The Way Things Work (TV series) facts for kids
The Way Things Work was a fun and educational TV show for kids. It was based on a very popular book by David Macaulay with the same name. The show helped young viewers learn about basic science and how different machines work. It was made by companies like Millimages, Pearson Broadband, and Schlessinger Media.
The series aired daily on BBC2 and CBBC in the UK from 2001 to early 2002. It was a hand-animated show, which means each drawing was made by hand! Even though it was educational, it only had 26 episodes, each about 15 minutes long. The show stopped because it didn't have enough new episodes or viewers. Later, all 26 episodes were released on DVD in 2005.
The story takes place on a funny place called Mammoth Island. The people living there are a bit behind the times. They try to make their lives easier by building all sorts of strange machines. These machines often cause new problems, leading to funny situations and science lessons!
There was also a related show called Mammutland (which means "Mammoth Country" in English). This animated series was made in Germany, France, and Britain. It aired in 2002 and 2004 and was also based on the ideas from The Way Things Work book.
Contents
How the Show Was Made
The book The Way Things Work by David Macaulay was very popular. Because of this, a company called Millimages thought it would make a great TV show. They shared their idea with Schlessinger Media, who agreed to help. Schlessinger Media then helped get the show on the BBC.
Making the animation started in 1999. But the show didn't actually start airing until 2001. Each of the 26 episodes was 15 minutes long. They all aimed to teach children about different science topics. Millimages had plans to make a second season. However, the show was stopped because not enough people were watching it. It was one of the last TV shows on the BBC that was animated completely by hand.
The show used ideas from the book. Each episode focused on a different area of science. The creators decided to set the show on an island. This island was later named Mammoth Island. The people there would build strange machines to make their daily lives easier.
The Mammutland series was produced in 2003 and 2004. It was a team effort by Millimages, Pearson Broadband, Schlessinger Media, and ZDF. Diego Zamora directed the show. Simon Jowett and Alastair Swinnerton wrote the stories. In the German version, a famous TV host named Peter Lustig introduced the show. He also sang the theme song and voiced the Inventor character. This series aired in Germany and Austria. It was also released on DVD.
Meet the Characters
The show had six main characters. They all appeared in every episode.
The Inventor
The Inventor is a middle-aged man who is visiting Mammoth Island. We never learn his name in the show. He is the one who builds all the machines on the island. He is always trying to create new devices to save work. But these inventions often cause their own funny problems! Dan Russell provided his voice.
Olive
Olive is the Inventor's closest friend. She is 14 years old and very curious. She often seems smarter than the Inventor! Ellie Fairman voiced Olive.
Troy
Troy is Olive's cousin. He likes to use his own strength or the strength of the woolly mammoths. Sometimes, he can be a bit easily tricked. Bob Saker was the voice of Troy.
Frank
Frank is Pilbeam's brother and Olive's father. He is in charge of building the Inventor's new machines. Keith Wickham voiced Frank.
Pilbeam
Pilbeam is Troy's father and Brenda's husband. Even though he is Frank's brother, they live separately. He often isn't sure about Frank's plans. He is also known to argue with his wife. Keith Wickham also voiced Pilbeam.
Brenda
Brenda is Troy's mother and Pilbeam's wife. She usually doesn't like the Inventor's ideas. She often argues with her husband about them. Caroline Bernstein voiced Brenda.
Episode Guide
Here is a list of the episodes and what they were about:
14 || Somewhere Over the Mammoth || While working for the Inventor, Troy sees many things because of how light behaves, including a rainbow. The Inventor also loses his piggy bank. You learn about light, refraction, reflection, rainbows, mirrors, and light rays.
| Episode No. | Title | What Happens and What You Learn |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rolling Stones | A mammoth stampede messes up the village. The islanders try to build good roads using big rocks. You learn about inclined planes and wedges. |
| 2 | A See Saw World | The islanders want to win a "heaviest mammoth" contest. They build scales from logs and rocks to weigh the mammoths. You learn about levers. |
| 3 | Take a Mammoth to Water | The mammoths need a bath, but they don't want to get wet. The Inventor suggests using winches and wheels to help. You learn about wheels and axles. |
| 4 | Fun at the Fair | Olive wants to make the annual funfair exciting this year. She tries to make sure there are thrilling rides. You learn about belts and gears. |
| 5 | A Knight's Tale | The islanders and a visiting knight try to rescue Brenda. She is stuck at the top of an observation tower. You learn about screws. |
| 6 | Pulleys | The islanders are running out of mammoth milk. They try to lift the mammoths off the ground for milking. You learn about pulleys. |
| 7 | Life on the Water | Pilbeam tries to take his mammoths to Pasture Island. The bridge breaks, and he gets stuck. The islanders build rafts and boats to rescue him. You learn about floating and upthrust. |
| 8 | Stuck in the Mud | Frank and Pilbeam use huge magnets to get scrap metal from a sunken ship. Things get tricky when Troy makes an electromagnet by accident. Frank's mammoth also gets stuck in quicksand. You learn about magnetism. |
| 9 | A Head Full of Steam | Mammoth Island's new theme park, Mammoth Land, opens. Troy and Olive are sad because the rides are too slow. The Inventor helps them use steam engines to make the Ferris wheel faster. But the wheel breaks loose and rolls all over the island! You learn about bevel gears, steam power, and condensation. |
| 10 | That Sinking Feeling | The Mammoth Ferry's first trip is interrupted by a tsunami. Its cargo gets scattered. Olive and the Inventor build a submarine to get the items back. You learn about submersibles, sinking, water pressure, and density. |
| 11 | Engine Trouble | Brenda opens a pizza place and promises "free mammoth delivery." But the mammoths are too slow, so she makes no money. The Inventor helps build a jet engine to deliver pizzas on time. You learn about jet engines, combustion, and flight. |
| 12 | On Squeezing Mammoths | Brenda's bakery burns down. The fire brigade floods the island because they are not very good. The Inventor helps the islanders build a proper water pump. You learn about pumping, water pressure, and air molecules. |
| 13 | Oh, For the Wings of a Mammoth | Frank and Pilbeam help Brenda run an awning factory. They discover how things fly when an awning tied to a mammoth catches the wind. The Inventor teaches them how to use this to their advantage. You learn about air pressure, flight, aeroplanes, and wind. |
| 15 | The Far Side | To stop being bored, the islanders cross a mountain with a mammoth. The mammoth gets stuck hanging over a cliff. The Inventor uses a hot-air balloon to help. You learn about ballooning, hot air, blimps, expansion, rising, and gravity. |
| 16 | Heating | The Inventor's water pipes freeze. He accidentally destroys Brenda's house, the sauna, and his own home. Olive then shows him how mammoths are used to make heat. They build a giant vacuum flask. You learn about heating water, conduction, radiation, convection currents, and vacuum flasks. |
| 17 | The Sound of a Mammoth | The islanders guide their mammoths through a canyon to find food. But they lose them in pits after a stampede. The islanders get confused by the echoes of the mammoths' calls. The Inventor builds a device to bring them back. You learn about echoes, sound waves, hearing, and ear anatomy. |
| 18 | Images | Pilbeam can't finish painting pictures of the golf tournament winners. The Inventor suggests using cameras and lenses to speed things up. Troy also gets sunburned. You learn about images, photography, binoculars, lenses, picture development, and magnification. |
| 19 | Cooling | During a hot summer, islanders and mammoths fight over who gets to use the river. The Inventor tries to put an air-conditioning unit in Frank's kitchen, but it goes wrong. You learn about air conditioning, air cooling, and cooling. |
| 20 | Hot Wheels | The islanders build carts to deliver their goods faster than Dodo Island. Olive and Troy race down a steep hill with paper cargo. The Inventor helps them add brakes. You learn about heat, friction, brakes, and lubrication. |
| 21 | Coconut Crumble | Troy finds out that Mammoth Island coconut trees are stretchy. The islanders use them to throw coconuts across the island. They need to gather 200 kilos in two hours for a fruit salesman. You learn about springs, elasticity, Hooke's Law, mass, and weighing. |
| 22 | Take It to the Bridge | A music concert is held to celebrate a new bridge. Mammoths are used as instruments! The Inventor cries out, causing a stampede that wrecks the stage. The islanders are mad at him. Olive helps him build new giant woodwind instruments for a replacement concert. You learn about music, woodwind, brass, air flow, sound waves, instruments, and vibration. |
| 23 | She Wears My Ring | Brenda goes to market, leaving Troy and Pilbeam in charge. Troy accidentally washes Brenda's wedding ring down the sink. Pilbeam, Olive, Frank, and the Inventor dig up the road to find it in the water pipes before Brenda returns. You learn about pressure, water pressure, plungers, water flow, and suction. |
| 24 | Shocking | Troy and his mammoth both spear a lemon with metal sticks. They get an electric shock! Brenda and Pilbeam try to calm the mammoth with plastic combs. This creates static electricity, pulling trash from the village. The Inventor explains electricity. The islanders use lemons to power their machines for the harvest. You learn about electricity, current, positive and negative charge, static electricity, acid, batteries, and circuits. |
| 25 | Sensors and Sensorbility | Brenda gets the Mammoth Inn, an old hotel powered by mammoths. Frank and Olive arrive to get their share. Brenda asks them and the Inventor to fix up the inn. They add things like metal detectors, security cameras, and smoke alarms. A rich businessman wants to buy the inn, but only if it has mammoths and isn't modern. Pilbeam tries to hide the machines. You learn about smoke alarms, metal detectors, lasers, escalators, sensors, counterweights, and infra-red. |
| 26 | Telecommunications | In the last episode, the Inventor tries to set up a telephone network. The islanders have been throwing coded rocks to Dodo Island to talk! The mammoths start using the telephone poles as scratching posts. This means they need mobile phones instead. You learn about telephones, exchanges, satellites, signals, mobile phones, and fiber-optic systems. |
