Look Around You is a comedic parody of British science television shows, devised and written by Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz, and narrated in the first series by Nigel Lambert. The first series of eight 10-minute shorts was shown in 2002, and the second series of six 30-minute episodes in 2005, both on BBC Two. The first series of Look Around You was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2003.
Series 1 In the first series, the episodes ("modules") satirise and pay homage to early 1980s educational films and school programmes such as ITV Schools' Experiment series and BBC's "For Schools and Colleges". A different scientific subject is covered in each episode. The modules are, in order of transmission date:
"Calcium" (pilot, double episode) "Maths" "Water" "Germs" "Ghosts" "Sulphur" "Music" "Iron" "The Brain" The humour is derived from a combination of patent nonsense and faithful references and homages. For instance, fictional items that have a passing resemblance to everyday objects are shown and discussed. Such items include the "boîte diabolique", a box at the top of a piano scale which houses the "forbidden notes"; and "Garry gum", a performance-enhancing chewing gum which has the unfortunate side-effect of inducing diarrhoea, necessitating the consumption of "anti-Garry gum". Each episode begins with a "countdown clock", similar to the one used on ITV Schools programmes from 1979 to 1987. The music that accompanies the countdown is in the same spirit as the original, but is played on a solo guitar, and at the beginning of the "Brain" module, the guitarist can be heard tuning. The module subjects are distorted beyond recognition; for instance, germs are described as coming from Germany, and whisky is said to be made by combining water with nitrogen. The maths module features a distorted and inaccurate version of the ancient "seven cats" puzzle by Ahmes. Additionally, subjects are mixed: for example, a chemistry experiment about eggs (in the episode "Water") turns into a French language lesson. Each episode follows a general format, beginning with an introduction to the subject, followed by a series of silly experiments performed by the hapless (and normally mute) scientists, played by Popper, Serafinowicz and Edgar Wright, among others. The colour and overall look of the film was purposefully altered to replicate 1980s television for schools, and passably authentic incidental music written by Serafinowicz and Popper under the pseudonym "Gelg" was overdubbed to complete the parody of the original programmes. A running gag throughout the series is the fastidious labelling of all items in Dymo tape, such as hairdryers, magnets, a bottle of maths, or a jar of nuts (containing both types of nut: the foodstuff and fastener). Another recurring joke is the use of fictional apparatus and materials used in the experiments—items such as the "Besselheim plate" poke fun at real lab equipment, often named after their designers (e.g. Petri dish, Erlenmeyer flask). Pencils are always used to point at key elements of the experiments, as the "scientists" do not speak: this is sometimes taken to ridiculous levels—pointing out pencils using a pencil; pointing at chocolates and then at a person to show they are a gift. Also, the series repeatedly instructs viewers to keep a notebook, described as a "copy book", and to inscribe random and essentially worthless details of the lessons taking place with the spoken instruction to "note that down in your copy book." The series was commissioned based on a 20-minute pilot episode (twice the length of an episode in the first series, but otherwise identical) in which calcium is described as an amorphous gel prepared by grinding discarded teeth in massive milling machines; this is included on the DVD release of Series 1 as an "advanced double-length module". The DVD extras also include a music video for the song "Little Mouse" (as featured in the module on music), a selection of mock-Ceefax pages, and a creator's commentary. The joke is taken even further by presenting the DVD subtitles in exactly the same format as those broadcast via teletext. At the end of each episode, reference is made to the "next module"—although these episodes were never actually made. The episodes that are promised but never seen are:
"Champagne" "Cosmetics" "Dynamite" "Flowers" "Hitchhiking" "Italians" "Reggae" "Romance" On the DVD Ceefax pages, there are also two unseen modules:
"Blood" "Further Maths"
Series 2 The second series is composed of six 30-minute episodes and is presented in the pop-science vein of programmes such as Tomorrow's World. The series was directed by Tim Kirkby, and Ash Atalla (producer of The Office) worked as executive producer. Running from 31 January to 7 March 2005 on BBC Two at 10 p.m., Series 2 comprised the following episodes:
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