Postman Pat goes on his daily rounds of collecting and delivering the post to the residents of Greendale driving a bright red post van with Royal Mail markings using the registration number PAT 1. It serves as his main mode of transportation and is also the most recurring vehicle seen throughout the series.
When Pat joined the SDS in Series 6, he occasionally uses it on his rounds while there is no delivery scheduled, as he mostly uses the SDS company fleet to conduct his deliveries instead of his PAT 1 van. He also uses it as a commuter to drive to his current workplace in Pencaster.
Technical Details[]
Design[]
It is a small compact van that can seat 2 occupants inside. In some episodes of series 1, it lacked a passenger seat on the left side, so Jess' basket was used as a seat. It also has a cargo compartment behind the driver and passenger seats where parcels and mailbags would be stored. The van also has small wheels. It is powered by an automatic transmission gearbox whilst in the movie, it is powered by a manual transmission gearbox.
Livery[]
The van is painted in a red livery, like all of Pat's vehicles, but with a lighter shade of red. It has the Royal Mail logo (with the Royal Cypher of the late Queen Elizabeth II) painted on its sides. In some episodes of Series 1, the van had a simple crown logo painted on its sides.
Basis[]
The van is freelance-designed, but possibly resembles a shortened 1980's Freight Rover Sherpa van, but with front styling cues from a 1980 Lambretta William Voiturette (LAWIL) van. Its tail lamps are reminiscent of a 1st generation Mitsubishi Town Box/Proton Juara's tail lamps because of them being placed near the rear bumper.
Trivia[]
- The SDS Mini Van has the same body as this van.
- The sound effects used for the van are recordings of a 1922 Morris Bullnose Cowley, which can be found in the BBC Sound Effects Library. When the van is at high speed (as shown in Postman Pat Takes a Message), the same recordings are used but at a high pitch. It was also heard in the Shaun the Sheep episodes "Who's the Mummy?" and "Zebra Ducks of the Serengeti"; it was also the engine noise used for the Ice Cream Truck in the Despicable Me 2 Short "Training Wheels". The sound effects used for the back doors of the van are recordings of the rear doors to an Austin A35 Van, which can also be found in the BBC Sound Effects Library. The horn seem to be recorded specifically for the show and wasn't listed and doesn't seem to be on the BBC Sound Effects Library.
- In Series 1 to 2, it didn’t have an extra seat at the time, so passengers (Dr Gilbertson in The Sheep in the Clover Field) had to sit on top of Jess’s basket.
- It won fifth and last place at the Great Greendale Race.
- In Postman Pat's Difficult Day, PAT 1’s horn sounds were also used for Sam’s Mobile Shop.
- Several merchandise of the van has been released including toys, coin operated kiddie rides and bags.
- The kiddie rides based on this vehicle were made by three former kiddie ride companies OMC Electronics (1991), Mitchells Children's Rides (1998) and Fun2Learn (2007).
- Before the rights to use the official Royal Mail insignia were acquired, a simple crown logo was used in the series until episode 8.
- The van's horn sounds are lower pitched from Series 1 until Postman Pat and the Toy Soldiers. Since Postman Pat and the Tuba, its horn has been at a higher pitch.
- In Series 3, the starter motor, engine & door sounds from the Post Bus were used for PAT 1. They reverted to the original sounds in Series 4.
- In the series, the van's licence plates were yellow coloured. However, in Postman Pat: The Movie, its registration plates now use a realistic Euro-style design similar to number plates seen on British-registered vehicles.
- During production of Series 3, a new model of the van was made. A difference was the Royal Mail logo was painted in a bright yellow. The original model of van was still left in its Woodland Animations condition until it was repainted during Series 6 and the van's new model was used for PAT 4 in the same series.
- The OMC Postman Pat Kiddie ride also appeared in the Mr. Bean episode "Mind the Baby, Mr. Bean", albeit with a door and an external coin box (The door and coin box are props and the kiddie ride was activated by using a start button offscreen from inside the kiddie ride). One can also be seen in the background of the seafront location in the Bodger & Badger episode "Seaweed Bay" and also in the Balamory episode "Fun Fair".
- The original Ertl toy of PAT 1 was used for long shots from Series 3 onwards. The same toy would also be the toy van that Julian gets in the SDS intro.
- In the series, PAT 1 has an automatic gearbox. In the movie, PAT 1 has a manual gearbox.
Sound Effects[]
Horn[]
Doors[]
Engine[]