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He's faced every conceivable challenge in deliveries between Pencaster and Greendale
- recently including his cat, Jess, rendering an address illegible by smudging it with a wet paw.

But now, it seems the 21st Century is at last bringing Postman Pat a bracing blast of market competition.

My sources at the McBebees channel tell me it's part of a drive to include business education in the pre-school curriculum, helping children understand the pressures under which adults have to work.

That's why the next series is to include competition from a rival mail delivery service provided by a new character, Justin Thyme.

Little to deliver

He will cream off the best of the business market and ignore the social dimension of Postman Pat's link to every household on his delivery run.

The growing use of email by local businesses in Pencaster will be seen to leave the iconic mailman and his black and white cat with little to deliver.

He is to diversify into new delivery services, such as flowers and postal banking.

Pat is also to be portrayed as a trade union activist. Young children will be asked to choose whether they support him in a national ballot and subsequent strike action.

The storyline will explain this is a protest against pressure from Mr Goodwin, the sorting office boss, for faster delivery rounds combined with reduced food rations for feline support staff.

Famous van

Postman Pat was first broadcast in 1981, when it used the livery of the Royal Mail on the cartoon character's uniform and van.

Since that branding agreement was ended, he is now seen working for the fictional Special Delivery Service, which includes a helicopter facility as well as his famous red van.

Otto Maittsort, a spokesman for the French-owned programme-makers PremierAvril, confirmed the changes, commenting: "Postman Pat has helped young people understand the adult world for 29 years, but it's time to bring him up to date.

"He'll now helping a new generation face the realities they will later encounter in the 21st Century workplace".