ZZZap!

ZZZap!
Genre Children's
Slapstick
Comedy
Starring Richard Waites
Neil Buchanan
Sarah Pickthall
Deborah McCallum
Sophie Aldred
Claire Macaulay
Voices of Neil Buchanan
Sophie Aldred
Richard Waites
Claire Macualay
Theme music composer Ron Aspery
Country of origin  United Kingdom
Language(s) English text only, aimed at the hearing impaired
No. of series 10
No. of episodes 131 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Dan Maddicott
Richard Morse
Janie Grace
Producer(s) Neil Buchanan
Tim Edmunds
Driana Jones,Noel Edmonds
Editor(s) Jim Lownie
Chris Jackson
Simon Cruse
Running time 15 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ITV Network (CITV)
Original run 8 January 1993 – 21 September 2001

Zzzap (rendered ZZZap!) was a British children's television comedy programme. The concept of the show was a giant comic that has been brought to life. The show ran from 8 January 1993 until 21 September 2001[1], and was produced by The Media Merchants and Meridian Broadcasting. A spin-off titled 'Cuthbert's Diary' was also produced.

Contents

Format

The programme follows the same format throughout its run. A Title Intro is shown consisting of a couple of short clips for Each character from the season. It is then followed by a series of short two or three minute long segments, followed by the credits. Each segment is introduced by the camera zooming in on a corresponding panel on a giant comic, shot in reverse (e.g: The Camera starting at the Panel, and pulling back) and then played in reverse. This giant comic has a set of nine frames on it, some of which contain a character representing their segments.

Episodes

Season Eps. Year Originally aired
1 10 1993 8th January - 12th March
2 10 1994 7th January - 11th March
3 10 1995 6th January - 10th March
4 16 1996 5th January - 14th May
5 15 1997 4th January - 12th May
6 16 1998 10th January - 26th April
7 16 1998 1st September - 14th December
8 13 1999 7th September - 30th November
9 13 2000 9th September - 3rd December
10 15 2001 3rd September - 21st September

Syndication

The series was repeated throughout 2002-2003 on the CITV on ITV1. The series was more recently broadcast on the CITV Channel in 2006, 2007 and 2009. ITV currently have no plans for any future repeats, as of 2011.

The Smart Arty elements and The Handymen were repeated in the USA as part of 'It's Itsy Bitsy Time on Fox Family, as Art Arty and The Handymen respectably, from 1999 until 2001.

Cast

Main

Actor(s) Character Series
Richard Waites
Cuthbert Lilly/Tricky Dicky series 1
All
Neil Buchanan
Smart Arty
1 - 7
Sarah Pickthall
The Handymen
All
Deborah McCallum
Claire Macaulay
Daisy Dares
2 - 10
Sophie Aldred
Minnie the Mini Magician
8 - 10

Recurring

Actor(s) Character Series
Barry Lee-Thomas
Mr. Snooty
All Series
Anita Reynolds
Old Lady
All Series

Background Voices

Actor(s) Character Series
Richard Waites
Cuthbert Lilly and various male co-stars
10
Neil Buchanan
Cuthbert Lilly, Smart Arty, Daisy Dare and various others
1 - 9
Clare Macaulay
Daisy Dare and various female co-stars
9 - 10
Sophie Aldred
Minnie The Mini Magician
8 - 10

Crew

Job Crew Member
Series Producers
Neil Buchanan
Tim Edmunds,Noel Edmonds
Producer
Driana Jones
Executive Producers for Meridian Broadcasting
Richard Morse
Janie Grace
Executive Producer for United Productions
Dan Maddicott,Noel Edmonds
Directors
Alistair Clarke
Adrian Hedley
Simon Pearce
Ian Bolt
VTR Editors
Kevin Harrison
Simon Cruse
Jim Lownie
Chris Jackson
Production Supervisor
Nicky Tasker

Media Releases

References

  1. ^ http://www.tv.com/show/31198/summary.html. Retrieved on 28 November 2007.

External links