Nina and the Neurons

Last updated

Nina and the Neurons
Nina And The Neurons Official Logo.png
Genre Children's
Presented by Katrina Bryan (as "Nina")
Starring
Country of origin Scotland, United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series11
No. of episodes225
Production
Running time15 minutes
Original release
Network CBeebies
Release26 February 2007 (2007-02-26) 
2 October 2015 (2015-10-02)

Nina and the Neurons is a British television programme shown on the CBeebies channel, aimed at young children to help them understand basic science. Nina is a neuroscientist [1] who enlists the help of five Neurons (animated characters representing the senses) in her brain to answer a scientific question. It was first aired on 26th February 2007.

Contents

The show is produced by Lucille McLaughlin, who has also produced the children's programmes Balamory , Me Too! and Bits and Bobs . [2] The series is commissioned by CBeebies Controller, Michael Carrington.[ citation needed ]

Synopsis

Most of the show is based at Glasgow Science Centre, with a little part taking place outdoors. At the start of the show, Nina conducts experiments in front of an unseen audience of children. At one point of the show, Nina is 'contacted' by (usually two or three, but rarely four) children, who appear on a computer screen asking a science-related question (e.g., 'What makes rainbows appear and disappear?') Nina then chooses one (or more) of the five Neurons inside her brain based upon which of the senses is most appropriate to answer the question. Once the Neuron has been selected by Nina, the children (called the 'experimenters') then visit Nina, using fun experiments and games.

Afterwards, Nina takes the children out to find out more about the answer to the question, sometimes with the help of their friends and family. After they have found out the answer to the question, they travel back to the Glasgow Science Centre to do another experiment and then, the 'experimenters' leave.

At the end of each show, a song is sung, which changes from series to series depending on the theme of the series. Then, the Neurons discuss what they have done and the individual role they have played. The show ends with Nina and the Neurons bidding farewell to the viewers.

Characters and cast

The main character of Nina is played by Scottish actress Katrina Bryan. She is a scientist who works in the lab. Nina wears a white lab coat with brightly coloured cuffs and lapels in her lab and either a bright yellow coat or a blue jacket when outside. In the programme, Nina drives either a pale blue 1970s Volkswagen Type 2 (Transporter) minibus or a New MINI, both bearing numberplates reading 'NINA', or rides a bicycle in the Go ECO! version.

The Neurons are five computer-animated human characters (stylised with human facial features and body, but no legs) who live together inside Nina's brain and are named to reflect the five senses which they represent:

Felix, voiced by James Dreyfus and later by Lewis MacLeod, represents touch and feel. He is green and also the oldest Neuron, speaks in a posh accent and is particular about his appearance.

Belle, voiced by Kelly Harrison, represents hearing and sound. She has a pink face & a red body but also loud and can be bossy. She speaks in a Yorkshire accent and is the group's vice leader.

Luke, voiced by Patrice Naiambana, represents sight and looking. He is yellow and is also the group leader. His character is laid back and relaxed and speaks with a Jamaican accent.

Ollie, voiced by Siobhan Redmond, represents smell and scent. She speaks with a Scottish accent, just like Bud. She is purple and described as 'sweet, self-assured and a bit of a goth.' [3] She is the elder sister of Bud.

Bud, voiced by Sharon Small, represents taste and eating. He speaks with a Scottish accent, just like Ollie. He is blue and also the youngest Neuron and can be enthusiastic and easily excited. He is the younger brother of Ollie.

Bud and Ollie are often chosen together by Nina due to the way taste, eating, smell and scent all work together. *Note* they were only chosen together in the first episode of the “In The Lab” series.

Ollie later helps Luke in Series 2 by Nina Finding Flowers and Digging Dogs due to the way smell and scent and sight and looking all work together.

Felix and Luke got chosen together by Nina due to the way touch, feel, sight and looking all work together.

Belle and Luke got chosen together by Nina due to the way hearing, sound, sight and looking all work together.

Felix and Belle got chosen together by Nina due to the way touch, feel, hearing and sound all work together.

All 5 Neurons got chosen together by Nina due to the way touch, feel, hearing, sound, sight, looking, smell, scent, taste and eating all work together.

Awards and nominations

  • Awarded Best Children's Programme [4] [5]
  • Nominated as Best Children's Programme [6]

Composer: Scottish Composer Graham Ness

Exhibits

There is a themed Nina & the Neurons activity trail at the Glasgow Science Centre.[ citation needed ]. There was also an attraction located at Alton Towers themed to the show called Nina's Science Lab which opened in 2014 and closed in 2018.

Episodes

The first series began on 26 February 2007 and ended on 30 March 2007. The 2nd series began airing on Cbeebies on 31 March 2008 and ended on 2 May 2008. It was followed by a third, this time called Nina and the Neurons: Go Eco!, on 13 June 2008 as part of CBeebies' year-long green initiative called EcoBeebies, which ended on 15 August 2008. A fourth series called Nina and the Neurons: Go Inventing started on 18 May 2009, where Nina invites several young inventors to her lab to discover how things work by inventing their own versions. It ended on 19 June 2009. The fifth series, Nina and the Neurons: In The Lab, was broadcast from 27 September 2010 to 10 December 2010. In the show, Nina and the experimenters discover changes and reaction.

A sixth series, called Nina and the Neurons: Brilliant Bodies, premiered on 5 September 2011. The show focuses on the parts of the human body. The seventh series, Nina and the Neurons: Go Engineering, is another series about inventions. It started in 2012. Series 8 is called Nina and the Neurons: Earth Explorers, explores the Earth, the sea and beyond. The series also started in 2013. The last three series, Get Sporty (2014), Go Digital (2014) and Get Building (2015) focus on sport, gadgets and building respectively.

(The titles for Series 1 and 2 are from Digiguide [7] )

Series 1

Series 2

Go Eco!

Go Inventing

In the Lab

Brilliant Bodies

Go Engineering

Earth Explorers

Get Sporty

Go Digital

Get Building

Related Research Articles

<i>Clangers</i> Television series

Clangers is a British stop-motion animated children's television series, consisting of short films about a family of mouse-like creatures who live on, and inside, a small moon-like planet. They speak only in a whistled language, and eat green soup and blue string pudding. The programmes were originally broadcast on BBC1 between 1969 and 1972, followed by a special episode which was broadcast in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CBeebies</span> British childrens television network broadcast internationally

CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel, CBBC, is aimed at older children aged 6 to 12. It broadcasts every day from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm GMT / BST (Summer), timesharing with BBC Four.

<i>Balamory</i> British childrens television series

Balamory is a Scottish live-action children's programme on CBeebies for pre-school children, about a fictional small island community off the west coast of Scotland, named Balamory. Four series were produced from 2002 to 2005 by BBC Scotland, with 253 episodes made. The programme was created by Brian Jameson.

Smell-O-Vision is a system that released odor during the projection of a film so that the viewer could "smell" what was happening in the movie. Created by Hans Laube, the technique made its only appearance in the 1960 film Scent of Mystery, produced by Mike Todd Jr., son of film producer Mike Todd. The process injected 30 odors into a movie theater's seats when triggered by the film's soundtrack.

Fimbles is a British-Irish children's television series created and produced by Novel Entertainment. The series has 200 episodes, airing from 2002 to 2004 with repeats airing until early 2012 on CBeebies. The Fimbles are Fimbo, Florrie and Baby Pom, three magical characters who all live in a bright, lush, and colourful place called Fimble Valley. The production of the show itself was filmed at Bray Studios in Berkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Science Centre</span>

Glasgow Science Centre is a visitor attraction located in the Clyde Waterfront Regeneration area on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Queen Elizabeth II opened Glasgow Science Centre on 5 July 2001. It is one of Scotland's most popular paid-for visitor attractions. It is a purpose-built science centre composed of three principal buildings: Science Mall, Glasgow Tower and an IMAX cinema. It is a registered charity under Scottish law.

Nina may refer to:

Something Special is a British children's television programme presented by Justin Fletcher. It was created and produced by Allan Johnston. It is broadcast by the BBC, debuting on 1 September 2003. It is designed to introduce children to Makaton signing, and is specifically aimed at children with delayed learning and communication difficulties. It is aired on the CBeebies channel and is currently the longest running CBeebies programme and the longest running preschool series in Britain. In the past, it was also broadcast as part of the CBeebies programme strand on BBC One and BBC Two.

Aromachology is the study of the influence of odors on human behavior and to examine the relationship between feelings and emotions. Those who practice aromachology are aromachologists. Aromachologists analyze emotions such as relaxation, exhilaration, sensuality, happiness and well-being brought about by odors stimulating the olfactory pathways in the brain and, in particular, the limbic system. Different wearers are thought to have unique physiological and psychological responses to scents, especially those not manufactured synthetically but based on real scents. The word "aromachology" is derived from "aroma" and "physio-psychology", the latter being the study of aroma. This term was coined in 1989 by what is now the Sense of Smell Institute (SSI), a division of The Fragrance Foundation. The SSI defines aromachology as "a concept based on systematic, scientific data collected under controlled conditions". The term is defined as the scientifically observable influence of smell on emotions and moods. Consumers use aromachology to alleviate time pressures, for relaxation or stimulation and as a component of other activities that generate a feeling of well-being.

<i>The Koala Brothers</i> TV series or program

The Koala Brothers is a British-Australian stop-motion animated children's television series created by David Johnson that features the adventures of two koala brothers named Frank and Buster, as they seek to help their friends in a sleepy town in the Australian outback. The series was narrated by Jonathan Coleman. 78 episodes were produced over 3 seasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Fletcher</span> British television presenter

Justin Fletcher is an English actor, singer and television presenter appearing mainly on the BBC pre-school television channel CBeebies. Speaking and performing in various, often self-created, roles, he specialises in slapstick comedy and works with children with special educational needs through his show Something Special. Fletcher also appears as the comedian Mr Tumble.

<i>In the Night Garden...</i> British childrens television series

In the Night Garden... is a popular British preschool children's television series created, written and composed by Teletubbies co-creator Andrew Davenport for CBeebies and BBC Two and produced by Ragdoll Worldwide, a joint venture of Ragdoll Productions and BBC Worldwide. The show was aimed at children aged from one to six years old. The programme is narrated by Derek Jacobi. It is filmed in live action and features a mix of actors in costume, stop motion, puppetry and CGI animation. The characters include Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka, the Tombliboos, the Pontipines, the Wottingers, the HaaHoos, the Ninky Nonk, the Pinky Ponk, the Ball and the Tittifers.

<i>Space Pirates</i> (2007 TV series) British childrens television series

Space Pirates is a British 2007 children's television series created by Tony Reed, originally shown on CBeebies. It uses a mixture of live action and animation, set aboard a spaceship called "Guisto" which orbits Earth. It starred Luke Toulson as Captain DJ, and featured the voice of (then) Radio 1 newsreader Dominic Byrne as an alien news/weather/travel reporter called Zorst. There are 30 half-hour episodes which were first shown from 3 November 2007 until 22 March 2008.

Carrie and David's Popshop is a children's musical television series aired on CBeebies, originally broadcast in 2008. It is presented by celebrity vocal coaches Carrie Grant and David Grant, with their pet dog Riff, puppeteered by Dave Chapman, and produced by BBC Scotland. Repeats originally finished on 28 October 2011, but an episode was aired to celebrate the channel's tenth birthday on 11 February 2012. Repeats returned on 7 September 2013 and repeats ended again in 2015.

Katrina Bryan is a Scottish actress who has starred in Taggart, Nina and the Neurons, Molly and Mack'. She has been active since 1999. Bryan has a BA in Acting from Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University School of Drama. She appeared in an Irn-Bru advert where she names her newborn baby Fanny, much to the shock of the baby's father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sense of smell</span> Sense that detects smells

The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste.

<i>Charlie and Lola</i> (TV series) British childrens television series

Charlie and Lola is a British Flash-animated children's television series based on the popular children's picture book series of the same name by Lauren Child, produced by Tiger Aspect Productions for CBeebies. It ran for 3 series from 7 November 2005 to 24 April 2008, winning multiple BAFTA Children's Awards throughout its run. The animation uses a collage style that emulates the style of the original books.

Will Brenton is a writer/producer-director who has worked in many areas of television and theatre, primarily through his companies Tell-Tale productions and Wish Films, both of which he founded with Iain Lauchlan. Together they gained six BAFTA nominations, as well as many other awards for their work together. They won a 2000 BAFTA, Best Pre-School Live Action.

Big City Park is a live-action puppet show, aimed at preschoolers and shot on location in Ormeau Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Big City Park is an original property created, written and produced by Sixteen South in co-production with BBC Scotland.

Melody is a British preschool mixed-media music childseries created by Luke Howard, and produced by Wish Films and LAAH Entertainment for the BBC. Designed with disabled children in mind, it features a little girl with a visual impairment as the main character. Melody is also available on BBC iPlayer for over a year.

References

  1. BBC Scotland Press Release
  2. Lucille McLaughlin at IMDb
  3. Cbbeebies Grownups Archived 2 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine at the BBC
  4. "The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2007". BAFTA Scotland . Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  5. "Last King rules at Scots Baftas". BBC News. 19 November 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  6. "The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2008". BAFTA Scotland . Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  7. "Nina and The Neurons Episode Guide". Digiguide. 2009. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2009.