The Way Things Work (TV series) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''The Way Things Work'' was a short-lived children`s television series based on the best-selling
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
of the same name by
David Macaulay
David Macaulay (born 2 December 1946) is a British-born American illustrator and writer. His works include ''Cathedral'' (1973), ''The Way Things Work'' (1988) and ''The New Way Things Work'' (1998). His illustrations have been featured in ...
. The series was co-produced by
Millimages
Millimages is a French independent animation studio based in Paris which develops, produces and worldwide distributes high quality family entertainment on all media.
In 2016, Millimages has been nominated for an International Emmy Kids Award
...
,
Pearson Broadband, and
Schlessinger Media , he, שלזינגר), Slesinger, Slezak, Ślęzak
; Similar surnames:
* Schleußinger ( Schleussinger, Schleusinger, from Schleusingen)
, footnotes
Schlessinger is a German language, German surname meaning "from Silesia" (German: ''Schlesien ...
; it was distributed by the latter. The program ran daily on
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
and
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 ...
from 2001 to early 2002, before it was discontinued due to a lack of both episodes and audience. The series (hand-animated) was one of the last few
educational TV programmes still shown by 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. ...
...
on CBBC. It is one of its most short-lived television series, running for only 26 15-minute episodes. The programme aims to teach basic principles of science to young viewers and revolves around the residents of the backward Mammoth Island as they struggle through daily life with the use of outlandish contraptions. The series was later dubbed into French and briefly aired in syndication on TV network France 5. A DVD containing all 26 episodes of the series was released in 2005.
Concept
Due to the popularity of the book ''The Way Things Work'' by David Macaulay, Millimages pitched a concept for an educational television series with similar features to Schlessinger Media, who accepted the idea and agreed to distribute the programme to the BBC upon completion. Animation began in 1999, but the programme was not first aired until 2001, on both BBC2 and CBBC. The programme had a very short lifespan; it consisted of 26 episodes, each attempting to educate children about basic science, of 15 minutes each. Millimages had plans for a second series, but the programme was promptly discontinued, as it was not attracting enough audiences. It was one of the last hand-animated programmes on the BBC. The show takes features from the book, such as the constant abuse of the Woolly Mammoth, and the detailed and colourful explanations of the machines. Each episode focuses on a different area of science. The programme's plot was debated, before finally deciding on an island (later to be renamed Mammoth Island) on which the inhabitants build outlandish contraptions to make their lives easier.
Characters
The programme consisted of six main characters, all of whom appeared in every episode of the programme.
The Inventor: A middle-aged man on temporary
vacation
A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...
to Mammoth Island. Throughout the series, he was never named. He is responsible for the
construction of the machines on Mammoth Island, and is always presenting labour-saving apparatus, which often caused difficulties of its own. Voiced by
Keith Wickham
Keith Wickham is a British voice actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for providing the voices of various characters in the children's television series ''Thomas & Friends'', and Polluto in '' Tommy Zoom''.
Career
Wickham voiced Chang ...
.
Olive: The Inventor's closest friend. Aged 14, she has a very inquisitive mind, and often appears cleverer than the Inventor. Voiced by Ellie Fairman.
Troy: Olive's cousin, who relies mostly on his own strength and those of the
woolly mammoth
The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with '' Mammuthus subp ...
s, and is sometimes gullible. Voiced by Bob Saker.
Frank: Pilbeam's brother and Olive's father, who takes charge of building the Inventor's inventions. Voiced by Keith Wickham.
Pilbeam: Troy's father; married to Brenda. Although he is Frank's brother, he lives separately from him and is often unsure of Frank's plans, and is known to quarrel with his wife. Voiced by Keith Wickham.
Brenda: Troy's mother, married to Pilbeam. She is strictly opposed to the Inventors' ideas, and often argues with her husband. Voiced by Caroline Bernstein.
Episodes
Reception
The series was released on the BBC to general acclaim; however, late into its airing, the BBC believed that it had not been as popular as they thought it would, and, by early 2002, the show had been discontinued before Millimage's plans of a second series could be carried through. However, Millimages still went on to release a DVD of the existing 26 episodes in 2005.
The series won a Gold World Award for Children's Programming at the New York Festival 2004.
References
External links
*
The Way Things Work Big Cartoon Database
The Way Things Work Video Series Library Video Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Way Things Work
2001 British television series debuts
British children's animated science fiction television series
2002 British television series endings