The Experimenter

OK, so the last few posts have been CITV heavy. So I thought I'd write about something BBC related. But I thought I'd discuss a show that was part of the beeb's schools programming in the 1990's. Seeing as I appeared to have watched an absolute shedload of these as well.

For some reason, there were occasions in my life, especially in the mid 2000's. Where I didn't sleep at a decent time and would sit up late watching the TV. But the only thing on would be BBC Learning Zone. Which would repeat all sorts of educational shows from their back catalogue. I distinctly remember Revisewise and of course Bitesize being aired a lot. But at one point they decided to air The Experimenter.

I'd originally seen this show during infant school. Where during rainy school play times. The teachers would sit us down in from of the television and stick in a video tape for us to watch. I distantly remember our school must have had no budget because instead of buying the official VHS releases advertised. They'd taped them off the telly. Bloody cheapskates *shakes fist*

I have to say, the first thing that makes me nostalgic with this show (and also another BBC Schools show from the same time called Cats Eyes) is the Primary Science ident. With the CGI spinning cogs and flowers.

The Experimenter was an educational series for kids all about science. Featuring the adventures of Sarah (Nadia Williams) and XP (Richard Braine). A slightly dense alien from another planet (although I don't think which planet was ever specified). Together they'd solve scientific questions with the aided help of XP's "smart specs" and Sarah's very 90's computer.

Can we take a moment to admire XP's supposedly futuristic costume? It's wonderfully rubbish. But they had a go. I do wonder if the shows budget was about £16.50 for the whole series and the bins behind the back of the Blue Peter studios had to be raided to make it.

I guess The Experimenter wasn't a bad watch. I quite liked the funky electronic theme tune used on the show. The series was made between 1994-1996 but repeats continued for about another decade.

You can find numerous episodes posted on Youtube.