Look and Read: Badger Girl
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.
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 |
| 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.
- Summer 2003, CBBC
- Autumn 2003, CBBC
- Spring 2004, CBBC
- Autumn 2004, CBBC
- Autumn 2005, CBBC
- Spring 2007, CBBC
Links
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More Programmes
Some random programmes for age 7-9 from the 1980s
| Dilyn y Ddraig | |
| BBC Schools TV | |
| 1988-1990 | |
| History |
| Sex Education (1984) | |
| BBC Schools TV | |
| 1984-1989 | |
| Citizenship |
| Songs on Wheels | |
| BBC Schools Radio | |
| 1988-1989 | |
| Music |
| Stop, Look, Listen | |
| ITV Schools, Channel 4 Schools | |
| 1971-2009 | |
| Miscellany |