The Animals of Farthing Wood(1993–1995)

The Wood In Danger

With the animals' homes being destroyed by man, all of the animals of Farthing Wood meet in Badger's earth to try to find a way to survive. The latecomer Toad, suggests that they all journey to a nature reserve called White Deer Park, where he had passed by on his journey home. The animals eventually all agree to make the journey to this new haven once they take the ancient Wood Oath, of Mutual Protection. This Oath meant that everyone promised not to eat or frighten each other. Fox is assigned as their leader and it is agreed that they will meet by the Great Oak at midnight to begin their long journey.

The Journey Begins

When their only means of water is filled in the animals all meet by the Great Oak to begin their long journey to White Deer Park. While performing a head count Badger discovers that Mole is late. He eventually shows up and the animals begin their journey. They stop at a human's swimming pool to quench their thirst but they make too much noise in their excitement and wake up the human's cat. Fortunately the cat is too fat to fit through it's flap so the animals escape with out being caught.

Through Fire And Water

The Newts are finding the journey more difficult than the others so when they come across a large lake, they decide to make it their new home. After saying their goodbyes the rest of the animals continue on their journey. After crossing to the other side of the lake Weasel announces that she can smell fire. Soon the other animals spot smoke in the distance, gaining on them. Fox's instincts kick in and he begins to run away from the fire but he has to overcome them when Toad is missing. He has been left behind and its up to Fox to go back and rescue him. Toad is rescued by Fox but Badger discovers that mole is missing. He has been picked up by a fire fighter and placed inside his pocket. Badger heads back and rescues him. It is then that they realise that the Newts have died in the blaze. They are the first of the animals to lose their lives on the journey.

False Haven

With most of the animals too tired to care where they rest they shelter in an empty barn. But Fox is wary about being near humans and sets up a watch to alert them of danger. However when Mrs Pheasant takes the place of her sleeping husband she wanders out of the barn and is killed by the farmer's gun. With the sound of the gun the animals try to escape but they are locked inside the barn with a dog patrolling outside. Some of the animals manage to gnaw and dig an escape route allowing them all to escape into a nearby wood. However it is when they are all safe and the panic over that Fox realises that one of them is missing.

Snare For The Unwary

When the normally cowardly Mr Pheasant offers to go back and look for Adder on the farm he is shocked to find that his wife has been made into the farmer's dinner. It is then that he too gets shot. The other animals hear the gun shot and realise what has happened so Owl volunteers and flies over to the farm in search of Adder. Owl finds Adder and they catch up with the rest of the animals and continue on the journey. While crossing a river, the rabbits panic in the water so Fox jumps in to save them. However in their panic they try to climb onto him and put him in danger as well. Badger swims in to help the exhausted Fox and keep him afloat. While the rabbits are taken to safety a large log, floating down stream strikes Fox and Badger.

Who Shall Wear The Crown

After the incident crossing the river, Badger is spotted still alive but caught in some reeds. Toad, Hare and weasel swim over to help Badger get untangled before they all swim back to land. Fox is nowhere to be found so Kestrel files downstream to see if she can find him. She sees him lying on the log heading under a bridge but as the log appears on the other side Fox is no longer there. Badger is assigned as the new leader and to add to matters Toad forgets which way to go. Owl suggests this is because his homing instincts have come into play. Hare and Vole inform Badger that Mrs. Fieldmouse has given birth to her young. Badger suggests that the animals should stop to rest for the time being.

New Friends, Old Enemies

After finding himself on a log floating downstream Fox jumped aboard a boat that ended up in a town. As he sees humans surrounding him he jumps out and escapes into the town. Frightened by the bustle of the town in daylight he looks for somewhere to hide. He meets a cat called Tom and hunts rats for him in return for shelter. However when he finds a box to sleep in it is lifted by a truck, which heads out of the town, so Fox takes his chance and escpapes into a nearby field. Here he is greeted by a friendly Horse who warns him about the hunt in this area. Finding himself an empty den he goes inside for a rest. But soon he is woken by the movement of another fox, a Vixen. Meanwhile, back with the other animals, the fieldmice's new born babies have been eaten by a butcher bird.

Friends In Need

Now that he has met the lovely Vixen, Fox is in his element. He asks Vixen if she will be his mate. But she tells him he that must prove himself to her first but does agree to help him get back to the other animals. They eventually find that the animals have taken two paths. The two foxes each take a path and agree that whosever is on the wrong path will head back to join the other. While following their own path both Fox and Vixen hear the cry of the hunt and it is on the trail of Vixen. Fox makes it halfway up to the top of a steep hill where the rest of the animals are but runs back down to draw the hunt away from Vixen. He succeeds but only for a while as they give up when he escapes back up the hill. Fox is devastated to realise that poor Vixen may not make it as she is exhausted and collapses. A huntsmen is edging his horse on to trample on her when all of a sudden Adder appears. She bites the horse's leg, causing it to rear back and stumble down the hill, letting Vixen escape to

Whistler's Quarry

After escaping the Hunt for now the animals come across a large quarry. It is here that they meet Whistler, a great blue heron. A name he received because of the wind whistling through a bullet hole in his wing when he flies. Whistler saves Toad's life when a carp fish catches Toad in it's mouth, when Toad tries to compete against Whistler's fishing. Whistler fetches the carp from the water and returns Toad to the other animals. Whistler then joins the animals on their journey.

Between Two Evils

A busy motorway lies ahead of the animals. All of the animals are hesitant to cross it because of the dangers involved. Most want to find another way around but the sound of the Hunting horn can be heard in the distance. They have to cross the motorway. They split into groups and take it in turns to cross. The larger animals like Fox and Badger help the smaller animals along and Whistler carries the fieldmice, the voles and the shrews to the other side in his beak. It is only the prickly hedgehogs who can not be carried over. The hedgehogs try to cross the road but their instincts get the better of them and they curl up when they see a car heading towards them and they unfortunately die.

A Deathly Calm

Pandemonium

Comings And Goings

Many of the Animals have had children and even grandchildren. Fox's Grandson Plucky wanted a race with Dash. Weasel is going to have children which Weasel was not happy about. In another part of White Deer Park, The Great White Stag takes a drink from the stream and unexpectedly Perishes. Whistler who was flying around White Deer Park had found out and he alerted Fox and the other animals. Fox had Figured out that a bad tempered Deer named Trey would take his place. Owl had flown away to go look for a Mate. Meanwhile, a Plague of Rats head towards the Great White Stag's Dead Body lead by a big white Rat named Bully. Else Where, When Plucky and Dash take a Drink at a Pond, They get encountered by Trey and he tells them that it's his pond he will only let Non-Deer drink from it. The Rats had been watching and they were about to Capture Mossy until Measly scared them away. The Weasels had a great chase from Trey from that screaming who prevents screaming happening in White Deer Park. Weasel had decided for she and Measly to leave White Deer Park. Meanwhile Shadow the Badger arrives at White Deer Park with a mate named Hurkel and a Snake named Sinuous who mates Adder and some Voles arrive at the Park as well.

Out and About

Owl leaves the park in search of a mate and the Weasel family have left to start a new life else where. Plucky and Dash race again, while Trey harasses the other Farthing Wood animals. Meanwhile, Bully and his rats begin to build their numbers.

Water, Water

Water becomes an issue for the Animals of White Deer Park. Shadow and Hurkel arrive at the park only to see that the only water source Trey will allow the animals to drink from has been poisoned. That was the stream that The Great White Stag perished from. Meanwhile outside White Deer Park, Owl encounters a Rook named Moth eaten Rook who wants to talk to her. However Owl flies away with the Rook following her.

The Missing Fox's Friend

While the number of Bully's rats continues to grow, so does the number of missing animals. When Dash sees Plucky being taken away in a cage to a truck, she decides to follow the truck only to be shut out of a mysterious human establishment surrounded by high walls and spike-top gates. Meanwhile, the Weasels to stay at a farm but the animals wouldn't let them stay. They gain a new Protector who is Rollo the Sheep Dog.

Tiffs And Tempers

Weasel and Measley find a seemingly nice burrow for them to live when they discover it is being occupied by vicious wildcats. Their loyal "weasel dog" Rollo comes to their rescue. Meanwhile, Fox confronts Trey and tells him that he'll either come to hell or high water, Trey will respect the other animals of the park and he will step down as leader if one of the stags can fight against him for Leadership. Also Ranger, Charmer, and Whisper confront Bully for the first time and he makes his intentions clear. Charmer manages to kill one Rat. His name gets mentioned as Scragg.

Adventure For The Birds

The weasel family are still looking for another home away from White Deer Park. While the rest of the Farthing animals are still trying to find out where the missing animals are. It is up to Whistler to solve it. He follows the truck to a walled-in nature reserve. When Plucky finds him, he tells him that the place is a new sanctuary. Although it's a nice place, many of the animals were separated from their families. Meanwhile Owl is still trying to escape the moth-eaten Rook, who says he loves her, but gets into trouble when she hides in a house.

The Long-Tailed Visitor

Awoken by roaring the animals slowly gather to watch as Trey fights with another stag to become leader of the herd. They hope that Trey loses as any other stag would probably treat them better but he doesn't. While Fox is alone sleeping Bully and his rats pay him a visit and threaten his life while telling him that he should leave along with the Farthing animals. Fox refuses saying they'll continue to fight them, surrounded by rats he fears the worst until they run away when they spot a badger on its way. Hurkel arrives to ask Fox if he wants to watch the stags fighting but when he smells rats in his earth Fox tells him to get Ranger to assemble all the foxes and Adder and Sinuous - they are going to attack the rat's headquarters. They ask Spike where the headquarters are but he denies he knows where it is, luckily a hare tells them. When the animals return after a night of fighting, Dash believes they were chased by hunters and beagles until told it was through fighting rats. An exhau

Scared Silly By Snakes

The two snakes find their way to Bully's nest after speaking to a rat with a feeling of impending doom. However Bully manages to escape leaving Adder and Sinuous frantically racing through tunnels with overwhelming numbers of rats looking for a way out. Adder reaches the surface but Sinuous turns the wrong way and ends up trapped underground. Toad tells Fox about the dwindling Frog numbers due to the rats eating them and Fox agrees to get the foxes to stand guard around the pond. Whistler informs Plucky about the events happening in White Deer Park and how they need his help to fight the rats. When the gates to the new reserve open to let out a van Plucky takes his chance to escape and jumps into the back of the van. However it goes the wrong way, but it is forced to stop when sheep block its path. Plucky jumps out and races back to White Deer Park. Meanwhile Owl is devastated when Hollow tells her about the pretty young owl he intends to become his mate once mature. Owl refuses

A Bigger Oink

The animals in White Deer Park are still trying to deal with the army of rats and try to make the Warden aware of the problem. Meanwhile the weasels and the piglet come across a copse with a grumpy Wild Boar living there. Bully forms a task force to hunt down and kill the snakes. They find Sinuous, thinking it's Adder and kill him. Hurkel and Shadow try to comfort Adder as Bully slinks away unnoticed.

The Mole Game

Toad and Spike invent a game called "The Mole Game" They have to guess where Mossy the Mole will come up. Ranger ends up winning when Charmer asks what Toad and Spike are doing, which quite makes his day. Adder has vowed to kill as many rats as she can to avenge her mate's death. Owl is still imprisoned in her Jacket of building cement, a few other fellow flappers (A Robin, A Green Woodpecker, A Rook, and another female owl) decide to try and break the cement by shoving her off the branch, but the plan fails, she is off the branch and still in the cement (It made her feel very Slow and Heavy). Toad and Spike continue playing their game, but soon become surrounded by Bully and his rat army, Spike's cover is blown when he responds to Bully's Call of "Who am I" With a "Bully Bully Bully" complete with salute! Toad tries to escape, but ends up captured. Mossy has rushed to get help, only to find Dash. Dash goes and gets some White Deer to chase her, they stampede over the rats, squashing nearly every one. Spike feels awful for his behaviour, but is relieved when Toad is found alive at the pond, and Toad fully forgives him when Spike promises to fight like a Terrier the next time it happens. Spike was kicked out of the rat plague.

The Worst Kind of Hurricane

As Mossy predicted, a hurricane come to the area around White Deer Park. The fierce winds knock over the last Farthing Wood beech tree and release Owl from her cement shell. After the hurricane ends, Rollo and the Warden find Shadow unconscious and take her to the cottage. Fox discovers Trey pinned under a tree. Another stag, Laird, comes to free Trey and readies to challenge him to a fight for leadership. Because of his injury, Trey reluctantly limps away abdicating his power to Laird. Afterwards, he is taken away by the Warden. Measley declares that he will take no more of Weasel's insults and decides to take their young ones back to White Deer Park. Weasel agrees wholeheartedly.

Homeward Bound

When the weasels return home, all the animals are overrun with joy. Fox explains their problem with the rats to the weasels and asks for their help. They agree, but first they must train Fido and Cleo on how to deal with rats ... using Spike as a volunteer. Mossy tells Hurkel that he found Shadow in a hutch by the Warden's cottage. While Hurkel and the weasels try to get her out, the Warden's cat summons Rollo to get rid of them. Of course, he recognizes his weasel friends and is very happy to see them. Meanwhile, after a few fights for leadership of the herd, the white deer and Farthing animals name Laird as the new leader of White Deer Park. Elsewhere, the rats, at their largest number yet, prepare to launch a massed attack on the animals of the park.

A Heroes Welcome

The Farthing animals have finally completed their long journey to White Deer Park.They are welcomed by many of the animals like Speedy the Heron (who mates Whistler), Measly the Weasel (who mates Weasel) and Frogs named The Edible Frogs. Some are not so pleased to see them. The silver fox Scarface does not want the new arrivals to be in the park and feels that they are trespassing on his territory. With the journey over the Oath is no longer needed. However the Farthing animals find it difficult to revert back to their old ways before they took the Oath and so continue to uphold it and remain friends. Fox speaks to the Great Stag and together they suggest an area of the park to be allocated for the Farthing creatures to live together how they wish.