Magic Grandad

Created by Margaret Simpson

1993–2009

Magic Grandad was an educational programme which originally aired on BBC Two under the title 'Switch On, Switch Off' during Schools section of 1993. The show saw 'Magic' Grandad take his young grandchildren back in time, many of the adventures are about comparing the past and the present and seeing how evidence of what happened in the olden days still survives. The show was said to make learning about history "fun for youngsters" and was aimed at children aged 5-7 years. The series was introduced to support the History National Curriculum at Key Stage 1. New seasons have been made periodically to support new areas of the infant history curriculum such as seaside holidays and toys. The early season have a companion booklet of teacher's notes with descriptions of the episodes, various suggestions for follow-up work and photocopiable worksheets.

First aired
12 Jan 1993
Episode length
15 min
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Writers
Anne Ross Muir, Emma Collins, Judith Johnson and 2 others
Cinematography
David Meadows, Paul Riley
Executive producer
Lambros Atteshlis
Producers
Bob Parker, Hazel Graham, Lambros Atteshlis, Ronald Smedley
Elsewhere
TMDB

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Cast

Seasons · 21 episodes

  • 90 years Ago

    Season 1 · 1993

    Kimberley and Gary's great grandad can magically transport them into the past. Grandad's magic extends to allowing he and the children, even in modern dress, to be accepted as guests of the people they visit.

  • Famous People

    Season 2 · 1994

    Grandad Albert starts taking the children further back in time, his magic can now extend to different places, even abroad to France and Crimea.

  • Seaside Holiday

    Season 3 · 2001

    We now meet a new Grandad and two new children, Tom and Nikki. This time Grandad's magic relies on his collection of old 16mm films - when they are projected he is able to take his grandchildren 'into' the films and back to the time when they were made. All the adventures now take place in 1901 and have a recurring cast of characters.

  • Toys

    Season 4 · 2003

    Another new Grandad takes over for this season. This time Magic grandad travels through time on his own, meeting with his many grand children only when he finds something "brill-a-brill" to show them.

  • Famous People 2

    Season 5 · 2003

    Another new Grandad, this time he takes his many different grandchildren to meet famous people from history and lets them ask questions.

  • More Famous People

    Season 6 · 2009

    Magic Grandad now has a magic pocket watch which he uses to bring up more information on the famous person he and his grandchildren visit. The format has now changed slightly, the famous person is visited twice at different stages of their lives.

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