The Lampies


The Lampies is a British 2000–2002 animated children's television series, created by David Bonner of Red Balloon Productions which remains with a mix of 2D and 3D animation.
Created specifically by David Bonner in conjunction with Uli Meyer Animation Studios and music by Mcasso Music, there are forty-six fifteen-minute episodes that were originally commissioned by the BBC. Financial issues caused the creative and business drive to malfunction, and all momentum was lost, meaning that the crew were unable to complete the second series of the show. In 2003, The Lampies IP was bought from the receiver by the chairman of Darlington Football Club and businessman, George Houghton. Surviving episodes of The Lampies remain available on Plush Toys VHS and DVD in the United Kingdom.

Plot

A group of friendly sprite-like power engineers maintain and defend the lamp post "HO32" which is the critical area of the entire Lighting Network. The Roons, who live with their only leader, Arch Roon, in the dark sewers below, are the green yellow-eyed creatures who always plan to threaten the whole Lighting Network due to their strong dislike of light. Sewer rats can still also prove to be a pest to the Lampies themselves.

Characters and Voice Cast

The Lampies Crew

  • Burnout – The friendly laid back foreman of the Lampies who always runs scheduled switches for the lamp light. He has green skin and white hair as well as a white moustache, and he always wears a dark blue jumpsuit. "Jumping fuses!" remains as Burnout's catchphrase.
  • Spotlight – The routine inspector of the Lampies. She acts like the mother to all the other Lampies. She has green skin, just like Burnout, has lavender hair and she wears glasses as well as a pink jumpsuit, similar to Livewire.
  • Charge – The clumsy, day-dreaming assistant worker of the Lampies who has blue skin as well as blue hair. He is the most prone to problems. He wears a yellow jumpsuit, just like Contact. There remains a running gag involving Charge always falling into H032's control room through the circular hole in the ceiling.
  • Contact – The serious and sensible computer operator of the Lampies with purple skin and red hair who always has her young niece, Livewire. She always wears a blue hat as well as a yellow jumpsuit, just like Charge.
  • Livewire – Contact's young "niece", who has pale peach skin as well as pink hair. Livewire speaks in a high-pitched voice, and she wears a pink jumpsuit, similar to Spotlight. She is often pushed around by the lamppost's grown-ups, nevertheless she manages to save the day several times. Livewire manages to play with "Dustywugg", her best friend, whenever she can do so.
  • Dustywugg the Dog – A furry sprite who serves as the Lampies' pet and mascot. He has orange fur and enjoys playing where possible with his owner, Livewire. Dustywugg can be quite cheeky at times, but the grown-ups, including Contact, always understand.
  • Captain Bright Light – The absent-minded captain and leader of the Lampies with pale skin, brown hair. Captain Bright Light always wears a dark green jumpsuit. He has an older brother, Flash Light, who is bigger and stronger, yet he is not as brave as Bright Light himself. "Shortened Circuits" remains as Captain Bright Light's catchphrase.

Antagonists

  • The Roons – A big group of green-faced creatures with yellow eyes, who live in the dark sewer just below the Lampies world. They remain absolutely afraid of light and constantly try to break all the streetlights around the network.
  • Arch Roon – The leader of the Roons who mostly stays in the yard in the sewers, even though he does not show any signs of fear of the light. The only person he actually fears is his own mother.

Other characters

  • Brigadier Big Beam – The superior organiser of the whole Lighting Network. He has purple skin, just like Contact, has white hair and wears a green uniform.
  • Phosphorous – The Brigadier's officer liaison, Contact's friend, and Charge's love interest. She has pale skin, brown hair and wears a yellow shirt and red skirt.
  • Captain Spentflint – Formerly the Lampies' captain, who is now retired. Criticised as a slave driver.
  • Spark – Livewire's well-behaved friend who is the keeper of a bike light. People like him are called Bikeys.
  • Neon – A one-off character for the show's series 2 opener - features in the "Light Up the World for Christmas" single.
  • Haywire – A one-off character in series 1 episode 11 "Bouncer" who is Burnout's cousin, living in Lamppost HY11 in sector 14.
  • Bouncer the Grasshopper – The chattering, gossiping and friendly green grasshopper with light blue eyes. She only appears in Series 1 Episode 11 "Bouncer" and is mentioned by quite a few of the main Lampies members themselves, including Burnout.
  • Captain Spectrum
  • Flash Light - Captain Bright Light's brother who is mentioned by Bright Light himself in the episode "Flash By Name".
  • Boris the Bat - A male pipistrelle bat who only appears in the episode "Boris". Boris proves to be a good friend to the Lampies.
  • Geoff the Alien - A male alien who only appears in the episodes "The Inspection", "The Vacation" and "Space Walk".
  • PJ - A young human boy with brown hair and brown eyes who lives in one of the houses in the town with his parents. He only appears in the episode "The Boy Who Could See The Lampies". PJ eventually becomes friendly with Livewire and Spark, and in return, he offers them a free ride on board his toy train in his bedroom.

Reception

TV distribution rights for Series One were sold into 33 countries. When series one was broadcast in 2001 it regularly achieved over 40% of target viewing audience. This figure reached over 50% during 2002. Series two of The Lampies was completed in March 2002 and generated similar audience figures with prime slots on BBC 1 and 2.

Releases

released a single UK-only VHS tape release of the programme entitled "Captain Who and Other Stories" in 2001.
After the sale of the series to LP Productions, the company began relaunching the series. An introductory DVD – Switch Onto the Lampies was launched on 7 April 2008. A full DVD release containing the first half of the first series - "A Bit of a Jam and Other Stories", was released on 19 May 2008.
LP Productions formed a partnership with Save the Children in 2008, where £2 from the sale of the introductory DVD went towards the Save the Children protection work.