Itchy

### Actors

Oliver Finnegan, Bo Bragason, Angel O'Callaghan, Scarlett Alice Johnson, Alexander Kirk, Padraig McCormack

### Next

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**Itchy** is the second episode of *Creeped Out*'s second season, and the 15th episode of the series overall. It first aired on 1 May 2019 on CBBC.

## Synopsis

Gabe is not known for his bravery. He’s never been the hero. But when head lice begin to infest his small town and everyone is in a panic, he may be the only person who can stop it.

## Plot

### Prologue

The Curious wanders across a beach and jumps up and down to try and see over a wall. The Narrator wonders what it would be like to have a horrible itch you couldn’t get rid of.

### Episode

At the other side of the wall seen in the prologue, a group of young cadets, including Gabe Sutherland, are completing a training exercise. The last part of the exercise involves crawling through a tunnel. Everyone else is able to complete it, but Gabe is frozen with fear and doesn’t do it. His classmates laugh at him for being afraid of the tunnel, although his friend Frankie comes to his defence.

The next day at school, Gabe's class get a safety briefing about head lice. There has been a recent outbreak, and the students must follow a set of rules; no head-to-head contact; do not share hats; use medicated shampoo; and always check for eggs, as lice reproduce quickly.

As he returns to class following a fire drill, Gabe passes the nurse's office and glimpses a student clutching his head in agony and scratching at himself uncontrollably. He also hears loud rustling noises and a strange high-pitched sound, both of which appear to be inaudible to the other students.

At home, Gabe's younger brother, Georgie, shows him a new gadget: a tablet that shows everything in heat vision. The brothers' dad checks Georgie's scalp for head lice, but the comb gets stuck, then breaks. As this is happening, Gabe hears whispering voices repeating the same phrase – 'a war' – over and over again. The Sutherlands find their supply of medicated shampoo has leaked out of the bottle; Gabe points out that it looks as though the bottle has been bitten.

At the local shop, the Sutherlands find all the bottles of lice shampoo in town have been ruined in the same way, and there won't be another delivery for at least a week. Once again, Gabe hears rustling and whispering.

Gabe attends the school's end-of-term awards ceremony. As he and the other cadets sit together on stage in the school hall, Gabe hears the whispering again. Putting the clues together, he realises that what he has been hearing is the collective voice of the head lice. He also realises they are not saying 'a war', but rather 'award'; they are planning to attack at the awards ceremony. He stands up and shouts that everyone needs to get out.

The audience laughs at Gabe's warning, but a few moments later, everyone in the hall (except the cadets and their leader) begins to scream and scratch violently at their heads. Gabe, Georgie and Frankie, along with the leader and another cadet – Rocky, a bully with a particular dislike of Gabe – manage to barricade themselves in a classroom. They try, unsuccessfully, to phone for help; the phone begins to malfunction as the lice invade the circuits, and when the leader picks it up, she falls victim to the infestation.

The group realise they can use Georgie's heat-vision tablet to scan for lice. They make their way to the nurse's office, where the last two bottles of medicated shampoo are stored. Gabe and Rocky argue over who should carry the shampoo, and end up spilling one of the bottles on the floor. Gabe hears the voices whispering his name. The leader bursts into the room and bumps into Frankie, infecting her too.

Gabe, Georgie and Rocky seal themselves inside another classroom. They manage to keep the lice out, but there's no way for them to escape except through a narrow air vent. Due to his fear of tunnels, Gabe asks Rocky to go in; she admits she has a phobia of bugs and can't bear the thought of going back to where the lice might attack her. Facing his fear, Gabe climbs into the air vent. He panics, but uses a walkie-talkie to communicate with Georgie, who is able to calm him down.

Back in the classroom, Georgie pulls a hat out of his bag. Rocky tells him to throw it away, but when she touches it, she becomes infected with lice.

Gabe makes his way to the school's utility room. He is attacked by lice, but just in time, he manages to pour the shampoo into the supply for the school's sprinkler system. He then sets off the fire alarm, triggering the sprinklers and killing all the lice.

The next day, Gabe, Georgie and Frankie watch as pest control officers finish cleaning the school. The leader congratulates Gabe on a good job, and Rocky gives him a friendly nod. Frankie tells Gabe he's a hero, but he feels remorse at killing creatures which, like them, were just trying to survive.

As the group prepare to leave, Gabe hears the whispering voices again – this time saying the word 'revenge'. He holds up Georgie's tablet and looks on in shock as a cat, which is carrying some surviving lice, makes its way back towards the school.

### Epilogue

The Curious pulls Georgie's hat out of a bin bag outside the school, and puts it on. The Narrator reminds you to check your cupboards and make sure you have shampoo – if the lice decide to attack, you won't see them coming.

## Cast

* Gabe (Oliver Finnegan)
* Rocky (Bo Bragason)
* Frankie (Angel O'Callaghan)
* Leader (Scarlett Alice Johnson)
* Dad (Alexander Kirk)
* Georgie (Padraig McCormack)
* The Curious (Ashleigh Smith)
* The Narrator (Hedvig Becke)

## Trivia

* The setting of **Itchy** is named Kastle Rock. This could be a reference to Castle Rock, a location that regularly appears in horror writer Stephen King's work. It also continues the *Creeped Out* trend of settings that begin with the letter 'K'; **Slapstick** and **The Call** take place in Karter Bay.