About this season
Let's Pretend was a 1980s children's television series aimed at preschool ages. It was shown across the ITV Network at 12.10 on Tuesdays, then later Mondays, replacing the popular Pipkins which had been cancelled at the end of 1981. Like its predecessor, each edition was fifteen minutes long, and the programme was produced using many of Pipkins' personnel such as puppeteer Nigel Plaskitt and producer Michael Jeans. Each week the presenters would find a number of ordinary household items and contrive to produce a short story featuring them all. The first programme, "The Story Of The Broken Puppet", was shown on Tuesday 5 January 1982 by Central Television. The show aired weekly until 1988. The show's original opening titles featured items moving along a conveyor belt into the mouth of a large plastic whale, and later a puppet caterpillar moving along the screen.
Episodes (18)
1. The Story of the Broken Puppet
Aired 5 January 1982
2. The Story of the Leaping Frog
Aired 12 January 1982
3. The Story of the Dancing Elephant
Aired 19 January 1982
4. The Hungry Pillar Box
Aired 26 January 1982
5. The Garden Bench
Aired 2 February 1982
6. The Shoe That Wanted to Go Its Own Way
Aired 9 February 1982
7. The Whistling Kettle
Aired 16 February 1982
8. The Teapot That Lost Its Lid
Aired 23 February 1982
9. The Zoo Keeper and the Giraffe
Aired 2 March 1982
10. The Story of the Cleaner and the Cook
Aired 9 March 1982
11. The Story of the Rabbit and the Mole
Aired 16 March 1982
12. The Tale of Two Bears
Aired 23 March 1982
13. The Story of How the Bus Got Up the Hill
Aired 30 March 1982
14. The Story of the Sleepless Owl
Aired 6 April 1982
15. The Story of the King Who Loved Bananas
Aired 13 April 1982
16. The Umbrella That Didn't Like Rain
Aired 20 April 1982
17. The Cheesemaker and the Mouse
Aired 27 April 1982
18. The Story of the Giant's Boots
Aired 4 May 1982