Look and Read: Badger Girl

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companyBBC
started18th Sep 1984
ended27th Nov 1984
last rpt9th Mar 2007
23 school years
episodes10
duration20 mins
subject 📚EnglishLanguage & Reading
age rangeAge 7-9
languageenIn English
Look and ReadHierarchyPrevious.gifPrevious story: Fair Ground!Next story: Geordie RacerHierarchyNext.gif

Badger Girl is a unit of the BBC schools TV series Look and Read from the 1980s, covering Language and Reading for primary school pupils.

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This page about the Look and Read story Badger Girl is not yet finished.
But you can still read my old web pages about the story at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine on this link:
Look and Read.myby.co.uk - Badger Girl

Three city children go on holiday to a country farm and mess about with the wildlife, in particular a wild badger that they find in the farmyard. They stumble across a pair of crooks engaged in pony-rustling, spy on them to see what's going on, then have to come up with a way to stop it. Three grown-ups are also hanging around the moors: a wildlife photographer, a strange old hermit and the farmer's son. The kids have to decide who they can trust, and who has been helping steal the horses.

Stripey the 'superbadger' also appeared in some of the educational songs with his collection of -dg- badges, while the in-between bits featured Jane Miles, the environmentalist seen hanging about on the moors in the story, looking back through the project book Debbie made about her holiday.

The Story

Debbie and Kiran are sent off by their school on a holiday to the country, where they meet another city kid already on holiday, know-it-all Norman. Debbie gets nicknamed the Badger Girl because she has a badger-like streak through her hair. Exploring on the moor they meet the Badgerman, who used to be a scientist but has dedicated himself to conservation and become a hermit living in a hut. They also meet two men, Barker and Deal, who claim to be from the RSPCA but are actually out stealing ('rustling') ponies to sell for their meat in France.

Mick, the odd-job man from the farm, is helping Barker and Deal but he doesn't know they're slaughtering the ponies, and doesn't believe the kids when they tell him. The kids spy on the villains from a secret passage in a small church and call the police to catch them, but they get the wrong place and the police get bored and leave. The kids then try to stop Barker and Deal themselves and are captured, but eventually rescued by Stripey, their adopted badger, who beats up both of the (well-armed) villains.

Episodes

Quick episode list


# Title Broadcast
1. Sounds in the Night 18 Sep 1984
2. Stripey 25 Sep 1984
3. Running Away 2 Oct 1984
4. The Badgerman 9 Oct 1984
5. Lost on the Moor 16 Oct 1984
6. The Secret Passage 30 Oct 1984
7. Mick's Map 6 Nov 1984
8. Finding the Ponies 13 Nov 1984
9. Panic on the Lake 20 Nov 1984
10. Stripey the Superbadger 27 Nov 1984


Episode descriptions from the Radio Times

Num Title Broadcast
1. Sounds in the Night 18 Sep 1984
  Debbie doesn't think much of the country at the start of her farm holiday with Kiran and Norman. But an unexpected visitor in the early morning changes all that.
2. Stripey aka Stripey the Badger 25 Sep 1984
  Debbie has befriended Stripey the badger. But can a badger be a pet? And shouldn't the children tell Mrs Rudge about him?
3. Running Away 2 Oct 1984
  Mick has threatened to shoot the badger, so Debbie and Kiran run off with Stripey. He leads them to a mysterious wooden hut.
4. The Badgerman 9 Oct 1984
  Norman gets lost on the moor, and meets two men on the look-out for pony-rustlers.
5. Lost on the Moor 16 Oct 1984
  'More ponies stolen' reads the newspaper headline. But who are the crooks, Barker and Deal... or the Badgerman?
6. The Secret Passage 30 Oct 1984
  Mick leaves a map for the pony-rustlers in Cross Tor church. The children, from a secret passage, watch to see who will collect it.
7. Mick's Map 6 Nov 1984
  From Mick's map, the children know where the crooks are keeping the ponies. But maybe they've made a mistake and sent the police to the wrong place!
8. Finding the Ponies 13 Nov 1984
  The children try to set the ponies free, but Barker and Deal turn up too soon. Can anyone help them now?
9. Panic on the Lake 20 Nov 1984
  Mick and the Badgerman are rushing to save the ponies - so are the children. But they face real danger on the lake.
10. Stripey the Superbadger 27 Nov 1984
  Mick and the children have a go at saving the ponies, but they're no match for Barker and Deal. Who else can save them now?

Credits

Narrator Gary Watson
Starring Margo Gunn as Jane Miles

Julia Millbank as Debbie West
Ashiek Madhvani as Kiran Singh
Kieron O'Shea as Norman Bolt
John Hollis as Mr Barker
James Marston as Mr Deal
William Squire as Sam North, the Badgerman
Nick Orchard as Mick Rudge
June Marlow as Mrs Rudge
Charles Collingwood as Wordy
Katie Hebb as Wordy puppeteer
Mary Edwards as puppeteer
and Mary as Stripey

Written by Andrew Davies
Incidental music Peter Howell
Designers Stephen Brownsey
Tony Thorpe
Reading consultant and teaching scripts Mary Hoffman
Assistant producer Roger Fry
Producer Susan Paton
Badger consultant Ruth Murray
Graphic designer Evelyn Small
Video effects Nick Moore
Songs Jonathan Gibbs
Roger Limb
Lyrics Gordon Snell
Film animation Richard Taylor
Marcus Parker-Rhodes
Studio lighting Mike Chislett
Nigel Wright
Teddy Williams
Studio sound Jim Cadman
John Wilson
Costume designer Catriona Tomalin
Make-up designer Daphne Croker
Properties buyer Sally Clements
Film cameraman Andrew Dunn
Assistant film cameraman Jeremy Humphries
Film recordist Keith Rodgerson
Assistant film recordist Trevor Gosling
Lighting John Palmer
Grips Ian McAnulty
Film editor Dick Allen
Assistant floor manager Alison Selby
Production manager Ken Robertson
Production assistant Karen Lewis
The BBC wishes to thank The South Western Water Authority
The Devon and Cornwall Constabulary
Mike Minett
Margaret Paton and Class 10, Eggbuckland Vale Primary School, Plymouth

Who was in which episodes:

   C A S T   D E T A I L S

starring                             EPISODES
                             ----------------------
MARGO GUNN                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
JOHN HOLLIS                       3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ASHIEK MADHVANI               1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
JAMES MARSTON                     3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
JUNE MARLOW                   1 2 3 4 5
JULIA MILLBANK                1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
NICK ORCHARD                  1 2 3 4 5 6 7   9 10
KIERON O'SHEA                 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
WILLIAM SQUIRE                      4 5   7 8 9 10
CHARLES COLLINGWOOD           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
KATIE HEBB                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
GARY WATSON                       3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Broadcasts

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 Schedules section for precise dates and times.


Links


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