Penny Pincher is an antagonist from the live action children’s show Brum. She is a light-fingered Big Town Baddie who targets small but valuable trinkets. As per her name, she is also known for pinching people’s pennies when they don’t pay attention. However, whenever she gets up to no good Brum always foils her antics in a way that comes at her expense.

Her credited actress is Julia West.

Biography[]

Nothing is known about Penny Pincher’s life or why she developed an affinity for small stealing small items in comparison to other Big Town Baddies. As per her colourful wardrobe and polished doc martens she is at least a middle class Townswoman who steals for personal pleasure and gain. Throughout her known criminal history she steals small but valuable items to either keep for herself or to pawn off for money. It is also slightly implied that she has had minor run-ins with the law in the past.

Brum and the Music Box[]

Penny Pincher first appears sitting behind the Big Town Ballet School’s sign until she hears the tune of class’ music box. She then comes up from behind the sign and immediately falls in love with the silver box containing the class’ “precious mascot”. Her face contorts into a covetous expression before she tries to sneak it away by attempting to grab it from behind the sign. Unfortunately, the ballet teacher emerges and treads on her hand, causing Penny to shake and blow on her hand in pain as her face goes red. Once the class enters the building, she stands up and ensures that there are no witnesses before tip toeing inside.

As the approaches the classroom where they are rehearsing their moves to music box’s tune, she conceals herself behind a rack of costumes. Peering through, she gawks at the music box before perusing the costumes for a disguise and settles on a pink tutu. She takes her skirt off and adorns herself in the tutu before stepping out of cover. Penny sneaks behind the dancers while mimicking some of their movements before swooping in and taking the music box for herself. Having acquired her target she turns and flees before slamming the costume rack into Brum’s path. Dashing outside, she stops and clutches the music box before fleeing the scene of her crime in a staggered fashion while continuously looking back to see if Brum is coming. To her relief and delight she spots Arrow, the Traffic Policeman’s horse, up ahead. Stuffing the music box into her tutu, she then dons the policeman’s helmet as Brum races outside. Penny then mounts Arrow backwards before the horse uncontrollably trots off, much to her terror.

Struggling to stay on the saddle, Arrow jogs around the corner while Penny flails her arms in a panic. However, as Arrow jogs onwards, Penny manages to obtain some control over her precarious situation by orienting herself the right way around on the saddle. As Brum drives along side, Penny tries to distance herself from the supercar by standing up on the saddle without falling off and does a 360 turn before sitting back down again. However, she starts slipping on the saddle to the right and nearly falls off onto Brum. This forces her to clutch onto the music box to prevent it from falling into the superhero’s seats. Still unable to ride properly, she and Brum roll by the ballet class again with the ballet dancers Billy and Tilly and the Traffic Policeman in tow, having done a complete circle around the building.

Still unable to control the horse, Penny then ends up on a collision course with a nearby apple stall causing her to fearfully scream. At the last moment, she avoids disaster by steering Arrow around the stall. Knowing of Arrow’s love of apples, Brum backs into the stall and takes some of the seller’s stock as he encourages the superhero to catch the rogue thief. As Penny rounds another corner Brum races ahead of her and dumps the apples into Arrow’s path. Just as she finally gains some mastery of horse riding, Penny is then catapulted into the air as Arrow abruptly stops and bends over to munch on the apples. After Pincher lands in a shallow dirty fountain with an audible splash, Brum catches the music box as it falls.

Having recovered from being momentarily stunned, a waterlogged Penny picks herself up out of the fountain halfway while spitting out its filthy water. After the Traffic Policeman reins Arrow in, he then marches over and arrests her by grabbing the helmet’s leather strap and forcefully hauling her out of the fountain as she grimaces with pain and discomfort. While everyone watches Arrow do a celebratory dance with amazement, a miserable and hunched over Penny aimlessly stares ahead. As Brum departs, Penny still hunched over and now sandwiched between Arrow and the policeman stares at the supercar in a quiet anger before vengefully raising her fist.

The hapless thief is then subsequently hauled off to serve time in the Big Town Prison.

Brum and the Music Box: Book Adaptation[]

The book version of “Brum and the Music Box” follows the same basic narrative as the live action episode it’s based on but gives greater context to the story. However, there are some notable differences.

• The book adaptation states that “It was breakfast time in the Big Town” which means that this episode takes place between 7:00-9:00AM (10:00AM at the latest).
• Penny first appears from behind the Ballet Class’ sign when she hears the music box’s tune. However, her hand getting trodden on by the Ballet Teacher is omitted and instead the book jumps straight to the class dancing as Penny sneaks in from behind. Instead of hiding between a clothes rack and eventually swapping her own skirt for a tutu, she creeps “to the back of the class” with no cover and slips a pink tutu over her own skirt.
• She then races outside and immediately mounts Arrow instead of stumbling across the horse as shown in the live episode.
• In the book Brum pursues Pincher as she plays the music box while nearly falling off the saddle. In the live action episode, she tucks the music box into her tutu before she mounts Arrow.
• Furthermore, when Brum causes Arrow to send Penny flying by dumping apples in his path, she is bucked straight into the fountain instead of flying into it as depicted by the episode.
• As everyone celebrates, Penny can be seen waving at Brum whilst she is still in the fountain, seemingly congratulating him on beating her. This represents the most radical departure from the live action episode where she seen being forcibly pulled out by the Traffic Policeman. The book’s ending leaves the implication that Penny was free to go after being dumped in the fountain.

Interim[]

Following her capture, Penny Pincher is incarcerated for the rest of series 3 and season 4. Although her time on the inside is never shown, it is evident from her reappearance in the 2^nd episode of series 5 that she spent it bettering herself as a criminal in the hopes of getting back at Brum. Due to the lack of dialogue or exposition, much of the show’s storytelling is done visually via the way particular characters act in their appearances.

Penny’s transformation in prison is showcased by her heightened athleticism which would’ve been attained by physical training, her quick-witted tactics and personality change. These newly acquired traits that Penny didn’t possess prior to her incarceration strongly indicate that Big Bad’s 2^nd Girlfriend was the most influential inmate out of the other confirmed female prisoners like The Beady-Eyed Robber and Big Bad’s 1^st Girlfriend, which is poignant because she and Penny are essentially homages to each other.

At some point (most likely in the interim between seasons 4 and 5) Penny either escapes prison or is paroled. The latter option is much likelier as Penny’s crimes were non-violent. Additionally, she could also leverage how the Traffic Policeman roughly handled her when she was arrested despite posing no danger to anyone. This is strongly corroborated by how the Traffic Policeman treated Pickpocket Polly after she fell into a fountain. Furthermore, if Penny did escape she should’ve reappeared with Big Bad’s 2^nd Girlfriend considering the latter’s obvious influence on her behind bars. Penny’s release proves to be a mistake of the law as she emerged a more formidable Big Town Baddie.  

Brum and the Stopwatch Botch[]

Following her undeserved release, Penny Pincher is next seen hanging around the Big Town Gym where the Visiting Man is showing off his fancy stopwatch on the nearby oval. Curious, she approaches and sneaks behind him, Brum and an athlete while they exercise. The stopwatch immediately captures her attention. After Penny quietly grabs it she marvels at its aesthetic before it goes off, inadvertently alerting them to her presence. Startled she hurriedly makes tracks as Brum and the Visiting Man give chase.

Pincher dashes into the gym itself and runs around an exercising area replete with treadmills. Staggering around a corner she teases Brum with the stopwatch before running off as the Visiting Man gets stuck on a treadmill. Penny then runs into a work-out room and snatches an extremely heavy dumbbell from a burly man. Grinning fiercely at Brum, she bowls it toward the supercar who evades it with ease. Startled, Penny dashes into a wide gymnastics room and stops for a few moments to admire its space. Upon hearing Brum’s horn, she starts running again but in the direction of Bob and Job who are lugging a crate. Screaming, Penny jumps over it and rolls over her own head as Brum continues the pursuit.

Running outside, Penny goes through the tennis courts and interrupts a match by catching the balls and chucking it at Brum who deflects it with his door back to the players. Alarmed Penny runs back into the gym and into an indoor tennis court where a player is practicing using an automated tennis ball machine. Taking control of it, she aims it Brum as it fires balls at the supercar. She then takes a moment to tease him with the stopwatch again before he charges her position. Panicked she dashes across the court and prepares to defend herself by commandeering the player’s tennis racket. However, the machine’s rate of fire intensifies overwhelming the athletic baddie. Brum charges forward again causing Penny to flee.

Arriving back at the now empty gymnastics room, Brum bears down on her heels as she jumps onto a trampoline which propels her high up on a rope. Swinging around Pincher teases Brum, thinking that she has bested him while sticking her tongue out. However, Brum traps the lower end of the rope in his door and starts driving in rapid circles, causing Penny to violently spin around. Overcome by dizziness Penny lets go and falls onto a nearby gym mattress as Brum catches the stopwatch. Dazed she picks herself up as Brum comes by. As she makes one last attempt to retrieve her booty she is pulled back by Bob and Job who promptly tell her off while she gives them a forlorn look. When Brum drives off, she stares in his direction exasperated at her citizens’ arrest.

Shortly after Brum returns the stopwatch to the exhausted Visiting Man, Bob and Job escort a glum and disgusted Penny outside of the gym along with everyone else present. The Visiting Man gloats and dangles the stopwatch close to Penny’s face as she makes another grab for it only for Bob to pull her hand down and reprimands her again. When Brum departs, Bob forces Penny to wave the supercar goodbye as she rolls her eyes.

Following this, Penny Pincher subsequently never reappears which technically leaves her with an inconclusive fate. However, everyone present at the gym are highly unlikely to let her walk away and would have therefore held her at the gym until the police took her away. This would mean that Penny’s parole would be revoked and she would be taken back to the Big Town Prison to serve an extended sentence.

Appearance[]

Penny Pincher is a woman of average height with fair skin, brunette hair, thickset fingers, a medium build and grey eyes. Following her prison time, she has a slender and athletic build, but is not as supple as Big Bad’s 2^nd Girlfriend. In her first appearance her hair is messily tied up and her trimmed fingernails are dirty. However, after she resurfaces from prison her nails are clean and her hair is neatly kept in two double braided ponytails in coloured hair scrunchies.

Additionally, in both of her appearances she is a colourfully dressed woman wearing a horizontally striped rainbow coloured top and black and red coloured stockings under a skirt. When she first appears she wears a black skirt with several colourings woven within it. However, her skirt changes to a denim one and she dons a blue beanie after her release from prison. In both of her episodes, she wears black boots; however, the ones in her second appearance have red shoelaces.

Personality[]

Penny Pincher is a highly covetous woman who is very willing to resort to thievery to gain objects she just happens to want. Through this she is also shown to be something of a petty individual as she usually goes for trinket sized items like music boxes and stopwatches. However, some of the expanded universe material of Brum like The Big Town Bumper Book depicts her indiscriminately stealing higher value items like trophies, necklaces and crowns. Pincher appears to have a mostly sanguine temperament due to her upbeat mood when sighting a desired mark and her excitement and enthusiasm when she’s planning to steal something.

She also proves to be somewhat callous as she is even ready to steal from and in front of children to achieve her ends and even lets off a foul look while doing so. This contrasts her portrayal in the book adaptation of “Brum and the Music Box” where she comes across as a happy go-lucky thief with no real genuine malice, which is evident in how she even waves Brum goodbye after she gets defeated. Additionally the book adaptation portrays Pincher as having a purely sanguine temperament.

Nonetheless, in tense situations Penny shows a propensity to panic as evidenced by her flailing around in fright when Arrow the horse took off uncontrollably while she was mounted backwards. However, this was an understandable reaction considering her predicament. To her credit she was eventually able to reign in some control over the horse and regain her composure. Even when faced with prison, Pincher shows no fear but is instead somewhat glum before becoming annoyed at Brum. Additionally, Penny is also shown to be slightly vengeful as shown by her raising a fist up at a departing Brum for due to her getting thrown into a fountain and having to do prison time.

Following this, Penny becomes a more ruthless individual with some sadistic tendencies as evidenced by her taking pleasure in teasing and taunting Brum, character traits she never showed before her time in prison. Additionally, due to her improvements as a criminal while behind bars Penny develops a level of arrogance, frequently gloating over Brum whenever she thinks she has the advantage. At one point she even sticks her tongue out at him.

Despite this, Penny does show a few slightly redeeming qualities as she was never actively cruel towards Arrow the horse even after he catapults her into the fountain. Although this could be attributed to her wanting minimise her prison time, it is supported by her not even looking at the horse with any anger. Instead this is quietly directed at Brum. Moreover, whenever she’s beaten she accepts her fate without much resistance, in contrast to other Big Town Baddies like Big Bad’s 2^nd Girlfriend.

Tactics and abilities[]

When she first appears Penny’s tactics are rather basic for a Big Town Baddie. Upon making her mark she tries to sneak the music box away from behind the ballet class’ sign, but this fails when her hand is trodden on by the teacher. This indicates a lack of environmental awareness on Penny’s part. However, she compensates by cleverly concealing herself behind a costume rack while Brum and the class dance before opportunistically swapping her skirt for a tutu to disguise herself. She then creeps up from behind the class to steal the music box. As she begins her getaway she slams the costume rack into Brum’s path to buy herself a head start, showing a willingness to use callous tactics. After awkwardly running a few paces she cites Arrow the police horse and opportunistically mounts him as a makeshift getaway vehicle, thinking that she will be much faster on horseback then on her own feet.

However, this tactic spectacularly backfired on Pincher due to her vastly overestimating her ability to ride. This is evident in how she comically mounted Arrow backwards causing the horse to trot off uncontrollably, inadvertently placing herself and others in danger. Throughout the pursuit she repeatedly nearly falls off and almost crashes into a stall with Brum driving alongside to catch her and the music box if necessary. Eventually this culminates in Penny being catapulted into a fountain after Brum exploits Arrow’s love of apples. Additionally, her stealing Arrow shows lack of attention to basic details and a real lack of foresight. The markings on the helmet clearly denoted that Arrow was a police horse and therefore stealing him would attract the attention of the police far more quickly.

However, her tactics improve considerably following her stint in prison. Although she employs the same stealth tactics of sneaking up behind her targets, Penny’s use of the environment becomes more frequent and inventive. This includes her bowling a lifting weight at the supercar and taking control of a tennis ball dispensing machine to shoot at him. Her physical coordination also increases as she is able to catch a tennis ball in midair before hurling at Brum. However, she still tactically lags as she never tries to leave the premises of the gym while being chased by Brum and thinks that hanging from a rope in the gym was enough to foil the supercar.

Penny Pincher displays a varying amount skill with the following capabilities.

• Disguises: As is common for Big Town Baddies, Penny Pincher displays some skill with disguises as she successfully used a tutu to pose as a ballet dancer. However, this should also be attributed to the fact that no one turned around. Had this happened she likely would’ve been given away immediately.
• Ballet dancing: Pincher is also shown to be a reasonable dancer as she was able effectively mimic the classes’ movements.
• Stealth: One of Penny’s best abilities was stealth as she was able to sneak into the ballet classroom and hidebehind the costume rack with no one (Brum included) noticing. She even manages to sneak herself behind the Visiting Man, his companion and Brum while trying to steal the stopwatch.
• Exceptional Durability: Penny possesses exceptional durability. In her first appearance she is catapulted from Arrow’s saddle into a shallow fountain and sustains no damage. However, it should be noted that she wasn't completely unscathed as she was visibly hunched over afterwards.
• Strength: Following her time in prison, Penny acquires a considerable amount of physical strength as she was able to lift heavy dumbbell from a burly gymnast. Even the narrator of the show noted this physical feat. However, her strength has limits as she wasn’t able to bowl it towards Brum with any significant force.
• Speed: Another trait she developed in prison was speed. In her first appearance she only runs at a moderate pace. After her time inside, she can sustain a high-speed chase with Brum without tiring.
• Marksmanship: Penny also shows some minor marksmanship skill when she uses a tennis ball dispensing machine to try and gun Brum down.
• Horse riding: She proves to be a deeply inexperienced rider as she mounted Arrow backwards and nearly fell off the saddle multiple times. Despite these embarrassments she is able to eventually gain some control and ride properly.

Gallery[]

Wuh, wuh, wuh

Penny Pincher under arrest.

Penny's final defeat.

Trivia[]

• Penny Pincher’s comeuppances are symbolic and ironic.
  • Her defeat in “Brum and the Music Box” is ironic on the following levels;
    • Her wearing a rainbow coloured horizontally striped top can be considered a light reference to black and white prison uniforms which are also horizontally striped.
    • The “wuh, wuh, wuh” sound effect rings out when the right side of her head bobs up exposing her ear after she falls into the fountain. This is symbolic of her being wet behind the ears as she was not particularly competent in this episode.
    • Her getting arrested while she is still wearing a tutu symbolises how she's in deep doo-doo.
  • Her defeat in “Brum and the Stopwatch Botch” is ironic on the follwing levels;
    • Her losing the stopwatch she stole could symbolise and imply that her time outside of prison is up. This is corroborated by the following;
      • She never reappears afterwards
      • Everyone present at the gym is not likely to let her go free. Instead they would likely call the police and hold her until they arrive to take her away.
      • Every baddie who wears striped clothing ends up going to prison. Examples include The Two Masked Bank Robbers, Penny Pincher herself in “Brum and the Music Box” and Big Bad’s 2nd Girlfriend.
        • Incidentally, Pincher is the only baddie who wears striped clothing to appear again after getting arrested.
• Following her time in prison, Penny Pincher is a homage to Big Bad's 2nd Girlfriend on the following levels;
  • Both wear rainbow coloured striped tops
  • Both braid their hair
  • Both appear the 2nd episode of a season in Brum. Big Bad’s 2nd Girlfriend appears in the 2nd episode of series 4 while Pincher appears in the 2nd episode of series 5.
  • Both are athletic. Penny only exhibited these traits after her imprisonment which strongly suggests that she was influenced by Big Bad’s 2nd Girlfriend.
  • Both abuse, taunt and gloat over Brum. Again, these traits only apply to Penny in “Brum and the Stopwatch Botch” after she’s served time in prison.
  • Both wear caps over their heads. Penny wears a woollen beanie, while Big Bad’s 2nd Girlfriend wears a swimming cap as a part of her swimmer disguise throughout her appearance.
  • Both look glum and disgusted after they are defeated and lose the item/s they stole.
  • Unlike other baddies on the show who become depressed or fearful when they get arrested, Penny and Big Bad’s 2nd Girlfriend become angry when faced with prison. However, the former quietly expresses her anger when Brum leaves while the latter openly expresses it in front of everyone.
  • Incidentally the similarities between these Big Town Baddies coincide with how their respective episodes “Brum and the Splash and Grab” and “Brum and the Stopwatch Botch” were reportedly aired back-to-back in the USA.
• It is unknown how long Penny spent in prison before escaping or being released. However, if the respective air dates of her episodes (i.e. 10 December 2001 and 9 September 2002) are to be believed, she would have been imprisoned for the best part of 8 months at most.
  • If this is true it logically means that she would’ve been incarcerated with Big Bad’s 2nd Girlfriend for about 4 months at most because the latter would have been sent to jail shortly after her arrest in April.
• Between Penny either escaping prison or being released, it is much likelier that she was released on parole. This is corroborated by the fact that her crimes weren't as serious as Big Bad's 2nd Girlfriend's and that she isn't violent like The Beady-Eyed Robber. way in which the Traffic Policeman arrests Pickpocket Polly after she ends up in a fountain herself. Instead of harshly grabbing Polly near the head, he meagrely puts his hand on her shoulder. This shows that he was likely cautioned for his conduct with respect to Penny’s arrest, which likely would've helped to reduce Pincher's punishment. Furthermore, the key attached to her black lanyard disappears after she resurfaces from prison. If the key is assumed to be for her private residence, it’s possible that it was taken away from her as per her bail conditions which would mean that she would be living in a halfway house.
• Unlike many of her fellow Big Town Baddies, Penny Pincher doesn't exhibit any visible fear when she is being arrested. Instead she only looks half glum while Arrow the Police Horse is having a victory dance and quietly angry when Brum is departing. This implies that she has had minor run-ins with the law before due to her thieving escapades. However, these likely only resulted in either fines, good behaviour bonds or minor/suspended sentences.
  • This is symbolically supported by the stripes on her rainbow coloured top being roughly the same thickness as traditional prison stripes.
• Penny Pincher is the only female Big Town Baddie who reappears after being arrested.
• Penny Pincher is the only Big Town Baddie in Brum who is given a full name.
  • Her name is an ironic pun because it implies that she pinches pennies by stealing valuable items. However, she is never depicted stealing money on-screen.
• Penny Pincher being forced to wave goodbye to Brum by Bob as he departs is reminiscent of when Big Bad's 1st Girlfriend was forced to do so. Coincidently, Bob was present for both of these scenes.
  • Furthermore, after being forced to wave Brum goodbye, Big Bad’s 1st Girlfriend is then hauled off to prison. Consequently, Pincher would have likely faced the same fate.
• Considering how the first episode in the show to use a stunt double was “Brum and the Splash and Grab”, which was filmed and aired after “Brum and the Music Box”, it therefore means that Pincher’s actress Julia West would likely have done all the stunts herself. This includes her standing on top of the saddle and doing a 360 turn while the horse was trotting along and her flailing around in the saddle.
• In The Big Town Bumper Book which expands on the lore of Brum, it’s revealed that Pincher has also targeted high priced items like trophies, crowns and necklaces just like Big Bad (Brum), The Shadow (Brum) and The Beady-Eyed Robber respectively. In her live action appearances she only goes for lower valued items that she finds attractive like music boxes and stopwatches.
  • The “Baddy Search” section of the book also implies that she likes to take a bath in order to make "a clean getaway".