Zig and Zag (TV series)

Zig and Zag
Genre	Comedy Animation Sitcom[1]
Created by	Ciaran Morrison Mick O'Hara
Written by	Ciaran Morrison Mick O'Hara
Directed by	Niall Mooney[2]
Voices of	Ciaran Morrison[3] Mick O'Hara Debra Stephenson[4] Paul Tylak
Theme music composer	Ricky Wilson Simon Rix
Opening theme	"Zig and Zag", performed by Ricky Wilson and Simon Rix
Country of origin	Britain Ireland
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Executive producer(s)	Lucy Pryke
Producer(s)	David Cumming Ronan McCabe[5]
Running time	11 minutes
Production company(s)	Double Z Enterprises Flickerpix JAM Media[6]
Release
Original network	CBBC RTÉjr
Original release	1st March 2016 – Present
External links
Website

Zig and Zag is a British/Irish animated sitcom^[7] TV series featuring the extraterrestrial puppets Zig and Zag from the planet Zog. It currently airs on CBBC and RTÉjr.^[4] Both Zig and Zag reprise the same voices as they originally had, who are also the creators and writers, Ciaran Morrison and Mick O'Hara.

Plot

Alien bro's Zig and Zag crash land in humdrum suburbia and set up home. On their fun filled adventures they 'make the most' of what Planet Earth has to offer. You'll never have neighbours as out-of-this-world as Zig and Zag.^[8]

Cast

• Ciaran Morrison as Zig (Zigmund Ambrose Zogly) a beige extraterrestrial. He is the brother of Zag.^[9]
• Mick O'Hara as Zag (Zagnatius Hillary Zogly) a purple extraterrestrial. He is the brother of Zig.^[10]
• Debra Stephenson as Nellie.^[11]
• Paul Tylak as Pek^[12]
• Inel Tomlinson as Agent A. Gent^[13]
• Allen Doyle as Mrs. Eyebrows.^[14]
• Sam McGovern as Agent Honey^[15]
• Lisa Garvey as Mrs. Jones^[16]

Characters

• Zig: A carefree alien with a heart of gold and a brain with the shape and processing power of a banana. He’s not the brightest spark in the solar system, but he’s endlessly enthusiastic, curious and ready for whatever adventures come his way.
• Zag: A classic older brother type; over confident, thinks he smarter than he really is and acts older than his age. Zag is always immaculately groomed with purple fur with green spots and in terms of fashion is always ‘on trend’. He also processes ‘super’ manners, employed when getting around influential adults or stubborn neighbours. In the episode "DI Why?", it is revealed that Zag's middle name is Hilary.
• Mrs. Eyebrows: Zig and Zag’s enigmatic next door neighbour, an elderly woman who has an imaginary cat called Mr. President.
• Mr. Jones: Mr. Jones is a nervous, always running late type. His favourite thing of all is his ‘quiet time’, but that is more often than not ruined as Zig and Zag always run to him for any and every bit of ‘how things work on Earth’ advice. And despite his protestations, Mr. Jones has become their unwitting mentor.
• Mrs. Jones: Mrs. Jones is the opposite of her husband; larger than life, enthusiastic and is always striving to be the perfect neighbour! She often lands on Zig and Zag’s doorstep with some freshly baked beetroot macaroons, so they ain’t complaining!
• Brie and Stilton: are the Jones’ strange staring children. They never utter a word, all you ever hear them doing is breathing loudly through their noses.
• Nellie: A fun pre-teen who helps her Dad out in the local Mini-mart. Nellie is opinionated and quick to pick apart Zig and Zag’s semi-thought-out plans, she usually redirects them on to the right path, even if unintentionally. She thinks Zig is cute and loves to play up to him with faux flirting to get a reaction but it always goes completely over his head. She is a offhand with Zag as she doesn’t like his affectations. More often than not Nellie becomes a valuable ally when things get really out of hand for Zig and Zag! She’s probably the Z brothers’ best friend on Earth.
• Nellie’s Dad: We never see Nellie’s Dad’s face. He is always stacking shelves up a ladder. He is always sent tumbling when Zig takes an item from the bottom of a recently stacked pile of goods, this is followed by Zag announcing over the shops tannoy ‘Clean up on aisle three!’!
• The Secret Agents: The two Agents work for P.A.N.T.S (Prevention of Alien Network Takeover Squad) Agent A. Gent is an old school Man-in-Black, he has spent his whole career convinced that Earth is going to be invaded by aliens, but it never happened! He was just about to retire when Zig and Zag crash-landed in his neighbourhood. At last, the alien invasion he predicted is imminent! To get him out of the office and out of his hair his boss tasks Agent A. Gent and a level headed young operative Agent Honey to keep an eye on Zig and Zag... just in case.
• Abs & Pek Von Pumpiniron: The Von Pumpiniron’s are an ex-tumbling act who now run the local Megagym. They live next door to Zig and Zag, are super-sporty and highly competitive. It’s a mystery to Zig and Zag whether Abs is male or female. Pek doesn’t speak any English, however Zig some how understands his every word.
• 'The Marshmallow of Destiny: Zig has a marshmallow that he keeps in his anorak pocket. He only seeks the mallow’s advice in times of extreme crisis. Zig is the only one who hears or sees the MOD imparting his wise advice.

Production

On 15 April 2015 it was announced that a new animated Zig and Zag series was in production for CBBC.^[17] On 16 August 2015 the theme tune was composed and recorded by Ricky Wilson and Simon Rix^[18] from the band Kaiser Chiefs. It was also announced that it would start in early 2016.^[19]

Episodes

Series 1 (2016)

The first series of twenty six episodes began broadcasting on RTÉjr on 1st of March, 2016 and CBBC on 25th of April, 2016.

#	Title	Date of Release on RTÉjr	Date of Release on CBBC	Summary
1	Ice Cream Clone	1st March 2016	25th April 2016[20]	Zig and Zag’s attempts to clone an ice cream in order to cool themselves down have a chilling effect on the whole of Burb Street.
2	DI Why?	1st March 2016	26th April 2016[21]	Zig and Zag become DIY experts and set about fixing everything in Burb Street – whether it needs fixing or not!
3	Jobsworth	2nd March 2016	27th April 2016	Zig and Zag discover the joys of ‘buying stuff’, but to buy stuff you need money, to get money you need a job!
4	Zollercoaster	2nd March 2016	28th April 2016	Zig and Zag accidentally create the worlds scariest roller coaster all because they want one of the those cool ‘high speed upside down’ photo’s!
5	School Rules	3rd March 2016	29th April 2016	Zig and Zag go to school just to solve a crossword clue causing classroom chaos all the way to the bell!
6	Meet the Robo Parents	3rd March 2016	2nd May 2016	Zig and Zag create Robo-parents simply to use them to get the family deal at the Pizzeria, however the robots ‘parental programme’ gets out of control!
7	Fanzillas	4th March 2016	3rd May 2016	Zig and Zag become football Superfans but learn that it is all about the winning, not just the taking part as they cost Burbia United the Cup!
8	It Came From Zog	4th March 2016	4th May 2016	Zig and Zag become filmmakers – but they’re only in it for the free popcorn!
9	Strictly Zig and Zag	7th March 2016	5th May 2016	There’s a hole in Zig and Zag’s wall and the trophy awarded to the winners of Burbia’s Dance Marathon would fill it perfectly!
10	Toddler Trouble	8th March 2016	6th May 2016	Zig and Zag become parents, well, to a talking doll in a bid to gain access to a toddlers playground and the enticing Clown on a Spring ride!
11	Happy Campers	9th March 2016	9th May 2016	It’s dib, dib, don’t as Zig and Zag join the Junior Woodpeckers scout troop simply to get ‘badges’ and end up causing havoc on their maiden camping trip.
12	All Washed Up	10th March 2016	10th May 2016	Mayhem ensues when Zig and Zag’s washing machine breaks down. What to do? Take it to the hospital for an emergency operation of course!
13	Bitter Than You	11th March 2016	11th May 2016	Zig and Zag demonstrate how breaking a world record can be a bitter sweet experience.
14	It's Sherlucky Day	14th March 2016	12th May 2016	Zig and Zag become detectives to solve the case of The Missing Invisible Cat of Burb Street.
15	Staycation	15th March 2016	13th May 2016	Zig and Zag decide on their holiday destination; It’s their favourite neighbour’s The Jones' house! Aloha!
16	Billy Goats Grief	16th March 2016		There’s a Neat Neighbourhood Inspection so Zig and Zag employ a herd of goats to eat their untidy garden neat.
17	Zogly On Sea	17th March 2016		Surf's up as the Z Brothers head to the sea side to catch some waves!
18	Zagracadabra	18th March 2016		Zig and Zag become magicians to become famous just like their 'street magic' idol Backflow.
19	Let It Grow	21th March 2016		Zig and Zag discover the joys of growing your own vegetable, but at the Farmers Market they discover that bigger doesn’t always mean better!
20	Zog's Got Talent	22nd March 2016		When the Big TV Talent Show comes to town, Zig & Zag are keen to get involved, but what is that talent?
21	Best Behaviour	23rd March 2016		Zig and Zag think they need to learn some manners however they accidentally enroll themselves on an obedience class for dogs! Woof!
22	A Novel Idea	24th March 2016		Zag decides to write the world’s greatest novel just so he can sit on the best chair in the shopping centre.
23	Eau De Alien	25th March 2016		Zig and Zag attempt to create their own 'celebrity scent' like their pop star idol Jonjo.
24	You Want Frights with That?	28th March 2016		Zig and Zag stage their own haunting in a bid to get their video onto their favourite TV show ‘Ghost Hunters Live, if they weren’t Dead 5!
25	Chez Zog	29th March 2016		In an attempt to raise enough cash to eat at the fanciest restaurant in Burbia, Zig & Zag set up their own fancy restaurant. That makes sense, right?
26	Superzag & Wonderzig	30th March 2016		After watching a superhero movie Zig and Zag find their calling! They will become superheroes themselves! It’s Blam! Pow! Kapow! all over Burbia.

Music

• Theme Tune: The forty second theme tune entitled ‘5,4,3,2,1’ was created by Ricky Wilson and Simon Rix from British indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs who were fans of Zig and Zag from their time of The Big Breakfast.
• The Zog Drop: In every episode when Zig and Zag have that eureka moment that sends them on their way to glory (or failure) they burst into a spontaneous Haka style dance created by composer for the series Jonathan Casey.

References

1. Sam Rigby (14 April 2015). "Zig & Zag to make CBBC return". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
2. "Niall Mooney". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
3. "Zig and Zag set to reunite on RTÉjr". RTE.ie. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
4. Rachel Babbage (16 August 2015). "Listen to Ricky Wilson's new theme tune for Zig & Zag". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
5. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4788714/fullcredits?ref_=ttrel_sa_1
6. "Zig and Zag (TV Series 2016– )". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
7. Sam Rigby (14 April 2015). "Zig & Zag to make CBBC return". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
8. "Zig and Zag (TV Series 2016– )". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
9. "Ciaran Morrison". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
10. "Mick O'Hara". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
11. "Debra Stephenson". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
12. "Paul Tylak". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
13. "Inel Tomlinson". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
14. "Allen Doyle". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
15. "Sam McGovern". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
16. "Lisa Garvey". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
17. Sarah Doran. "What's happening with Big Breakfast stars Zig and Zag's big comeback?". RadioTimes. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
18. Zig and Zag theme by Kaiser Chiefs' Ricky Wilson and Simon Rix on CBBC. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016 – via YouTube.
19. Rachel Babbage (16 August 2015). "Listen to Ricky Wilson's new theme tune for Zig & Zag". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
20. "Zig and Zag". RadioTimes. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
21. "Zig and Zag". RadioTimes. Retrieved 26 April 2016.