Look and Read

Constantly getting mixed up with Words and Pictures, Look and Read was for Junior school age (7- 11) children. The programmes consisted of an episodic drama, split by a section on English grammar. In 1976, the serial 'Cloudburst' by Richard Carpenter, introduced the character of Wordy, who came out of Richard Carpenter's golfball typewriter. Richard Carpenter appeared as presenter, who along with Wordy, would demonstrate how a word could change it's tense and meaning with simple changes, additions of a single or two letters. The second serial for 1976-77 was The King's Demons, again scripted by Richard Carpenter, this time the educational part was set in the editor's office of the newspaper featured in the serial and was hosted by the newspaper editor, played by Kenneth Watson, with Wordy appearing, coming out of the typewriter, while the editor was out of his office, then going back in before he could be seen. The most remembered serial was The Boy from Space, originally made in 1969, it's original broadcast was in black and white, although the serial was shot on colour film. The original 1969 series, which had it's own educational section, pre-Wordy, was unfortunately wiped during the film and tape purge of the 1970s. The serial was reused, in colour, with new educational sections recorded featuring Wordy on a space station. Other serials included Sky Hunter, Sky Hunter II and Geordie Racer.