Buurman en Buurman (Pat & Mat): funny in any language

Two men in hats set out to do a simple job. They will not manage it simply. Ninety-five episodes on KidsTube, and the joke has not worn out since the 1970s.

What it is

Czech stop-motion, carried here under its Dutch name and known in English as Pat & Mat. The pattern never varies: a task — wallpaper, a bookcase, a bicycle, the washing-up — is approached with total confidence and escalating machinery, then solved eventually by a method nobody sensible would have chosen.

It is almost wordless. The two hum, gesture and mutter, and there is no dialogue to follow, which means the Dutch title is very nearly the only Dutch thing about it. A child anywhere can watch this.

What is on KidsTube

Ninety-five episodes, our second-largest collection, spanning decades of the series. Painting a room, fishing, a mole in the lawn, a drinks machine, the television, the car, model-building, a broken plate.

What to know

There is slapstick, and considerable peril to furniture, but nothing frightening and no unkindness — the two are relentlessly good-natured with each other, which is part of why it has lasted.

It works from about three, and unlike most things here it does not stop working. Adults watch it too, which makes it a reasonable choice when everyone is in the same room.

Watch Buurman en Buurman on KidsTube · Back to the 2026 round-up