The old series had a great atmosphere and really nice stop motion. The 1981 series is the best, but i also liked the 1996 series as well as the specials produced up until the new series in 2004. With the new series things just aren't the same... too many new characters and the Greendale village has expanded too much, almost like a small scale metropolis.
It just isn't the same anymore...
As a child I loved Postman Pat and I still do. The series has buckets of charm and I think appeals to everyone young and old.
My personal favourite episode was Postman Pat Takes a Message. It was fun, action packed and laugh out loud funny. Another favourite was Postman Pat's Tractor Express. Miss Hubbard driving Alf's tractor while poor Pat hangs on for dear life was hilarious.
However what I didn't not like was the fact that the BBC were too tight fisted to pay for more episodes between 1982-1990 and 1997-2003. Couldn't they have just adapted John's books for television? Also it was a disgrace when the Royal Mail sacked him. He stood for everything that was good about postmen and was a great role model for children.
I was thrilled upon Pat's return in 2003 and immediately recorded series 3 and 4 It didn't lose it's charm and Ajay was a welcome addition to the cast. Even though I was sad to lose favourites Miss Hubbard and Major Forbes and I had to accept that it had to move with the times. Fireman Sam had Trevor Evans, Noddy had Dinah Doll so it was only fair that Postman Pat followed suit with the Bains.
But then, when Special Delivery Service came that's when Postman Pat lost it's charm for me and all in the sake of marketing. This new series I found to be silly, contrived and joyless. Postman Pat has 2 plots. It's either Pat's utter typically British dedication to his job and getting it done through wind, rain or snow, or about the excellent community spirit Greendale has to make a church fair really spectacular. It's not about Pat using a helicopter. He's a postman, not a secret agent and it's certainly not about being a popstar like the new movie would have you believe
The original series will stand out above the rest. You didn't need flashy modern wizardry to make an appeal series. All you need was a Postman and a cat having adventures and you got a British institution.