JoJo & Gran Gran is a British children's animated television series based on the semi-autobiographical picture book Jo-Jo and Gran-Gran, All in a Week by Laura Henry-Allain MBE. It is the first animated series to focus on a Black British family. It first premiered on 16 March 2020 and airs on weekdays on CBeebies. It also airs on the Nick Jr. Channel in the US.
Premise
JoJo is an inquisitive and cheerful four-and-a-half-year-old girl who lives in London. Her loving Gran Gran looks after her while her parents work and teaches her about the many wonders of life and the world, such as cookery, friendship and her Saint Lucian heritage.
The series also features live-action interviews with real children, which accompany the animated segments, and features the children discussing the topic of the episode and how it relates to their lives and families. Normally, this will then lead to them performing a related activity, such as cooking a particular dish or painting.
Voice cast
Taiya Samuel as JoJo
Cathy Tyson as Gran Gran
Llewella Gideon as Great Gran Gran
Ashley Joseph as Jared
Teresa Gallagher as Cynthia
Production
With three series, there are 44 episodes per series divided into four seasonal blocks. More than 100 people worked on the production; Tom Cousins is the series' producer and Tony Reed its executive producer. Leo Espinosa designed the characters. BBC Children's In-House Productions announced in 2020 a double season order for a second and third series, set to begin airing in 2022. In the US, the series was released on the Noggin streaming app on 14 June 2021.
The series is based on Laura Henry-Allain's book. The main characters are based on herself and her Saint Lucian-born grandmother, Marie-Helena. The High Commission of Saint Lucia and the Saint Lucia tourism authority were consulted for the series.
Episodes
Series One
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Series Two
Spring
Awards and nominations
|-
| 2021
| Royal Television Society Programme Awards
| Children's Programme
| "It's Time to Go to the Hairdresser's" | | |- | rowspan="2" |2022 | rowspan="2" |British Academy Children's Awards 2022 | Performer | Cathy Tyson | | |- | Young Performer | Taiya Samuel | | |}