I stumbled accross the Shoebox Zoo one Sunday afternoon on the CBC. I was hooked immediately. A girl who grew up in Colorado moved back to her father's homeland (Scotland) after her mother dies. She discovers an antique/junk store and winds up with a box of little animal statues. After she brings them home they come alive... the rest of the series so far has been about their adventures together - along with Michael Scott. Now they're back in the U.S. I missed a couple :( but what I've seen has been quite cute :)
Thanks to Morgan I found a link to Radio Scotland's A Wizard Tale that talks about Michael Scott - the real-life man who inspired the Shoebox Zoo story.
/cough
And of course listening to the Scottish accents isn't exactly torture... ;)