Look & Read - 1970's/80's School TV
Discussion
Anyone else remember these school TV programmes...
I was born in 1972 and my infant school had a TV room. It was always seen as a bit of a special room, to be able to watch TV at school. One a week they would wheel out a massive trolley with an old fashioned CRT TV and an equally massive top loading VHS video player.
Some of the programmes they let us watch were the Look & Read educational programmes with the strange 'Wordy' character. I remember watching a scary one with a group of kids finding a boy from space, with a very scary man from space who was the 'baddie'. I also remember one that I loved, about a group of kids that unearthed an illegal trade in Peregrin falcons and their eggs.
Well decades later I discovered the boy from space programme was called 'The Boy from Space' (who'd have guessed), and the falcon programme was called Skyhunter. I found the full set of Look & Read DVD films available for sale online so I bought them, but never got around to watching them. Having found them in my loft yesterday I watched Skyhunter, and still loved it. Tonight I'm watching the boy from space programme...called....'The Boy from Space'.. I see they are now also available on Youtube.
I was born in 1972 and my infant school had a TV room. It was always seen as a bit of a special room, to be able to watch TV at school. One a week they would wheel out a massive trolley with an old fashioned CRT TV and an equally massive top loading VHS video player.
Some of the programmes they let us watch were the Look & Read educational programmes with the strange 'Wordy' character. I remember watching a scary one with a group of kids finding a boy from space, with a very scary man from space who was the 'baddie'. I also remember one that I loved, about a group of kids that unearthed an illegal trade in Peregrin falcons and their eggs.
Well decades later I discovered the boy from space programme was called 'The Boy from Space' (who'd have guessed), and the falcon programme was called Skyhunter. I found the full set of Look & Read DVD films available for sale online so I bought them, but never got around to watching them. Having found them in my loft yesterday I watched Skyhunter, and still loved it. Tonight I'm watching the boy from space programme...called....'The Boy from Space'.. I see they are now also available on Youtube.
I remember the peregrine falcon eggs one when I was in primary school in the mid to late 90's.
Don't remember the rest of them. But while you guys who grew up on the 70's/80's school TV stuff, none of you had the glorious pencil with the light on the end of it, drawing out the letter of the day.
The 1990's truly was the pinnacle of human achievement.
Don't remember the rest of them. But while you guys who grew up on the 70's/80's school TV stuff, none of you had the glorious pencil with the light on the end of it, drawing out the letter of the day.
The 1990's truly was the pinnacle of human achievement.
Just to add TV/film time became hilarious when one boy had one of those remote control watches if we were given something boring to watch.
He'd change the channel or rewind & fast forward the tape, everyone would know about it except the teacher who would be left scratching his head and have to get in the tech person (always the caretaker) who wouldn't have a clue either.
He'd change the channel or rewind & fast forward the tape, everyone would know about it except the teacher who would be left scratching his head and have to get in the tech person (always the caretaker) who wouldn't have a clue either.
LeadFarmer said:
Anyone else remember these school TV programmes...
I was born in 1972 and my infant school had a TV room. It was always seen as a bit of a special room, to be able to watch TV at school. One a week they would wheel out a massive trolley with an old fashioned CRT TV and an equally massive top loading VHS video player.
Some of the programmes they let us watch were the Look & Read educational programmes with the strange 'Wordy' character. I remember watching a scary one with a group of kids finding a boy from space, with a very scary man from space who was the 'baddie'. I also remember one that I loved, about a group of kids that unearthed an illegal trade in Peregrin falcons and their eggs.
Jeez, reading that gave me instant flashback of going to primary school in the 80s. We also had a TV room with the trolley and you'd go there at 1030 for the live transmission or videotape. Teacher couldn't get the TV/VCR to work and there's always a kid in class who could get it to workI was born in 1972 and my infant school had a TV room. It was always seen as a bit of a special room, to be able to watch TV at school. One a week they would wheel out a massive trolley with an old fashioned CRT TV and an equally massive top loading VHS video player.
Some of the programmes they let us watch were the Look & Read educational programmes with the strange 'Wordy' character. I remember watching a scary one with a group of kids finding a boy from space, with a very scary man from space who was the 'baddie'. I also remember one that I loved, about a group of kids that unearthed an illegal trade in Peregrin falcons and their eggs.
Secondary school in the 90s the TV/trolley combo had to be wheeled in from one room to the next. Bit of a culture shock when I went to college last year - no blackboard or overhead projector!
Back on topic I remember the falcon stealing story. There was a similar one in the 80s called Badger Girl.
sgtBerbatov said:
I remember the peregrine falcon eggs one when I was in primary school in the mid to late 90's.
Don't remember the rest of them. But while you guys who grew up on the 70's/80's school TV stuff, none of you had the glorious pencil with the light on the end of it, drawing out the letter of the day.
The 1990's truly was the pinnacle of human achievement.
We had the pencil thingy in the 80s too.Don't remember the rest of them. But while you guys who grew up on the 70's/80's school TV stuff, none of you had the glorious pencil with the light on the end of it, drawing out the letter of the day.
The 1990's truly was the pinnacle of human achievement.
I remember watching in the early 90s:
Geordie racer
The one with the stolen bird eggs already mentioned
Earth Warp (that scared the s
t out of me at age 7)
Words and Pictures with Sophie Aldred
and the magic pencil
Through the Dragon’s Eye
Like many, it was a colossal trolley with the CRT tv and video player. When I got to high school, one of the better off boys had the Casio watch that functioned as a TV remote, messing with the teacher was fun to watch..
Geordie racer
The one with the stolen bird eggs already mentioned
Earth Warp (that scared the s
t out of me at age 7)Words and Pictures with Sophie Aldred
and the magic pencilThrough the Dragon’s Eye
Like many, it was a colossal trolley with the CRT tv and video player. When I got to high school, one of the better off boys had the Casio watch that functioned as a TV remote, messing with the teacher was fun to watch..
Edited by Eng274 on Thursday 11th February 19:02
AlexC1981 said:
sgtBerbatov said:
I remember the peregrine falcon eggs one when I was in primary school in the mid to late 90's.
Don't remember the rest of them. But while you guys who grew up on the 70's/80's school TV stuff, none of you had the glorious pencil with the light on the end of it, drawing out the letter of the day.
The 1990's truly was the pinnacle of human achievement.
We had the pencil thingy in the 80s too.Don't remember the rest of them. But while you guys who grew up on the 70's/80's school TV stuff, none of you had the glorious pencil with the light on the end of it, drawing out the letter of the day.
The 1990's truly was the pinnacle of human achievement.
Nickp82 said:
This thread is stirring really vague memories for me, for some reason I feel that I saw these programmes when off school sick (BBC2) rather than at school.
Georgie Racer really rings a bell.
I reckon they were shown on BBC for anyone to watch, but created as educational programmes for schools to tune into. We must have watched them 'live' at school, rather than on video tape. Georgie Racer really rings a bell.
I too can remember occasionally the TV not working and the huge disappointment of not being able to spend a lesson watching TV, and having to do a normal lesson instead.
Look & Read would show part of one of the films each week, but they would constantly interrupt the film to discuss educational posts, such as how to spell a certain word etc. Thats where Wordy (the strange orange thing) would come in, teaching us via TV. Crafty devious bugger$!!!!!
Words and Pictures was a spin off from Look and Read which I think started in the 50's?, and in the 70's starred Tony Robinson (Baldrick)
Edited by LeadFarmer on Wednesday 10th February 23:29
LeadFarmer said:
I reckon they were shown on BBC for anyone to watch, but created as educational programmes for schools to tune into. We must have watched them 'live' at school, rather than on video tape.
I too can remember occasionally the TV not working and the huge disappointment of not being able to spend a lesson watching TV, and having to do a normal lesson instead.
Yes, we didn’t have VCR then, just the TV on the tall stand with the fold out shades. BBC and ITV with the countdown clock until the next programme.I too can remember occasionally the TV not working and the huge disappointment of not being able to spend a lesson watching TV, and having to do a normal lesson instead.
How strange.
One of the few recollections of my primary school days in the 80's was a TV program with a space theme bring shown to us, it often crops up in my thoughts and I never ever thought I'd get to know what it was called or see anything about it again.
As normal PH comes up trump's, now off for a Google...
One of the few recollections of my primary school days in the 80's was a TV program with a space theme bring shown to us, it often crops up in my thoughts and I never ever thought I'd get to know what it was called or see anything about it again.
As normal PH comes up trump's, now off for a Google...
jonwm said:
How strange.
One of the few recollections of my primary school days in the 80's was a TV program with a space theme bring shown to us, it often crops up in my thoughts and I never ever thought I'd get to know what it was called or see anything about it again.
As normal PH comes up trump's, now off for a Google...
It's on Youtube, I downloaded It the other day, a boy from space who could only speak in 'beeps'. I also have it on DVD.One of the few recollections of my primary school days in the 80's was a TV program with a space theme bring shown to us, it often crops up in my thoughts and I never ever thought I'd get to know what it was called or see anything about it again.
As normal PH comes up trump's, now off for a Google...
Older but we had the TV and the countdown clock... in the late 60s for Time and Tune where we had booklets and sang songs like 'A Beetle Sat Upon A Green Leaf', 'Calling All Martians' and more traditional songs like The Dashing White Sergeant, Dashing Away With A Smoothing Iron, Skye Song, Streets of Laredo and others I still remember clearly.
OldGermanHeaps said:
Was the geordie racer thing blue flash?
That rings a bell. A pigeon called spuggy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To277KvvJqcThat rings a bell. A pigeon called spuggy.
One person who appeared in a lot of kids TV programmes in my day was Derek Griffiths, if he wasn't presenting then he would be singing on the background, I think it's him singing in Geordie Racer.
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