Words and Pictures is a British children's

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...

television programme which aired as part of

BBC Schools BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based o ...

, starting in 1970.

1970s

The series began in March 1970 as a spin-off from the BBC schools programme,

Look and Read ''Look and Read'' is a BBC Television programme for primary schools, aimed at improving children's literacy skills. The programme presents fictional stories in a serial format, the first of which was broadcast in 1967 and the most recent in 2 ...

, which was already providing the same type of practice and encouragement for older children. The first series was presented by Gabriel Woolf and set in an attic full of toys, who have adventures related to phonics. Two episodes aired each week, one ("Programme A") at the start and the other ("Programme B") at the end. This was meant to cater for younger children and allowed teachers to do some follow-up work in the classroom in between. A total of 16 episodes aired. The second series started airing weekly in 1972, for 20 episodes. The format and presenter changed, the second series being about a young man called Sam Samson (played by

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 ...

) who daydreams about an island inhabited by "Boffs". The series was later repeated as ''

Sam on Boffs' Island ''Sam on Boffs' Island'' is a British educational television series, made by the BBC, and aimed at developing the reading skills of 6- to 8-year-olds. First broadcast in 1972 as part of the '' Words and Pictures'' strand, it was one of the first ...

''. In 1975 Henry Woolf took over as presenter, with the setting changing to a bookshop. He was assisted by an Aniform puppet character named Charlie and a "magic pencil", who would describe and show how to form the letter using a rhyme with each letter. This series contained a story in each episode along with songs and rhymes.

1980s

A fourth series began airing in 1982, this time presented by Vicky Ireland. The format was unchanged, and the setting changed to a library. Ireland presented the show until 1989, and presented 84 episodes. She was the series' longest-serving presenter. An episode of this series is shown in a scene of the post-apocalyptic drama '' Threads''; ten years after a nuclear war, characters are watching the programme (via a still-functioning

VCR A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. ...

) in a makeshift school.

1990s onwards

In 1990 the programme was presented by Stuart Bradley and a

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

puppet called Nutmeg, who could operate a

word processor A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features. Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicated to the function, but current ...

. This series also contained footage from the outside world. In 1992 the presenter was

Sophie Aldred Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''D ...

, known in children's TV as "Sophie Socket". She continued to present studio-based programmes. The BBC also produced two VHS tapes, again presented by Sophie. ''Time For A Story'' featured some of the stories from the 1992/93 series and ''Alphabet Fun Time'' featured the phonic animations animated by Alan Rogers and Peter Lang with Magic Pencil. For the following series in 1993, Michael Hobbs presented the show, again based in the studio and coloured letters were written by the Magic Pencil for the first time to join the white ones. Aldred was brought back for the next series due to her popularity. Aldred continued to present the show until its run in 2001, and also presented two specials, ''Phonics Special'' and ''Phonics Year 2'', in 1999 and 2001. The last series was set in a lighthouse, and Aldred is visited by Sid the Seagull, Salty Sam the

Sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

and Colin the

Clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...

as well as actors who read out story books. A spin-off series, aimed at younger children started airing in 1999, titled ''Words and Pictures Plus''. This series was presented by Paul Ewing. The programmes proceeded at a slower pace, of one phonic per episode. This series was also produced on both VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on the BBC Schools

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wi ...

. In 2001, a new collection of four Magic Pencil programmes began airing, which were edited from the ''Alphabet Fun Time'' VHS tape released in 1994, again presented by

. A remake series of ''Words and Pictures'' with the subtitle "''Fun with Phonics''" was launched on

CBeebies CBeebies 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 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

in 2006. This series was made up of short, four minute episodes, each concentrating on one particular letter sound. There were two presenters,

Pui Fan Lee Pui Fan Lee (born ) is a British-born Chinese actress and presenter. Along with Sue Monroe, Chris Jarvis, and Sidney Sloane she was one of the first presenters on CBeebies, the BBC television channel for younger children. She is known for portray ...

and

William Vanderpuye William Vanderpuye, also known as Will Vanderpuye or Will Vanders, is a British actor, broadcaster, writer, voice-over artist and producer. He played Zoomer and a cast of thousands in the BBC animation series Rastamouse and appeared as "Kobi" ...

, each presenting 22 of the 44 episodes in the series. Re-edited versions of the episodes, with some extra material, are available to buy on

in shops. These episodes were re-edited for school use, combining two episodes together.

Airing

* Gabriel Woolf (16 episodes, 1970) *

(20 episodes, 1972–73) *

Henry Woolf Henry Woolf, (20 January 1930 – 11 November 2021) was a British actor, theatre director, and teacher of acting, drama, and theatre who lived in Canada. He was a longtime friend and collaborator of 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter, having st ...

(56 episodes, 1975–78) *Vicky Ireland (84 episodes, 1982–89) *Stuart Bradley (28 episodes, 1990) *

(80 episodes, 1992–1993; 1996–2001) * Michael Hobbs (28 episodes, 1993–94) *Paul Ewing (28 episodes, 1999–2001) *

(22 episodes, 2006–07) *

(22 episodes, 2006–07)

References

*Alster, Laurence (1997) 'Auntie's long lesson' in Times Educational Supplement 19 September 1997, TES2 p. 26 (available online) *BBC (1975) Words and Pictures Teacher's Notes Autumn 1975. London: BBC *BBC (1978) Words and Pictures Teacher's Notes Spring 1978. London: BBC *BBC (1982) Words and Pictures Teacher's Notes Autumn 1982. London: BBC *BBC (1987/I) Words and Pictures Teacher's Notes Autumn 1987. London: BBC *BBC (1987/II) BBC Radio and Television for Primary and Middle Schools 1987–8. London: BBC Books *BBC (1998) Words and Pictures Teacher's Notes Autumn 1998. London: BBC *BBC (2001) BBC Primary Catalogue 2001–2002. Wetherby: BBC Educational Publishing *Brace, Alison (2000)
Will Auntie's lessons survive the e-volution?
in Times Educational Supplement 14 July 2000 p. 21 *Hayter, C.G. (1974) Using Broadcasts in Schools: A Study and Evaluation. London: BBC Publications ("a joint BBC/ITV publication") *Moses, Diana & Croll, Paul (1991) School Television in Use. London: Libbey *Porter, Pam (1978) Television with Slow Learning Children: attention to educational television programmes. London: IBA

External links

*
Words and Pictures: Fun with Phonics
* {{IMDb title, 13880840
''Words and Pictures''
at Broadcast for Schools 1970 British television series debuts 2006 British television series endings 1970s British children's television series 1980s British children's television series 1990s British children's television series 2000s British children's television series British children's education television series British television shows featuring puppetry British television shows for schools British television series with live action and animation Reading and literacy television series BBC children's television shows Television series by BBC Studios British television series revived after cancellation