The Lampies
The Lampies is a British children's animated television series created by David Bonner and features a mix of 2D and 3D animation.
| The Lampies | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Entertainment |
| Created by | Dave Bonner |
| Developed by | Red Balloo Productions |
| Written by | David Bonner Jimmy Hibbert |
| Directed by | Dean Roberts Mark Marren |
| Voices of | Jimmy Hibbert Eve Karpf Rob Rackstraw Susan Sheridan |
| Narrated by | David Tennant (only on the audiobooks) |
| Theme music composer | Mcasso |
| Composer | Mcasso |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 50 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Theresa Plummer-Andrews James Coldwell |
| Producer | Morgan Francis |
| Editors | Mark Edwards Rory Timoney |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBBC |
| Original release | 12 October 2000 – 18 April 2002 |
Created by David Bonner in conjunction with Uli Meyer Animation Studios and music by Mcasso Music, there are 50 eleven-minute episodes that were originally commissioned by the BBC. Financial issues caused the creative and business drive to falter and momentum was lost. In 2003 The Lampies IP was bought from the receiver by a private investor.
Plot
A group of sprite-like power engineers maintain and defend the lamp post HO32 which is the critical area of the entire Lighting Network. The Roons who live in the sewers below are the creatures who threaten the Lighting Network due to their strong dislike to the presence of light. Sewer rats can also prove to be a pest to the Lampies.
Characters
The Lampies Crew
- Burnout – The laid back Foreman of the Lampies who has to run scheduled switches for the lamp light. He has green skin, white hair and wears a blue jumpsuit.
- Matronly Spotlight – The routine inspector of the Lampies. She acts like mother to the other Lampies. She has green skin, lavender hair and wears a pink jumpsuit.
- Charge – The clumsy, day-dreaming assistant worker of the Lampies. He is the most prone to problems. He has blue skin, blue hair and wears a yellow jumpsuit. There is a running gag involving Charge falling into control room through the hole in the ceiling.
- Contact – The serious and sensible computer operator of the Lampies. She has reddish skin, red hair and wears a yellow jumpsuit.
- Livewire – The cute and feisty young girl of the Lampies, who looks after Dustywugg and is Contact's niece. She has pale pink skin, pink hair and wears a hot pink jumpsuit. She is often pushed around by grown-ups, nevertheless she saved the day several times.
- Dustywugg – A furry dog-like sprite who serves as the Lampies pet and mascot. He has orange fur.
- Captain Bright Light – The absent-minded captain of the Lampies. He has pale skin, brown hair and wears a green jumpsuit. He has an older brother, Flash Light, who is bigger and stronger, yet not as brave as Bright Light.
Antagonists
- Roons – A large group of green creatures, who live in the sewers. They are afraid of light (even when it comes to small flashlights) and constantly try to break all the streetlights around.
- Arch Roon – Leader of the Roons. He mostly stays in the layard, even though he doesn't show any signs of fear of the light. The only person he actually fears is his mother.
Others
- Brigadier Big Beam – The superior organiser of the Lighting Network. He has purple skin, white hair and wears a green uniform.
- Phosphorous – The Brigadier's officer liaison and Charge's love interest. She has pale skin, brown hair and wears yellow shirt and red skirt.
- Captain Spentflint – Formerly the Lampies' captain and now retired. Criticised as a slave driver.
- Spark – The keeper of a bike light. People like him are called Bikeys.
- Neon – A one-off character for the series 2 opener and the 'Light Up the World For Christmas' Single.
- Haywire – A one-off character in series 1 episode 11 "Bouncer" who is Burnout's cousin, living in Lamppost HY11 at sector 14.
- Bouncer – The chattering, gossiping grasshopper who is green with blue eyes. She only appears in Series 1 Episode 11 "Bouncer" and is mentioned by quite a few of the Lampies members, including Burnout.
Episodes
Series 1
| # | Title | Summary | Air Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Captain Who | The Roons invade HO32 but the newly recruited Captain Bright Light repels them. | 12 October 2000 | |
| 2 | Dustywugg: Space Marine | With the HO32 crew captured by the Roons, Dustywugg inspired by Captain Spectrum, goes superhero. | 19 October 2000 | |
| 3 | Walkabout | Charge runs off from HO32, Dustywugg following him. They both get lost in the sewers, but Dustywugg finds their way back. | 26 October 2000 | |
| 4 | The Inspection | The HO32 crew to try to clean for the Brigadier's inspection, when an alien called Jeff arrives with just what they need. | 2 November 2000 | |
| 5 | Flash By Name | Captain Bright Light dreads a visit from his brother Flash Light. Flash Light is however not what he first appears to be. | 9 November 2000 | |
| 6 | Dustywuppy | Livewire adopts a Dustywuppy who turns out to be extremely messy. Eventually, he is returned to his rightful owners. | 16 November 2000 | |
| 7 | Bird's Nest Oops | As Charge tries to fix a malfunction in HO32, a pigeon mistakes him for her baby. The Lampies solve this and fix HO32. | 23 November 2000 | |
| 8 | A Bit of a Jam | Fed up with being pushed around, Livewire runs away and manages to thwart a Roon plot to short circuit HO32. | 30 November 2000 | |
| 9 | Bikey | A Bikey called Spark visits the Lampies and later that night, Livewire pays him an exchange visit. | 7 December 2000 | |
| 10 | Thunder and Frightening | The Lampies are missing a Denby Attecorn to prevent the worst during a thunderstorm. Contact manages to get one in time to save HO32. | 14 December 2000 | |
| 11 | Bouncer | On a visit to Burnout's cousin Haywire at a farm, Charge rescues a trapped grasshopper named Bouncer, who in turn saves him from a fierce-looking cat. | 21 December 2000 | |
| 12 | Boris | A Pipistrelle Bat named Boris rests in the lamp. As the Roons make a daytime attack, Boris scares them away. | 21 December 2000 | |
| 13 | Decoy | The Roons kidnap Brigadier Big Beam. Using a diversion and the Roons' decoy, the Lampies rescue Big Beam. | 8 January 2001 | |
| 14 | Dick Static | After Knock on the head,Charge Believes himself to be his private eye hero Dick Static. | 15 January 2001 | |
| 15 | Too Many Cooks | Burnout builds a cooking robot to help Spotlight but the robot hardly improves cooking for the Lampies. | 22 January 2001 | |
| 16 | Striplight | Charge and Contact get lost and find themselves beneath an airport runway. | 29 January 2001 | |
| 17 | Tooth of the Matter | Charge breaks a tooth and has to visit dentist. | 5 February 2001 | |
| 18 | Chief Beef | Deciding it's time to build up his muscles, Charge visits Chief Beef's gym But is the muscle bound Chief Genuine? | 12 February 2001 | |
| 19 | Cyber Lampy | A New Lampy is introduced to the lamppost he can do everything the other lampies can do and they worry they will lose their jobs. | 19 February 2001 | |
| 20 | Roadworks | The Lampies are having trouble sleeping due to noisy roadworks. | 26 February 2001 |
Series 2
| # | Title | Summary | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neon | A musician named Neon has arrived at HO32, and Livewire, Dustywugg and Spark get to play backup for him. | 28 October 2001 |
| 2 | Saved By the Bikey | Spark officially joins the team as a member of HO32 and becomes a Lampie | 30 October 2001 |
| 3 | The Boy Who Could See The Lampies | PJ, a boy who can see Lampies gets friendly with Spark, Livewire and Dustywugg. | 2 November 2001 |
| 4 | Space Walk | Charge, Livewire and Spark meet Geoff yet again and get a taste of life in space. | 4 November 2001 |
| 5 | Boogie Lights | The Roons Capture Neon as he is on the way to another of his hugely successful gigs. | 6 November 2001 |
| 6 | Pump It Up | Spark gets a puncture and has to make visit to a human bike shop. | 7 November 2001 |
| 7 | Charge's Sausage Mole | 15 November 2001 | |
| 8 | Sacked | The Lampies of HO32 face being sacked by Brigadier Big Beam | 17 November 2001 |
| 9 | Roon Goo Attack | The Roons plan to stop the Lampies once and for all by using their patent "Roon Goo", which could bring about the end of HO32 permanently. | 21 November 2001 |
| 10 | HO32 Squadron | Spark drives a remote controlled airplane to rescue Dustywugg, causing chaos in a hardware store. | 22 November 2001 |
| 11 | Bike Gone | Spark earns his own bike, but after the Roons steal it, he and Livewire go on a daring mission to recover it. | 23 November 2001 |
| 12 | Moth Magic | Livewire looks after a Moth which burns its wings on the Lamp, meanwhile the Roons attack the Lampies of HO32 with Honeycomb. | 5 December 2001 |
| 13 | Football Roonigans | HO32 are invited to a football match by a Lampy who works in the floodlights at the Football ground. | 6 December 2001 |
| 14 | Lampies Unplugged | Spark and Livewire foil a fiendish plot to turn the lights out in HO32. | 27 December 2001 |
| 15 | An Open and Shut Case | Two undercover agents visiting HO32 are captured with Charge by Roons, and Spotlight saves them posing as the Arch Roon's mother. | 3 March 2002 |
| 16 | The Haunted Lamp | Charge's past sins catch up with him as he learns that you can't run from your mistakes... or bury them. | 4 March 2002 |
| 17 | Lights on Legs | Spark and Livewire befriend a little frog in the power conduit. | 6 March 2002 |
| 18 | House Call | Spark and Livewire meet some very dull house-Lampies. | 8 March 2002 |
| 19 | The Vacation | Geoff the Alien takes Spark and Livewire to the holiday planet of Triluria | 27 March 2002 |
| 20 | Watching Over Lois | Spark's Granny is Captured by the Roons | 8 April 2002 |
| 21 | Red Light at Night | The Roons topple the HO32 lamp post. The Lampies try to find an exit before the lamp is crushed at the dump. | 9 April 2002 |
| 22 | The Good Roon | The Arch Roon an enemy of the Lampies plans to infiltrate HO32 by pretending to have turned over a new leaf. | 10 April 2002 |
| 23 | All That Glitters | The Lampies help a Leprechaun who has had is crook of gold stolen by the Roons | 12 April 2002 |
| 24 | A Day at the Movies | Spark takes Livewire to meet a pair of Lampies who work in a Cinema, only for him to be bored stiff by home movies. | 14 April 2002 |
| 25 | Roon Alert | With a nationwide blackout in progress, the crew of HO32 must make it through 48 hours of total Roon Apocalypse alive. | 16 April 2002 |
| 26 | Bright Light in Love | Captain Brightlight is Captured by Roons when he goes to Visit a Female Lampy he fell for while on a lamp-commanders training course. | 18 April 2002 |
Reception
TV distribution rights for Series One were sold into 33 countries."International Songwriting Competition Results". 2006. When series one was broadcast in 2001 it regularly achieved over 40% of target viewing audience. This figure reached over 50% during 2002. Series two of The Lampies was completed in March 2002 and generated similar audience figures with prime slots on BBC 1 and 2.
Releases
HIT Entertainment had released a single UK only VHS release of the programme entitled "Captain Who and other stories" in 2001. The Lampies Rare Plush Toys Including Livewire Dustywugg Charge & The Roon Will be Launched on 17 October 2001 An introductory DVD – SWITCH ON TO THE LAMPIES was launched on 7 April 2008. The first full DVD, Disc 1 Series One – A BIT OF A JAM AND OTHER STORIES was launched on 19 May 2008. LP Productions formed a partnership with Save the Children in 2008. £2 from the sale of each SWITCH ON TO THE LAMPIES DVD will go towards the Save the Children protection work with very vulnerable children in Mongolia.
References
External links
- The Lampies at IMDb
- The Lampies at toonhound.com
- Uli Meyer Animation Studios (TV section)
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