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 (32)
1. The Cactus Who Wanted His Back Scratched
Aired 14 October 1985
2. Colonel Bigshot and the Crocodiles
Aired 21 October 1985
3. The Town That Liked to Argue
Aired 28 October 1985
4. The Wishing Well
Aired 4 November 1985
5. The Lemon Canary
Aired 11 November 1985
6. The Sheepdog and the Badger
Aired 18 November 1985
7. The Duck Who Wanted a Treat to Eat
Aired 25 November 1985
8. The Gardener and the Pirate
Aired 2 December 1985
9. The Hiccupping Lion
Aired 9 December 1985
10. The Lady Who Collected Junk
Aired 16 December 1985
11. The Postman Who Wanted Some Post
Aired 23 December 1985
12. The Doctor's Big Day
Aired 30 December 1985
13. The Grass is Always Greener
Aired 6 January 1986
14. The Chimp Who Copied Everything
Aired 13 January 1986
15. The Double Bass Who Lost a String
Aired 20 January 1986
16. The Pretend Snowman
Aired 27 January 1986
17. The Two Sisters
Aired 3 February 1986
18. The Brother's Clothes
Aired 10 February 1986
19. The Rabbit and the Carrot
Aired 17 February 1986
20. The Silly Dressmaker
Aired 24 February 1986
21. The Bulldozer with Toothache
Aired 3 March 1986
22. The Wolf Who Cried Wolf
Aired 10 March 1986
23. How Greedy Can You Be?
Aired 17 March 1986
24. The Singer Who Lost His Voice
Aired 24 March 1986
25. The Pumpkin and the Pumpkin Guard
Aired 7 April 1986
26. The Instrument Mender and the Noisemaker
Aired 14 April 1986
27. The Jelly Baby Jumble Sale
Aired 21 April 1986
28. The Train Who Was Frightened of the Dark
Aired 28 April 1986
29. Don't Wake the Baby
Aired 12 May 1986
30. The Playdough Statue
Aired 19 May 1986
31. Outside In, Inside Out
Aired 2 June 1986
32. The One-Puppet Puppet Show
Aired 9 June 1986