The Zoo, 2017
We told you about the cult kids TV series Animal Magic and how it brought animals to life with some help from Johnnie Morris.
Well you can’t keep a good idea down as the BBC launch their new CBBC series ‘The Zoo’ Initially the show will run for one series of fifteen episodes shown over three consecutive weeks.
The press release said: “The Zoo is going to lift the lid on what is really going on behind the scenes,” he said. “It’s a kind of Animal Magic for the 21st century. It links the charm of Johnny Morris with the latest technology and modern humour to create a show which has real cross-generational and cross-gender appeal – there really is something for everyone.”
The series will be set in Paignton Zoo and is being aimed primarily at eight to twelve year-olds, However remember we told you how the idea fell from grace in the early 1980’s for Animal Magic? Guess what ‘The Zoo’ hadn’t even started when it was slammed by the international wildlife charity The Born Free Foundation.
It’s president Will Travers called for it to be axed in a letter to CBBC controller and commissioning editor Cheryl Taylor. Expressing “profound disappointment” he wrote “The incarceration of wild animals, frequently for life, the lack of meaningful education and the dubious conservation claims made by the zoo industry are unlikely to be challenged in a series described as ‘fact-filled and fun-packed’ and full of ‘everyday adventures.”
Summary
follows a colourful cast of talking animal characters and their keepers, as they go about their daily routines at Paignton Zoo.
Original Tranmission Dates: 14th August – 1st September 2017