8 /10 1 Votes
Genre Children's Musical Theme music composer Brian Stephens Country of origin United Kingdom Final episode date 30 December 1991 Executive producer Iain Harvey | 8/10 IMDb Directed by Graham Ralph Composer(s) Richard Warner First episode date 26 September 1991 Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Voices of Jeff Stevenson, Casey Stevenson, Holly Stevenson Networks CBBC, BBC One, Nick Jr. Too Similar Miss Spider's Sunny Pa, Angelmouse, Spider Riders, The Animals of Farthing, The Forgotten Toys | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spider! is a musical children's television mini series made by Hibbert Ralph Entertainment for the BBC, which originally aired towards the end of 1991. It followed the adventures of a spider, the protagonist, and a young boy. The stories were told through song, performed by Jeff Stevenson with his children, Casey and Holly, singing backing vocals.
Contents
The style of music varies from rock 'n' roll to haunting and melancholic, and was produced by Rick Cassman. A BBC Video entitled Spider! – I'm Only Scary 'cos I'm Hairy! (BBCV 4753), which contained all thirteen episodes, was released soon after the series ended. A DVD version was also released later.
Reception
Spider! was generally well received by television critics and viewers, with strong praise directed towards the show's plots, animation, music, and humour. Critics have also noted the show's multi generational appeal. Spider! has gained an 8.2 rating from 44 users as of November 2016. Spider! has now attracted a cult following on old children's videos and DVDs.
Various episodes have also been uploaded to video networking sites, like YouTube and Veoh. The series has been repeated on children's television channels in the United Kingdom, such as CBeebies and Nick Junior. It is known as Damhan Allaidh in Scots Gaelic and has been shown on BBC Two Scotland in the morning.
In the United States, the series was first broadcast in 1993, and ended broadcast in 1997, with American voice actors on PBS Kids. There was also a popup book based on the first episode, which was written by Ron van der Meer and illustrated by the director, Graham Ralph.
On 12 May 2005, Silver Fox Films announced that it was developing a new, revived version called Spider's Silly Show. The format was to be extended from five minutes to eleven minutes, and fifty two episodes were planned. It was to be hosted by Andrew Sachs. This project appears to be on hold, however, as the latest information is from 2005.
Episodes
The series consist of only thirteen five minute episodes, which are listed below: