Zig Zag: The Odyssey
The Odyssey is a unit of the BBC Schools TV series Zig Zag from the 1990s, covering history for primary school pupils.
A retelling of stories from Greek myths of Odysseus, along with features about schools undertaking project work in areas such as archaeology, pottery making and poetry.
The storytelling sequences had originally been shown as part of the earlier series Merry-Go-Round in summer 1976, and repeated in 1977 and 1981. New introductory segments were made for this revival as part of Zig Zag a decade later.
A repeat run in 1993 omitted the 5th episode on The Fury of Poseidon.
Episode List
| # | Title | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | The Wooden Horse | 15 Jan 1990 |
| 2. | The Cyclops | 22 Jan 1990 |
| 3. | The Magic of Circe | 29 Jan 1990 |
| 4. | The Sirens | 5 Feb 1990 |
| 5. | The Fury of Poseidon | 12 Feb 1990 |
| 6. | The Homecoming | 26 Feb 1990 |
Broadcasts
| Year | Term | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Channel | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989-90 | Spring 1990 | Monday, 11:00am | Wednesday, 1:40pm | BBC2 | ||||
| 1992-93 | Spring 1993 | Monday, 11:00am | Wednesday, 1:40pm | BBC2 |
Credits
| Narrator | Robert Erskine |
| Producer | Andrea Christodoulou |
Resources
There were teacher's notes and a Factfinders book (The World of Odysseus) available.
Related programmes
Topics
School topics covered in this programme. Click to find other programmes covering the same topics, but bear in mind topics are a new addition to the site in 2023 and not many are set up yet.
Keyword tags
Some features of this programme. Click to find other programmes with the same features, but bear in mind tags are also a new addition to the site in 2023 and not many are set up yet.
More
Want more on this programme?
This site attempts to cover thousands of programmes and it will take ages to update them all. If you would like to see this one updated soon please click on the star to 'vote' for it and I will do my best to prioritise it!
Voting is anonymous and you can vote for as many programmes as you like. The number in the box above shows how many people have already voted for this programme. You can also see a list of all the votes so far.
More Programmes
Some random programmes for age 7-9 from the 1990s
| Be' Nesa'? | |
| BBC Schools Radio | |
| 1990-1992 | |
| English |
| Together: Television Specials | |
| BBC Schools TV | |
| 1990-1991 | |
| Religion |
| Picture This! | |
| Channel 4 Schools | |
| 1994-1996 | |
| Art |
| Thunderbirds in French | |
| BBC Schools TV | |
| 1992-1997 | |
| Languages |