1 9 8 5 – 1 9 8 7 (UK)
52 x 10 minute episodes
This animated quiz show for pre-school children from Yorkshire Television featured graphics by John Sharp and music by Robert Hartley.
The programme was set in a scientific observatory set on a hillside and inhabited by a friendly alien called Giddy (voiced by Yorkshire TV announcer Redvers Kyle), a white-haired and bespectacled professor called Gus (voiced at various times by Bill Fraser, Graeme Garden and Richard Vernon), and their lovable gorilla colleague, Gorilla (Bernard Bresslaw).
Giddy flew around on a magic wand, setting simple games and puzzles while Gus the professor taught Giddy about our world. The games tested different skills of the young viewers such as matching items, visual awareness and phonetic skills.
A final game came in the form of a weekly serial called “The Thrilling Adventures of Princess Galaxzena”. Much like Giddy, Galaxzena was a green alien who could fly and each step of her “terrifying space odyssey” required her to complete a task in one of the many corners of the universe (such as stifling the dreaded yawns on the planet Snoronia or retrieving five lustrous ladybirds from the Laser-men of Luminatus).
There was also a cassette-loaded computer game version produced by Mirrorsoft in 1985, featuring four learning-based games.
Giddy
Redvers Kyle
Gus
Bill Fraser (1)
Graeme Garden (2)
Richard Vernon (3)
Gorilla
Bernard Bresslaw
