Buurman en Buurman (neighbour and neighbour) is a doll animation and one of my all time favorite shows. Two neighbours are trying to fix things in or around the house, which goes wrong every time.

Orginally those two funny men find their roots in the Czech Republic. They saw their first glimpse of light in 1976 and were named Pat a Mat. Their creator was Lubomír Beneš and the dolls are completely hand made. Lubomir made the decision not to let the dolls speak and the same concept was taken over by all countries. Well, except the Dutch of course. They decided to tell the dolls to speak.

The name of the first episode in the Czech Republic was called The Thinkers. It would take three years before another episode would appear. In 1979 the makers made a second season, called “That’s all!” The third season was showed in 1989 and called “Pat and Mat.” The year of 1998 was a big one, because episode fifty was born. The Czechs were less proud of that fact, because the episode never got aired. They did, however, return after a long break in 2003 with a fifth season, with an appropiate name: Pat and Mat are back.

The first show in The Netherlands  was showed on the network the NCRV. They called them “De tweestuntels” (the two clumsy guys). They didn’t get their Dutch fame until the VPRO took the two men over. They decided to call the neighbours “Buurman en Buurman.” The VPRO showed it in several kid shows, like “Nieuwegein rechtsaf” and “Villa Achterwerk.” They also decided to give the dolls something to say. The voices were recorded by Kees Prins and Simon van Leeuwen.