The Way Things Work (TV Series)

The Way Things Work was a short-lived television series based on the best-selling book of the same name by David Macaulay. The series was co-produced by Millimages, Pearson Broadband, and Schlessinger Media; it was distributed by the latter. The program ran daily on BBC2 and CBBC from 2001 to early 2002, before it was discontinued due to a lack of both episodes and audience. The series (hand-animated) was one of the last few educational TV programmes still shown by the BBC on CBBC. It is one of its most short-lived television series, running for only 26 15 minute episodes. The programme aims to teach basic principles of science to young viewers and revolves around the residents of the backward Mammoth Island as they struggle through daily life with the use of outlandish contraptions. The series was later dubbed into French and briefly aired in syndication on TV network France 5. A DVD containing all 26 episodes of the series was released in 2005.

Due to the popularity of the book The Way Things Work by David Macaulay, Millimages pitched a concept for an educational television series with similar features to Schlessinger Media, who accepted the idea and agreed to distribute the programme to the BBC upon completion. Animation began in 1999, but the programme was not first aired until 2001, on both BBC2 and CBBC. The programme had a very short lifespan; it consisted of 26 episodes, each attempting to educate children about basic science, of 15 minutes each. Millimages had plans for a second series, but the programme was promptly discontinued, as it was not attracting enough audiences. It was one of the last hand-animated programmes on the BBC. The show takes features from the book, such as the constant abuse of the Woolly Mammoth, and the detailed and colourful explanations of the machines. Each episode focuses on a different area of science. The programme's plot was debated, before finally deciding on an island (later to be renamed Mammoth Island) on which the inhabitants build outlandish contraptions to make their lives easier.

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