From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Captain Abercromby
Captain Abercromby
Captain Abercromby ing the dream world of the show and starting the title se-
quence.
Format children’s programming Each story would finish with an alarm clock ringing,
Created John Gorman bringing Abercromby out of his dream and waking up
by to his Grandpa standing by his bed. Abercromby then
begins to tell his Grandpa an excited summary of the
Starring (puppeteers) Colin Purves, Geoff Felix, Dave
Chapman, Damian Farrell, Symon Macintyre, episode, volume fading down as the credits and music
Lynn Robertson-Bruce roll over the scene.
(voices) Kate Heavenor, Mark McDonnell, Jo
James, Barbara Rafferty, Lewis MacLeod, Ian
Sexon Characters
Country United Kingdom
of origin Abercromby’s crew
No. of 26
• Abercromby - the show’s titular character,
episodes Abercromby is a boy who dreams of an adventure
where he is trying to find his Grandpa’s missing
Production
watch.
Running 15 minutes • Siren - Abercromby’s shipmate, and the living front
time of the ship. She believes in Abercromby the most,
Broadcast
and is the one who will convince the others to save
him.
Original BBC • Great Oak - a talking tree, an Oak Tree in particular,
channel
he is the ship’s helmsman, and responsible for
Original 2002 – 2003 keeping the ship moving. He is also the fount of
run knowledge and wisdom on board the ship.
• Arthur - a talking suit of armour that works on the
Captain Abercromby was a children’s TV show that was on ship. Arthur is a bumbling character, and is the
BBC Two in 2002-2003. Its cast was puppets. prominent character in the series, next to
Abercromby himself.
Series overview • Poindexter - the ship’s janitor, who is also a purple
talking dog. Pointdexter is quite intelligent, as he is
Captain Abercromby was a puppet series about a boy shown doing things humans are subject to do. Aside
named Abercromby, who is raised by his grandfather. from Captain Abercromby, he is the only character
After hearing the tale of how his Grandpa lost his watch, to cross from the "real" world into the "dream"
which was given to him by Abercromby’s mother, he world.
dreams that he a Captain of a seaship, the "Hope", and
that he is on a mission to find the watch. They have a ri- Thunderbottom Crew
val crew attempting to find buried treasure, ran by Cap-
• Captain Jake - a pirate, and arch rival to Abercromby.
tain Jake in his ship "Thunderbottom", who mistaken-
Although Jake is a fully grown man, he often resorts
ly (but logically) believe that Abercromby is looking for
to very childish behaviour. Jake looks like a very
buried treasure, so making the series a race between the
typical pirate, but much of his appearance is put on -
two ships.
his eyepatch just covers a perfectly good eye, and his
Each show would open with Abercromby’s Grandpa
hook is held in one of his hands. Jake’s schemes to
telling his story, in a green wooden bedroom surrounded
catch up with Abercromby usually involve a comedic
by characters and props which later fill out the cast of
comeupance.
Abercromby’s dreams - a suit of armour in the corner
• Bobweb - a spider, she sits on Jake’s shoulder much as
(Arthur), a carved mermaid (Siren) and the tree outside
a parrot would on a stereotypical pirate. She is the
(Great Oak). The following shots showed Abercromby
scheming half of the partnership, more intelligent
climbing into bed (with Pointdexter on the end) and go-
than Jake, but just as likely to get her just deserts.
ing to sleep, saying "I’ll find that watch one day", enter-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Captain Abercromby
• Russian Dolls - the Thunderbottom is also home to copy of the watch is dismissed by Admiral Dobbin as be-
three black and white "pirate-themed" Russian Dolls, ing a fake.
varying in size from one bigger than all the other
characters on board to a small "Baby skull" doll.
• Seagulls - most of the crew of Thunderbottom is
Production
Seagulls who often speak or are randomly assigned a The show was produced by Wark Clements for BBC Scot-
name. land. Filming took place from February to July 2001 in
• Clawdia - ship’s cat, and most often behind the wheel Glasgow. The series was being filmed at the Media Park in
of the Thunderbottom Maryhill, Glasgow but on 22 April a fire took hold of the
• Snappy - the chef. A red lobster, he was voiced in a studio, destroying all sets, props and equipment.[1] The
pastiche of Woody Allen’s mannersisms. production relocated to another nearby studio to com-
plete the filming, after rebuilding as much as they need-
Other Characters ed to finish filming.
• Sultan - the ruler of "Rabadabdab", a seaside exotic
port which was the most frequent mooring for the Style
"Hope". Like most of "Rabadabdab"’s inhabitants, he
The puppets and design of the show were all created
was a bird, a purple puffin.
in a child-friendly cartoon style, with the majority of
• Lily Limpet - East-end mollusc who serves food and
the creatures being Muppet-type puppets (although they
drink at the Limpet Inn, Rabadabdab’s drinking hole
were built by Neil Sternberg’s studio, not Jim Henson’s).
(soft drinks only!)
• Admiral Dobbin - authority figure, head of the "King’s
Navy". Admiral Dobbin would often enter the story Crew
to sort out a mess.
Trivia/Rumour
Episode titles Several of the puppet characters were reused in different
• Birthday Bash costume to play other characters in the show. Clawdia,
• Sailor Of The Year Snappy and Admiral Dobbin all had various other guises.
• Captain’s Cook Notably, Admiral Dobbin’s puppet can be identified as
• The Duel Abercromby’s Grandfather in the bookend segments of
• Extra Pair Of Paws the show.
• Unlucky For Some Shortly after this show, Dave Chapman and Damian
• The Right Treatment Farrell teamed up to create and perform the puppet duo
• The Rule Book "Tiny and Mr Duk" on the Saturday Show.
• The Sultan’s Visit There was a rumour that Abercromby’s name was in-
• Mrs Jake spired from the popular clothing brand Abercrombie &
• Athur’s Family Tree Fitch.
• Trumpet Boy
• Out Of The Hat
• Watch Out References
• Navy Blues [1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1290779.stm
• Lights Out [2] "http://tvpuppeteer.com/"
• Stowaway Star [3] "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppet_Lab"
• What A Washout [4] "http://www.caboom.ie/"
• Gee A Genie [5] "http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Geoff_Felix"
• The Sultan’s Challenge
• Big Blue Fish
• Mummy’s Little Treasure
External links
• Bobweb’s Machine • http://www.toonhound.com/abercromby.htm
• Bully For You
• Captain Invisible
• Marooned
In one episode of the series, "Out of the Hat", Abercrom-
by and his crew briefly find his Grandpa’s watch, seen
every week in the opening title sequence. However, this
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Captain Abercromby
creator/designer: John Gorman
director: Doug Williams
producers: Ken Anderson, Dominique Middleton
writer: Keith Brumpton
script editor: Mike James
music: Rowland Lee
lyrics: Rowland Lee, Keith Brumpton
puppeteers: Colin Purves[2], Dave Chapman, Symon Macintyre[3], Damian Farrell [4], Lynn Robertson Bruce,
Geoff Felix[5]
additional puppe- Neil Sternberg, Victoria Willing
teers:
puppet workshop: Grant Mason, Sarah Cowlinshaw
with thanks to: Scottish Mask & Puppet Centre
puppet construc- Daedalus Models, Neil Sternberg
tion:
set design: The Quickening, WM Design
construction man- Neil Querns
ager:
asst art dir: Dave Turbitt
art director: Ewen Duncan
accountant: Scott Harper
lighting camera: Gary Morrison
camera asst: Keith Ingram, Shu Lorimer
lighting: Steve Arthur, Chris Batchelor
grip: Lucien Grieve
sound sup: Steve Thom
computer graphics: Pictures on the Wall
asst dub mix: Dave Soutar
dubbing mixer: Mike Powell
voices: Kate Heavenor (mainly Captain Abercromby)
Mark McDonnell (Great Oak and others)
Jo James (Siren and others)
Barbara Rafferty (Bobweb and others)
Lewis MacLeod (Arthur and others)
Ian Sexon (Captain Jake and others)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Captain_Abercromby&oldid=427935369"
Categories:
• BBC children's television programmes
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Captain Abercromby
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