Peppa Pig such as sadness, happiness, irritation, bewilderment and confusion. Although the main characters - mostly mammals - are anthropomorphic, other animal characters are not, for example, Tiddles the tortoise, Polly Parrot, and the ducks. In addition, the narrator of the series John Sparkes reinforces the action and humour, saying things like "Oh, dear" when something unfortunate happens (such as George starts crying) or "Look out!" when a character is doing something unsafe (such as Peppa riding her bicycle without looking where she's going). The first series of 52 five-minute episodes started on Channel 5 on 31 May 2004, and had its
Peppa Pig audiences, since it encouraged befriending spiders. Given the toxicity of some common Australian spiders, the complaint was upheld and the episode was restricted from being aired on the ABC’s television networks. In late May 2014, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Mark Scott expressed fears about the future of Peppa on Australian television, given Australian federal budget cuts to ABC funding that were said to affect its ability to pay for, and broadcast, overseas media products such as "Peppa Pig". Australian media noted the character's appeal to Australian toddlers and echoed concerns about the future of her Australian distribution rights. Australian Federal