The inspiration for the post office itself comes from one located on the street in Kendal where Cunliffe lived when he was writing the original treatment. The post office, at 10 Greenside, closed in 2003. [8]

The thing that first worried John Cunliffe was that other writers were now turning out Pat stories and they seemed to be changing him. In these annuals and comics, for example, he was losing that wry touch of humour that Cunliffe had always given him, like at the end of Postman Pat’s Windy Day when he says “Time to blow home” by mistake. Cunliffe knew people who had adopted that as a family saying. It was only silly, he knew, but it was one of the little touches that made Pat a comfort to people. Still, he didn’t want to get into a fight, so he let it pass. And then one day, he walked into a bookshop and found a whole book about Pat that set his teeth right on edge. Ingledale is another large, busy village town situated in the heart of the North Yorkshire countryside, only seen once in a special in 1991, set to make a second appearance in the revival. In the spin-off series, Postman Pat: Special Delivery Service, Postman Pat has been promoted to Head of the SDS and is now called upon to deliver anything. Each episode follows Postman Pat on a Special Delivery mission, from rescuing a runaway cow to delivering a giant ice cube. In his new role, Postman Pat commutes to the nearby town of Pencaster where he collects his special deliveries from the Pencaster Mail Centre. Postman Pat now has a newer fleet of vehicles including a bigger van, gyrocopter, 4x4 Jeep and motorbike, complete with side-car for Jess. [10] He has a new boss, Ben, who tends to give him instructions (whereas he was his own master before the "promotion"). Pat also seems to make more mistakes in his work since moving to SDS, largely because the new format is always based on one delivery, which has to go wrong somehow (thus often because of Pat's errors).

While no further classic series releases were seen in the UK until 2011, Universal and Classic Media issued all four specials from 1991 to 1994 on the DVD Happy Birthday Postman Pat. On 3 February 2014, the first and second series were made available in their entirety for the first time in the UK, However, the titles are both season 2 with the season 3 theme which came under scrutiny from classic fans and also credits Carole Boyd as doing voices in series 1, despite it being only Ken Barrie at the time. [17] [18] International [ edit ] In 1986, an episode of Bobby Davro on the Box featured Postman Pete, alongside other characters with spoofed names, such as Granny Wisden and Fred Ben. The segment was narrated and the theme tune was sung by the original series narrator, Ken Barrie. The theme tune and songs for Postman Pat Special Delivery Service (including "Special Delivery Service, What's It Going to Be Today?"), was recorded by Simon Woodgate at Echobass Studios. Longleat Safari Park had an outdoor reproduction of Greendale village, including the Post Office, the Cliftons' house and the Greendale station. It also had a miniature model of Greendale. [16] It was installed during the 1990s, was relocated during 2008 in preparation for a new animal area and was revamped a third time for 2013. The attraction was closed at the end of 2015 and was permanently removed in 2016. Harry Enfield and Chums featured a parody entitled "Il Postino Pat" (the show's Italian title), with an operatic reworking of the theme tune and the characters speaking in Italian. At the end, there is a communist revolution in Greendale, and Pat is shot and killed by fascist soldiers. [22]

In the TV series Strange Hill High, Postman Pat himself makes a brief cameo in the episode Strange Hill Christmas.In 2013, DreamWorks Classics released Postman Pat SDS series 2. The new 26-episode series retained Bryan Daly's original theme tune and Simon Woodgate's closing song, however new character themes and incidental music was composed by Sandy Nuttgens. A CGI spin-off to the series was made called Guess with Jess which follows Pat's cat Jess now with the ability to talk and his adventures with the farm animals. The series debuted on 9 November 2009 and ended in 2013. It was so perfect that it was a natural target for every businessman who wanted to make a profit out of children’s play. Fifteen years later, Postman Pat has become a multi-million pound marketing operation with limbs in almost every country in the world, guarded by accountants and lawyers and agents and even a private detective. And John Cunliffe has been left behind, removed to the side lines, from where he has watched in sadness as his characters have been exploited and Greendale has succumbed to the commercialisation of just about everything. Rose, Sarah; Lamont, Alexandra; Reyland, Nicholas (2021). "Watching television in a home environment: effects on children's attention, problem solving and comprehension". Media Psychology. 25: 1–26 – via ResearchGate. Kulvinder Ghir as Bill Thompson (series 3-8), Tom Pottage (series 3–5), Ajay Bains, Bessie Thompson, Michael Lam, Robot 2, Grizzly, Shopper-Bot 3000

In 2006, Postman Pat was nominated for " Best Pre-school Animation" at the BAFTA Children's Awards. [21] Parodies [ edit ]

He was no stranger to feeling fed up. As a boy at school in Colne, an old mill town in Lancashire, he had been a punchbag for the local bullies. He was naturally a peaceable boy who didn’t enjoy fighting at all but he had the misfortune to be much taller than anyone else so he was a natural target for every little hard man who wanted to make his mark in the playground. They used to ambush him routinely on the way home and batter him and his bike, too. Postman Pat is a British stop-motion animated children's television series first produced by Woodland Animations. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman who works for Royal Mail postal service in the fictional village of Greendale (inspired by the real valley of Longsleddale near Kendal). [2]