Zig Zag: The Saga of Gunnar Goldhair

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📺BBC Schools TV
companyBBC
started12th Oct 1987
ended19th Oct 1987
last rpt1st Oct 2004(on the CBBC Channel)
18 school years
episodes2
duration20 mins
subject 🏛️History
age rangeAge 7-9
languageenIn English
3 images from The Saga of Gunnar Goldhair


Zig ZagHierarchyPrevious.gifPrevious unit: The VikingsNext unit: The Channel TunnelHierarchyNext.gif

The Saga of Gunnar Goldhair is a unit of the BBC Schools TV series Zig Zag from the 1980s, 1990s & 2000s, covering history for primary school pupils.

A historical drama serial in two episodes, set in a Viking settlement at Jorvik in England.

Gunnar returns from exile to the settlement of Jorvik, where his father had been put to death for making false coins. He speaks to the inhabitants, Saxons and Vikings, and finds a community under the thrall of the local 'moneyer' Grim the Greedy.

Gunnar is determined to find justice for his father, but comes under suspicion himself when one of his neighbours is murdered in the street.

Gunnar is reunited with his sword, which he calls his Big Raven, by young Brendan and Ingrid

Episode List

# Title Broadcast
1. drama Murder in Coppergate #1987-10-12-00-00-0012 Oct 1987
2. drama The Monster of Jorvik #1987-10-19-00-00-0019 Oct 1987

Broadcasts

Year Term Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Channel Details
1987-88 Autumn 1987 Monday, 11:00am Wednesday, 1:38pm BBC2
Summer 1988 Monday, 1:00pm Thursday, 12:50pm BBC2 Subtitle Slot
1989-90 Autumn 1989 Monday, 11:00am Wednesday, 1:40pm BBC2
1991-92 Autumn 1991 Monday, 11:00am Wednesday, 1:40pm BBC2
1993-94 Spring 1994 Monday, 11:00am Wednesday, 1:40pm BBC2
1995-96 Autumn 1995 Monday, 11:05am Wednesday, 1:20pm BBC2


CBBC Channel

Also broadcast on the CBBC Channel 'Class TV' service of schools programmes:


Credits

Starring Rupert Baker as Gunnar Goldhair
Emrys James as Grim the Greedy
Anna Cropper as Helga
Paul Copley as Olaf
Peter Stockbridge as Old Edwin
Rebecca Sowden as Ingrid
Timothy Lyn as Brendan
Brett Forrest as Skullcrop
William Ilkley as Snakeye
Narrator David March
Writer Ian Taylor
Designer Gwen Evans
Producer & director Tom Stanier

Resources

Playscript

There were teacher's notes and a playscript available.

Related programmes


BBC TV drama serials for junior topics

From Merry-Go-Round: Castors Away! (1967) • The Broken Sword (1968) • Tom's Midnight Garden (1968) • When Uncle Klaas Fell Over (1969) • The Raven and the Cross (1971) • The Viaduct (1972) • The Crocodile (1973) • The Raven and the Cross (1974) • The Sleepers on the Hill (1975)

From Zig Zag: Hungry Times (1983) • The Saga of Gunnar Goldhair (1987)

From Landmarks: Christopher Columbus: The Man Who Dared (1992) • The Gunpowder Plot, Plague! and Fire! (1985) see The History Trail
Zig Zag (1983-2000)

Series Overview • Units • Episode List

Ancient Greece (1996) • The Anglo-Saxons (1992) • The Arabs (1984) • Art (1997) • Canada (1987) • Cathedrals (1989) • The Channel Tunnel (1987) • Computers (1983) • Danger Detectors (1996) • The Eskimos (1985) • Food and Farming (1995) • France (2000) • Gardens and Growth (1985) • Geography UK (1995) • Getting About (1988) • The Greeks (1986) • Hungry Times (1983) • Invaders (1997) • Kenya (1994-96) • Let's Face It (1990) • Making It Work (1997) • Mapmakers! (1993) • Mordicus (1986) • The Normans (1983) • The Odyssey (1990) • The Olympics (1984-92) • Over to You (1985-89) • Roman Britain (1993) • Rush, The Fallow Deer (1987) • The Saga of Gunnar Goldhair (1987) • Snapshots: Children in the Second World War (2000) • Space (1984-88) • Spaceship Earth (1986) • Tales from Europe (1992) • Tales from Europe (2000) • Technology (1991) • Topical Programmes (1985-89) • Trees (1993) • Trees and Man (1991) • Tudor Life (1998) • The Vikings (1987) • Village, Town, City (1997) • A Walk Through Time (1999) • Water (1990) • Water, Air, Land (1998) • Weather (1999) • Where You Live, Where I Live (1994) • Wildlife Safari (1989-91) • Winter Festival (1986) • World of Work (1989) • You and the Media (1986)

See also: Zig Zag Shorts • Landmarks • Primary Geography • Primary History

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