The Lampies is a British 2000–2002 animated children's television series, created by David Bonner of Red Balloon Productions which remains with a mix of 2D and 3D animation.
Created specifically by David Bonner in conjunction with Uli Meyer Animation Studios and music by Mcasso Music, there are forty-six fifteen-minute episodes that were originally commissioned by the BBC. Financial issues caused the creative and business drive to malfunction, and all momentum was lost, meaning that the crew were unable to complete the second series of the show.
Plot
A group of friendly sprite-like power engineers maintain and defend the lamp post "HO32" which is the critical area of the entire Lighting Network. The Roons, who live with their only leader, Arch Roon, in the dark
Sewage treatment below, are the green yellow-eyed creatures who always plan to threaten the whole Lighting Network due to their strong dislike of light.
Brown rat can still also prove to be a pest to the Lampies themselves.
Characters and Voice Cast
The Lampies Crew
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Burnout (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – The friendly laid back foreman of the Lampies who always runs scheduled switches for the lamp light. He has green skin and white hair as well as a white moustache, and he always wears a dark blue jumpsuit. "Jumping fuses!" remains as Burnout's catchphrase.
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Spotlight (voiced by Eve Karpf) – The routine inspector of the Lampies. She acts like the mother to all the other Lampies. She has green skin, just like Burnout, has lavender hair and she (mostly) wears glasses as well as a pink jumpsuit, similar to Livewire.
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Charge (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) – The clumsy, day-dreaming assistant worker of the Lampies who has blue skin as well as blue hair. He is the most prone to problems. He wears a yellow jumpsuit, just like Contact. There remains a running gag involving Charge always falling into H032's control room through the circular hole in the ceiling.
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Contact (voiced by Susan Sheridan) – The serious and sensible computer operator of the Lampies with purple skin and red hair who always has her young niece, Livewire. She always wears a blue hat as well as a yellow jumpsuit, just like Charge.
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Livewire (voiced by Susan Sheridan) – Contact's young "niece", who has pale peach skin as well as pink hair. Livewire speaks in a high-pitched voice, and (most of the time,) she wears a pink jumpsuit, similar to Spotlight. She is often pushed around by the lamppost's grown-ups, nevertheless she manages to save the day several times. Livewire manages to play with "Dustywugg", her best friend, whenever she can do so.
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Dustywugg the Dog (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – A furry sprite who serves as the Lampies' pet and mascot. He has orange fur and enjoys playing where possible with his owner, Livewire. Dustywugg can be quite cheeky at times, but the grown-ups, including Contact, always understand.
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Captain Bright Light (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – The absent-minded captain and leader of the Lampies with pale skin, brown hair. Captain Bright Light always wears a dark green jumpsuit. He has an older brother, Flash Light, who is bigger and stronger, yet he is not as brave as Bright Light himself. "Shortened Circuits" remains as Captain Bright Light's catchphrase.
Antagonists
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The Roons (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert and Rob Rackstraw) – A big group of green-faced creatures with yellow eyes, who live in the dark Sewage treatment just below the Lampies world. They remain absolutely afraid of light (even when it comes to small torches) and constantly try to break all the streetlights around the network.
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Arch Roon (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – The leader of the Roons who mostly stays in the yard in the sewers, even though he does not show any signs of Heliophobia. The only person he actually fears is his own mother.
Other characters
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Brigadier Big Beam (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) – The superior organiser of the whole Lighting Network. He has purple skin, just like Contact, has white hair and wears a green uniform.
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Phosphorous (voiced by Eve Karpf) – The Brigadier's officer liaison, Contact's friend, and Charge's love interest. She has pale skin, brown hair and wears a yellow shirt and red skirt.
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Captain Spentflint – Formerly the Lampies' captain, who is now retired. Criticised as a slave driver.
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Spark (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) – Livewire's well-behaved friend who is the keeper of a bike light. People like him are called Bikeys.
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Neon – A one-off character for the show's series 2 opener - features in the "Light Up the World for Christmas" single.
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Haywire (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) – A one-off character in series 1 episode 11 "Bouncer" who is Burnout's cousin, living in Lamppost HY11 in sector 14.
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Bouncer the Grasshopper (voiced by Eve Karpf) – The chattering, gossiping and friendly green grasshopper with light blue eyes. She only appears in Series 1 Episode 11 "Bouncer" and is mentioned by quite a few of the main Lampies members themselves, including Burnout.
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Captain Spectrum (voiced by Rob Rackstraw)
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Flash Light (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) - Captain Bright Light's brother who is mentioned by Bright Light himself in the episode "Flash By Name".
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Boris the Bat (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) - A male pipistrelle bat who only appears in the episode "Boris". Boris proves to be a good friend to the Lampies.
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Geoff the Alien (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) - A male alien who only appears in the episodes "The Inspection", "The Vacation" and "Space Walk".
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PJ (voiced by Susan Sheridan) - A young human boy with brown hair and brown eyes who lives in one of the houses in the town with his parents. He only appears in the episode "The Boy Who Could See The Lampies". PJ eventually becomes friendly with Livewire and Spark, and in return, he offers them a free ride on board his toy train in his bedroom.
Episodes
Series 1
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| 12 October 2000 |
| 19 October 2000 |
| 26 October 2000 |
| 2 November 2000 |
| 9 November 2000 |
| 16 November 2000 |
| 23 November 2000 |
| 30 November 2000 |
| 7 December 2000 |
| 14 December 2000 |
| 21 December 2000 |
| 21 December 2000 |
| 8 January 2001 |
| 15 January 2001 |
| 22 January 2001 |
| 29 January 2001 |
| 5 February 2001 |
| 12 February 2001 |
| 13 February 2001 |
| 13 February 2001 |
| 14 February 2001 |
| 12 March 2001 |
| 13 March 2001 |
| 14 March 2001 |
| 15 March 2001 |
| 16 March 2001 |
Series 2
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| 28 October 2001 |
| 30 October 2001 |
| 2 November 2001 |
| 4 November 2001 |
| 6 November 2001 |
| 7 November 2001 |
| 8 November 2001 |
| 17 November 2001 |
| 21 November 2001 |
| 22 November 2001 |
| 23 November 2001 |
| 5 December 2001 |
| 6 December 2001 |
| 27 December 2001 |
| 3 March 2002 |
| 4 March 2002 |
| 6 March 2002 |
| 8 March 2002 |
| 9 March 2002 |
| 9 April 2002 |
| 9 April 2002 |
| 9 April 2002
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| 12 April 2002 |
| 14 April 2002 |
| 16 April 2002 |
| 18 April 2002 |
Reception
TV distribution rights for Series One were sold into 33 countries. When series one was broadcast in 2001 it regularly achieved over 40% of target viewing audience. This figure reached over 50% during 2002. Series two of
The Lampies was completed in March 2002 and generated similar audience figures with prime slots on BBC 1 and 2.
Releases
HIT Entertainment released a single UK-only VHS tape release of the programme entitled "Captain Who and Other Stories" in 2001 Plush Toys Includes Livewire Dustywugg Roon & Charge Launch October 2001.
After the sale of the series to LP Productions, the company began relaunching the series. An introductory DVD –
Switch Onto the Lampies was launched on 7 April 2008. A full DVD release containing the first half of the first series - "A Bit of a Jam and Other Stories", was released on 19 May 2008.
LP Productions formed a partnership with Save the Children in 2008, where £2 from the sale of the introductory DVD went towards the Save the Children protection work.
External links
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