The Lampies

The Lampies
GenreComedy
Entertainment
Adventure
Created byDave Bonner
Developed byRed Balloo Productions
Written byDavid Bonner
Jimmy Hibbert
Directed byDean Roberts
Mark Marren
Voices ofJimmy Hibbert
Eve Karpf
Rob Rackstraw
Susan Sheridan
Theme music composerMcasso
ComposerMcasso
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes46
Production
Executive producersTheresa Plummer-Andrews
James Coldwell
ProducerMorgan Francis
CinematographyMark Edwards
EditorsMark Edwards
Rory Timoney
Running time15 minutes per episode (approx.)
Production companyRed Balloo Productions
Original release
NetworkCBBC
Release12 October 2000 (2000-10-12) –
18 April 2002 (2002-04-18)

The Lampies is a British animated children's television series created by David Bonner and produced by Red Balloo Productions in conjunction with Uli Meyer Animation Studios for the BBC.

Plot

A group of friendly sprite-like power engineers maintain and defend the lamp post "HO32" which is the critical area of the entire Lighting Network. The Roons, who live with their only leader, Arch Roon, in the dark sewers below, are the green yellow-eyed creatures who always plan to threaten the whole Lighting Network due to their strong dislike of light. Sewer rats can still also prove to be a pest to the Lampies themselves.

Characters and Voice Cast

The Lampies Crew

  • Burnout (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – The friendly laid back foreman of the Lampies who always runs scheduled switches for the lamp light. He has green skin and white hair as well as a white moustache, and he always wears a dark blue jumpsuit. "Jumping fuses!" remains as Burnout's catchphrase.
  • Spotlight (voiced by Eve Karpf) – The routine inspector of the Lampies. She acts like the mother to all the other Lampies. She has green skin, just like Burnout, has lavender hair and she (mostly) wears glasses as well as a pink jumpsuit, similar to Livewire.
  • Charge (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) – The clumsy, day-dreaming assistant worker of the Lampies who has blue skin as well as blue hair. He is the most prone to problems. He wears a yellow jumpsuit, just like Contact. There remains a running gag involving Charge always falling into H032's control room through the circular hole in the ceiling.
  • Contact (voiced by Susan Sheridan) – The serious and sensible computer operator of the Lampies with purple skin and red hair who always has her young niece, Livewire. She always wears a blue hat as well as a yellow jumpsuit, just like Charge.
  • Livewire (voiced by Susan Sheridan) – Contact's young "niece", who has pale peach skin as well as pink hair. Livewire speaks in a high-pitched voice, and (most of the time,) she wears a pink jumpsuit, similar to Spotlight. She is often pushed around by the lamppost's grown-ups, nevertheless she manages to save the day several times. Livewire manages to play with "Dustywugg", her best friend, whenever she can do so.
  • Dustywugg the Dog (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – A furry sprite who serves as the Lampies' pet and mascot. He has orange fur and enjoys playing where possible with his owner, Livewire. Dustywugg can be quite cheeky at times, but the grown-ups, including Contact, always understand.
  • Captain Bright Light (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – The absent-minded captain and leader of the Lampies with pale skin, brown hair. Captain Bright Light always wears a dark green jumpsuit. He has an older brother, Flash Light, who is bigger and stronger, yet he is not as brave as Bright Light himself. "Shortened Circuits" remains as Captain Bright Light's catchphrase.

Antagonists

  • The Roons (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert and Rob Rackstraw) – A big group of green-faced creatures with yellow eyes, who live in the dark sewer just below the Lampies world. They remain absolutely afraid of light (even when it comes to small torches) and constantly try to break all the streetlights around the network.
  • Arch Roon (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – The leader of the Roons who mostly stays in the yard in the sewers, even though he does not show any signs of fear of the light. The only person he actually fears is his own mother.

Other characters

  • Brigadier Big Beam (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) – The superior organiser of the whole Lighting Network. He has purple skin, just like Contact, has white hair and wears a green uniform.
  • Phosphorous (voiced by Eve Karpf) – The Brigadier's officer liaison, Contact's friend, and Charge's love interest. She has pale skin, brown hair and wears a yellow shirt and red skirt.
  • Captain Spentflint – Formerly the Lampies' captain, who is now retired. Criticised as a slave driver.
  • Spark (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) – Livewire's well-behaved friend who is the keeper of a bike light. People like him are called Bikeys.
  • Neon – A one-off character for the show's series 2 opener - features in the "Light Up the World for Christmas" single.
  • Haywire (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) – A one-off character in series 1 episode 11 "Bouncer" who is Burnout's cousin, living in Lamppost HY11 in sector 14.
  • Bouncer the Grasshopper (voiced by Eve Karpf) – The chattering, gossiping and friendly green grasshopper with light blue eyes. She only appears in Series 1 Episode 11 "Bouncer" and is mentioned by quite a few of the main Lampies members themselves, including Burnout.
  • Captain Spectrum (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) – a superhero, who is star of his own TV shw, popular both among human children and young Lampies. He is Dustywugg's idol.
  • Flash Light (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) - Captain Bright Light's brother who is mentioned by Bright Light himself in the episode "Flash By Name".
  • Boris the Bat (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) - A male pipistrelle bat who only appears in the episode "Boris". Boris proves to be a good friend to the Lampies.
  • Geoff the Alien (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) - A male alien who only appears in the episodes "The Inspection", "The Vacation" and "Space Walk".
  • PJ (voiced by Susan Sheridan) - A young human boy with brown hair and brown eyes who lives in one of the houses in the town with his parents. He only appears in the episode "The Boy Who Could See The Lampies". PJ eventually becomes friendly with Livewire and Spark, and in return, he offers them a free ride on board his toy train in his bedroom.

Episodes

Series 1

# Title Summary Air Date
1 Captain Who The roons invade H032, but the newly recruited Captain Bright Light repels them. 12 October 2000
2 Dustywugg: Space Marine With the H032 crew captured by the Roons, Dustywugg inspired by Captain Spectrum, goes superhero. 19 October 2000
3 Walkabout Charge runs away from H032, along with Dustywugg the Dog following him. They both get lost in the sewers, but, in the end, Dustywugg finds the way back. 26 October 2000
4 The Inspection The H032 crew to try to clean their home in time for the Brigadier's inspection, when Jeff the alien arrives with just what they need. 2 November 2000
5 Flash By Name Captain Bright Light dreads a visit from his brother, Flash Light. However, Flash Light is not what he first appears to be. 9 November 2000
6 Dustywuppy Livewire, Dustywugg's owner, adopts a blue Dustywuppy who turns out to be extremely messy. Eventually, he is returned to his rightful owners, and all is well. 16 November 2000
7 Bird's Nest Oops As Charge tries to fix a malfunction in H032, a pigeon mistakes him for her baby. The Lampies solve the malfunction and fix HO32. 23 November 2000
8 A Bit Of A Jam Fed up with being pushed around by HO32's grown-ups, Livewire leaves the lamppost "all alone", and she manages to thwart a Roon plot to short circuit the whole lamppost. 30 November 2000
9 Bikey Spark the Bikey visits the Lampies and, later that night, Livewire, who is Contact's niece, pays him an exchange visit. 7 December 2000
10 Thunder and Frightening The Lampies are missing a Denby Attecorn to prevent the worst during a thunderstorm. Contact manages to get one in time to save HO32. 14 December 2000
11 Bouncer On a visit to Burnout's cousin Haywire down at a farm, Charge rescues a trapped grasshopper named Bouncer, who in turn saves him from Mousetrap, the very short-tempered cat. 21 December 2000
12 Boris Boris, the Pipistrelle Bat rests inside the lamp. As the Roons make a daytime attack, Boris scares them all away. 21 December 2000
13 Decoy The Roons kidnap Brigadier Big Beam. Using a diversion and the Roons' decoy, Livewire and Dustywugg rescue Big Beam. 8 January 2001
14 Dick Static After a sudden knock on the head, Charge believes himself to be his private eye hero, Dick Static. 15 January 2001
15 Too Many Cooks Burnout builds a cooking robot to help Spotlight, but the robot itself hardly improves cooking for the Lampies. 22 January 2001
16 Striplight Charge and Contact get lost, and find themselves beneath an airport runway. 29 January 2001
17 Tooth of the Matter Charge breaks a tooth, and has to visit the dentist. 5 February 2001
18 Chief Beef Deciding that it's time to build up his muscles, Charge visits Chief Beef's gym, but is the muscle bound chief genuine? 12 February 2001
19 Roadworks The Lampies have trouble sleeping due to noisy roadworks trying to take over HO32. However, when Livewire is the only Lampie up and about, chaos ensues! 13 February 2001
20 Pinspot Spotlight falls asleep while babysitting Pinspot, leaving the youngster to get up to all kinds of mischief. 13 February 2001
21 Who Dares Whines A special lamp Service unit is captured by The Roons and it's up to Spotlight to save the day. 14 February 2001
22 A Dark and Stormy Night A sudden thunderstorm causes a power cut and Charge, Livewire and Burnout set out to deliver a new fuse. 12 March 2001
23 Cyber Lampy A New Lampy is introduced to the lamppost. He can do everything the other lampies can do, and they worry they will lose their own jobs. 13 March 2001
24 Return To Geoff Geoff the friendly alien helps the Lampies to fix the local traffic lights in the city. 14 March 2001
25 And That's Magic Captain Brightlight is Practicing magic tricks He and Burnout get caught by Roons Livewire becomes a magician to help Rescue Them. 15 March 2001
26 Shipmate Charge Charge and Livewire suddenly find themselves under attack from the Roons when they visit her Uncle Longbeam in his lighthouse. 16 March 2001

Series 2

# Title Summary Air Date
1 Neon A musician named Neon arrives at H032, and Livewire, Dustywugg and Spark get to play music with him. 28 October 2001
2 Saved by the Bikey Spark officially joins the Lampies team as a member of H032 and becomes a Lampie himself. 30 October 2001
3 The Boy Who Could See The Lampies PJ, a young boy who can see the Lampies gets friendly with Spark, Livewire and Dustywugg. 2 November 2001
4 Space Walk Charge, Livewire and Spark meet Geoff the alien yet again, and they get a taste of life in Space. 4 November 2001
5 Boogie Lights The Roons capture Neon as he is on the way to another of his hugely successful gigs. 6 November 2001
6 Pump It Up Spark gets a puncture, and he has to make visit to Mr Dynamo's bike shop before it closes. 7 November 2001
7 Charge's Sausage Mole Charge uncovers a hidden Roon plot involving underground sabotage leading a comedic yet tense excavation mission. 8 November 2001
8 Sacked The Lampies of H032 face being sacked by Brigadier Big Beam. 17 November 2001
9 The Roon Goo Attack The Roons plan to stop the Lampies "once and for all", by using their patent "Roon Goo", which can bring about the end of H032 permanently. 21 November 2001
10 HO32 Squadron Spark drives a remote controlled plane, to rescue Livewire's best friend, Dustywugg, whilst causing chaos in a hardware store. 22 November 2001
11 Bike Gone Spark earns his own bike. When the roons steal the bike, Spark and Livewire go on a daring mission to recover it. 23 November 2001
12 Moth Magic Livewire looks after "Dustywing", a moth who burns both her wings "on the lamp head". Meanwhile, the Roons from the sewers attack the Lampies of H032 with a honeycomb. 5 December 2001
13 Football Roonigans H032 are invited to a football match by a Lampy who works in the floodlights at the football ground. 6 December 2001
14 Lampies, Unplugged Spark and Livewire foil a fiendish plot to turn all the lights out in H032. 27 December 2001
15 An Open and Shut Case Spotlight impersonates the Arch Roon's mother to rescue captured agents and Charge from a Roon Stronghold Two secret agents visiting HO32 are captured by Roons with Charge Spotlight saves them by pretending to be the Arch Roon's mother. 3 March 2002
16 The Haunted Lamp Charge confronts past errors when a supposedly haunted light fixture reveals deeper lampie lore and Roon tricks Charge learns that you can't run from your past mistakes. 4 March 2002
17 Lights on Legs Spark and Livewire befriend a little frog in the power conduit. 6 March 2002
18 A House Call Spark and Livewire meet some very dull house-Lampies. 8 March 2002
19 The Vacation Geoff the alien takes Spark and Livewire to the holiday planet of Triluria. 9 March 2002
20 Watching Over Lois the crew guards a young girl Named Lois from nocturnal Roon threats highlighting protective themes. 9 April 2002
21 Red Light at Night The Roons topple the H032 lamp post. The Lampies try to find a way out before the lamp is crushed at the dump. 9 April 2002
22 The Goon Roon A seemingly reformed Roon tests The Lampies trust leading to revelations about enemy motives. 9 April 2002
23 All That Glitters The Lampies help a leprechaun who has had his crook of gold stolen by the Roons. 12 April 2002
24 A Day at the Movies Spark takes Livewire to meet two Lampies who work in a cinema, only for him to be bored stiff by some home movies. 14 April 2002
25 A Roon Alert During a nationwide blackout the HO32 crew endures 48 hours of relentless Roon assaults to restore power there's power outage across the country the HO32 crew must survive 48 hour of a total Roon Attack. 16 April 2002
26 Bright Light In Love Captain Bright Light is captured by the Roons when he goes to visit a female Lampie he fell for whilst on a lamp-commanders training course. 18 April 2002

Development

The series was created by David Bonner in conjunction with Uli Meyer Animation Studios, with music by Mcasso Music.

The series ended production abruptly before the second season was completed due to financial issues, which caused the creative and business drive to malfunction.[1]

In 2003, The IP was bought from the receiver by the chairman of Darlington Football Club and businessman, George Houghton.[2][3]

Reception

TV distribution rights for Series One were sold into 33 countries."International Songwriting Competition Results". 2006. When series one was broadcast in 2001 it regularly achieved over 40% of target viewing audience. This figure reached over 50% during 2002. Series two of The Lampies was completed in March 2002 and generated similar audience figures with prime slots on BBC 1 and 2.

Releases

HIT Entertainment released a single UK-only VHS tape release of the programme entitled "Captain Who and Other Stories" in 2001.

The series has seen two DVD releases that were intended to relaunch the series for a new generation after the sale of the series to LP Productions. The first release, "Switch Onto the Lampies" was released on 7 April 2008, where £2 from the sale of the DVD went towards the Save the Children protection work. The second, "A Bit of a Jam and Other Stories", was released on 19 May 2008 and contains the first half of the first series.

References

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