Series 3

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Series 3
Director(s)	Sarah Ball Brian Little
Writer(s)	Ben Randall Ian Carney Chris Trengove Diane Redmond Simon Jowett Jimmy Hibbert Teddy Kempner Andy Secombe
Air Date(s)	UK: 1-18 September 2000 & 01 Febuary 2001 AUS: 13 February-1 March 2001 US: 19 January-8 June 2001
Starring	United Kingdom Neil Morrissey Rob Rackstraw Kate Harbour United States William Dufris Alan Marriott Lorelei King Sonya Leite Lachele Carl Maria Darling Sweden Mangus Ehrner Eva Gröndahl Claire Wikholm Björn Gedda Tuvalisa Rangström Claes Månsson Anneli Martini Pierre Lindstedt Steve Kratz
Previous season	Series 2
Next Season	Series 4

The third series first premiered in the UK on Nick Jr. (UK and Ireland version) in mostly September 2000 with one episode premiering in February 2001. This series was also aired between 25 September 2000 to 12 September 2001 on the main BBC channel with being re-shown on CBeebies in 2002. In the US, the third series premiered between 19 January to 8 June 2001 on Nick Jr. (US block) and was later re-shown on Noggin, Sprout and Qubo. In Australia, the third series first premiered between 13 February to 1 March 2001 on the ABC Kids block.

Episodes

(Note: ** means the episode was only released digitally in the US and never on DVD)
(Note: *** means the episode was released both digitally and on DVD in the US)

Screenshot	Episode Number	UK title (top) US title (bottom)	Written by	Original air date
	27 (1)	Bob's Boots	Ben Randall	01/9/2000
	Bob has got new boots, but they squeak. They need wearing in, so he sets off to fix a gate. At lunch, Bob's squeaky boots attract the attention of three mice, but they hide. Back at the yard, Bob looks again, and at his heels are the three mice. Spud and Bird race in, and Spud eats his cream bun, dropping crumbs. The mice circle Spud's feet, squeaking for more.
	28 (2)	Mucky Muck	Sarah Ball	04/9/2000
	Bob tries to wash down Scoop and Muck who are both covered in mud, but Muck doesn't want to get washed because he/she loves being mucky. Travis also gets stuck in the mud and Bob, Muck and Dizzy have to rescue him.
	29 (3)	Bob's Day Off	Ian Carney	05/9/2000
	Bob tries to have a day off to go birdwatching, but he is called back to build a wall. It seems that Bob will never get his coveted shot of the blue-crested warbler - until Lofty hands a surprise visitor.
	30 (4)	Magnetic Lofty	Chris Trengove	06/9/2000
	Wendy is turning an old railway line into a bicycle path and Bob is turning an old rubbish dump into a park. But while Lofty is removing the rails using a magnet, he has to retrieve Mr. Bentley's pen in the process.
	31 (5)	Roley's Tortoise	Diane Redmond	07/9/2000
	While building a bus stop, the crew finds a tortoise. Roley agrees to watch over him while the others look for his owner, but he escapes.
	32 (6)	Special Delivery Spud Postman Spud (early development)	Simon Jowett	08/9/2000
	Spud is feeling helpful and takes a sack of Mr. Dixon's parcels - unfortunately, as he cannot read, he delivers them all to the wrong people.
	33 (7)	Pilchard's Breakfast***	Jimmy Hibbert	11/9/2000
	Bob and Wendy dash off to build a conservatory for Mr. Beasley, forgetting to feed Pilchard. She tries to fend for herself without any luck. Bob realises his mistake and takes Pilchard to the site for something to eat. Lofty arrives with Pilchard's bowl and a tin of cat food - but no tin opener! Fortunately Wendy notices that it's a ring pull can and Pilchard can finally eat!
	34 (8)	Scoop's In Charge	Jimmy Hibbert	12/9/2000
	Bob and Wendy have been invited to a lunch at the Town Hall. Bob is not keen to go, but Wendy asks Scoop to take charge of that day's work so Bob cannot escape. Scoop starts to boss the other machines around. But when Mr. Bentley comes to inspect their work, Scoop accidentally runs over the watch given to him by the Mayor.
	35 (9)	Muck's Sleep-Over**	Ben Randall	13/9/2000
	While Bob and the team work overnight on a tunnel, Muck stays at the farm with Travis. But Spud tries to scare Muck, who gets frightened of the dark and runs away. Meanwhile, Pilchard goes missing when she investigates an owl's hoot. Bob finally sets up some lights to calm Muck down, but this now means that Spud is the one that cannot sleep!
	36 (10)	Trailer Travis Travis' Trailer	Ben Randall	14/9/2000
	Spud hitches a ride with Travis, who is on his way to deliver some hardcore to Farmer Pickles. When Travis tires of the heavy load, Spud comes up with an idea that leads to a bit of a mess at the crossroads - but luckily, Bob has a plan.
	37 (11)	Spud and Squawk**	Teddy Kempner Andy Secombe	15/9/2000
	Spud is scaring crows in Farmer Pickles's field, but cannot shake off one particularly persistent bird who follows him everywhere. He decides to climb aboard Travis's trailer, and get the tractor to drive so fast that the crow will be blown off, which leads to a bit of a mess!
	38 (12)	Scoop Has Some Fun Scoop and Spud (early development)	Chris Trengove	18/9/2000
	Spud persuades Scoop to help him play some tricks when at work. Lofty, meanwhile, has got lost on the way to the Farm, and while Bob and the Machines go back to work, Spud decides to find him and give him a fright. When Lofty is finally rescued, Bob decides to play a trick on Spud!
	39 (13)	Dizzy's Crazy Paving	Diane Redmond	01/2/2001
	Wendy is laying a garden path for Mrs. Potts. When Bob rings, Wendy leaves Muck and Dizzy to lay the paving stones, but they are too heavy, and end up smashed. Dizzy's suggestion of laying the broken stones is dismissed by Muck, but Wendy thinks crazy paving is a brilliant idea. Mrs Potts returns from the shops and is delighted.

Scrapped/Rejected Episodes

Screenshot	Episode Number	UK title (top) US title (bottom)	Written by	Original air date
	N/A	Bob's Backyard Band Rhythmic Roley	Teddy Kempner Andy Secombe	N/A
	CANCELLED: For the storyline being a bit flat and the lack of Spud payoff unlike any other episodes that featured him. Possibly later recycled into Bob and the Bandstand and/or Roley and the Rock Star for the fourth series due to the stories being music themed episodes.
	N/A	Spud's Phone Mischief	Simon Jowett	N/A
	CANCELLED: Possibly due to the plot line of Spud prank calling people and probably some bad morals being shown and/or told; While prank calling may seem like a practical joke, it's very unnecessary and out of character for Spud to prank call people, and the target audience definitely wouldn't have done prank calling in real life as they would know it's wrong.
	N/A	Bob's Picnic	Chris Trengrove	N/A
	Bob and his machines are having a picnic only for Spud to disrupt by playing "Crying Wolfs". CANCELLED: For some potential problems with the storyline. (e.g. The jobs at the beginning being counted as unnecessary, a lack of reasoning on Farmer Pickles and Travis leaving the picnic, etc.) It was suggested for the "Crying Wolf" theme to be used for another story, but that theme was never used again throughout the remaining 18 series until 2016, where the reboot has the episode "Scoop Cries Wolf" that uses the same theme.
	N/A	The Fair	Teddy Kempner Andy Secombe	N/A
	CANCELLED: The story was avoided beforehand because it had stated in the storyline notes that the fair cannot be shown in action with people, so this was cancelled.
	N/A	Scaffold Bob	Ben Randall	N/A
	CANCELLED: For having Bob acting out of character and more especially on the lack of research and safety aspect.
	N/A	Soots You Bob	Ben Randall	N/A
	CANCELLED: For some unknown illogical reasons and possibly due to Bob being a chimney sweep.
	N/A	Scoop's Naughty Night Shift	Ben Randall	N/A
	CANCELLED: For having Scoop acting strangely out of character in the storyline. Likely replaced with Muck's Sleep-Over due to both stories being night themed episodes.
	N/A	Rock n Roll Bob	Ben Randall	N/A
	CANCELLED: Likely because of erratic structure and the lack of any work or building whatsoever to fill in the storyline.
	N/A	Inspector Spud	Simon Jowett	N/A
	CANCELLED: For unknown reasons. Possibly turned into an episode for Series 5 with the same name.
	N/A	Carnival Queen Dizzy	Simon Jowett	N/A
	CANCELLED: For unknown reasons
	N/A	Scoop Gets Upset	Diane Redmond	N/A
	CANCELLED: For unknown reasons. Likely replaced with Scoop's In Charge due to both stories featuring Scoop having emotional problems.
	N/A	Farmer Pickles' Plums	Diane Redmond	N/A
	CANCELLED: For unknown reasons

Characters

• Bob
• Wendy
• Scoop
• Muck
• Dizzy
• Roley
• Lofty
• Pilchard
• Bird
• Travis
• Spud
• Farmer Pickles
• Mrs. Potts
• Mrs. Broadbent
• Mrs. Percival
• Finn
• Mr. Beasley (mentioned)

Characters Introduced

• Mr. Bentley
• Tommy
• Mr. Dixon
• Mr. Fothergill (not named)
• Squawk (not named)

Trivia

• Despite airing in late 2000, this series was most likely was produced between October 1999 and finished by March 2000 but the episodes were most likely written in Summer 1999 (as showed on the document).
• Some television guide sites incorrectly state this series premiered between December 1999 to April 2000.
• This series marks the first of a few things:
  • First time Bob wears the red screwdriver (Wendy wears the red screwdriver between 2-16).
  • First appearances of Mr. Bentley, Mr. Fothergill, Tommy, Mr. Dixon and Squawk.
  • First series to feature Wendy wearing her usual green shirt builder's outfit full-time.
  • First series to premiere in the 2000s decade in the UK.
  • First series to have all episodes released on home media in the US.
• This series also marks the last of a few things:
  • Last series to premiere in the 20th century in the UK.
  • Last series to premiere in the UK before the series was introduced to North America.
  • Last series to use the original UK intro from the first series for the UK version.
  • Last series to use the original 1997-2001 3D HiT Entertainment logo at the end of the credits.
• Unlike the BBC and Nick Jr. (US block), the episodes premiered in production order on ABC Kids (Australia), Sprout and Qubo.
• The documentary "Can we fix it? Archiving and analysing ‘Bob the Builder’: a resources paradigm and research method." by Steve Henderson was published over at the University of Loughborough website, and the document is basically about archiving, analysing and researching the whole show, including pictures of the early storyline concept for Series 3. The screenshots have revealed that the writing crew had some inconsistency and concept difficulties with the storylines during the writing production. In fact, 10% of the episodes had several storyline and writing inconsistencies that they actually got rejected for said reason. (Take Scaffold Bob for example, that episode was cancelled for having Bob acting really out of character and it was also because of the inconsistencies).

Sources

UK Premier Date:

• https://itunes.apple.com/gb/tv-season/bob-the-builder-series-3/id296703416 - 1 September 2000 (Nickelodeon UK and Ireland)
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=bob%27s+boots - 25 September 2000 (Main BBC Channel)
• https://itunes.apple.com/gb/tv-season/bob-the-builder-series-4/id319964915 - Dizzy's Crazy Paving Premiere Date

Australian Premier Dates:

• https://web.archive.org/web/20010405001810/http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/tvpub/dailyscheds.pl - 13 February-1 March 2001

North American Premieres:

• https://nickstory.fandom.com/wiki/Bob_the_Builder - US Nick Jr Premiere Dates
• https://nickstoryjr.fandom.com/wiki/Bob_the_Builder - US Noggin Premiere Dates

Other Sources:

• https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/thesis/Can_we_fix_it_Archiving_and_analysing_Bob_the_Builder_a_resources_paradigm_and_research_method/9332921 - Can we fix it? Archiving and analysing ‘Bob the Builder’: a resources paradigm and research method