The Story Makers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Story Makers |
|
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's |
| Created by | Clare Bradley Tony Reed |
| Developed by | BBC MediaArc |
| Directed by | Stephen Cannon Simon Brown Clare Farlow Tony Reed Helen Church Brendan McCaul Sarah Colclough Justine Hallside Ros Atille |
| Starring | Nick Mercer Aliex Yuill Danny John-Jules Michael Offei Dystin Johnson Lauretta Nkwocha Joe Vera Paul J. Medford Tim Jones Robin Fritz and others |
| Narrated by | Gary Martin Stephen Cannon Ailex Yulli and others |
| Theme music composer | Francis Haines |
| Opening theme | Francis Haines Clare Bradley |
| Composer(s) | Francis Haines Liz Kitchen |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 245 (List of The Story Makers episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Annette Williams Clare Elstow |
| Producer(s) | Clare Bradley Tony Reed |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 15 minutes (Series 1) 20 minutes (Series 2-4) |
| Production company(s) | BBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBeebies |
| Audio format | Stereophonic sound |
| Original release | 11 February 2002 – 27 March 2004 |
The Story Makers was a fun and educational TV show for kids. It aired on CBeebies, which is part of the BBC. The show took place in a children's library. Its main goal was to help young viewers with literacy (reading and writing) and to spark their creativity.
Contents
How the Show Works
The show begins when the library closes for the night. At midnight, two special puppets named Jackson and Jelly appear. They live in the library and hide during the day. A presenter, who is a member of the Wordsworth family, joins them.
Making New Stories
The Story Makers (Jackson, Jelly, and the presenter) find objects in the library. Sometimes these objects appear by magic! They put the object into a special "story machine." This machine used to be a regular desktop computer.
Then, everyone says a special rhyme: "Imagine, imagine, imagine a story!" The story machine then creates a brand-new book. This book contains a story based on the object they found.
Stories in the Books
The story from the book is then shown on screen. These stories are usually live action or animation.
- The first story is often a "Playbook." These are live-action segments featuring young children.
- Other stories can be cartoons, stop-motion animation, or puppet shows.
- Some characters appear often, like Sniff and Wag (two puppet dogs).
- Blue Cow is a popular cartoon cow created by Blue-Zoo Productions.
- Kevin the Spaceman is another puppet character.
- Every episode always has a Blue Cow story and a Playbook story. The third story changes each time.
When Morning Comes
As the sun starts to rise, the Story Maker presenter says goodbye. They disappear, and Jelly and Jackson hide again. The story machine turns back into a computer. But the best part is that the new books made overnight stay in the library! The librarian and children find them when the library opens in the morning.
In later seasons (Series 2-4), Jelly and Jackson sometimes peek at what the kids or librarian are doing during the credits. They hide quickly to make it seem like they are invisible. This fun trick was not in Series 1.
Meet the Characters
The show features a mix of live actors and puppets.
The Wordsworth Family
The main presenters are members of the Wordsworth family. They help make the stories come alive:
- Milton Wordsworth - Played by Danny John-Jules. He was in every series except Series 2.
- Byron Wordsworth - Played by Michael Offei. He appeared in Series 2-4.
- Shelley Wordsworth - Played by Lauretta Nkwocha. She appeared in Series 2-4.
- Rossetti Wordsworth - Played by Dystin Johnson. She appeared in Series 2-4.
- Webster Wordsworth - Played by Joe Vera. He appeared in Series 2-4.
- Blake Wordsworth - Played by Paul J. Medford. He only appeared in Series 4.
In the very first series, Milton Wordsworth was the only presenter.
Other Human Characters
- The Librarian: This character appears at the start and end of the show. Sometimes it's a woman, sometimes a man.
- Children in the library: Kids are seen at the beginning and end of the show. They were not in Series 1.
- Playbook children: These are the young children who star in the live-action "Playbook" stories. They were in every series.
The Puppets
Two special puppets are at the heart of The Story Makers:
- Jackson: Voiced by Nick Mercer. He is pink and looks a bit like a porcupine.
- Jelly: Voiced by Aliex Yuill. She is green with hair sticking out and looks like a bird. Jelly is said to be 3 years old.
Jackson and Jelly also appeared in other CBeebies shows. They were seen on CBeebies Springwatch and CBeebies Autumnwatch. Jelly was also a regular character in Green Balloon Club.
Story Types in the Show
Every episode of The Story Makers includes a "Playbook" story and a "Blue Cow" story. The third story changes and can be one of these:
- Kevin the Spaceman: These stories appeared in every series.
- Sniff and Wag: These stories also appeared in every series.
- Barnacle Rock: These stories were featured in Series 1-3.
- Jack Sprat and Treacle Cat: These stories only appeared in Series 1.
- Tales from Faraway: These stories only appeared in Series 1.
- The Poons: These stories only appeared in Series 1.
- Super Baby: These stories were only in Series 4.
- The Three Bears: These stories appeared in Series 3-4.
- Rainforest Tales: These stories only appeared in Series 2.
Home Videos
In 2004, you could buy The Story Makers episodes on VHS tapes and DVDs. These were released by the Contender Entertainment Group with permission from the BBC.
- The first release had five episodes from Series 1.
- The second release was a "Bumper Special" with ten episodes. It had five episodes on each VHS tape or DVD.
- CBeebies – The Story Makers at BBC Online
- The Story Makers at BBC Programmes
