Wizadora
Encyclopedia
Wizadora was 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. The series was created by Don Arioli and Carolyne Cullum. It starred Wendy van der Plank
as 'Wizadora', and then from 1996, Lizzie Mcphee. 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
.
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.
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. Wizadora was seen on Living's Morning Children's slot "Tiny Living", until Tiny Living was replaced by Living2.
Jill Golick
wrote several episodes.
The second actor to play Tatty Bogle, Steven Ryde, was the voice-over announcer between programmes for the CITV service during the same period.
The very first episode, The Magic Parcel, was broadcast on Tuesday 5 January 1993, and the final episode was shown sometime in early 1999.
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2. Lets Dance (September 12, 1994)
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11. Cheer Up Filbert (October 7, 1994)
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30. Sticky Situation (August 18, 1995)
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The Video Collection Inernational (1993-1999)
Strand Home Video
(1993–1994)
Video Treasures (1994–1998)
Anchor Bay Entertainment
(1998–1999)
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! #
! Title
! US Release Date
! Notes
|-
| 1 || Wizadora - Time For Tyding || March 5, 1993 || Includes: The Magic Parcel, Time For Tyding, and Mops and Bycycles.
|-
| 2 || Wizadora – Hangle in Charge || March 31, 1993 || Includes: Mops and Bicycles, Hangle in Charge, and A Very Special Day.
|-
| 3 || Wizadora – Hello Filbert || April 30, 1993 || Includes: Wellingtons and Snails, The Purple Powder and Tea Time Troubles.
|-
| 4 || Wizadora – A Lovely Day || May 31, 1993 || Includes: Mops and Bicycles, Hangle in Charge, and A Very Special Day.
|-
| 5 || Wizadora – The Purple Powder || September 13, 1993 || Includes: The Purple Power, Weltagons and Snails and Tea Time Troubles.
|-
| 6 || Wizadora – Something Old, Something New || December 20, 1993 || Includes: Something Old, Something New, And More.
|-
| 7 || Wizadora – Tea Time Trubbles. || January 11, 1994 || Includes: Wellingtons and Snails, The Purple Powder and Tea Time Troubles.
|-
| 8 || Wizadora – July 6, 1994 || July 6, 1994 || Includes: Biactol, Twirl, The Health File, Shebal
|-
| 9 || Wizadora – September 7–24, 1994 || September 7–24, 1994 || Includes: 4 Episodes
|-
| 10 || Wizadora – The Great Flood || October 13, 1994 || Includes: The Great Flood, Cheer Up Filbert, and Bubble Trubble.
|-
| 11 || Wizadora - A Message of Max || October 28, 1994 || Includes: A Message of Max, No Time For Tea Time, Sneezleberries for Wizadora
|-
| 12 || Wizadora – Buttons and Holes || November 11, 1994 || Includes: Buttons and Holes, Let's Dance, and Hard, Soft, Smooth and Rough.
|-
| 13 || Wizadora – Cheer Up Filbert Bumper Special As seen in Theaters || December 6, 1994 || Includes: 10 Episodes 100 Minutes.
|-
| 14 || Wizadora – No Time for Tea Time|| January 9, 1995 || Includes: No Time for Tea Time,'The Tantrum Spell', and Watch Out Below.
|-
| 15 || Wizadora – Filbert's New House|| September 9, 1995 || Includes: Filbert's New House, The Mud Monster, and Watch Out Below.
|-s
| 16 || Wizadora – Hangle Takes A Trip|| October 1, 1995 || Includes: Hangle Takes A Trip, Glad Rags, and Sticky Situation.
|-
| 17 || Wizadora – Glad Rags Bumper Special As seen in Theaters || October 18, 1995 || Includes: 10 Stories
|-
| 18 || Wizadora – Sticky Sunction Bumper Special As seen in Theaters|| Flebuary 9, 1996 || Includes: 4 Stories
|-
| 19 || Wizadora – What Your's Mine?|| August 24, 1997 || Includes: What's Yours Mine? and Many More.
|-
| 20 || Wizadora – The Crows Bumper Special As seen in Theaters || February 10, 1998 || Includes: What's Yours Mine? and Many More.
|-
| 21 || Wizadora – No Doughnuts for Breakfast And Other Stories|| August 18, 1998 || Includes: 10 Episodes.
|-
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! #
! Title
! UK Release Date
! Notes
|-
| 1 || Wizadora – Mops and Bicycles || April 1, 1993 || Includes: Mops and Bicycles, Hangle in Charge, and A Very Special Day.
|-
| 2 || Wizadora – Wellingtons and Snails || July 13, 1993 || Includes: Wellingtons and Snails, The Purple Powder and Tea Time Troubles.
|-
| 3 || Wizadora – Magic Parcel || August 13, 1993 || The Magic Parcel, Time for Tidying and Hello Filbert.
|-
| 4 || Wizadora – Wizadora – A Colourful Day. || August 23, 1993 || A Colourful Day, Lovely Weather and Picnic Problems.
|-
| 5 || Wizadora - A Message of Max || September 30, 1994 || Includes: A Message of Max, And More
|-
| 6 || Wizadora – Sneezeberries || January 9, 1995 || Sneezeberries and 5 other stories
|-
| 7 || My Little Wizadora – Glad Rags|| July 14, 1995 ||
|-
| 8 || My Little Wizadora – Wizadora – A Colourful Day || August 18, 1995 ||
|-
| 9 || My Little Wizadora – Treat Sized Tape || September 3, 1995 ||
|-
| 10 || My Little Wizadora – Lovely Weather / Picnic Problems || January 11, 1996 ||
|}
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
programme broadcast on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
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. The series was created by Don Arioli and Carolyne Cullum. It starred Wendy van der Plank
Wendy van der Plank
Wendy van der Plank is a British actress best known for playing Wizadora in the ITV series of the same name.Born in Hampton near Leeds in Yorkshire, her first television appearance was in the BBC comedy series Spin Off...
as 'Wizadora', and then from 1996, Lizzie Mcphee. The show was filmed by Meridian Broadcasting
Meridian Broadcasting
Meridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited....
.
The episodes all took place in or around Wizadora's cottage. Wizadora, a trainee wizard, is always trying to solve problems using magic
Magic (fantasy)
Magic in fiction is the endowing of fictional characters or objects with magical powers.Such magic often serves as a plot device, the source of magical artifacts and their quests...
.
Characters
Wizadora's companions included –- Tatty Bogle – a dim-witted scarecrowScarecrowA scarecrow is, essentially, a decoy, though traditionally, a human figure dressed in old clothes and placed in fields by farmers to discourage birds such as crows or sparrows from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.-History:In Kojiki, the oldest surviving book in Japan...
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 MurphyBrian Murphy (actor)Brian Murphy is a British actor.Murphy was born in Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Although a prolific actor in many films and theatre productions for almost half a century, Murphy's most famous role was as the henpecked husband George Roper in the sitcom Man About the House and spin-off George and...
- Pippa the Postwoman, played by Tessa Hatts
- Top/Sticky/Bottom – three talking drawer people
- Phoebe – a talking telephone (1992–1999)
- Filbert – a squeaking vegetable and a fellow trainee wizard. Filbert is also regularly seen gardening. Filbert also has a half-brother whose name is Tarquin. (1993–1995)
- 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. (1992–1999)
- Very Old Fish – a cryptic talking fish
- Poot – Wizadora's computer
- Nigel the Snail – Very Old Fish's friend
- 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
Don Austen
British puppeteer Don Austen joined the Jim Henson Creature Shop in 1986 for the movie Labyrinth.He was a puppeteer for other blockbuster movies including Santa Claus: The Movie , The Little Shop of Horrors , Who Framed Roger Rabbit , The Bear , The Witches , and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom...
, Brian Herring, Neil Sterenberg, Rebecca Nagan, Debbie Cumming, and Sheila Clark worked on the series.
Other information
The series was made for Meridian BroadcastingMeridian Broadcasting
Meridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited....
by production companies Workhouse and North Pole Productions at The Fountain Studios in New Malden
New Malden
New Malden is a town and shopping centre in the south-western London suburbs, mostly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and partly in the London Borough of Merton, and is situated from Charing Cross...
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. Wizadora was seen on Living's Morning Children's slot "Tiny Living", until Tiny Living was replaced by Living2.
Jill Golick
Jill Golick
Jill Golick is a Canadian screenwriter, story editor, digital creator and blogger.Golick was born in Montreal, Quebec. She attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and is a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre. She lives and works in Toronto.She writes primarily for convergent or...
wrote several episodes.
The second actor to play Tatty Bogle, Steven Ryde, was the voice-over announcer between programmes for the CITV service during the same period.
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 sometime in early 1999.
Season 1 (1993)
1. The Magic Parcel (January 5, 1993)2.
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Season 2 (1993–1994)
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Season 3 (1994–1995)
1. A Message of Max (September 7, 1994)2. Lets Dance (September 12, 1994)
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11. Cheer Up Filbert (October 7, 1994)
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Season 4 (1994–1995)
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30. Sticky Situation (August 18, 1995)
Season 4 (1995–1996)
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Season 7 (1997 – August 1998)
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Season 8 (1998–1999)
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Home video and DVD
The show has been on DVD (oxford press). Some VHS cassettes were released in the mid-1990s.The Video Collection Inernational (1993-1999)
Strand Home Video
Strand Home Video
Strand Home Video is a video company most famous for distributing Thomas and Friends videos from 1990-1994. The company also distributed other movies and TV programs on VHS and LaserDisc formats, including Kino's Storytime, The Mouse and the Motorcycle and its sequels, Runaway Ralph and Ralph S....
(1993–1994)
Video Treasures (1994–1998)
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a U.S. based home entertainment and production company and is a division of Starz Media, which is a unit of Starz, LLC. It was previously owned by IDT Entertainment until 2006 when IDT was purchased by Starz Media. Anchor Bay markets and sells feature films, series,...
(1998–1999)
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! #
! Title
! US Release Date
! Notes
|-
| 1 || Wizadora - Time For Tyding || March 5, 1993 || Includes: The Magic Parcel, Time For Tyding, and Mops and Bycycles.
|-
| 2 || Wizadora – Hangle in Charge || March 31, 1993 || Includes: Mops and Bicycles, Hangle in Charge, and A Very Special Day.
|-
| 3 || Wizadora – Hello Filbert || April 30, 1993 || Includes: Wellingtons and Snails, The Purple Powder and Tea Time Troubles.
|-
| 4 || Wizadora – A Lovely Day || May 31, 1993 || Includes: Mops and Bicycles, Hangle in Charge, and A Very Special Day.
|-
| 5 || Wizadora – The Purple Powder || September 13, 1993 || Includes: The Purple Power, Weltagons and Snails and Tea Time Troubles.
|-
| 6 || Wizadora – Something Old, Something New || December 20, 1993 || Includes: Something Old, Something New, And More.
|-
| 7 || Wizadora – Tea Time Trubbles. || January 11, 1994 || Includes: Wellingtons and Snails, The Purple Powder and Tea Time Troubles.
|-
| 8 || Wizadora – July 6, 1994 || July 6, 1994 || Includes: Biactol, Twirl, The Health File, Shebal
|-
| 9 || Wizadora – September 7–24, 1994 || September 7–24, 1994 || Includes: 4 Episodes
|-
| 10 || Wizadora – The Great Flood || October 13, 1994 || Includes: The Great Flood, Cheer Up Filbert, and Bubble Trubble.
|-
| 11 || Wizadora - A Message of Max || October 28, 1994 || Includes: A Message of Max, No Time For Tea Time, Sneezleberries for Wizadora
|-
| 12 || Wizadora – Buttons and Holes || November 11, 1994 || Includes: Buttons and Holes, Let's Dance, and Hard, Soft, Smooth and Rough.
|-
| 13 || Wizadora – Cheer Up Filbert Bumper Special As seen in Theaters || December 6, 1994 || Includes: 10 Episodes 100 Minutes.
|-
| 14 || Wizadora – No Time for Tea Time|| January 9, 1995 || Includes: No Time for Tea Time,'The Tantrum Spell', and Watch Out Below.
|-
| 15 || Wizadora – Filbert's New House|| September 9, 1995 || Includes: Filbert's New House, The Mud Monster, and Watch Out Below.
|-s
| 16 || Wizadora – Hangle Takes A Trip|| October 1, 1995 || Includes: Hangle Takes A Trip, Glad Rags, and Sticky Situation.
|-
| 17 || Wizadora – Glad Rags Bumper Special As seen in Theaters || October 18, 1995 || Includes: 10 Stories
|-
| 18 || Wizadora – Sticky Sunction Bumper Special As seen in Theaters|| Flebuary 9, 1996 || Includes: 4 Stories
|-
| 19 || Wizadora – What Your's Mine?|| August 24, 1997 || Includes: What's Yours Mine? and Many More.
|-
| 20 || Wizadora – The Crows Bumper Special As seen in Theaters || February 10, 1998 || Includes: What's Yours Mine? and Many More.
|-
| 21 || Wizadora – No Doughnuts for Breakfast And Other Stories|| August 18, 1998 || Includes: 10 Episodes.
|-
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! #
! Title
! UK Release Date
! Notes
|-
| 1 || Wizadora – Mops and Bicycles || April 1, 1993 || Includes: Mops and Bicycles, Hangle in Charge, and A Very Special Day.
|-
| 2 || Wizadora – Wellingtons and Snails || July 13, 1993 || Includes: Wellingtons and Snails, The Purple Powder and Tea Time Troubles.
|-
| 3 || Wizadora – Magic Parcel || August 13, 1993 || The Magic Parcel, Time for Tidying and Hello Filbert.
|-
| 4 || Wizadora – Wizadora – A Colourful Day. || August 23, 1993 || A Colourful Day, Lovely Weather and Picnic Problems.
|-
| 5 || Wizadora - A Message of Max || September 30, 1994 || Includes: A Message of Max, And More
|-
| 6 || Wizadora – Sneezeberries || January 9, 1995 || Sneezeberries and 5 other stories
|-
| 7 || My Little Wizadora – Glad Rags|| July 14, 1995 ||
|-
| 8 || My Little Wizadora – Wizadora – A Colourful Day || August 18, 1995 ||
|-
| 9 || My Little Wizadora – Treat Sized Tape || September 3, 1995 ||
|-
| 10 || My Little Wizadora – Lovely Weather / Picnic Problems || January 11, 1996 ||
|}
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 4 September 1993 – 24 August 1994
- Series 3: 30 editions from 7 September 1994 – 18 August 1995
- Series 4: 32 editions from September 1995 – 31 May 1996
- 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 – Early 18 August 1998
- Series 8: 32 editions from Autumn 1998 – Early 1999