Over the Moon with Mr Boom

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📺BBC Schools TV
companyBBC
started18th Sep 1990
ended2nd May 1995
last rpt20th May 1996
6 school years
episodes67
duration15 mins
subject 🏫MiscellanyEarly Learning
age rangeAge 5-7
languageenIn English
Over the Moon title 1991.jpg
6 images from Over the Moon with Mr Boom

Over the Moon with Mr Boom is a BBC schools TV series from the 1990s, covering Early Learning for primary school pupils.

A charming series devised for nursery and infant classes in Scotland, which became popular throughout the UK.

Mr Boom is a one-man-band, singer and songwriter who lives in a dome on the moon and communicates with viewing children who come 'over the moon' to visit him. Each week the space mobile library arrives and a storyteller visits Mr Boom to read him a story. He also looks through his telescope to see activity back on Earth in a filmed documentary sequence. Finally he sings a song and bids goodbye to the children as they "return to their Earth location".

A cartoon strip illustrating the concept of Over the Moon for teachers.

After a year on the air in Scotland only, the series was given a networked slot and shown throughout the UK on BBC2.

Mr Boom, created and performed by children's entertainer Andy Munro, had been enthralling children throughout Scotland at schools and live events for years before the series began, and continued to do so after the series ended. He can be booked through his website mrboom.co.uk, which also contains photos and games.

Titles

Over the Moon title 1991.jpg
Over the Moon title video.jpg


Episodes

Here is a list of all 67 episodes of Over the Moon.


# Title Broadcast
Series 1: 1990-91 (originally shown only in Scotland)
1. Grannies and Grandpas 18 Sep 1990
2. New Baby (1990) 25 Sep 1990
3. Brothers and Sisters 2 Oct 1990
4. Presents 9 Oct 1990
5. I Wish, I Wish 23 Oct 1990
6. All Through the Night 30 Oct 1990
7. Time for School 6 Nov 1990
8. Friendships 13 Nov 1990
9. Meeting New Friends 20 Nov 1990
10. Room to Play 27 Nov 1990
11. Winter Days 8 Jan 1991
12. Homes 15 Jan 1991
13. Be Safe! (in the Home) 22 Jan 1991
14. Let's Go Shopping 29 Jan 1991
15. Food Glorious Food 5 Feb 1991
16. Water Everywhere 12 Feb 1991
17. Shining Teeth 26 Feb 1991
18. Going by Bus 5 Mar 1991
19. On the Train 12 Mar 1991
20. Stranger Danger 19 Mar 1991
Series 2: 1991-92
1. At the Seaside 17 Sep 1991
2. Whatever the Weather 24 Sep 1991
3. Through the Wood 1 Oct 1991
4. Keep Safe on the Road 8 Oct 1991
5. Getting Lost 22 Oct 1991
6. Hallowe'en 29 Oct 1991
7. Collecting Things 5 Nov 1991
8. Being Tidy 12 Nov 1991
9. Making Music 19 Nov 1991
10. Christmas 26 Nov 1991
11. Letters 14 Jan 1992
12. Health Eating 21 Jan 1992
13. Rubbish and Litter 28 Jan 1992
14. Play and Games 4 Feb 1992
15. Winning and Losing 11 Feb 1992
16. Time (1992) 18 Feb 1992
17. Days and Months 3 Mar 1992
18. Sunshine 10 Mar 1992
19. Growing Things 17 Mar 1992
20. Easter 24 Mar 1992
Series 3: 1992-93
1. Finding the Way 4 May 1993
2. Sharing 11 May 1993
3. Counting On (One to Ten) 18 May 1993
4. Do This, Do That 25 May 1993
5. Please and Thank You! 1 Jun 1993
6. Off we Go! 8 Jun 1993
Series 4: 1993-94
1. Colour at Home 30 Sep 1993
2. The Street 20 Jan 1994
3. Farms 10 Feb 1994
4. Minibeasts 10 Mar 1994
5. Dinosaurs 17 Mar 1994
6. Let's Make Music 28 Apr 1994
7. Time (1994) 12 May 1994
8. Circus 19 May 1994
9. Fairground 26 May 1994
Series 5: 1994-95
1. Who am I? 20 Sep 1994
2. Mums and Dads 4 Oct 1994
3. In the Country 11 Oct 1994
4. In the Town 25 Oct 1994
5. In the City 1 Nov 1994
6. Safety in the Home 8 Nov 1994
7. New Baby (1994) 29 Nov 1994
8. Life in 1953: At Home 28 Feb 1995
9. Life in 1953: At Play 7 Mar 1995
10. Our Playground 14 Mar 1995
11. In the Garden 21 Mar 1995
12. Jumping Beans 2 May 1995

There were some different episodes with the exact same titles - for example there was an episode called New Baby in autumn 1990, and then another different episode called New Baby in autumn 1994. To distinguish between them, the year of first broadcast is added to the duplicates in the list above ("New Baby (1990)" and "New Baby (1994)"). This does not mean that there is any link between the episodes, it just means that they had the same title.

Broadcasts

1993-94 schedule showing new episodes mixed with repeats

Over the Moon was first shown in autumn 1990 & spring 1991, on BBC2 in Scotland only. It went out on Tuesdays at 10:05am, repeated on Thursdays at 2:02pm, in place of the national broadcasts of You and Me.

In autumn 1991 & spring 1992 a series of 20 new episodes were broadcast throughout the UK, on Tuesdays at 10:00am, repeated on Thursdays at 10:15am. In the summer term the timeslot was occupied by national broadcasts of the Gaelic-language series Sealladh is Seanchas.

In autumn 1992 & spring 1993 the programme was again shown nationally on Tuesdays at 10:00am & Thursdays at 10:15am. The first series, which had previously been seen only in Scotland, was repeated this year for the national audience, however the very first two episodes were not repeated (indeed, they have never been repeated following the original transmission in 1990, and remain unseen outside of Scotland) instead there was a repeat of the first two episodes of the second series. In summer 1993 there was another repeated episode from the second series followed by six brand new episodes.

From autumn 1993 onwards the series was rearranged into themed units on topics such as Safety, Healthy Eating and the Environment. Repeats of previous episodes were interspersed with new episodes - of which there were nine throughout the 1993-94 school year. The series was now broadcast first in Scotland only, on Thursdays at 2:02pm replacing the national broadcasts of Come Outside, Numbertime and Watch Summer Extras. It was then shown throughout the UK on Fridays at 10:40am.

There were similar arrangements throughout 1994-95, with mixture of new episodes and repeats arranged by topic, shown first in Scotland on Tuesdays at 9:45am replacing the final run of You and Me, followed by a national broadcast on Fridays at 9:30am.

Finally in 1995-96 a range of episodes from previous years were repeated, arranged by topic. The series was now shown in Scotland on Mondays at 9:45am, replacing Watch, and then throughout the UK on Thursdays at 9:45am. The series ended as it had begun, as a treat seen only in Scotland, as during the summer term the Thursday timeslot was given over to Writing and Pictures and so Over the Moon was only seen in its Monday, Scotland-only timeslot.

Credits

Programme Consultant Loreta Stewart
Title Sequences Sandi Anderson
Richard Levens
Designer Ali Mills
Series Editor Allan Jack
Producer Marianne Baird

Music

Mr Boom singing a song.

Use your imagination... jump over the moon to me.

Over the Moon's theme tune was sung and performed by Mr Boom on the guitar, harmonica and drums of his one-man-band.

All of the other songs in the series were performed in the same way, and were a mixture of traditional Scottish songs and original educational songs.

Both the opening and closing theme, as well as other songs from the programmes, are available on cassette, CD and MP3 on the Mr Boom is Over the Moon album - see below.


Resources

Teacher's Notes

Teacher's notes to accompany the broadcasts were distributed by BBC Education Scotland each term. They contained descriptions of each episode, some of the songs, and ideas for teachers to use the programmes as starting points for topic work.

Home Video

Video cover

A video containing four episodes from the first series was released by BBC Video in 1994. This was not exclusive to schools but was available in shops to the general public, proving how popular the series became with pre-school children and their parents.

The video was called Over the Moon with Mr Boom, catalogue number BBCV 5457, and contained the episodes Meeting New Friends, Homes, Food Glorious Food and On the Train.

It is no longer in print, but second hand copies can often be found on websites such as eBay and Amazon. Search eBay listings Buy from Amazon.

Mr Boom also had another video out in the early 1990s. Mr Boom Visits Planet Earth was a recording of a live theatre show with Mr Boom entertaining children, rather than the television show with stories and documentaries. This video was released by Cameron Williams, catalogue number CW004, and it can still be bought directly from Mr Boom's online shop. Buy from Mr Boom's online shop Buy from Amazon


Cassettes & CDs

Mr Boom had released three albums of children's songs before the series even began. A fourth album, Mr Boom is Over the Moon was released in 1995 and includes the theme tune and other songs from the TV series. All of them are still available in various formats.

Album Cassette CD Download
Sing Along with Mr Boom

Sing Along with Mr Boom (1986)

Buy from Mr Boom's online shop Buy from Mr Boom's online shop Buy from Amazon

Buy from iTunes

Dance Along with Mr Boom

Dance Along with Mr Boom (1988)

Buy from Mr Boom's online shop Buy from Mr Boom's online shop Buy from Amazon

Buy from iTunes

Play Along with Mr Boom

Play Along with Mr Boom (1990)

Buy from Mr Boom's online shop Buy from Mr Boom's online shop Buy from Amazon

Buy from iTunes

Mr Boom is Over the Moon

Mr Boom is Over the Moon (1995)

Buy from Mr Boom's online shop Buy from Mr Boom's online shop Buy from Amazon

Buy from iTunes

Song Book

Not directly related to the TV series, but a book of words and music to the songs from the first Mr Boom album, Singalong with Mr Boom is available from Mr Boom's shop. Buy from Mr Boom's online shop

Sources & References

  • BBC (1990) BBC Scotland for Schools: A complete resource for Primary Schools 1990-91. Edinburgh: BBC Education Scotland.
  • BBC (1991a) BBC Education Annual Programme for Primary and Middle Schools 1991-92. London: BBC Education.
  • BBC (1991b) Programmes for Scottish Primary Schools 1991-92. Edinburgh: BBC Education Scotland.
  • BBC (1992a) BBC Education Annual Programme for Primary and Middle Schools 1992-93. London: BBC Education.
  • BBC (1992b) 1992-93 Television and Radio Programmes for Scottish Primary Schools. Edinburgh: BBC Education Scotland.
  • BBC (1993) BBC Education Annual Programme for Primary and Middle Schools Ages 4-13 1993-94. London: BBC Education.
  • BBC (1994) BBC Education Radio and Television for Primary and Middle Schools 1994-1995. London: BBC Education.
  • BBC (1995) BBC Education Television, Radio and Resources for Primary and Middle Schools 1995-1996. London: BBC Education.
  • BBC (1996) BBC Education Television, Radio and Resources for Primary and Middle Schools 1996-1997. London: BBC Education.
  • BBC Programme Catalogue online (no longer available)
  • BBC Schools termly wallcharts 1990-1996
  • Times Educational Supplement television listings, 1991-1996.
  • Virgin (1994) The Complete Guide to What's On Video Virgin Megastores October 1994. Peterborough: The Home Entertainment Corporation. ISBN 0 952 22598 0.


Links


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