Postman Pat: Postman Pat Takes the Bus

Do a quick web search on "Postman Pat" and you'll discover two things: 1) the BBC children's series is massively popular in the U.K., and 2) the show has spawned more licensed gewgads (lunchboxes and such) than the Catholic church. Created during the mid-'80s and revived in the late '90s, Ivor Wood's beloved puppet animation series centers around life in the little village of Greendale, where Postman Pat and his black and white cat Jess deliver the mail and share adventures with the locals. Postman Pat Takes the Bus, a compilation of four episodes, leads off with the title show, in which our affable rural delivery guy upgrades to a "postal bus" that carries passengers and mail. Predictably, while neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow slow up the mail, the residents of Greendale--with their "oops, forgot me hat!", minor quibbles with fellow passengers, and difficulty returning to the bus at the proper departure time--do. To his credit, Postman Pat does not go postal; like the rest of us, he merely sighs and makes the best of it. Pleasant, easygoing children's fare, the first volume also contains "The Barometer," "Postman Pat and the Magpie Hen" and "Finding Day." A second volume with four more episodes, identically priced, is also available. Recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)