Look and Read - Captain Crimson


	CAPTAIN CRIMSON STORY DETAILS

CAPTAIN CRIMSON

• Index
> Introduction
> Episode Listings
> Cast and Crew
> Theme Tune (download!)
> Notes
> Links
> Picture Gallery

LOOK AND READ

• Home
> Stories Index
> Downloads
> Trivia
> Schedules
> Schools TV
> Links
> Site Admin (incl. Site Map)

• Email
• Discussion Forum
• Guestbook
• Help Out

Site maintained by Ben Clarke
(Sorry, I can't provide videos or any other materials, so please don't write to ask!)

ON TV:	Fridays 1st & 8th December 2006 on the CBBC Channel
ON VIDEO:	Video Plus Pack about £55 from the BBC
> More information on the official BBC Schools Programme Guide

Introduction

Another of these Look and Read Specials for the Summer term (cf. 1995's LRTV), this at least has a much closer resemblance to the traditional L&R format in that the focus is definitely on telling the story, and in fact there is no explicit language learning, just a few key words flashed up on the screen now and then.
Anyway, the story is about a comic book artist called Jeff, whose signature strip is the sci-fi adventures of Captain Crimson and his crew. In the first episode, Jeff's son Tom and his friend Amy make up the ending to one of the strips, sending the Captain through a black hole. This results in the Captain appearing in real life, in the form of comedian Felix Dexter. Tom, Amy and Tom's grandmother Whizz then have to hide the Captain from being discovered by Jeff or anybody else as he goes on various adventures discovering the real world until finally being returned to his comic strip. A running subplot involved Jeff's infatuation with the local librarian Gina.

Episode Listings

1.	Escape From The Black of Beyond
	Fearless comic book hero Captain Crimson is stranded in hyperspace facing a fate worse than death, when his writer and creator Jeff gets writer's block. Jeff's 10-year-old son comes to the rescue and writes the captain's escape through a black hole.
2.	Guzzle Trouble
	Comic-book hero Captain Crimson creates havoc in the real world and is nearly arrested in a local cafe when he discovers real food.
3.	Banana Drama
	Captain Crimson and his friends inadvertently become caught up in a bank raid. The captain is taken hostage, but eventually he saves the day.
4.	A Giant Celebration
	When Gary the Gladiator knocks himself out at Amy's gladiator challenge birthday party, things look doomed to failure - until Captain Crimson comes to the rescue.
5.	It'll All Come Out in the Wash
	Thomas and Amy are doing the café's weekly wash at the local launderette, but Captain Crimson's determination to help only makes things worse.
6.	Take The Bull By The Horns
	Whizz takes Captain Crimson and the children for a quiet picnic in the countryside, but forgets to warn the Captain not to wear his crimson cape near a bull.
7.	Operation Recovery
	When comic book hero Captain Crimson falls ill, the doctor thinks he is a medical miracle and whisks him into hospital for various operations. Can the children rescue him?
8.	Black to the Future
	Gina has a plan to get Captain Crimson back to his ship - but he has disappeared. Can they find him in time to make the plan work?

Cast and Crew

Written by Music by Designer Executive producer Producer Directors	Elly Brewer Debbie Wiseman Alan Spalding Frank Flynn Cas Lester Cas Lester Champa Patel-Smith
Education officer Chris Hughes, production manager Terry Wright, assistant floor manager Jonathan Barden, programme coordinator Nicki Coles, programme cost coordinator Paulette Gardnier, graphic designer Ian Wormleighton, illustrators Mark Bennington, Nick Brennan, Fran Brennan, video effects Ian Simpson, properties buyer Francis Smith, property masters Martin Carley, Simon Bailey, make-up designer Claire Whitely, costume designer Eric Doughney, digital sound editor Kian Wong, dubbing mixer Pip Norton, sound recordist John Pritchard, gaffer Max Foster, grip James Grimes, lighting cameraman Mike Radford, online editor Duncan Bragg, offline editor Peter Harris

Starring Voices	Ben Brooks as Thomas Rickard Helen Ryan as Whizz Paul Bigley as Jeff Rickard Lucy Wood as Amy Beverley Hills as Gina Clough Felix Dexter as Captain Crimson Peter Serafinowcz (sic) Janet Ellis Paul Clayton and Paul Cawley.

Theme Tune

The Captain Crimson theme tune was an all-instrumental job.

music by Debbie Wiseman, no lyrics
MP3 file: 41 seconds, 488 kb

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

Notes

Buried in children’s schools television, this is a fun story of a lad trying to help hide a superhero from his family - despite the hero eating everything in sight. - RadioTimes.com Choice synopsis, May 17th 2001.

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.
Summer 1997, BBC2
Summer 1998, BBC2
Summer 2000, BBC2
Summer 2001, BBC2
Summer 2002, BBC2
Summer 2002, CBBC
Autumn 2002, CBBC
Spring 2003, CBBC
Summer 2003, BBC2
Summer 2004, BBC2
Spring 2005, CBBC

Links

• Inspired by Captain Crimson, one school class has created its own series of space adventures. Not only can you read the teaching notes on setting up the project, you can also follow four outstanding episodes in the adventures of Captain Noodle in PowerPoint presentations (you can get a free PowerPoint viewer off of microsoft.com). All in a day's noodle.
http://wsgfl.westsussex.gov.uk/ict/shipley/ShipleyBoysWriting.htm

• The brilliant comic strip illustrations from the story were by the artist Mark Bennington - and the equally brilliant Toonhound website has an interview with the artist about the comics he did.
http://www.toonhound.com/luckychap.htm

• Get all the details on the Captain Crimson computer game from the original press release on the Logotron website.
http://www.logo.com/news/archive/1997-1998/captain.html

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

Picture Gallery


'How much powder did you put in, Captain?' Amy asked him. Captain Crimson pointed to a huge stack of empty boxes.	Captain Crimson flicked his cape to one side. With a surprised moo, the bull sailed on.	He landed on a trolley, which slid along the floor and crashed into the tea table.

> See every Look & Read book cover in the Trivia section

> Get complete books from the Downloads section (but not this one)

The story book

Captain Crimson continuity slide

And another one

THIS UNOFFICIAL WEBSITE HAS NO CONNECTION OF ANY KIND WITH LOOK AND READ OR WITH THE BBC.
The Look and Read title and logo, as well as all related material, is copyright © BBC, 1967-2006. The official BBC Schools website is at www.bbc.co.uk/schools. Everything else on this website © Ben Clarke, 2000-2006.
No malicious infringement of BBC copyrights is intended. Material featured at this site remains the property of the BBC or relevant copyright holders.