Merry-Go-Round: The Odyssey
The Odyssey is a unit of the BBC Schools TV series Merry-Go-Round from the 1970s & 1980s, covering English for Primary pupils.
Robert appears on screen to introduce each episode and provide context, first by telling the heroic stories to children, and by visiting different locations to talk about the context of the stories through maps of Greece, art and pottery. In the episode about the Sirens some musicians play Greek music and the song to be used to represent the Sirens' Song is demonstrated.
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Robert Erskine watching Dr Who as inspiration for The Odyssey -
Illustration of the Trojan Horse from episode 1 -
Erskine demonstrating the sailor's journey on a map of Greece
Remake
After three broadcasts as part of Merry-Go-Round in the 1970s and early 80s, the programmes were significantly re-edited and shown again in 1990 and 1993 as part of the later series Zig Zag.
There is more about these later programmes on a separate page, including details of the time-twisting editing carried out to replace the episode of Dr Who that Erskine is viewing in the first episode.
Episode List
| # | Title | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | The Wooden Horse | 10 May 1976 |
| 2. | The Cyclops | 17 May 1976 |
| 3. | Circe | 24 May 1976 |
| 4. | The Sirens Sing | 7 Jun 1976 |
| 5. | The Fury of Poseidon | 14 Jun 1976 |
| 6. | The Homecoming | 21 Jun 1976 |
Broadcasts
These episodes are only 15 minutes long, and were paired with a 5 minute episode of (in 1976 and 1981) Keep Up with the Times or (in 1977) It's All Right to make up a full 20 minute transmission of Merry-Go-Round.
Each segment had its own introduction and end credits and they were designed so they could be viewed independently of each other as separate programmes if desired by viewing teachers, although each full 20 minute transmission was held on one tape and treated as a single programme by the BBC: in 1976 The Odyssey accompanied episodes 3-8 of Keep Up with the Times with other 15-minute programmes paired with Keep Up with the Times episodes 1 & 2. Then The Odyssey and Keep Up with the Times were repeated together in 1981, the pairs were not re-edited and episodes 1 & 2 of Keep Up with the Times were simply not shown.
| Year | Term | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Channel | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975-76 | Summer 1976 | Monday, 10:05am | Thursday, 9:46am | BBC1 | from 10 May | |||
| 1977-78 | Autumn 1977 | Monday, 10:05am | Thursday, 9:46am | BBC1 | from 19 Sep | |||
| 1980-81 | Spring 1981 | Monday, 11:05am | Thursday, 10:15am | BBC1 | from 19 Jan |
Titles & Theme Music
As The Odyssey was always the second part of the Merry-Go-Round transmission, it doesn't have a full introductory theme tune.
Instead, after the preceding 5 minute segment has run its end credits, a 20 second 'interlude' showing the title 'The Odyssey' displayed within an illustration on a solid red background, resembling the art on Ancient Greek pottery. The 'theme tune' is just the sound of a ticking clock. This allowed teachers to use The Odyssey and the other unit broadcast at the same time separately if they wished.
Credits
| Presenter | Robert Erskine |
| With the voices of |
William Sleigh, Geoffrey Beavers, Peter Marinker, David Timson, Jill Shilling, Stephen Thorne, Diana Bishop, Nigel Graham |
| Singer (episode 4) | Mary King |
| Musicians (episode 4) |
Marcus Creed, Roger Philipson, David Wulstan, Philip Wulstan |
| Extracts from The Odyssey written by | Francesca Zeissl |
| Based on the work by | Homer |
| Illustrations by | Paul Birkbeck |
| Producer | Elizabeth Bennett |
| Series producer | Mike Harrison |
Resources
Teacher's Notes
Termly teacher's notes for Merry-Go-Round, issued as part of a "TV Notes" combined publication with notes for Look and Read and Music Time for the same age group.
The Merry-Go-Round notes include a slightly shorter version of the plot to each episode, written by Francesca Zeissl who also adapted the stories for TV, and designed to be read out loud by the teacher after the class had viewed the episode.
An introduction to the 1977 notes frankly summarised the views expressed by teachers of children with special educational needs after viewing Merry-Go-Round broadcasts, including the opinion that this unit telling The Odyssey through illustrations was "a poor man's Jackanory"!
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