Look and Read: LRTV

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started24th Apr 1995
ended19th Jun 1995
last rpt4th Dec 2006
13 school years
episodes8
duration20 mins
subject 📚EnglishLanguage
age rangeAge 7-9
languageenIn English
Look and ReadHierarchyPrevious.gifPrevious series: Earth WarpNext series: SpywatchHierarchyNext.gif

LRTV is a unit of the BBC schools TV series Look and Read from the 1990s, covering Language for primary school pupils.

Lookandread-myby-Bannerhead.gif
This page about the Look and Read story LRTV 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 - LRTV

A Look and Read Special to supplement the regular drama stories, this eschews grammatical and language-level work in favour of teaching more general writing and communication skills, and is also meant to support the Media Education scheme.

LRTV is a television station staffed entirely by children (which surely wouldn't be legal), though apparently the characters they're playing are meant to be adults. The sparse content, magazine style, and ridiculously oversized, opaque on-screen logo seem to suggest that the 'station' is more of a limited-time franchise like GMTV. Anyway the station is run by former window cleaner Crystal Clear, who seems to know what she wants but isn't very good at getting it done (the executive producer, then). The sofa-bound anchors are called Frank and Daisy and there's a regular language-skills quiz called Wordpower hosted by Lloyd B. Stickler; everything is written by Emily Penn with new recruit Joe Nas, and designed by 'Mona' Lisa; and the producer, Harmony, basically does everybody's work and makes sure everything gets done. Criminal psychopath Lester Binliner keeps trying to get himself on telly by disguising himself as various LRTV personalities after having kidnapped them or pushed them into the canal. The non-speaking Punk T. Waite is the company's general assistant, providing inadequate door security, pouring jelly over the losers on Wordpower and hosting a segment called Spelling Spot. The technician and editor, Alf A. Bett, spends his time trying to get rid of two bugs called Vin and Vern that are corrupting LRTV's computer system and providing most of the actual language-related content, stealing all the quotation marks or putting in too many exclamation points.

Note that this is the first time Look and Read had ever been broadcast in the Summer term, and the first season of the programme to have less than ten episodes. It's also the first Look and Read unit not to be made in-house by some department of the BBC, it's an independent production by Double Exposure for BBC Education.

Episodes

Quick episode list

# Title Broadcast
1. Welcome to LRTV 24 Apr 1995
2. LRTV Gets Moving 1 May 1995
3. Kitchen Capers 12 May 1995
4. A Soap Square Sizzler 15 May 1995
5. …and Action! 22 May 1995
6. Follow That Frog 5 Jun 1995
7. LRTV Gets It Together 12 Jun 1995
8. Happy Birthday LRTV! 19 Jun 1995

Episode listings from the old BBC Online Schedules.

Num Title Broadcast
1. Welcome to LRTV 24 Apr 1995
  A budding writer arrives for a job at a TV station, where boss Crystal Clear puts him to work on the weather report. Among the regulars, presenters Frank and Daisy get the show off to a sentence-perfect start, Lloyd Stickler hosts the gameshow 'Wordpower', and Punk T Waite introduces spellings with a difference.
2. LRTV Gets Moving 1 May 1995
  An early morning verb workout.
3. Kitchen Capers 12 May 1995
  Punk collects nouns for the gameshow 'Wordpower' but finds himself in trouble with PC Parrot. And there's a surprise in store when the mysterious Desmond Cheesegrater stands in for the regular LRTV chef.
4. A Soap Square Sizzler 15 May 1995
  Frank and Daisy describe their experiences on the island of Costa Lot, but seem to have differing opinions on the same holiday. Meanwhile, contestants play the opposites game on 'Wordpower', and CC sets the writing unit the task of creating a soap opera.
5. …and Action! 22 May 1995
  Frank tries his hand at sports presenting, but needs help with his adverbs. Lester steps in as storyteller Uncle Rory on 'Children's Story' and becomes tongue-tied when Vin and Virn mix up his speech marks.
6. Follow That Frog 5 Jun 1995
  It is the station's 20th birthday and Mona is working on the invitations.
7. LRTV Gets It Together 12 Jun 1995
  Preparations are under way for LRTV's 20th birthday celebrations.
8. Happy Birthday LRTV! 19 Jun 1995
  The deadline draws near for LRTV's 20th birthday celebrations.

Credits

Starring Preeya Kalidas as 'CC' Crystal Clear

Sophie Ward as Harmony
Lisa O'Connell as Emily Penn
Leon Black as Joe Nas
Jade Magri as 'Mona' Lisa
Iain Robertson as Frank Ernest
Scarlett Vaigncourt-Strallen as Daisy Hayes
Joe Boiling as Alf A. Bett
Geoff Mills as Lloyd B. Stickler
James Yorath as Punk T. Waite
Felix Bell as Lester Binliner
Glenn Hanning as Cliff Hanger
Geoff Felix as Vin
Katherine Smee as Virn

With Matthew Bethell as Prisoner 1

Michael Wearne as Prisoner 2
Jonathan Cordell as Farmer Muckspreader
Elijah Young as Zelda
Katie Sutton as Old Lady
Max Carlish as Daddy Bear
Andrew Buckley as PC Parrot
Sam Stockman as Barry (Noun Shop)
Katie Sutton as Barry's Customer
John Trakos as Chef
Rupert Shreeve as Dog Owner
Lee Sadler as Plank Man
Barry Farrimond as Pancho Peanut
Zoe Hodges as Lester's Mum
Giselle, James, Peter, Lucy, Matthew, Duane, Rosie, Zenta, Mairead, Liam

Created by Andrew Bethell
Written by Colin Izod
David Stafford
Chris Cole
Lionel Robinson
Music by Harold Burgon
Colin Izod
Executive producers Frank Flynn
Andrew Bethell
Producer & directed by Colin Izod
Production manager Joe Pellisier
Assistant producer Frances Hodge
Script editor Annika Bluhm
1st assistant director Will Dutton
2nd assistant director Jo Harris
Script supervisor Matilda Griffin
Casting Val Farron
Camera assistant Richard Hill
Grip Tex Childs
Gaffer Tim O'Connell
Sound Rupert Ivey
Sound assistants John Chandler
Sarah O'Toole
Production designer Fran Cooper
Art director John Henson
Props master Richard Tharp
Standby props Mark Digby
Graphics assistant Christina Casali
Make-up/hair artist Stephanie O'Rourke
Make-up assistant Sheila Flynn
Costume designer Jane Ripley
Assistant costume Barbara O'Callaghan
Graphics Damian Weir
Online editors Simon Coldrick
Mark Manning
Director of photography Luke Cardiff
Editor David Gasson
Education consultants Peter Sanders
Sue Widgery
BBC education officer Chris Hughes

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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