Wizadora
Wizadora is a children's television programme created by Don Arioli and Carolyne Cullum. It was originally broadcast on SWR in 1991 and it was used as an English-language learning tool for non-English speakers. In 1993, the series was picked up by ITV in the United Kingdom. Development. A pilot show starred "Fawlty Towers" writer and actress Connie Booth, who had been alerted to the character by John Cleese who had taken an interest in the production. The pilot was never broadcast. The concept was then developed into a language teaching tool for children to learn the  English language published by Oxford University Press in 1991. Books, audio, and media were produced alongside the series. Originally the title role of Wizadora was initially played by Connie Booth in an unaired pilot before Maria Gough played the title role for Oxford University Press. Cathy Lawday was the writer and editor of the books and media produced for Oxford. In 1992, Meridian Broadcasting took up the series. Considerable changes were made for this series. Some major changes included the introduction of Wendy van der Plank as Wizadora, who remained as the character from 1993 to 1996. Lizzie McPhee took  over the role in 1997 until the series end. Tatty, who was originally played by a woman (Debbie Cumming), was now played by a man (Joe Greco 1993–94, Steven Ryde 1994–98) and Phoebe, who was originally played by actor Emma Amos, was re-introduced as a "life-sized" model. Many characters were introduced and the original characters were given a makeover. Connie Booth was brought back in to write episodes for the series among others. Characters. Wizadora's companions included – One episode of Wizadora was broadcast on CITV on Saturday, 5 January 2013 (the show's 20th anniversary) as part  of a CITV anniversary special. This was the first time the show has been broadcast in the UK since it was shown on Living TV in the early 2000s. Episodes from the first ITV series are now showing on BritBox as of July 2020. Other cast and credits. Puppeteers Phil Eason, Francis Wright, Michael Bayliss, Sue Dacre, Don Austen, Brian Herring, Neil Sterenberg, Rebecca Nagan, Debbie Cumming, and Sheila Clark worked on the series. The ITV series was made for Meridian Broadcasting by production companies Workhouse and North Pole Productions at The Fountain Studios in New Malden and directed by  David Crozier. Fifteen episodes of Series 3 were directed by Wendy J. Dyer. The theme music was composed by Dave Hutton who was also the Senior Cameraman on the first four series of the show. The theme tune for the ITV series was recorded at Gordon Thrussell's studios at Ashford in Kent and the credits show music by 'Hutt and Thrust'. This was because the director, David Crozier, did not want the same name for two different credits on the programme (i.e.: Snr Cameraman and Music). The other cameramen were Roger Backhouse and Angus Macmillan and sometimes Steve Leach . The vision mixer was Julie Miller. Transmission guide. One episode of Wizadora was broadcast on CITV on Saturday, 5 January 2013 (the show's 20th anniversary) as part of a CITV anniversary special. This was the first time the show has been broadcast in the UK since it was shown on Living TV in the early 2000s. As of June 2020, episodes from series One are now showing on BritBox in the UK. Home video and DVD. The earliest version of the show has been on DVD (Oxford Press). However, this is not the ITV version and is instead an  educational package. Video Collection International. Some VHS cassettes were released in the mid-1990s with episodes from series one and series three are on The Video Collection International, except for series three. Revamp. In 2003, Entertainment Rights produced a 9-minute pilot for a proposed rebooted series for Channel 5's Milkshake! strand with Anne Foy as Wizadora. Although a new version of the original theme tune was used and the overall look of the set generally in keeping with the earlier version, characters were given varying makeovers, with none of the original models being used, and several new minor characters  introduced. CGI and Chroma key effects featured heavily. The proposed new series was not picked up, reportedly due to it being considered too costly. Although there are no plans for the ITV series to return, the Oxford series is still in production with episodes being repeated on SWR Television. The original Oxford series is still used today as a teaching tool for children to learn English as second language. The DVD, book, and audio tapes are still available to buy online, along with a PC-CD ROM. A free app was produced in 2016. A website was set up in  2015, though it is now defunct as of 2018. In 2016, the German SWR Television Educational Programmes set up a website featuring the series to foster use of Wizadora films and educational games in elementary schools in Germany. Free educational games based on the series have been developed since 2016 (apps for Android, iOS, and web-based for desktop computers) and are available on www.wizadora.de.