Xya's Friends

Xya's Friends is a Jetanie animated educational television series. Created by Taylor Ridley and produced by Colourbox, the show ran for six series from 1974 to 1979, and was reran on television for over thirty years.

Xya's Friends aired on JT1 as part of the Windmill programming strand - it was broadcast during the "yellow" section on Friday afternoons, notably being Windmill's only programme to retain its initial timeslot for its entire run.

Premise
Every episode begins and ends with narration provided by Maurice Pebworth.

The series focuses on Xya, a boy who is friendly and imaginative, but has difficulty making friends. Each episode of the first series involves him meeting somebody new and becoming their friend. Initially, every character only appeared in one episode, except for Xya and his parents. However, most of the characters Xya befriends in the first series begin to make regular appearances from the second series onwards.

In most episodes, one of Xya's friends or family members is in need of help, whether it is dealing with someone or something difficult, or simply not behaving in an appropriate manner - Xya is usually the one to solve the problem. Some episodes feature the other characters returning the favour by helping out Xya, whilst others involve Xya and company using techniques they learned from each other to solve puzzles.

Every episode lasts 15 minutes and 45 seconds. Beginning in series two, however, none of the episode plots last the entire length, and use several short segments to fill up the rest of the time. These varied, but were often music videos for songs which were made for the show, brief educational clips or brief clips of Xya and company making things with arts and crafts.

Cast and characters
The show initially only had three voice actors; Taylor Ridley, Henry Buckings and Carl Forest. Additional voice actors started appearing from the third series.

Production
Xya's Friends was created by Taylor Ridley in 1972 shortly after Gravy and Spider finished production and was scheduled to air. After rewatching all of the episodes of Gravy and Spider, Ridley felt the show was too basic and that the titular characters had little to no personality. Thus, she got to work on creating a series which would have more character development and episodes with "more meaning".

Ridley chose to make the series about ordinary people doing ordinary things, and made the protagonist and most of the supporting characters children in order for children watching the show to be able to relate to the characters. She also made sure that the main character, Xya, was the "best" (most sensible and morally right) character. Ridley insisted that she wanted to make sure any negative behaviour was treated as inappropriate, in a manner children are unlikely to copy and with appropriate punishment, and that there was a limit on the amount of humour present on the show in favour of more sophisticated plotlines.

Xya's Friends ended its run in 1979. Ridley had no intentions of cancelling the show, but ultimately decided on doing so after hearing that Windmill would be dropped by the end of the year. In 2004, she said that there will never be another series or reboot, as she does not want to "ruin [her] best work with unnecessary revivals".

Transmissions
Xya's Friends spawned 64 episodes over six series, with each series consisting of 8 to 13 episodes. Each episode premiered on Friday afternoons at 4:40p.m.

Ratings
Xya's Friends received high ratings during the 1970s; having the Friday afternoon slot on Windmill gave it an advantage. According to statistics published in 2004, it was highest-rated Friday afternoon programme during most weeks in 1976 and 1977. Ratings dipped slightly in 1978 but remained high regardless.

In the United Kingdom, the show spawned average ratings during its initial run, but received more viewing figures during its reruns on CBBC in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Critical reception
Writing for KantasyDream in 2007, [TBA] cited Xya's Friends as being "well ahead of its time", going on to say "whilst most 1970s cartoons relied on corny humour and low-budget standard plotlines, [Xya's Friends] was actually well written, relatable and complex without being too confusing at the same time", ultimately giving the show a perfect 7 out of 7 rating.

[TBA] of Common Sense Media gave the show a 4 out of 5, calling it "entertaining edutainment for all ages".

Home media releases
The show received many releases on VHS tapes throughout Region 2 during the 1980s and 1990s. The complete collection, consisting of all 64 episodes, was released on DVD in Region 2 in 2003.

Jetania

 * Windmill (1974-1979)

Australia

 * ABC (1975-?)

France

 * TF1 (1976-?)

Italy

 * RAI (1976-?)
 * Boing (2004-2010)

Kuboia

 * Vision Network (1988-1997)
 * Bumper's Block (1991-1997)
 * Nickelodeon Kuboia (1993-1996)
 * Nick Jr. Kuboia (1997-2003)
 * Nick Jr. Classics (2004-2010)

New Zealand

 * TV One (1975-?)

United Kingdom
Xya's Friends premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC One in September 1974, airing as part of the unbranded children's programming slot, and later as part of See-Saw from 1980 to 1990. When CBBC was launched, the show became part of its lineup and, likely due to its popular, continue to run on the block until late 2001.

Reruns were also seen on Nickelodeon from its launch in 1993, and was later moved to Nick Jr. upon its launch in 1999 until 2002. Reruns were later shown on Boomerang from 2003 to 2008, albeit only late at night.
 * BBC1 (1974-1985)
 * CBBC (1985-2001)
 * Nickelodeon (1993-1999)
 * Nick Jr. (1999-2002)
 * Boomerang (2003-2008)

United States
When the show was reran on Toon Disney in the United States, the additional segments used to fill up timeslots were edited out.
 * Pinwheel (1977-1990)
 * Toon Disney (1998-2002)