Toucan 'Tecs: The Adventures of Zippi & Zac ( cy, Slici a Slac) is a British

children's television 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 ...

programme about two private detectives, a pair of anthropomorphic

toucan Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five g ...

s named Zippi and Zac (voiced by

Philip Whitchurch Philip Whitchurch (born 30 January 1951) is an English stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for playing Captain William Frederickson in three episodes of the Sharpe series between 1994-1997 and the role of Chief Inspector Philip ...

and

Tony Robinson Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentarie ...

respectively), who, although based in the jungle, flew around the world solving crimes on their flying devices. Their main enemies were group of

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

s, called "The Mad Ducks", led by Red Leader. Produced and Animated by Cartwn Cymru, S4C and

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

, the show debuted on

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

in 1990 and consists of 26 ten-minute episodes.

Characters

*Zippi - The brains of the Toucan 'Tecs, who comes up with plans. Wherever he goes around the world, he always wears a matching hat corresponding to the country. He is voiced by

. *Zac - Zippi's partner of the Toucan 'Tecs, who carries out Zippi's plans. He wears blue glasses. He is voiced by

. *Samson - A snail who provides the equipment that toucans will need to carry out their cases. He wears a fuchsia and aqua polka dot bow tie. He has a Scottish accent and is the Toucan 'Tecs agent. He is voiced by

. *Fifi - A fat duck who provides transport for the toucans. She is voiced by Kate Lee in a German accent. *The Mad Ducks - The main antagonists who are always up to no good, having fun and playing at others inconvenience and expense. They wear pilot helmets in different colours and goggles. They are voiced by

and Kate Lee. **The Red Leader - The boss of the Mad Ducks. She always gives the word and wears a brown jacket, a pale pink scarf, a red pilot helmet and goggles. She is voiced by Kate Lee.

Episodes

Credits

*Developed from Zippi and Zac a series of books by Heinemann Young Books *Original story by: Peter Lawson and Elizabeth Laird *Series Consultants: Cartwn Cymru *Script: Roger Stennett, John Gatehouse *Voices: Kate Lee, Tony Robinson, Philip Whitchurch *Storyboard and Layout: Wayne Thomas, Nik Lever *Backgrounds: Jocelyn Smith, Karen Pereira *Animation: Paul Bannister, Steve Hayne, Roger Philips, Lloyd Sutton, Graham Griffiths, Chris Webster, Nigel Davies, Andrew Janes, Phil Parker, Theresa Whatley, Andy Wilson, Malcom McGookin, Darren Holt, Denise Heywood, Martin Edwards *Assistant Animation: Helen Smith, Johnathan Tordoff, Helen Michael, Paul Greenall, Michael Harrison, David Taylor, Craig Whittle, Jonathan Barry *For the Ink 'n' Paint Co: Elizabeth Butler, Nic Howell, Andrew Peters, Lisa Ann Pike, Marie Sheard, Inez Stoodley, Jenny Thomissen, Rosemary Thorburn, Pauline Webster, Wendy Williams *Xerox and Tracing: Mark Grindley, Joanna Alvey, Ruth Jacobs, Dona Walsh *Painting: Colour Crew *Line Tester: Duncan Harris *Camera: Cardiff Cartoon Camera Company, Mark Sutton, Steve Charkewycz, Tim Francis *Sound: Eco Ltd, Ray Buckley, APS, Ian Gillespie, Silk Sound *Materials: Film Sales, Cromacolour *Editor: Robert Francis *Off-Line Editor: Andrew Brearley *On-Line Editing: Editz *Music: Ernie Wood *Production Co-ordinators: Ceri Griffin, Melvin Howcroft *Directors: Gary Hurst, Nik Lever *Producers: Naomi Jones, Ian Steel *Executive Producers: Christopher Grace, John Marsen *a Cartwn Cymru production for Yorkshire Television in association with S4C *A Catslyst Pictures Ltd Production in association with Cartoon for Yorkshire Television *© Yorkshire Television Ltd MCMXC/MCMXCII

Music

Finnish

Songs in the Finnish dub were sung by the actors of YLE Import re-using the De Angelis's music but with new Finnish lyrics. In the Finnish dub some scenes are cut, which includes musical numbers in some episodes.

Lukijat

* Finnish: (''Tukaanit'' Suomeksi)

External links

*
Toonhound
1990 British television series debuts 1993 British television series endings ITV children's television shows British detective television series Television series about birds Television series about ducks S4C original programming Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Yorkshire Television English-language television shows {{UK-tv-prog-stub