SPYWATCH STORY DETAILS

SPYWATCH

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ON TV:	Not scheduled at the moment, but it should be repeated again in 2007 - watch this space
ON VIDEO:	Video Plus Pack about £55 from the BBC DVD Plus Pack about £55 from the BBC
> More information on the official BBC Schools Programme Guide

Introduction

Look and Read's modern era begins with this thoroughly satisfying story which successfully blends the classic L&R format with topical curriculum requirements. Seriously. The cast is probably the most recognisable of any story (in terms of people who were famous when they appeared in L&R rather than people who went on to be well-known), though Lesley Joseph seems to have spent most of the 1990s appearing in various BBC Schools shows.
The story bits are skillfully balanced with the in-between bits, and both segments share the main narrative: In modern times (the in-between bits) 60-something Norman Starkey returns to the village to which he was evacuated in the Second World War, and writes the story of his previous adventures with the help of the librarian, Miss Lee. These adventures (the story bits) involve Starkey and two other evacuees, Dennis and Mary, plus a local girl called Polly. Between them they have to keep Polly's gran's farm running in tough times, and keep out of the way of the bullying owner of the local Hall and his strange housekeeper. They think they're on the trail of spies when a suspicious-looking woman arrives in the village, but also have to deal with prisoners-of-war, downed enemy pilots, rationing and the black market.
Also in the in-between bits was CD Rom, a computer program whose grammar knowhow and arrogance was more than a little reminiscent of Wordy, and some nice character-based educational songs.
I really like Spywatch.

EXTRA: Download the Spywatch games website


Episode Listings

1.	Sent Away
	Starkey goes to Westbourne Library and Museum to do some research for a book he is writing about his experiences as an evacuee in World War II.
2.	Grainger Danger
	The evacuees are finding it hard to settle down and Mary has to earn her keep by working as a maid. In the present day, Starkey explains rationing to Miss Lee and discusses why children were evacuated from the towns.
3.	Spies All Around
	Amy's cows have escaped and it looks as if the fence has been cut deliberately. Polly thinks Grainger wants to drive them off the farm, but Norman reckons he's a spy.
4.	Trouble For Mary
	An Italian POW arrives to help on the farm and Starkey looks back on some wartime posters. Miss Millington accuse Mary of stealing.
5.	The Poster Comes To Life
	Norman goes fishing and befriends an American GI called Mike Johnson. Polly and Dennis make contact with Mary at Westbourne Hall, and then meet Vivienne Belling, who looks just like the spy on the poster. Joan the goat has got loose and has eaten Amy's vegetables. Meanwhile, Norman gets a letter from his mum and feels homesick.
6.	Bombs in the Country
	Belling claims she is a government photographer but the children are convinced she is a spy. Mary overhears a suspicious conversation between Miss Millington and Grainger. Dennis and Polly spot a German plane.
7.	Surprise
	Mary searches Westbourne Hall for evidence that Grainger is a spy and there's a surprise in store for the children in the hideout.
8.	The Pilot
	The children capture a German pilot.
9.	The Secret Quarry
	The children discover a tunnel leading from an abandoned quarry to Westbourne Hall. Grainger catches the boys, but they are rescued by Luigi. The children's confidence in their GI friend is misplaced.
10.	Captured
	The children discover Grainger's secret.

Cast and Crew

Written by Music by Designer Executive producer Producer/Director	Derek Farmer Peter Howell Alan Spalding Frank Flynn Nicholas Whines
programme consultant Wendy Body, education officer Chris Hughes, casting advisor Jane Deitch, first assistant director Alexandra Bridcut, location manager Robert Tomlinson, unit manager Jennie Watson, third assistant director Olivia Spencer, production assistants Faith Harris, Miriam Jones, graphic designer Peter Wane, video effects Malcolm Dalton, Maeve Stephens, animations Animation People, art director Norah Marshall, properties buyer Nick Barnett, make-up designers Sheila Werry, Sarah Grispo, costume designers Annie Moon, Colin Lavers, stunt pilot Mark Hanna, aerial co-ordinator Alan Walker, visual effects designer Steve Bowman, stunt co-ordinator Nick Powell, sound Tom Hodge, location lighting Mark Brennan, grip Andy Young, lighting cameraman Desmond Seal, videotape editors John Billingham, Hugh Parson, David Smith, dubbing mixer Phill Barrett, studio director Nicci Crowther, studio facilities Hillside Studios
Starring Singers	Raymond Pickard as Norman Starkey Russell Tovey as Dennis Sealey Sophie Ward as Polly Hobbs Josie McCabe as Mary Parker Rosemary Leach as Aunty Amy Lesley Joseph as Miss Millington Guy Henry as Phillip Grainger Norman Bird as Cyril Jenkins Joseph Alessi as Luigi Balzoni Abigail Thaw as Vivienne Belling Terence Maynard as Mike Johnson Rab Christie as Private Wilson Pauline Delaney as Mrs Calver Victoria Hasted as Ethel Higson Carol Harvey as Mrs Starkey Reinhard Michaels as the German pilot Colin Starkey as Dr Simpson Vincent Pickering as Harrison Keith Barron as adult Starkey Josephine D'Arby as Miss Lee Roger Kitter as CD Rom Andrew Tansey as bald-headed man / spiv Jeannie Crowther as Polly Peters Janie Dee Tony Timberlake

Theme Tune

The Spywatch theme tune is instrumental, while the opening titles feature a wartime rhyme being chanted.

music by Peter Howell, sung by some kids
MP3 file: 32 seconds, 386 kb

> CLICK HERE for the Downloads section, including this and several other theme tunes.

Characters

(some of this is copied straight from the character guide given in the teacher's notes)

	Norman Starkey   (Raymond Pickard) A city lad evacuated to the country. Grainger and Millington refuse to accept him at the Hall, so he is put under the care of Amy Hobbs.
	Dennis Sealey   (Russell Tovey) Another evacuee already billeted at Amy's farm when Norman arrives.
	Polly Hobbs   (Sophie Ward) Amy Hobbs' granddaughter who lives with her on the farm, and is amused by the boys' unfamiliarity with the animals. Her mother is dead and her father is in the army.
	Mary Parker   (Josie McCabe) Another evacuee, billeted at Westbourne Hall under the care of Mr Grainger and Miss Millington, who make her do house work and steal her money.
	Amy Hobbs   (Rosemary Leach) Polly's grandmother, looking after Wells Farm on her own while her son is away in the army. Mr Grainger keeps threatening to kick her off the farm, but Polly and the boys help her with the work.
	Phillip Grainger   (Guy Henry) *BADDIE* A stranger with money who's bought Westbourne Hall and is landlord of Wells Farm. Everybody in the village hates him. And where does all his money come from?
	Miss Millington   (Lesley Joseph) *BADDIE* Apparently Grainger's housekeeper at Westbourne Hall, she is actually his criminal accomplice. She gets Mary to do all the housework.
	Vivienne Belling   (Abigail Thaw) A suspicious woman who turns up in Westbourne claiming to be a war photographer and keeps an eye on everybody. She's got a German-made camera...
	Cyril Jenkins   (Norman Bird) The nice, responsible bloke in the village. Officially the postman, he also works as the civil defence warden and evacuees' billeting officer.
	Mike Johnson   (Terence Maynard) An American lieutenant from the U.S. Army base near the village, he keeps turning up and impressing the kids with his jeep and accent.
	Luigi Balzoni   (Joseph Alessi) A friendly Italian prisoner of war whom Jenkins gives to Amy as a labourer at the farm. Then Grainger pulls his weight and gets Luigi moved to the Hall.

Notes

This time-travelling story jumps from past to present and features a computer virus called Professor CD Rom who demonstrates various language points using songs and animation. - BBC publicity description

Here is a list of all of the broadcasts of this story on the BBC. Unless your teachers managed to get the video recorder to work, this is when you would have seen it in school. See the Air Dates section for precise dates and times.
      Spring 1996, BBC2
      Autumn 1997, BBC2
      Autumn 1999, BBC2
      Autumn 2000, BBC2
      Spring 2002, CBBC
      Autumn 2002, BBC2
      Autumn 2003, CBBC
      Summer 2004, CBBC
      Spring 2005, CBBC
      Summer 2005, BBC2
      Summer 2005, CBBC
      Autumn 2005, CBBC




Links

• The BBC website
The BBC had an absolutely superb Spywatch website, a big educational game with loads of things to do and a black market operation to investigate and then report to the police. For a time it was one of the most popular educational sites in the country, but it got only very limited use in more recent years.
Apparently, BBC schools websites have to be constantly "justified" against the other resources which are available - they can't just leave them up there and ignore them - and Spywatch was losing the battle against other more recent sites which were more useful to teachers. The BBC also wanted to give it an update, and they "looked at every possible way of trying to upgrade Spywatch" (which is almost entirely coded in Flash) but couldn't find a feasible way to do it. So the site was finally taken down in early September 2003.

All you can see now on the BBC website is a farewell message.
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/spywatch

Here's an article from the TES decrying how thoughtless they are for taking it down (BBC - shame on you!).
http://www.tes.co.uk/search/search_display.asp?section=Archive⊂_section=Online+Education&id;=386656&Type;=0

Luckily, a couple of school websites have saved copies of the old BBC site, so it is still available to play online.
www.stmichaelscemidd.rochdale.sch.uk/subjects/english/spywatch/intro.htm
www.discip.crdp.ac-caen.fr/anglais/documents/cottenceau/Spywatch/Spywatch3.htm

Or you can now download an archive of the games from this very website.
/downloads/sites.html#spy


• An Austrian school site has some pictures and stories written by pupils in response to the Spywatch online game.
http://www.eurogym.asn-linz.ac.at/PROJEKTE/SPYW/SPYW.HTM

• And an English primary school site has a whole sequence of photos of kids hard at work on the game using the printable cluesheets.
http://www.rushgreen-j.bardaglea.org.uk/3it.htm

> CLICK HERE for more general links about Look And Read and schools TV.

Picture Gallery

Norman opened his eyes and sat up. There were cows all around them. There was no escape. They were surrounded.	'That's a nice camera,' Polly said. 'It's a Leica,' said the woman. 'I take a lot of photographs.' Spies were always taking photographs. Everybody knew that.	They heard a plane flying towards them. 'It's one of ours,' said Polly. But Dennis knew that it wasn't.

They raced towards the greenhouse and burst in through the door. Then they stopped. The German pilot was inside. He was pointing a gun straight at them.	'What's all this then?' Grainger shouted. 'Don't shoot him!' Norman shouted. 'What makes you think it's him I'm going to shoot?'	At the last minute, someone caught hold of Grainger's wrist. It was Luigi. He grabbed a stick and broke it in two. 'You go now,' he told Dennis and Norman.

			> See every Look & Read book cover in the Trivia section > Get complete books from the Downloads section (but not this one)
The children ran to the front door. But it was locked. There was no way out. Grainger and Millington were behind them. They were trapped.	Could that be Vivienne Belling?	The story book

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