The Lampies

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The Lampies is an English children's animated television series created by David Bonner and features a mix of 2D and 3D animation.

Created by David Bonner in conjunction with Uli Meyer Animation Studios and music by Mcasso Music, there are 50 eleven-minute episodes that were originally commissioned by the BBC.^{[citation needed]} Financial issues caused the creative and business drive to falter and momentum was lost.^{[citation needed]} In 2003 The Lampies IP was bought from the receiver by a private investor.^{[citation needed]}

Plot[]

A group of 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 in the sewers below are the creatures who threaten the Lighting Network due to their strong dislike to the presence of light. Sewer rats can also prove to be a pest to the Lampies.

Characters[]

The Lampies Crew[]

• Burnout - The laid back Foreman of the Lampies who has to run scheduled switches for the lamp light. He has green skin, white hair and wears a blue jumpsuit.
• Matronly Spotlight - The routine inspector of the Lampies. She acts like mother to the other Lampies. She has green skin, lavender hair and wears a pink jumpsuit.
• Charge - The clumsy, day-dreaming assistant worker of the Lampies. He is the most prone to problems. He has blue skin, blue hair and wears a yellow jumpsuit. There is a running gag involving Charge falling into control room through the hole in the ceiling.
• Contact - The serious and sensible computer operator of the Lampies. She has reddish skin, red hair and wears a yellow jumpsuit.
• Livewire - The cute and feisty young girl of the Lampies, who looks after Dustywugg and is Contact's niece. She has pale pink skin, pink hair and wears a hot pink jumpsuit. She is often pushed around by grown-ups, nevertheless she saved the day several times.
• Dustywugg - A furry dog-like sprite who serves as the Lampies pet and mascot. He has orange fur.
• Captain Bright Light - The absent-minded captain of the Lampies. He has pale skin, brown hair and wears a green jumpsuit. He has an older brother, Flash Light, who is bigger and stronger, yet not as brave as Bright Light.

Antagonists[]

• Roons - A large group of green creatures, who live in the sewers. They are afraid of light (even when it comes to small flashlights) and constantly try to break all the streetlights around.
• Arch Roon - Leader of the Roons. He mostly stays in the layard, even though he doesn't show any signs of fear of the light. The only person he actually fears is his mother.

Others[]

• Brigadier Big Beam - The superior organiser of the Lighting Network. He has purple skin, white hair and wears a green uniform.
• Phosphorous - The Brigadier's officer liaison and Charge's love interest. She has pale skin, brown hair and wears yellow shirt and red skirt.
• Captain Spentflint - Formerly the Lampies' captain and now retired. Criticised as a slave driver.
• The Dentist Lady - The Dentist Lady who visits HO32 after Charge broke his tooth, to get cure.
• Spark - The keeper of a bike light. People like him are called Bikeys.
• Neon - A one-off character for the series 2 opener and the 'Light Up the World For Christmas' Single. Season 2 Episode Neon
• Haywire - A one-off character in series 1 episode 11 "Bouncer" who is Burnout's cousin, living in Lamppost HY11 at sector 14.
• Bouncer - The chattering, gossiping grasshopper who is green with blue eyes. She only appears in Series 1 Episode 11 "Bouncer" and is mentioned by quite a few of the Lampies members, including Burnout.

Episodes[]

Series 1[]

Series 2[]

Reception[]

TV distribution rights for Series One were sold into 33 countries."International Songwriting Competition Results". 2006. When series one was broadcast in 2001 it regularly achieved over 40% of target viewing audience. This figure reached over 50% during 2002.^{[citation needed]} Series two of The Lampies was completed in March 2002 and generated similar audience figures with prime slots on BBC 1 and 2.^{[citation needed]}

Releases[]

HIT Entertainment had released a single UK only VHS release of the programme entitled "Captain Who and other stories" in 2001. The Lampies Rare Plush Toys Including Livewire Dustywugg Charge & The Roon Will be Launched on October 17th 2001 An introductory DVD - SWITCH ON TO THE LAMPIES was launched on 7 April 2008.^{[citation needed]} The first full DVD, Disc 1 Series One - A BIT OF A JAM AND OTHER STORIES was launched on 19 May 2008.^{[citation needed]} LP Productions formed a partnership with Save the Children in 2008.^{[citation needed]} £2 from the sale of each SWITCH ON TO THE LAMPIES DVD will go towards the Save the Children protection work with very vulnerable children in Mongolia.^{[citation needed]}

References[]

External links[]

• The Lampies at IMDb
• The Lampies official website
• The Lampies at toonhound.com
• Uli Meyer Animation Studios (TV section)