"You'll never find a Nessie in a zoo...."
  

     You may never find a Nessie in a zoo, but there's a whole family of them
     dwelling in the depths of Loch Ness, as brother and sister Angus and Elspeth
     discover one day when they encounter a monster called Silly-Ness stuck in a
     hole on the shore of the loch. Pretty soon they're making friends with other
     monsters like Ferocious-Ness, High-Ness, Mighty-Ness and Heavy-Ness and young
     Silly-Ness is soon freed. To thank the children for their assistance Highness gives
     Elspeth and Angus special Thistle Whistles which they can blow to summon
     a Nessie-or-two when e'er they feel inclined. Which opens the door to numerous
     Highland games in and around Loch Ness and its environs, because nobody
     else knows about or believes in the existence of those Nessies.

     Those doubters include Elspeth and Angus' father and loch-keeper Mr McTout,
     Sergeant McFuzz the policeman and his irritating son Willie, Mrs McToffee
     who runs the local sweet shop, the Mayor and Mayoress of Inverness,
     Captain Steadfast and Farmer McSpreading. Not so doubtful is mad Professor
     Dumkopf who is determined to 'discover' the monsters in the loch and bring
     them to the attentions of the world - but Angus, Elspeth and the Nessies
     always manage to scupper his plans just in time...

       The Extended Family-Ness

       Ferocious-Ness       High-ness           Mighty-Ness
       Heavy-Ness           Baby-Ness          Silly-Ness
       Eyewit-Ness          Lovely-Ness         Eager-Ness
       Clever-Ness           Forgetful-Ness     Sporty-Ness
       Grumpy-Ness         Thirsty-Ness        Hungry-Ness
       Speedy-Ness         Clumsy-Ness        Careful-Ness

     "The Family-Ness" was the first tv toon from prolific cartoonist Peter Maddocks.
     Like his subsequent series the show looks and feels like a kids' comic strip,
     with the characters and strips appearing to have stepped straight out of a
     Fleetway or DC Thomson title. The show is bolstered by some strong voicework
     from Peter "Pugwash" Hawkins and Susan "Noddy" Sheridan and episodes are
     topped and tailed with two infectious songs from Roger and Gavin Greenaway.
     Note the spelling of the series title "Family-Ness", with a hyphen and the Nessies'
     names also hyphenated.

     Whilst the Nessies may well be fictional, Loch Ness and its environs are
     very real and various Family-Ness tales take us to actual loch-side locations
     like Castle Urquhart and Drumnadrochit, and of course, the highland city
     of Inverness...

    » Interesting to see how, a decade after "The Family-Ness" debuted on British tv,
       an animated Nessie series surfaced in America. Abrams Gentile's 1995 show
       "Happy Ness: The Secret of the Loch" featured a family of non-hyphenated
       Nessies, like Happy Ness, Kind Ness, Lovely Ness and more. And yes, there
       were also two local children at the heart of the show, this time called the
       McCoy kids. You'll find an indexing for this Saturday-Morning series over
       at Toonarific...

    » In the episode "Elspeth and Angus Buy a Puppy" the kids acquire a cute
       little pup from a mean tinker, but it's not until several episodes later in
       "Baby-Ness and the Mayor's Statue" that the puppy is actually referred
       to by name. His name is Sporran...

    » In "Ferocious-Ness Loses His Roar" her High-Ness reveals that she can
       actually breathe fire...

 

    Family-Ness episodes

     Elspeth and Angus Meet the Loch Ness Monster
     Professor Dumpkopf's Underwater Telescope
     Elspeth and Angus Buy a Puppy
     Ferocious-ness Changes His Colour
     Ferocious-ness and the Look-alike Contest
     Clever-ness Helps With the Homework
     Speedy-Ness Saves the Day
     Ferocious-Ness Loses His Roar
     Baby-Ness Gets the Measles
     Silly-Ness and the Bubble Machine
     Ferocious-Ness and the Sound Machine
     Clever-Ness and the Curling Championship
     The Maze of Urquhart Castle
     Professor Dumkopf Makes a Monster Film
     Professor Dumkopf and his Amazing Cannonball
     Sporty-Ness and the Highland Games
     Hungry-Ness and the Diving Bell
     Professor Dumkopf and the Hungry Monster
     Clumsy-Ness Upsets Captain Standfast
     Angus and the Monster Kite 
     Captain Standfast and the Golden Key
     Thirsty-Ness and the Part-Time Witch
     Baby-Ness and the Mayor's statue
     Captain Standfast and the Stowaway
     You'll Never Find a Nessie in a Zoo

 

    Broadcast info

     The series first aired on BBC1, 5th October 1984, at 4.10pm.
     Episodes continued, one at week, at around the same time,
     through to 28th March 1985 - with just a short break for
     Christmas (21st Dec 1984 - 3rd Jan 1985)...

 

     Family-Ness on DVD

     The Family-Ness: Volume 2
                Region 2 / 8 episodes / 4 Front / August 2004

     The Family-Ness: Volume 1
                Region 2 / 8 episodes / 4 Front / April 2004

 

     written and created by Peter Maddocks

       a Ness Company Ltd Production
       in association with MAM

     production:      Peter Maddocks, Nick Roberts, Gus Angus
     director:          Jack Stokes
     music:             Roger and Gavin Greenaway
     animation:       The Animation People
     head of
      backgrounds:   Kevin Smith
     layout:            Ted Pettengel, David Elvin      
     dubbing:          Magmasters
     voices:            Peter Hawkins
                           Sue Sheridan

 

      On the web


       Weavervale
       Mat Overton's site gives us the series background, pages
       on the nessies, the humans, Loch Ness, a page of
       pictures, sounds and WAV theme - Fab, eh?

       80sNostalgia
       "Family-Ness" makes it into the ClassicTV section...

       80sCartoons
       More Nessies here at Claire's place...


 
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