The series stars Bernard Cribbins as the voice of all the characters, who are a commune of small, furry, pointy-nosed beings who live on Wimbledon Common and recycle the rubbish left by humans. The two series, each consisting of 30 x 5m episodes, aired on BBC1 in 1973 and 1975. The memorable theme song was composed and sung by Mike Batt.

Also included is the feature film spin-off Wombling Free (1977), written and directed by Lionel Jeffries and produced by Ian Shand. This features the wombles, now portrayed by human actors in suits, alongside David Tomlinson, Frances de la Tour, and Bonnie Langford.