HAMBALONIUS
Watch the first look

The crew

Meet everyone

Five friends, one wolf, and something in the dark that none of them have met yet. Five of the six are fully designed — expressions, turnarounds, action poses and palettes. The sixth is still a silhouette.

The full cast — Bim, Hallie, Ham Balonius, TukTuk and Vincent on a Roman street
Ham Balonius

Brave. Kind. History's greatest little hero.

Ham Balonius

“The past is full of lessons… and the future is full of possibilities!”Ham Balonius

Ham is a young Roman pig with a big heart, a curious mind and a taste for adventure. He travels through time with his friends, learning about history and making things right wherever he goes.

He is small. He is brave. He goes first — which is the thing that actually gets a group of children through a Cretaceous swamp. He talks to himself when he is thinking out loud, he believes in second chances, and he carries a satchel full of snacks, maps and important stuff.

He is voiced by Isabel, who is six, and who came up with him.

Loves learning about historyAlways ready to help his friendsBrave, even when things get scaryBelieves everyone can be a heroVoiced by Isabel, age 6
Ham Balonius — character sheet

In three dimensions

Spin him around

The sculpt, unpainted — turn him over in your hands and watch the shapes do the work. Drag to rotate, scroll or pinch to zoom.

Ham as an unpainted grayscale 3D sculpt

Bim

Small. Loyal. Big heart.

Bim

“A good friend may be small, but his heart is huge!”

Bim is Ham's pet potato bug and his loyal sidekick — a roly-poly somewhere between a teapot and a small terrier. He may be small, but he is brave, clever and always ready to help.

His superpower is the least heroic one imaginable: he curls into a tiny armoured ball. It has solved a startling number of problems. He also has an amazing sense of direction, which matters rather a lot when you are lost in the wrong century.

The leaf he carries is not just a snack. It is a lucky charm.

He is voiced by Henry, Isabel's brother, whose nickname — Ham Bone — is where this whole thing began.

Rolls into a tiny armoured ballAn amazing sense of directionLoves crunchy leaves and shiny thingsFirst to say “Let's do this!”Voiced by Henry
Bim — character sheet
Hallie

Brilliant. Curious. Scientist.

Hallie

“Questions, experiments, ideas — that's how we change the world!”Hallie

Hallie is a Roman hedgehog and Ham's best friend. She is a brilliant scientist who loves experiments, inventions and facts, and nothing is impossible for Hallie — especially when it comes to science.

Her favourite subject is “Everything!”. She keeps a notebook with over a thousand experiments in it, carries goggles, a beaker, plans and a multi-tool wherever she goes, and can build almost anything out of almost nothing.

She also talks to her beaker. The beaker listens.

She is the one who works out how the time machine functions — not because anyone asks her to, but because she cannot leave a mechanism alone.

Always asking “Why?”Carries her satchel of science tools everywhereA notebook with over 1000 experimentsKind, loyal and brave
Hallie — character sheet

In three dimensions

Spin her around

Every spine, the satchel and the beaker — unpainted, so the sculpt does the talking. Drag to rotate, scroll or pinch to zoom.

Hallie as an unpainted grayscale 3D sculpt

TukTuk

Strong. Loyal. Fast!

TukTuk

“TUK!”TukTuk, who has never once said “neigh”

TukTuk is a Roman war horse with a gentle soul. He loves running fast, helping his friends, and carrots. He may be big and strong, but he is kind, patient and always ready for an adventure.

He is the crew's ride and their muscle, and the reason a plan that depends on outrunning something usually works. Horses mattered enormously in ancient Rome, and TukTuk carries himself like he knows it.

He does not say “neigh”. He says “TUK!”

TukTuk is a working name and may yet change. Everything about him except the name is settled.

Strong and fastLoyal and protectiveLoves carrots (and apples)Kind and gentle at heartWorking name — may change
TukTuk — character sheet
Vincent

Charming. Sly. Untrustworthy.

Vincent

“People are so easy to fool… especially when they want to believe a lie.”Vincent

Vincent is a Roman senator… and a thief. He pretends to be honourable, but secretly he is always looking out for himself. He wants power, riches, and the time machine for his own plans.

Loyal to no one. Trusts no one. Except his own plan. He keeps a signet ring, a bag of coins, a set of secret plans and a hidden ledger tracking everyone else's secrets — and there is a concealed entrance to the senate building that only he knows about.

He collects rare and stolen treasures, and he practises his speeches in the mirror.

He is also being played. Vincent takes his orders from Brain, and believes he is the one in charge.

A senator with a reputation to protectMaster of disguise and sweet talkSteals from the empire and its peopleDreams of ultimate power and control
Vincent — character sheet

Unseen. Unknown. In control.

Brain

“Everything Vincent thinks was his idea.”

Brain is the shadow behind the senator. Brain built the time machine — not as a way to travel, but as a trap: a device designed to scatter Ham and his friends across history and keep them from ever reassembling at home.

Nobody has seen Brain. Not the audience, not the crew, and not really Vincent, who takes instruction from a voice and a lamplit silhouette and has convinced himself he is the senior partner.

The long arc of the series is the answer to two questions a five-year-old will ask out loud at the television: who is that, and why does he want Ham gone?

Built the time machineNever shows a faceWants them lost, not caughtDesign in progress

Next

Now see where
the machine takes them

Explore the world Watch the clips