Format
The programme follows the same format throughout its run. A title intro is shown consisting of a couple of short clips for each character from the season. It is then followed by a series of short two or three minute long segments, followed by the credits. Each segment is introduced by the camera zooming in on a corresponding panel on a giant comic, shot in reverse (e.g.: The Camera starting at the Panel, and pulling back) and then played in reverse. This giant comic has a set of nine frames on it, some of which contain a character representing their segments. The show was designed with deaf children in mind, and so the style of the show is predominantly visual, with the sound only providing music and effects. The audience in "The Handymen" segments would also often sign clapping instead of actually clapping.
The introduction to series 1 was filmed in Chequers Shopping Centre in Maidstone showing a boy buying a copy of a comic called "ZZZap!" from a newsagent. The newsagent pictured in the introduction was a branch of NSS, which became Forbuoys, Martin and More before closing in 2007. The comic contains a 'Free TV Zapper!' which he uses only to find that the comic has increased to an enormous size. This introduction was abandoned from series 2 onwards, which instead showed the giant comic and then introduced each of the characters with a short video. Some computer generated additions were made in series 8, and from series 10 onwards the whole sequence including the giant comic was computer-animated. The closing titles also changed between series.
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