Watch: Famous People 2 with Magic Grandad
Famous People 2 with Magic Grandad is a unit of the BBC schools TV series Watch from the 2000s, covering Modern History and Ancient History for primary school pupils.
Magic Grandad is now capable of travelling thousands of years back in time if he needs to, and he seems to think that his crash landings have improved, although everybody else disagrees. This Grandad takes his various grandchildren to meet famous people from history, who tend to be expecting him and know the names of the child visitors. The children interrogate the famous people about what they do, and how and why they do it, which does not faze the subjects in the least.
At the end of each episode Grandad turns to camera and asks viewers what they will remember about the famous person. The programmes do their job of getting viewers to think about each figure very well, but frankly they seem less imaginative than any of the previous series were able to be!
One of the grandchildren this time looks a lot like one of the previous Grandad's companions, and one of the historical figures they meet looks a lot like Samuel Pepys. But I'm sure that's just a coincidence!
Grandad is played by Peter Armitage.
Episodes
| # | Title | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Boudica | 3 Oct 2003 |
| 2. | Dr Jenner | 10 Oct 2003 |
| 3. | Brunel | 17 Oct 2003 |
| 4. | Mary Seacole | 17 Oct 2003 |
| Num | Title | 1st Broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Boudica | 3 Oct 2003 |
 Ryan is having a play sword fight. Scarlett wants to join in too but Ryan says that girls can't fight with swords. Grandad arrives and tells them about one women he knows who was a fantastic sword fighter. He takes them back to AD61 to meet Boudica, queen of the Iceni. The children find themselves wearing itchy sheepskin; they explore the camp until Boudica arrives by chariot. Over food Ryan and Scarlett interrogate Boudica and her daughters about why they are fighting.  They stay for the night and Ryan dreams of the armies facing each other. The children go exploring again and meet Boudica by a river for another chat. They spot a Roman patrol approaching and Grandad hurridly whisks his grandchildren away, while Boudica prepares to meet the Romans.
| ||
| 2. | Dr Jenner | 10 Oct 2003 |
 Duncan is chasing after his sister Lucy, who does not want to go to the doctor's for a vaccination. Grandad crashes into their garden and says that if anybody can convince her that vaccinations are a good thing it will be Dr Jenner. They travel back to 1800 and arrive in a graveyard where they meet a girl called Phoebe who is putting flowers on the grave of her young brother, a smallpox victim. They all go to Dr Jenner's "temple of vaccine" and, because it is a Thursday, there is a large queue of people waiting for a free vaccination. Dr Jenner greets them and starts talking about his activities.  Leaving his nephew to continue with the vaccinations Jenner takes the children to meet Sarah the milkmaid and Blossom the cow, and explains how they inspired his discovery, along with a young boy called James. Then John Raphael Smith, "famous portrait painter" (as he introduces himself) arrives and orders Jenner out into a field to pose.
| ||
| 3. | Brunel | 17 Oct 2003 |
 Maddy and Harry's parents have taken them on a long car journey but they seem to have got lost. The children pass the time by drawing pictures of a huge bridge across Britain and a supersonic car/boat/plane. They show these to Grandad, who tells them about a famous engineer who had brilliant ideas like that, and he takes them back to 1831 to meet Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Brunel is surveying Avon Gorge with his telescope and tells the children of his plans for a bridge across the gorge. They accompany him on his long, horse-drawn journey around the gorge in order to meet the judges of a competition to design the bridge, and on the way he talks confidently about his plans.  During a picnic lunch Grandad and Brunel construct a model of a suspension bridge out of a plank, some rope and two chairs and show the children that it supports their weight as they walk across (carefully warning them not to try such a stunt on their own). Brunel talks about some of his other ideas for railways and ships. Eventually they arrive at the castle where Brunel is to present his plans, and Grandad and the children sneak in to hear some of the presentation. Back in the present day Grandad shows them to finished Clifton Suspension Bridge and some of Brunel's other great achievements.
| ||
| 4. | Mary Seacole | 17 Oct 2003 |
 Scarlett and Ryan are having a battle with toy soldiers (and robots!). Ryan tries to rescue his injured soldiers by various means, but Scarlett insists that there were no helicopters or tanks in the old days so the soldiers will just have to lie on the battlefield groaning! Grandad drops in and tells them about Mary Seacole, who helped rescue injured soldiers during the Crimean War. They travel back to an army camp in 1855 and find Mary accompanying an injured drummer boy called Charlie from the battlefield. She asks the children to call her Mother Seacole like everyone else and enlists their help tending to Charlie while they talk about her work.  Mary and the children go to collect fresh medical supplies from a boat man and they talk about her background and how she became a nurse. But the sudden loud noises of battle summon them back to the camp, which seems to be under attack. Mary tells them not to be scared and to always greet the soldiers with a friendly smile, and they all get stuck in to nursing the injured. As the battle intensifies Grandad returns the children to safety. They go to see Mary Seacole's grave and talk about the rest of her life.
| ||
Update 15th August 2009: Lots of clips from these programmes were available online in the Learning Zone Broadband section of the BBC website, for teachers to embed into their whiteboard presentations and build into lesson plans. Unfortunately they were all removed without warning in late July 2009 and are not currently accessible.
Credits
| Starring |
Peter Armitage as Magic Grandad |
| Boudica with |
Scarlet Gee as Scarlet |
| Dr Jenner with |
Lucy Parry as Lucy |
| Brunel with |
Morgan Sass as |
| Mary Seacole with |
Scarlet Gee as Scarlet |
| Written by | Emma Collins |
| First Assistant Director | Helen Benbow |
| Second Assistant Director | Alan Powell |
| Third Assistant Director | Peter McCann |
| Location Manager | Nick Eastwood |
| Assistant Location Manager | Roger Tonks |
| Director of Photography | David Meadows |
| Designer | Laurence Williams (episodes 1 & 3), Petra Cox (episodes 2 & 4) |
| Design Assistant | Tony Jopia (episodes 1 & 3), Ray Mitchell (episodes 2 & 4) |
| Graphics | Nick Russell (episode 3) |
| Script Editor | Christine Secombe |
| Production Manager | Sue Grant |
| Production Co-ordinator | Mimma Paone |
| Researcher | Claire Ford |
| Education Consultant | John Stringer |
| Executive Producer Glasshead | Lambros Atteshlis |
| Executive Producer BBC | Karen Johnson |
| Director | Christos Georgiou |
| Producer | Hazel Graham |
| Glasshead production for BBC |
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