Slim John
Encyclopedia
Slim John was a 1969 BBC
English Language Instruction serial made for overseas broadcast. The program was a series of scifi adventure of twenty-six episodes in black and white. It involved android robots from outer space planning to take over the Earth, starting with London. They worked following the directions of an authority called Control. Robot Five, nicknamed Slim John (Simon Williams
), is himself a rebel robot who befriended a human couple, Stevie and Richard.
This series was an educational tool used for English language instruction. It was supported by books and records as an English teaching method. The series was broadcast for years all over the world, at least in Turkey, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Yugoslavia
. Hungary, Poland and Romania were the only Eastern Bloc
countries to show this series, with enormous response, in the 1970s. Given its purpose, the series is of course much better known out of the United Kingdom. The involvement of screenwriters having a Doctor Who
background, John Wiles
and Brian Hayles
, provided anyway a solid and entertaining story line.
Slim John, as a robot, had extraordinary strength, in a The Six Million Dollar Man
way. The intrigue always revolved around the other robots trying to eliminate him and also on the fact that Slim John and the other robots have a limited amount of power available and regularly need to recharge themselves.
A very special concept of the serial were short grammar lessons, transmitted in regular intervals to all the robots via their hand held communicator devices (being some 30+ years of personal digital assistant
anticipation). These short lessons were - as one would expect - presented not only to the robots (including Slim John, of course), but in full screen also to the TV viewers. The authors have in that way achieved a more or less logical, seamless and unobtrusive integration of grammar repetition sequences into the main SF (i.e. real world) action.
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
English Language Instruction serial made for overseas broadcast. The program was a series of scifi adventure of twenty-six episodes in black and white. It involved android robots from outer space planning to take over the Earth, starting with London. They worked following the directions of an authority called Control. Robot Five, nicknamed Slim John (Simon Williams
Simon Williams (actor)
Simon Williams is an English actor known for playing James Bellamy in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. Frequently playing upper-class roles, he is also known for playing Dr...
), is himself a rebel robot who befriended a human couple, Stevie and Richard.
This series was an educational tool used for English language instruction. It was supported by books and records as an English teaching method. The series was broadcast for years all over the world, at least in Turkey, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
. Hungary, Poland and Romania were the only Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
countries to show this series, with enormous response, in the 1970s. Given its purpose, the series is of course much better known out of the United Kingdom. The involvement of screenwriters having a Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
background, John Wiles
John Wiles
John Wiles was a television writer and producer, now best known for being the second producer of the popular science fiction serial Doctor Who, succeeding Verity Lambert...
and Brian Hayles
Brian Hayles
Brian Hayles was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. His body of work as a writer for television and film, most notably for the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, lasted from 1962 to 1978....
, provided anyway a solid and entertaining story line.
Slim John, as a robot, had extraordinary strength, in a The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
way. The intrigue always revolved around the other robots trying to eliminate him and also on the fact that Slim John and the other robots have a limited amount of power available and regularly need to recharge themselves.
A very special concept of the serial were short grammar lessons, transmitted in regular intervals to all the robots via their hand held communicator devices (being some 30+ years of personal digital assistant
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
anticipation). These short lessons were - as one would expect - presented not only to the robots (including Slim John, of course), but in full screen also to the TV viewers. The authors have in that way achieved a more or less logical, seamless and unobtrusive integration of grammar repetition sequences into the main SF (i.e. real world) action.
Cast
- Simon WilliamsSimon Williams (actor)Simon Williams is an English actor known for playing James Bellamy in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. Frequently playing upper-class roles, he is also known for playing Dr...
.................Slim John - Allan Lee...........................Richard
- Juliet HarmerJuliet HarmerJuliet Harmer is an English actress who was best known in the role of Georgina Jones in the BBC TV series Adam Adamant Lives! .-Early career:...
.....................Stevie - Valentine DyallValentine DyallValentine Dyall was an English character actor, the son of veteran actor Franklin Dyall. Dyall was especially popular as a voice actor, due to his very distinctive sepulchral voice, he was known for many years as "The Man in Black", narrator of the BBC Radio horror series Appointment With Fear.In...
.................. Dr Brain - Bruno BarnabeBruno BarnabeBruno Barnabe was a British film and stage actor. He performed in the West End, on Broadway, and in Egypt, Australia, and New Zealand.- Biography :...
...................Miller - Liz Reber...........................Zero
List of episodes
- The man in the cupboard
- Where is Robot Five?
- Is he in London?
- Orders from Control
- Catch that robot!
- Find the house!
- Robot Five is dangerous
- The shop in Park Street
- There were some men in the shop
- We're going away
- Out of London
- We need to sleep
- I want my car
- The village
- There's no one in the car
- The airfield
- Don't let him escape!
- The hospital
- Copies of Robot Five
- The football match
- Back to headquarters
- Ready for the meeting
- It's late
- Control is coming
- Our plan must work
- The last day