The television comic!

Inviting viewers to jump into its magical larger-than-life pages ZZZap! was the comic magazine brought to life. Produced for CITV (formerly Children’s ITV) ZZZap! entertained young audiences with a variety of short, snappy and sometimes surreal sketches and scenes.

Originally given the brief to create a children’s programme for deaf viewers, producer/writers Neil Buchanan and Tim Edmunds expanded this idea, aiming to create a show for all with a focus on the visual. What results is a programme borrowing from the visual style of comic books and silent comedy. ZZZap! offers viewers a series of entertaining sketches and resembles flipping through the pages of a comic magazine. Onscreen sound effects, arrows and captions are supported by music and limited sound. The comic book style lends itself well to this format and creates emphasis on what is seen rather than what is heard.

This episode from series one features many of the staple features and characters that ‘90s kids may remember. Cuthbert Lilly (‘he’s dead silly’) owes a lot to silent slapstick comedy as he tries his hand at being a football goalkeeper. Noir-ish private detective Tricky Dicky sets a group of children a fiendishly tricky physical challenge and artist Smart Arty (played by Buchanan) creates a delicious piece of art we’d all like to sink our teeth into. Perhaps the most clear reference to ZZZap!’s original remit can be seen in The Handymen; a pair of colourful hands showing a paper cutting trick in a theatre setting. Performed by Sarah Pickthall from the National Deaf Children’s Society, this sketch regularly included elements of British Sign Language.

ZZZap! is regarded a cult classic and ran for 10 series from 1993 to 2001. A press report from 1993 promised the show as ‘the television comic you can watch with the sound down’ which must have been a welcome relief in many households.