SuperTed is a Welsh teddy bear who has superpowers. He along with his friend Spotty try to do good. SuperTed was a series of stories created by Mike Young who eventually created a television series based on those stories. 'SuperTed' was created by Mike Young in 1978[1] for his son to help him overcome his fear of the dark. Later Mike decided to put the stories into book form. Superted originally was a bear from the woods who was also afraid of the dark, until one day Mother Nature give him a magic word which gives him Superpowers and transform him to SuperTed. After a while, Mike started to write actual story books about SuperTed. Then after some unsuccessful attempts, he was able to get his book published by a local printer. This led Mike to a successful career, writing and publishing over 100 SuperTed books, with illustrations done by Philip Watkins, until 1990. Just after his first book was published, his wife suggested he should produce a stuffed toy version of SuperTed which was done in 1980.[2]

The process also drew the attention of Warner Brothers in 1980 who made an offer of £250,000 for the film rights. Mike was determined to keep SuperTed Welsh,[3] as he wanted to help create local jobs and prove places outside London had talent.[2] In 1981, S4C enquired about making Superted into animations, but Mike decided to create Siriol Productions to produce the series himself. Siriol management wished to create SuperTed in a way which their own kids could be proud of, free from facile plots and hard line violence. This concept continued to be adopted to all series made by Siriol, which proves soft edge and quality animation can be more appealing to children than any amount of violence.[3] Superted was also turned into a stage show. Melvyn Hayes reprised his role but other parts were taken by other actors. Superted's popularity even led to the production of a line of vitamin supplements for children.[3]

In 1989 Mike Young sold the rights to SuperTed to Abbey home media.[4] SuperTed is a teddy bear found to be defective in the toy factory where he was made, and "threw him away like a piece of rubbish! Into an old dark storeroom." A Spotty man found him there and brought him to life with his "cosmic dust". He was then taken to Mother Nature and given magical powers that enabled him to fight evil. SuperTed's powers are activated by his "secret magic word", which (as the name suggests) remains a secret. SuperTed whispers it every time he or someone else is in peril and he transforms into a superhero with Superman-like red suit with rockets built in to the boots. These allow him to fly. In one episode, Bulk overhears the secret magic word and also whispers it, briefly acquiring identical powers to SuperTed. However, he subsequently forgets the word. The evil invariably takes the form of Texas Pete (an evil cowboy, the antagonist of the series) and his gang; Bulk (an overweight, bumbling fool) and Skeleton (an undead, outrageously camp, cowardly skeleton with pink slippers). Texas Pete's plots are generally aimed at advancing his own wealth, ruling the world and the power or the destruction of SuperTed, his nemesis. Heroes

SuperTed - A teddy bear brought to life by "cosmic dust", and given special powers by Mother Nature. He is voiced by Derek Griffiths

Spotty - SuperTed's bumbling companion and best friend, a yellow alien covered in green spots, from planet Spot. He brings SuperTed to life with his cosmic dust, took him to Mother Nature to give him special powers and flew through space in a spotted rocket. He is voiced by Jon Pertwee

Blotch - Spotty's sister. She is voiced by Shelia Steafel.

Mother Nature - Mother Nature, portrayed as a fairy that grants SuperTed magical powers. Mother Nature's friends are Superted & Spotty and Mother Nature's enemies are Texas Pete, Bulk & Skeleton, she is voiced by Shelia Steafel

Villains

Texas Pete - An evil cowboy. Superted's nemesis, the main villain of the series. He is voiced by Victor Spinetti.-Texas Pete's friends are Bulk & Skeleton and Texas Pete's enemies are Superted, Spotty & Bubbles the Clown

Skeleton - A very cowardly, outrageously camp skeleton. He is voiced by Melvyn Hayes.-Skeleton's friends are Texas Pete, Bulk & formerly, Bubbles the Clown and Skeleton's enemies are Superted, Spotty & Bubbles the Clown.

Bulk - An overweight fool with intense stupidity. He is voiced by Roy Kinnear. Bulk's friends are Texas Pete, Skeleton & formally, Bubbles the Clown and Bulk's enemies are Superted, Spotty & Bubbles the Clown
As Mike was determined to keep SuperTed Welsh, he entered into partnership with S4C ( the newly formed Welsh television channel) in 1981 who approached him about producing an animated series of SuperTed. He set up Siriol Animation with his wife, to procured the series locally, which first aired on 1 November 1982 on S4C in Welsh. A year later it was dubbed into English and broadcast throughout the whole of the United Kingdom on BBC1, from October 83.

Unlike the books the television series was ghost written by Robin Lyons and director Dave Edwards, who were also Directors of Siriol Animation, and between 1982–1986, 3 series were made:
Series 1 (1982)

SuperTed and the Stolen Rocket Ship
SuperTed and the Inca Treasure
SuperTed and the Elephants Graveyard
SuperTed and the Train Robbers
SuperTed and the Giant Kites
SuperTed and the Pearl Fishers
SuperTed and Nuts in Space
SuperTed and the City of the Dead
SuperTed at Creepy Castle
SuperTed on Planet Spot
SuperTed at the Funfair
SuperTed and the Goldmine

    
Series 2 (1984)

SuperTed and the Gun Smugglers
SuperTed at the Toy Shop
SuperTed in Texas
SuperTed and Trouble in Space - Part 1
SuperTed and Trouble in Space - Part 2
SuperTed in the Arctic
Spotty and the Indians
SuperTed and the Crystal Ball
SuperTed and the Lumberjacks
SuperTed's Dream
Bulk's Story
SuperTed Meets Father Christmas

    
Series 3 (1985-1986)

SuperTed and Mother Nature
SuperTed and the Magic Word - Part 1
SuperTed and the Magic Word - Part 2
SuperTed and the Pothole Rescue
SuperTed Kicks Up the Dust
SuperTed and the Whales
SuperTed and the Gorilla
SuperTed and the Great Horrendo
SuperTed Goes Round the Bend
SuperTed and Tex's Magic Spell
SuperTed in Chinatown
SuperTed and the Rattlesnake
he series has been broadcast and dubbed in over 50 countries around the world:[4]
Europe

Republic of Ireland The series was dubbed into Irish for RTE, and also broadcast in English
United Kingdom The series was broadcast in English on the BBC Between 1983 - 1994.
Sweden was broadcast on SVT1 and released in several VHS tapes.
Norway First appeared in 1983 [5]
Netherlands First appeared on 4 October 1984
Finland
Spain
France Dubbed into French and broadcast on TF1

Americans

United States The Series was broadcast on The Disney Channel from 1984, making it the first British cartoon series to be aired on the Disney Channel in the United States.

India

India The series was broadcast on the Gemini Channel in Telugu.
In 1989, SuperTed was revived in America by Hanna Barbera (who also made Fantastic Max). The revival was one of four series aired as part of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera syndicated animation block. SuperTed along with Spotty & his sister, Blotch appeared in a Public Information Film in 1986. The film was commissioned by the Central Office of Information, was entitled "Supersafe with SuperTed", and featured the three characters being flown to Earth by SuperTed, in order to teach Spotty how to cross the road safely. A flashback during the short reveals an incident when Spotty very nearly got killed, running across the road on the planet Spot (his home), to talk to his sister. It was released on two VHS videos: Magic Of SuperTed (1986) and The Biggest Ever SuperTed Video (1994).

SuperTed proceeds during the animation, to teach Spotty the right way to cross the road, including not running, not standing behind vehicles, etc. He then warns the viewer that he "can't always be there to save you, especially on planet Earth". The animated "setting" for the film was a based on Castle Street in Cardiff city centre, Wales[6] with Cardiff Castle as a backdrop. The series won numerous awards, including the 1987 BAFTA for best animation. DVD releases

The Complete original series of Superted was released on June 2008 in Region 2 (UK). The Series is yet to be released in other regions.
Home Video
VHS releases

SuperTed (VC1058), 6 Episodes - Released: 1986
SuperTed Volume 2 (VC1059), 6 Episodes - Released: 1986
The New Adventures of SuperTed (V9062), 5 Episodes - Released: 1988
The Heroic Adventures of SuperTed (V9113) 5 Episodes - Released: 1988
The Original SuperTed Bumper Edition (GMH 101) 9 Episodes - Released: 1989
SuperTed: The Special Edition (GMH 102) 12 Episodes - Released: 1989
Superted's Bumper Video (93852), 7 Episodes - Released: 1990.
The Original Adventures of SuperTed: Special Edition (94982), 8 Episodes - Released: 1991
The Biggest Ever SuperTed Video (97192) 25 Episodes - Released: 1994

Tempo Kids Club

The Original Adventures of SuperTed: Trouble in Space (94622), 3 Episodes - Released: 1991
The Original Adventures of SuperTed: SuperTed Goes to Texas (95862), 3 Episodes - Released: 1992

US Home video

All 36 episodes were released over six videocassettes by Walt Disney Home Video.
Children's Favourites

SuperTed and the Stolen Rocket Ship from Children's TV Favourites - Released: 1990
SuperTed Kicks Up The Dust from My Best Friends - Released: 1993
SuperTed's Dream from My Best Friends Too - Released: 1994
SuperTed and Mother Nature from Children's Favourites (WHSmith Exclusive) - Released: 1995
SuperTed at the Toyshop from My Favourite Teddy Bears Video- Released: 1993
SuperTed Meets Father Christmas from The Biggest Ever Christmas Video (Released: 1993), Christmas Favourites (WHSmith Exclusive) [Released 1995] and 110 minutes of Christmas Crackers (Released- 1996).