Look and Read/Captain Crimson

From LookingAndSeeing.co.uk - a website about schools broadcasting

Another of these Look and Read Specials for the Summer term (cf. 1995's LRTV), this at least has a much closer resemblance to the traditional L&R format in that the focus is definitely on telling the story, and in fact there is no explicit language learning, just a few key words flashed up on the screen now and then.

Contents 1 The Story 2 Episodes 3 Credits 4 Broadcasts

[edit] The Story

The story is about a comic book artist called Jeff, whose signature strip is the sci-fi adventures of Captain Crimson and his crew. In the first episode, Jeff's son Tom and his friend Amy make up the ending to one of the strips, sending the Captain through a black hole. This results in the Captain appearing in real life, in the form of comedian Felix Dexter. Tom, Amy and Tom's grandmother Whizz then have to hide the Captain from being discovered by Jeff or anybody else as he goes on various adventures discovering the real world until finally being returned to his comic strip. A running subplot involved Jeff's infatuation with the local librarian Gina.

[edit] Episodes

Episode listings from the old BBC Online Schedules.

1. Escape from the Black of Beyond
   • Fearless comic book hero Captain Crimson is stranded in hyperspace facing a fate worse than death, when his writer and creator Jeff gets writer's block. Jeff's 10-year-old son comes to the rescue and writes the captain's escape through a black hole.
2. Guzzle Trouble
   • Comic-book hero Captain Crimson creates havoc in the real world and is nearly arrested in a local cafe when he discovers real food.
3. Banana Drama
   • Captain Crimson and his friends inadvertently become caught up in a bank raid. The captain is taken hostage, but eventually he saves the day.
4. A Giant Celebration
   • When Gary the Gladiator knocks himself out at Amy's gladiator challenge birthday party, things look doomed to failure - until Captain Crimson comes to the rescue.
5. It'll All Come Out in the Wash
   • Thomas and Amy are doing the café's weekly wash at the local launderette, but Captain Crimson's determination to help only makes things worse.
6. Take the Bull by the Horns
   • Whizz takes Captain Crimson and the children for a quiet picnic in the countryside, but forgets to warn the Captain not to wear his crimson cape near a bull.
7. Operation Recovery
   • When comic book hero Captain Crimson falls ill, the doctor thinks he is a medical miracle and whisks him into hospital for various operations. Can the children rescue him?
8. Black to the Future
   • Gina has a plan to get Captain Crimson back to his ship - but he has disappeared. Can they find him in time to make the plan work?

[edit] Credits

Starring	Felix Dexter as Captain Crimson Ben Brooks as Thomas Rickard Helen Ryan as Whizz Paul Bigley as Jeff Rickard Lucy Wood as Amy Beverley Hills as Gina Clough
Voices	Peter Serafinowcz (sic) Janet Ellis Paul Clayton and Paul Cawley

Written by	Elly Brewer
Music by	Debbie Wiseman
Designer	Alan Spalding
Executive producer	Frank Flynn
Producer	Cas Lester
Directors	Cas Lester Champa Patel-Smith

Education officer	Chris Hughes
Production manager	Terry Wright
Assistant floor manager	Jonathan Barden
Programme coordinator	Nicki Coles
Programme cost coordinator	Paulette Gardnier
Graphic designer	Ian Wormleighton
Illustrators	Mark Bennington Nick Brennan Fran Brennan
Video effects	Ian Simpson
Properties buyer	Francis Smith
Property masters	Martin Carley Simon Bailey
Make-up designer	Claire Whitely
Costume designer	Eric Doughney
Digital sound editor	Kian Wong
Dubbing mixer	Pip Norton
Sound recordist	John Pritchard
Gaffer	Max Foster
Grip	James Grimes
Lighting cameraman	Mike Radford
Online editor	Duncan Bragg
Offline editor	Peter Harris

[edit] Broadcasts

Here is a list of all of the broadcasts of this story on the BBC. See the Schedules section for precise dates and times.

• Summer 1997, BBC2
• Summer 1998, BBC2
• Summer 2000, BBC2
• Summer 2001, BBC2
• Summer 2002, BBC2
• Summer 2002, CBBC
• Autumn 2002, CBBC
• Spring 2003, CBBC
• Summer 2003, BBC2
• Summer 2004, BBC2
• Spring 2005, CBBC
• Summer 2006, CBBC
• Autumn 2006, CBBC
• Summer 2007, BBC2