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''Hank Zipzer'' is a British
children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...
, based on the '' Hank Zipzer'' book series by
Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE (born October 30, 1945), is an American actor, comedian, author, executive producer, and director. After rising to fame as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the American television series ''Happy Days'', Winkler has ...
and
Lin Oliver Lin Oliver (born February 2, 1947) is an American writer, producer, and the co-founder (with Steve Mooser) of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. During the 1990s and early 2000s, she wrote and produced a number of works for ...
. It stars Nick James as the 12-year-old
dyslexic Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...
schoolboy, Hank Zipzer. Winkler also portrays Mr. Rock, Hank's music teacher. Unlike the books that took place in Winkler's native
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the series takes place in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. It also included a 2016 Christmas special, ''
Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe ''Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe'' is a 2016 standalone British Christmas television film, that appeared during Season three of the Hank Zipzer (TV series). It is an adaptation of the ''Hank Zipzer'' book series by American actor Henry ...
''.
HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
began streaming all three seasons on May 13, 2022, and will begin streaming ''Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe'' on December 2, 2022.


Plot

The series focuses on the misadventures of Hank Zipzer, a 12-year-old schoolboy in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
who is
dyslexic Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...
. Hank's friends are named Frankie and Ashley, and Nick McKelty is his worst enemy.


Cast


Episodes

The first season premiered in January 2014 on
CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
. Unlike the books that took place in
America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the series takes place in
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. The second season began airing on 13 August 2015.
Javone Prince Javone Prince is a British comedian and actor. He has appeared in many British comedy television shows, such as ''Horrible Histories'', ''Sorry, I've Got No Head'' and ''Little Miss Jocelyn.'' He also Featured in The Dumping Ground as the chara ...
made his first appearance as Mr. Joy in series 2, episode 5, "Hank's Hero". The third season began airing on 26 May 2016, which was followed by an 84-minute Christmas television film, ''
Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe ''Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe'' is a 2016 standalone British Christmas television film, that appeared during Season three of the Hank Zipzer (TV series). It is an adaptation of the ''Hank Zipzer'' book series by American actor Henry ...
,'' in December 2016.


Production


Development

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE (born October 30, 1945), is an American actor, comedian, author, executive producer, and director. After rising to fame as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the American television series ''Happy Days'', Winkler has ...
has stated that they "could not sell the show in America. We couldn't sell the books. They said, 'Oh Hank Zipzer is so funny...but we won't do the television show. So we sold it to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
." At a later date, after the series was successful on the BBC, it was broadcast on the
Universal Kids Universal Kids is an American children's television Specialty channel, channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel launched on September 26, 2005, as PBS Kids Sprout, a preschool-oriented ...
Channel in the United States.
CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
commissioned the series in 2013 to be produced by
Kindle Entertainment Kindle Entertainment is an independent television production company based in London, England. Kindle Entertainment was formed after ITV Kids (a section of ITV Productions) was closed, and current personnel includes Anne Brogan, the former cont ...
, and filming commenced in October 2013.
Matt Bloom Matthew Jason Bloom (born November 14, 1972) is an American retired professional wrestler and professional football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is the head trainer at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Bloom ...
was the lead director on all three series.


Casting

Nick James was cast as Hank, while
Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE (born October 30, 1945), is an American actor, comedian, author, executive producer, and director. After rising to fame as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the American television series ''Happy Days'', Winkler has ...
was cast as the music teacher Mr. Rock (who was based on a music teacher Winkler once had in high school at McBurney). Winkler said that the real Mr. Rock was the only teacher in his high school who believed in him. In particular, when he was in the eleventh grade, this teacher told him: “Winkler if you ever do get out of here you are going to be great,” a statement that helped him get through school.


Filming

The show was filmed at St Catherine's Catholic High School in Halifax,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
for series 1–2. Series 3 was filmed at
Birkdale High School Birkdale High School was a secondary school located in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. History The school's buildings were constructed in two distinct phases; the older building, comprising mainly the former Wheelwright Grammar School for ...
in
Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...
,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
.


Series changes


Second series

On 9 June 2014,
Cheryl Taylor Cheryl Francis Taylor (born March 1964) is the Controller of CBBC (TV channel), CBBC in City of Salford, Salford. Early life She was brought up in Liverpool in a family of Quakers. She went to the independent boarding school The Mount School, Yor ...
, the CBBC Controller, announced that the show had been renewed for a second series of thirteen episodes. Nick James,
Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE (born October 30, 1945), is an American actor, comedian, author, executive producer, and director. After rising to fame as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the American television series ''Happy Days'', Winkler has ...
,
Felicity Montagu Felicity Jane Montagu (born 12 September 1960) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Lynn Benfield, the long-suffering assistant of Alan Partridge. Early life Montagu was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, to Lieutenant-Co ...
, and
Nick Mohammed Nicholas George Mohammed (born 4 October 1980) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his character Mr. Swallow, which he has portrayed across both stage and television for over a decade. Outside of the United Kingdom, M ...
were all confirmed to return, as Hank, Mr. Rock, Miss Adolf, and Mr. Love respectively. Additionally,
Javone Prince Javone Prince is a British comedian and actor. He has appeared in many British comedy television shows, such as ''Horrible Histories'', ''Sorry, I've Got No Head'' and ''Little Miss Jocelyn.'' He also Featured in The Dumping Ground as the chara ...
joined the main cast as Mr. Joy. Jon Macqueen replaced script editors Lucy Guy and Danny Springs, while Jim Poyser joined as a producer. Returning writers include Mark Oswin and Madeleine Brettingham, who each wrote one episode and former script editor Lucy Guy, who wrote two. Several new writers worked on the second series, including Jon Macqueen (two episodes), Mark Evans (one episode), and Adam G. Goodwin & Jonathan Parkyn (one episode).


Cancellation

In April 2017,
Neil Fitzmaurice Neil Simon Fitzmaurice (born 20 August 1969) is an English actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his role as Jeff, the love rival of protagonist Mark Corrigan, in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Peep Show''. He has written for a number of ot ...
, who plays Stan, Hank's father, confirmed that there will not be a new series of the show.


Reception


Release

Announcements began to circulate in November 2013 that
CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
(the BBC's children's channel) had commissioned a television series of thirteen 30-minute episodes based on the Hank Zipzer books, while
Kindle Entertainment Kindle Entertainment is an independent television production company based in London, England. Kindle Entertainment was formed after ITV Kids (a section of ITV Productions) was closed, and current personnel includes Anne Brogan, the former cont ...
, Walker Productions, and
DHX Media WildBrain Ltd. (formerly known as DHX Media, Ltd.) is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest library of children ...
partnered to create the series that would be debuting in early 2014. Winkler also announced the debut of the series at the 2013
British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
awards.


Broadcasts

The show ran for three series (and one Christmas special), from January 2014 to December 2016 on the
CBBC channel CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 7– ...
. All three seasons of the series stream globally on
HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
, and in the U.K. on
BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...
.
HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
began streaming ''
Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe ''Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe'' is a 2016 standalone British Christmas television film, that appeared during Season three of the Hank Zipzer (TV series). It is an adaptation of the ''Hank Zipzer'' book series by American actor Henry ...
'' on December 2, 2022.


Awards

Nick James won the British Academy Children's Awards for
Performer The performing arts are The arts, arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art object ...
for his portrayal of Hank Zipzer in 2016. When discussing the award, James noted that he has received tweets from parents and children that the show has helped them understand and come to terms with dyslexia.


See also

*
List of artistic depictions of dyslexia This is a list of artistic depictions of dyslexia. Books Children's literature * Maeve Kaplan-Taylor, one of the five main characters in the Beacon Street Girls series, is dyslexic. *Hank Zipzer, the main character in the eponymous children's se ...


References


External links


Hank Zipzer (Seasons 1-3)
-
HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
*
Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe
' -
HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

Hank Zipzer (Seasons 1-3)
-
BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...
(only available in the U.K.) * *
Hank Zipzer Channel
-
CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

Henry Winkler Interview - Hank Zipzer
-
CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
, August 5, 2016 {{Kindle Hank Zipzer Hank Zipzer Hank Zipzer Hank Zipzer Dyslexia in fiction Hank Zipzer Hank Zipzer Hank Zipzer