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Wizadora

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Wizadora
Cover of one of the Wizadora video releases, showing Tatty Bogle and Wizadora
Created byDon Arioli
Carolyne Cullum
StarringCathy Lawday (1991–92)
Wendy van der Plank (1993–96,98)
Lizzie Mcphee
(1997)
Steven Ryde (1994–98)
Brian Murphy
Tessa Hatts
Joe Greco (1993–94)
No. of series7 PLUS 1 OXFED SERIES (1991)
No. of episodes204 (18x15mins, 186x9min.)
Production
ProducerJanie Grace
Running time9 or 15 minutes
Original release
NetworkITV Network (CITV)
Release5 January 1993 –
1998

Wizadora is a children's television programme broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom from 1993 to 1998. However, it was first used as a language teaching tool for children to learn the English language, by Oxford University Press in 1991.[1] The series was created by Don Arioli and Carolyne Cullum.[citation needed] It starred Wendy van der Plank as 'Wizadora' between 1993 and 1996. From 1997, Lizzie McPhee took over the role, as Wendy was away. Wendy came back for the last set of episodes from 1998 up to the end of the show's run. The show was filmed by Meridian Broadcasting. The episodes all took place in or around Wizadora's cottage. Wizadora, a trainee wizard, is always trying to solve problems using magic.

One episode of Wizadora was broadcast on CITV on Saturday, 5 January 2013 (the show's 20th anniversary) as part of a CITV anniversary special. [2] This was the first time the show has been broadcast in the UK since it was shown on Living TV in the early 2000s.

Characters

  • Wizadora - the title character, a trainee wizard who receives her magic wand in the pilot episode, but she initially has problems with getting her spells right. Some of the things in Wizadora's kitchen are able to talk due to stray spells. Wizadora often breaks the fourth wall and talks to the viewers, and usually asks for their help when casting her spells. Wizadora's catchphrases include, "Oh, botheration!" and "Time for a bit of wizification".

Wizadora's companions included –

  • Tatty Bogle – a dim-witted scarecrow who lives in Wizadora's back garden and continully gets words muddled up. Played by Joe Greco (1993–1994) and Steven Ryde (1995–1998)
  • Stan the Shopkeeper, who regularly takes delivery of new magical catalogue items, played by Brian Murphy
  • Pippa the Postwoman, played by Tessa Hatts
  • Top/Sticky/Bottom – three talking drawer people. Once described as "a real nuisance" by Wizadora, they are very naughty, usually teasing Hangle, and are always attempting to steal food or getting up to some kind of mischief whenever Wizadora's back is turned. Wizadora usually zaps them back into their drawers with her wand.
  • Phoebe – a talking telephone. Early in the series, Phoebe was pink with a yellow headset, but later on, she's orange while her headset turns red. Phoebe answers calls, takes messages, and speaks lots of different languages.
  • Filbert – a squeaking vegetable and a fellow trainee wizard. He is also regularly seen gardening. He loves to water the plants. He also talks in gibberish and English.
  • Dog Doormat – a barking doormat
  • Hangle – a purple coat hanger (but who insists on calling himself a cloak hanger) with a yellow rain coat, glasses and a purple moustache, with a crude sense of humour.
  • Very Old Fish – a cryptic talking male fish
  • Poot – Wizadora's computer
  • Nigel the Snail
  • The Crows – Two crows which cause mayhem for Tatty Bogle in the garden
  • Roxy – a quite friendly talking spider
  • Dusty – A creature who lives under the fridge, he has a very loud operatic voice and is usually sleeping.

Puppeteers Phil Eason, Francis Wright, Michael Bayliss, Sue Dacre, Don Austen, Brian Herring, Neil Sterenberg, Rebecca Nagan, Debbie Cumming, and Sheila Clark worked on the series.

Other information

The series was made for Meridian Broadcasting by production companies Workhouse and North Pole Productions at The Fountain Studios in New Malden and directed by David Crozier. The theme music was composed by Dave Hutton who was also the Senior Cameraman on the first four series of the show. The theme tune was recorded at Gordon Thrussell's studios at Ashford in Kent and the credits show music by 'Hutt and Thrust'. This was because the director, David Crozier, did not want the same name for two different credits on the programme (i.e.: Snr Cameraman and Music). The other cameramen were Roger Backhouse and Angus Macmillan and sometimes Steve Leach. The vision mixer was Julie Miller.

Jill Golick wrote several episodes.[citation needed]

The second actor to play Tatty Bogle, Steven Ryde, was the voice-over announcer between programmes for the CITV service during the same period.

UK VHS releases

VHS Title Release Date Episodes
Wizadora – The Magic Parcel (VC1297) 15 March 1993 The Magic Parcel, Time For Tidying, Hello Filbert
Wizadora – A Colourful Day (VC1304) 12 July 1993 A Colourful Day, Lovely Weather, Picnic Problems
Wizadora – Mops and Bicycles (VC1308) 11 October 1993 Mops and Bicycles, Hangle In Charge, A Very Special Day
Wizadora – Wellingtons and Snails (VC1328) 11 July 1994 Wellingtons and Snails, The Purple Powder, Tea Time Troubles
My Little Wizadora – The Magic Parcel/Time For Tidying (ML0019) 8 April 1996 The Magic Parcel, Time For Tidying
My Little Wizadora - Lovely Weather/Picnic Problems (ML0020) 8 July 1996 Lovely Weather, Picnic Problems
My Little Wizadora – Mops and Bicycles/Hangle In Charge (ML0021) 8 July 1996 Mops and Bicycles, Hangle In Charge
My Little Wizadora – Hello Filbert/A Colourful Day (ML0031) 7 October 1996 Hello Filbert, A Colourful Day


Episodes

The programme ran for seven series. The very first episode, The Magic Parcel, was broadcast on Tuesday 5 January 1993, and the final episode was shown some time in 1998.

Season 1 (1993)

1. The Magic Parcel (5 January 1993)

2. Time For Tidying (12 January 1993)

3. Hello Filbert (19 January 1993)

4. A Colourful Day (26 January 1993)

5. Lovely Weather (2 February 1993)

6. Picnic Problems (9 February 1993)

7. The Purple Powder (16 February 1993)

8. Wellingtons & Snails (23 February 1993)

9. Tea Troubles (2 March 1993)

10. Mops & Bicycles (9 March 1993)

11. Hangle In Charge (16 March 1993)

12. A Very Special Day (23 March 1993)

Season 2 (1993)

1. Poot Saves The Day - 4 September 1993

2. A Change for Filbert - 5 September 1993

3. Somethings Old, Somethings New - 6 September 1993

4. Five Carrot Pie - 7 September 1993

5. The Number Spell - 9 September 1993

6. "She's So Wizadorable" - 14 September 1993

7. Music Band - 16 September 1993

8. Lemonade, Ginger Beer and Rhubarb - 21 September 1993

9. Tea Troubles - 23 September 1993

10. Round and Round the Garden - 28 September 1993

11. A Super Wand - 30 September 1993

12. Christmas Day - 24 August 1994

Season 3 (1994)

1. A Message from Max - 6 September 1994

2. Pips and Plants - 8 September 1994

3. Sneezeberries - 13 September 1994

4. Too Big, Too Small - 15 September 1994

5. Bubble Trouble - 20 September 1994

6. A Sing Song For Stan - 22 September 1994

7. Sixies and Nines - 27 September 1994

8. All Together Now - 29 September 1994

9. I Smell a Lie - 4 October 1994

10. Pippa's Surprise - 6 October 1994

11. Cheer Up, Filbert! - 11 October 1994

12. Let's Dance! - 13 October 1994

13. The Shopping List - 18 October 1994

14. Tatty's Tablecloth - 20 October 1994

15. The Tantrum Spell - 25 October 1994

16. The Great Flood - 27 October 1994

17. Buttons and Holes - 1 November 1994

18. The Litter Spell - 3 November 1994

19. Fun With Books - 8 November 1994

20. No Time for Tea Time - 10 November 1994

21. Hard, Soft, Smooth & Rough - 15 November 1994

22. The Grabber - 17 November 1994

23. Pedal Power - 22 November 1994

24. The Mud Monster - 24 November 1994

25. Wool Trouble - 29 November 1994

26. Pots and Spells - 1 December 1994

27. That's What Friends Are For - 6 December 1994

28. A Stuck Sticky - 8 December 1994

29. Use Your Imagination - 13 December 1994

30. Beginnings and Endings - 15 December 1994

Season 4 (1995)

1. Beside the Seaside - 5 September 1995

2. Sounds Brilliant - 7 September 1995

3. Bless You! - 12 September 1995

4. You Can Count on Poot - 14 September 1995

5. Follow That Track! - 19 September 1995

6. Here's One We Made Earlier - 21 September 1995

7. Who's Afraid of the Dark? - 26 September 1995

8. Good Winners and Bad Losers - 28 September 1995

9. Communication Break Down - 3 October 1995

10. Snow in July - 5 October 1995

11. Making Pippa Strong - 10 October 1995

12. Glad Rags - 12 October 1995

13. Shape Up - 17 October 1995

14. Tatty's New Boots - 19 October 1995

15. Mirror, Mirror - 24 October 1995

16. Hangle Takes a Trip - 26 October 1995

17. Inside Out - 31 October 1995

18. Stan's the Man - 2 November 1995

19. I Spy With My Little Eye - 7 November 1995

20. Filbert's New House - 9 November 1995

21. Top of the List - 14 November 1995

22. It's a Good Job - 16 November 1995

23. Shadow Monsters - 21 November 1995

24. Boots, Beads and Beards - 23 November 1995

25. Watch Out Below - 28 November 1995

26. Sharing Magic - 30 November 1995

27. Big 'Uns and Little 'Uns - 5 December 1995

28. Sticky Moments - 7 December 1995

29. Too Full - 12 December 1995

30. Making and Breaking - 14 December 1995

31. First Things First - 19 December 1995

32. Fish Alive - 21 December 1995

Season 5 (1996)

1. Tatty Town - 5 September 1996

2. Wizadora Plays Football - 7 September 1996

3. Drawer People Behaving Badly - 12 September 1996

4. Aunt Dora's Parcel - 14 September 1996

5. Bottom Gets Lost - 19 September 1996

6. There's No Place like Home - 21 September 1996

7. The Music Spell - 26 September 1996

8. Something Fishy - 28 September 1996

9. Take Care - 3 October 1996

10. Wizadora's Bad Dream - 5 October 1996

11. Sentimental Journey - 10 October 1996

12. I'm in Charge - 12 October 1996

13. What's Yours is Mine - 17 October 1996

14. What about Me? - 19 October 1996

15. Hurry Up! - 24 October 1996

16. Jungle Fever - 26 October 1996

17. Roxy's Web - 31 October 1996

18. What Did You Say? - 2 November 1996

19. Old Habits Die Hard - 7 November 1996

20. A Moving Story - 9 November 1996

21. Safety Last - 14 November 1996

22. Stan's Difficult Day - 16 November 1996

23. Bending the Rules - 21 November 1996

24. The Crows - 23 November 1996

25. You Are What You Are - 28 November 1996

26. A Rainy Day - 30 November 1996

27. Hangle's Big Day - 5 December 1996

28. Bubble Trouble - 7 December 1996

29. Knit Twits - 12 December 1996

30. The Jealous Queen - 17 December 1996

Season 6 (1997)

1. No Doughnuts For Breakfast 7 January 1997 2. Doughnuts For Supper 12 August 1997

Season 7 (1997–1998)

1. Who is important? 18 August 1998

1997 Special

Wizadora - Wizadora's Christmas Carol - Tuesday 16 December 1997

Home video and DVD

The earliest version of the show has been on DVD (oxford press). However, this is not the UK version which was shown on television, and is instead an educational package for teaching English as a foreign language which was aired on German television.

Some VHS cassettes were released in the mid-1990s with episodes from series one and series three are on The Video Collection International.

1. Wizadora – The Magic Parcel (29 February 1993) Includes: The Magic Parcel, Time For Tidying, and Hello Filbert.

2. Wizadora – A Colourful Day (13 July 1993) Includes: A Colourful Day, Lovely Weather and Picnic Problems.

3. Wizadora – Wellingtons and Snails (23 August 1993) Wellingtons and Snails, The Purple Powder and Tea Time Troubles.

4. Wizadora – Mops and Bicycles (13 August 1993) Mops and Bicycles, Hangle In Charge and A Very Special Day.

5. My Little Wizadora – The Magic Parcel/Time For Tidying (1993)

6. My Little Wizadora – Hello Filbert/A Colourful Day (1993)

7. My Little Wizadora – Lovely Weather / Picnic Problems (1993)

8. My Little Wizadora – Mops and Bicycles/Hangle In Charge (1993)

9. Wizadora - A Message from Max (18 December 1994) Includes: A Message of Max, And More

10. Wizadora – Sneezeberries (9 January 1995) Sneezeberries and 5 other stories

11. Wizadora - Too Big, Too Small (18 August 1995) Too Big, Too Small and 4 other stories

US VHS and DVD Releases

Some Videos are from April 1993 to February 1999.

Transmission guide

  • Running time Series 1: 15 minutes, Series 2 onwards 9 minutes.
  • Series 1: 18 editions from 5 January 1993 – 4 May 1993
  • Series 2: 30 editions from 6 September 1993 – 24 August 1994
  • Series 3: 30 editions from 6 September 1994 – 6 December 1994
  • Series 4: 32 editions from 30 August 1995 – 14 December 1995
  • Series 5: 30 editions from 5 September 1996 – 17 December 1996
  • Series 6: 32 editions from 7 January 1997 – 12 August 1997
  • Series 7: 32 editions from Autumn 1997 – 18 August 1998
  • Series 8: 32 editions from Autumn 1998 – Early 1999

References

  1. ^ "The Original Wizadora".
  2. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a446221/sooty-show-fun-house-press-gang-return-for-citv-30th-birthday.html
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