Look Around You

Did You Know?

• The first series pilot 'Calcium' was 20 minutes long—twice the length of a regular episode—and is included on the DVD as an 'advanced double-length module'.
• The DVD extras include a music video for 'Little Mouse', mock-Ceefax pages, and subtitles presented in the same format as teletext broadcasts.
• The final episode of Series 2 features a fake presentation where archive footage of Prince Charles was blended with new footage, and Serafinowicz lip-synced an impression of the Prince's voice.

Series 1

The first series consists of modules that parody early 1980s educational films and school programmes, such as ITV Schools' Experiment series and BBC's For Schools and Colleges. Each module covers a different scientific subject. The modules, in transmission order, are: Calcium (a double-length pilot), Maths, Water, Germs, Ghosts, Sulphur, Music, Iron, and The Brain. Humour arises from patent nonsense combined with faithful references.

Fictional items resembling everyday objects are shown, including the boîte diabolique, a box atop a piano scale containing forbidden notes, and Garry gum, a performance-enhancing gum that causes diarrhoea, countered by anti-Garry gum. Each episode opens with a countdown clock similar to that used on ITV Schools programmes from 1979 to 1987, accompanied by solo guitar music; during The Brain module, the guitarist is heard tuning. Module subjects are distorted: germs are said to come from Germany, and whisky is made by combining water with nitrogen.

The maths module features a distorted version of the ancient seven cats puzzle by Ahmes. Experiments sometimes mix subjects, such as a chemistry experiment about eggs turning into a French lesson. Each episode follows a format: an introduction, then silly experiments performed by mute scientists played by Popper, Serafinowicz, and Edgar Wright. The film's colour and look were altered to replicate 1980s television, and incidental music by Gelg (a pseudonym for Serafinowicz and Popper) was overdubbed.

Series 2

The second series comprises six 30-minute episodes presented in the style of pop-science programmes such as Tomorrow's World. Tim Kirkby directed, and Ash Atalla (producer of The Office) served as executive producer. It aired from 31 January to 7 March 2005 on BBC Two at 10 p.m. The episodes are: Music 2000, Health, Sport, Food, Computers, and Live Inventor of the Year Final. The DVD commentary indicates this was not the intended order, explaining inconsistent running gags.

The programme is set around 1980–1981. Each episode's opening continuity announcement, narrated by Serafinowicz with exaggerated breathing and mouth movements, played over the three-dimensional BBC Two ident from 1979 to 1986. Unlike the first series, the second is presented in 4:3 to emulate early-1980s television, and location footage was shot on 16mm film. Episode 1 features a Top of the Pops introduction with the real theme music Yellow Pearl by Phil Lynott.

The Music 2000 episode includes a song contest; runners-up are Machadaynu performed by Tony Rudd (Kevin Eldon) and Antony Carmichael's The Rapping Song, beaten by Toni Baxter's Sexual Interface. Series 2 contains dialogue between four presenters and guests, leaving behind the narrated style of the first series. Serafinowicz plays Peter Packard, Popper plays Jack Morgan (first seen in series one performing Little Mouse), and additional presenters are Pam Bachelor and Pealy Maghti, played by Olivia Colman and Josie D'Arby.

Production

A running joke in Series 2 has all guests entering through large blast doors similar to those from Get Smart, filmed against a bluescreen that gave an inferior effect; the creators stated on the DVD commentary that they disliked the joke but felt stuck with it. Leonard Hatred's funny walk was improvised by Mark Heap, and his encounter with Championess in the finale was also improvised.

Broadcast

When aired on BBC America from 2003 to 2008, episodes were edited to fit a 30-minute slot with adverts, causing a continuity error: Leonard Hatred's initial segment was cut from the first episode, so he appeared without explanation in the series finale. The series ran on Adult Swim from 2009 to 2011. Robert Popper reprised his character Jack Morgan for an appearance in the music video of Frankie & The Heartstrings song Hunger (2011), where Jack hosts a Blue Peter-type programme and introduces the song.