doing something wrong. Noddy often attempts to scold or punish Tubby, with little result. On one occasion, Tubby gets tired of always being bossed around and being punished and decides to run away to sea. Noddy and Bumpy accidentally join with him. By the end of the journey, Tubby misses his parents and brings them back presents from his trip, as an apology. Noddy has many run-ins with Mr. Plod. Some are caused by Noddy's lack of understanding of how Toyland works. Other times it is because of a case of mistaken identity, Mr. Plod is generally long-suffering towards Noddy and Noddy likes Mr. Plod and frequently goes out of his way to help him. Mr. Plod often catches the mischief makers on his police bicycle, by blowing his whistle and shouting "Halt in the name of Plod!!" before locking the culprits up in his jail. Inspiration It is said that Enid Blyton took inspiration for Noddy from the village of Studland in Dorset where she would holiday virtually every summer. A small copse nearby was said to be Noddy's Wood. PC Christopher Rhone whom Blyton met while he was on the beat came to be immortalised as PC Plod in the Noddy books, and the national archetype of a flatfooted copper. Characters Current characters Major characters Big Ears, a wise, bearded gnome who lives in a toadstool house outside of Toyland and is Noddy's helper and father figure, as well as his best friend. He finds Noddy and brings him to Toyland at the start of the first book. Big Ears, while usually kind to Noddy, can be very fierce and is both feared and respected by goblins, wizards, and even Mr. Plod. Whenever Noddy is being mistreated, he invariably comes to his defence. Big Ears also has the power to cast magic spells, though he rarely uses it. His catchphrase is "You funny little Noddy!", and he made his animation debut in the 2002 computer-animated television series Make Way for Noddy. Tessie Bear, a clever young female teddy bear who is Noddy's friend. She was instead replaced by a female panda named Pat-Pat. Mr. Plod (sometimes called PC Plod), the Toyland policeman. He has an uneven relationships with Noddy, who he thinks drives too fast and engages in other unwarranted behaviour. He has gone so far as to imprison Noddy at least once, and threatened him with imprisonment