1 9 8 3 – 1 9 8 4 (UK)
12 x 30 minute episodes
Set in the year 2040, two diminibeings (cloned children) are assigned to join Gramps (Frank Duncan) – whose official name was WB-1889U – and ‘Andy’ the malfunction-prone butler android (Colin Bennett) in Habiviron Jo-Y. The habiviron is run by a computer nicknamed ‘Mother’ (Linda Polan distorted via an electronic screen).
The geeky boy (Aaron Brown) – officially called 3G-batch-19Y – is soon nicknamed ‘Brat’ and the girl (Patsy Kensit in her first title role) – 72-batch-19Y – is named ‘Luna’ (since she was batched on the moon).
Stories revolved around the lives of the eccentric family group such as when Luna misplaces her egothenticty card and faces obliviation; and when Brat tries to sell Andy to a travelling Clunkman – Luna takes pity on the man’s mistreated alien pet, Jazzmine, (played by dancer Hugh Spight) who then joins the “family”.
Gramps clung to his 20th-century salad days and a collection of illicit clunk, including Rubik’s Cubes and a tennis ball signed by ex-President McEnroe.
The sector bureaubeing, 80H (Roy Macready) eventually orders Jazzmine out of Jo-Y and Gramps into the Senior Pater Colony. Luna decides to leave with Jazzmine and begins searching for her real parents.
By the start of the second series, Luna has gone and the others are not overjoyed when a new dimifemale (Jo Wyatt from junior music showcase Mini Pops) is assigned to the habiviron as a replacement. She also adopts the nickname ‘Luna’.
A distinctive feature of the show is the Clockwork Orange-like language of “techno-talk”, used by all of the characters, and described as an alternate version of English that emerged to make it easier for computers to understand human speech.
The show was created and produced by Micky Dolenz, former drummer with 1960s American pop group The Monkees.
Luna
Patsy Kensit (1)
Jo Wyatt (2)
Brat
Aaron Brown
Gramps
Frank Duncan
Andy
Colin Bennett
80H
Roy Macready
Mother
Linda Polan
Jazzmine
Hugh Spight
Episodes
Habiviron Sweet Habiviron | The Clunkman Cometh | All the World’s a Teletalk Linkup | Happy Batch Day, Dear Luna | Environmental Ambience Stable, Wish You Were Here | When Did You Last See Your Pater Batch Mix Donor? | You Can’t Judge a Videotalker by Its Blurb | Go Forth and Quadruplicate | The Happiest Earth Revolves of Your Span | It Isn’t How You Vict or Slunk But How You Co-Participate | A Bureaubreau in the Hand Is Worth a Pension | You’re Only as Multi-Tocked as You Perceive
