Bleep and Booster
A BBC children's cartoon about an alien and his human friend.
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Bleep and Booster is a children's cartoon series created by William Timym (pronounced Tim). It originally aired on the BBC programme Blue Peter. The show features Bleep, an alien from the planet Miron/Myron, who pilots a spaceship. His companion is a young human named Booster, and together they carry out galactic missions for Bleep’s father, who has a moustache.
The planet Miron/Myron is depicted as being almost entirely built from chrome, with its capital at Miron/Myron City. Its inhabitants resemble robots, with flexible, hose-like arms and legs, cupped feet, antennae, and a third eye in the centre of their foreheads.
A total of 40 five-minute episodes were produced for television, spanning 10 separate stories. These were broadcast between 3 February 1964 and 6 November 1969. The stories continued in the yearly Blue Peter Books, concluding with the Fourteenth Book in 1977.
The cartoons were made using animatics—still pictures slowly panned across the screen—with narration by Peter Hawkins. The theme music was created by Brian Hodgson at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, who sampled the opening of "Vibration" (1962; also known as "The Visitor from Inner Space") by Tom Dissevelt.
No episodes have been officially released on home video.
Lore & Background
Bleep and Booster was produced as a series of animatics—still pictures slowly panned—with narration by Peter Hawkins. The theme music was realized by Brian Hodgson at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, sampling the opening of 'Vibration' (1962; aka 'The Visitor from Inner Space') by Tom Dissevelt. A total of 40 five-minute episodes comprising 10 separate stories were produced for television between 3 February 1964 and 6 November 1969. The stories then continued in the yearly Blue Peter Books, ending with the Fourteenth Book in 1977.
Reader's Guide
Bleep and Booster holds a niche place in British children's television history as an early example of animatic storytelling on the BBC. Its use of still images and narration, combined with a distinctive electronic theme from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, reflects the experimental spirit of 1960s children's programming. The series' longevity in print form through the Blue Peter Books extended its reach beyond television.
Only two episodes—The Giant Brain and Solaron—were released on VHS in 1993 by PolyGram Video in the UK, with no further home video releases. The show's depiction of the chrome-built planet Miron/Myron and its robot-like inhabitants with flexible limbs, antennae, and a third eye contributed to its memorable visual identity. Despite limited availability, it remains a curiosity for historians of British animation and early electronic music.
More in Animated television series about extraterrestrial life
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Bleep and Booster (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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