The Boy from Space

Originally broadcast in 1971 as part of the BBC’s educational Look and Read strand, the series remains popular among school children.

When brother and sister Dan and Helen see a mysterious object falling from the sky one night, they set out to look for traces of a meteorite in the nearby sand-pit. There, they are confronted by a strange thin man, and discover a boy called Peep-peep who speaks a bizarre alien language.

Originally broadcast in 1971, as part of the BBC’s educational Look and Read strand, The Boy from Space was shown again in 1980 in a revised version featuring new presenters Wordy and Cosmo, as well as updates – including a new forward and a voice-over – to the main drama.

Look and Read was a programme for primary schools, aimed at improving children’s literacy skills. The programme presented fictional stories in a serial format, the first of which was broadcast in 1967 and the most recent in 2004, making it the longest running nationally broadcast programme for schools in the UK. The series remains popular among school children.

Special features

  • The complete 1980 series (10 x 20 mins): all ten episodes of the BBC’s classic Look and Read series, featuring Dan, Helen and Peep-peep’s story, as well as helpful reading tips from Wordy and Cosmo
  • Feature-length presentation (70 mins): exclusive version of Dan, Helen and Peep-peep’s adventures, edited specially for this release
  • BBC Records LP – audio version (55 mins): original spoken word recordings from the 1972 vinyl release, narrated by Charles Collingwood
  • BBC Records LP – film version (55 mins): an exclusive presentation, combining audio from the 1972 LP with footage from the 1980 TV broadcast
  • Wordy’s Think-ups: original animations from the series
  • Downloadable PDFs of original 1971 and 1979 pupil’s pamphlets
  • Illustrated booklet with essays by British TV experts Ben Clarke and Christopher Perry; comprehensive credits

Product information

    • Certificate

      PG

    • Colour

      Colour

    • Sound

      Sound

    • Running time

      200mins

    • Languages

      English language

    • Subtitles

      Optional hard-of-hearing subtitles

    • DVD region

      • 2 Europe (except Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus), Middle East, Egypt, Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Greenland, French Overseas departments and territories

    • Catalogue number

      BFIV2001

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