The Magic Key

For the 2003 song, see The Magic Key (song).

The Magic Key is a series of books published for children as part of the Oxford Reading Tree, from Oxford University Press. The books are written by Roderick Hunt, illustrated by Alex Brychta, and primarily follow the lives of three children, Biff, Chip and Kipper Robinson. Additional characters such as their parents, their grandmother and their dog, Floppy, appear in the books, but may sometimes appear once or not at all in certain books

The series was first published in 1985 with a set of 30 stories, and there are now over 300. It is used by more than 80% of schools in the United Kingdom, and has been translated into numerous languages in over 120 different countries.[1] In 2000, it was made into a television series, produced by the BBC.[2]

Audience

The books are aimed at children from four to the age of nine, and could form part of an English language syllabus in line with the National Curriculum, designed to help children learn to speak and read Standard English.

Adaptations

The books were developed into a television series consisting of 26 episodes, each featuring a different story, plus helpful hints towards teaching children good use of English.

The series was shown as part of the BBC Schools segments in the morning, then transferred to CBeebies in 2004, and shown during 2004 and 2005. It was also sold on video as a whole series. In 2007, the series was broadcast on the Channel 5 morning children's block Milkshake!. It currently airs on JimJam every late at night. There are two versions; the original 14 minute version with some learning segments and the edited 10 minute version without them, which is often seen on JimJam.

Characters

TV tie-in book titles

Television series

The Magic Key
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 26
Production
Running time 14 minutes
Production company(s) HIT Entertainment
Collingwood O'Hare
Release
Original network BBC2, CBeebies, Channel 5, Tiny Pop
Picture format 4:3
Original release 4 September 2000 – 19 March 2001

In the television show, Floppy wears a collar around his neck with a golden key upon it. The key is magic, as the title suggests, and seems to do some strange things whenever Floppy wishes for something. It transports the children and sometimes their grandmother, to other worlds, where they have exciting adventures, such as dealing with trolls in an underground cavern, being characters inside a computer game, or finding the Fountain of Youth. In the books the key is kept in a box which opens the door to a dolls house and Floppy does not go on all the adventures.

As well as Biff, Chip and Kipper Robinson, four other children also appear in the stories and occasionally find themselves in the adventures caused by the Magic Key, namely Wilf and Wilma Page, Nadim Shah (whose mother and father own the local corner shop which features in a couple of the stories), and Anneena Patel.

Episodes

  1. HMS Sweet Tooth- 4 September 2000
  2. Lug & the Giant Storks- 11 September 2000
  3. The Rook King- 18 September 2000
  4. Clutterland Band- 25 September 2000
  5. Troll Talk- 2 October 2000
  6. The Patchworker- 9 October 2000
  7. Code Calling- 16 October 2000
  8. Zandoodle & the Wheezlebang- 23 October 2000
  9. Biff of the Jungle- 30 October 2000
  10. Nadim's Machine- 6 November 2000
  11. The Flying Circus- 13 November 2000
  12. Fraser the Eraser- 20 November 2000
  13. The Anneena Academy- 27 November 2000
  14. Dragon Land- 4 December 2000
  15. The Queen of Hearts- 11 December 2000
  16. Floppy & the Puppies- 8 January 2001
  17. The Giant & the Knee Nibblers- 15 January 2001
  18. The Cream Cake Mystery- 22 January 2001
  19. Master Hansel & Miss Gretal- 29 January 2001
  20. The Sound Monster- 5 February 2001
  21. Tumbleweed Desert- 12 February 2001
  22. The Stone of Contentment- 19 February 2001
  23. The Demon Drill- 26 February 2001
  24. Fabulous Fancy Foods- 5 March 2001
  25. The Fountain of Youth- 12 March 2001
  26. Underwater World- 19 March 2001

References

  1. ↑ "Series Creators of Oxford Reading Tree, Roderick Hunt MBE and Alex Brychta, receive the prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award in this year’s Education Resources Awards" (PDF). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  2. ↑ Williams, Elaine (22 September 2000). "TV holds Magic Key". Times Educational Supplement (TSL Education Ltd). Retrieved 18 July 2009.

External links

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