Bamzooki

Image:Bamzooki logo.gif

Contents

Host

Jake Humphrey (2004-6)

Barney Harwood and Gemma Hunt (2009-10)

Co-host

Announcer/commentator: Richard Webb

Dave Skinner (as Dr Vigo, 2009-10)

Broadcast

CBBC Channel 8 March 2004 to 3 February 2010 (4 series)

Synopsis

Children design Pokemon-esque creatures which are then rendered by computer. Two teams then set their creatures against each other in a series of games in a virtual studio, hoping to earn a time advantage in the exciting relay end game. A FightBox Junior, if you must.

After three years off air, Bamzooki returned in 2009 with new presenters, significantly enhanced graphics, and a new format, called "Street Rules". Rather than taking a collection of 'zooks to the studio, teams now had just one creature, and guided it through a series of battles. The show began with a race along a street course, and ended on top of Television Centre. Recurring features included a Zook Doctor giving advice on how to make a quality 'zook, and a motif that Bamzooki was a dangerous and prohibited organisation.

Typographic pedantry alert: the correct title is BAMZOOKi, as in iMAC, iPOD, iCARLY, iDONTCARE etc. but that makes our server's hard drive ache.

Catchphrases

"What's the first rule of Bamzooki?"
"Don't talk about Bamzooki!"

"Which show rules?"
"Bamzooki Street Rules!"

Inventor

Paul Tyler, who produced the shows until 2006.

Trivia

Here's something utterly obscure we found. Bamzooki has always been edited digitally, and was the first show to be made without a single handwritten note to say things like "use take 1 from 0:36:42" - these were all entered onto a computer system as the show went along. The BBC went on to enhance this production system, called it "Ingex", used it on such shows as Dragons' Den and Eastenders, and it won a Royal Television Society innovation award in 2009. The BBC's Research and Development blog explains further, with a video demonstration.

Champions

The 2004-6 series were self-contained shows, with no zooks returning from one show to the next. The 2009-10 "Street Rules" series was organised as a knockout tournament, won by Mean Green.

Web Links

BBC Bamzooki page

Wikipedia entry

See also

Weaver's Week review (2010)

Videos

Long-form trailer for Bamzooki. Caution: contains the terms "appointment to view" and "user-generated content"

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