band of the same name, see Flowerpot Men. Bill and Ben are also characters in the television series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.

In the 1950s and 1960s, BBC television ran a series of children's programmes under the collective title of Watch with Mother. There was a different programme on each weekday, one of which was The Flowerpot Men, based on stories by Hilda Brabban.

The programme took place in a garden, behind a potting shed, while the Gardener was away eating his lunch. There was a Little Weed, of indeterminate species, somewhat resembling a sunflower with a smiling face, and when the Gardener was away, the piles of flowerpots resolved themselves into two flowerpot men, Bill and Ben. They spoke their own unintelligible language; for example, `Hello, Little Weed' came out as `Flobb-dobb, Ickle Weed', to which the Weed would inevitably reply `Weeeed'. This language, like that of the Teletubbies in the 1990s, was criticised for hindering children from learning proper English. Legend has it that Hilda Brabban sold the rights to her stories to the BBC for a mere guinea (£1, or about $3 at that time).

In 2001 a second series named Bill and Ben was produced for Cbeebies, this time involving stop-action animation and full colour.

External links

• IMDb Flowerpot Men (1952) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0288357/)
• IMDb Bill and Ben (2001) (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0272959/)
• Official Cbeebies Bill and Ben site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/characterpages/billandben/index.shtml)