Birmingham’s first stop-motion animated series earns top industry recognition

The first stop-motion animated series to be made in Birmingham has earned top recognition – taking home three Royal Television Society Midlands awards.

Tweedy & Fluff, which has just celebrated its first anniversary on air on Channel 5’s Milkshake!, is produced by Birmingham-based Second Home Studios and Stitchy Feet Ltd.

Second Home Studios has been based in Digbeth since 2004, creating award-winning animations for the likes of CiTV, Sony, Channel 4 and Nexus Studios.

To date stop-motion series animation in the UK has largely been produced in Manchester or Bristol.

Tweedy & Fluff is the first show of its kind to be made in Birmingham, where its creator and director formerly worked together on Gas Street in the days of Central Television.

Now, the show has garnered three Royal Television Society (RTS) Midlands Awards for Best Animation, Production Craft, and Breakthrough for the show’s creator, having received five nominations overall.

It has also been nominated for Best Preschool Show in the forthcoming Broadcast Awards, early in 2025.

As well as being a hit on Channel 5, the show has also developed a fanbase on S4C in Wales, BBC Alba in Scotland, TG4 in Ireland and is now reaching audiences in Croatia, Sweden and Finland.

Tweedy & Fluff, created by award winning children’s author and TV producer, Corrinne Averiss, is about two adorable little woolen creatures who live in a weaver’s cottage.

Studio founder and series director Chris Randall said: “It’s been a privilege to build our new facility and populate it with puppet-makers, prop-makers, studio crew, VFX and of course our talented animators to create some beautiful moments for children to enjoy.

“The RTS has been unceasingly supportive of our studio since its inception 20 years ago, and winning these awards on home turf really means the world.”

Corrinne Averiss said: “Tweedy & Fluff is a series that requires an appreciation for the tactile beauty of the little items that humans discard or forget; cherishing the quirky detail of Tweedy’s curated world.

“This was already the M.O. at Second Home so Tweedy & Fluff could not have been in safer hands. I will never forget the joy of seeing the first puppets emerging from a box in

the boot of Chris’s car! Pure magic.”

Tweedy & Fluff airs on Milkshake! on Channel 5 on weekday mornings at 7am. You can also

watch Tweedy & Fluff on demand on MY5.