Nina and the Neurons

*Nina and the Neurons*
Nina and the Neurons
Genre	Children's
Presented by	Katrina Bryan (as "Nina")
Starring	James Dreyfus (s1); Lewis MacLeod; Kelly Harrison; Patrice Naimbana; Siobhan Redmond; Sharon Small;
Country of origin	United Kingdom; (Scotland)
Original language	English
No. of series	11
No. of episodes	225
Production
Running time	15 minutes
Original release
Network	CBeebies
Release	26 February 2007 –; 2 October 2015

Nina and the Neurons is a British live action/animated television programme shown on the CBeebies channel, aimed at young children to help them understand basic science. Nina is a neuroscientist^[1] who enlists the help of five Neurons (animated characters representing the senses) in her brain to answer a scientific question. It was first aired on 26th February 2007.

The show is produced by Lucille McLaughlin, who has also produced the children's programmes like Balamory, Me Too! and Bits and Bobs.^[2] The series is commissioned by CBeebies Controller, Michael Carrington.^{[citation needed]}

Synopsis

Most of the show is based at Glasgow Science Centre, with a little part taking place outdoors. At the start of the show, Nina conducts experiments in front of an unseen audience of children. At one point of the show, Nina is 'contacted' by (usually two or three, but rarely four) children, who appear on a computer screen asking a science-related question (e.g., 'What makes rainbows appear and disappear?') Nina then chooses one (or more) of the five Neurons inside her brain based upon which of the senses is most appropriate to answer the question. Once the Neuron has been selected by Nina, the children (called the 'experimenters') then visit Nina, using fun experiments and games.

Afterwards, Nina takes the children out to find out more about the answer to the question, sometimes with the help of their friends and family. After they have found out the answer to the question, they travel back to the Glasgow Science Centre to do another experiment and then, the 'experimenters' leave.

At the end of each show, a song is sung, which changes from series to series depending on the theme of the series. Then, the Neurons discuss what they have done and the individual role they have played. The show ends with Nina and the Neurons bidding farewell to the viewers.

Characters and cast

Nina (played by Katrina Bryan), the main character of the series. She is a scientist who works in a laboratory in the Glasgow Science Centre and is always happy to help children solve their scientific problems. She wears a white lab coat with brightly coloured cuffs and lapels in her lab and either a bright yellow coat or a blue jacket when outside. Her mode of transport is either a pale blue 1970s Volkswagen Type 2 (Transporter) minibus in Series 1, or a New MINI in all other seasons, both bearing numberplates reading 'NINA'. In "Go Eco!", she rides a bicycle to fit the environmental theme.

Neurons

The Neurons are five animated human characters (stylised with human facial features and body, but no legs) who live together inside Nina's brain and are named to reflect the five senses which they represent:

Felix (Voiced by James Dreyfus in the first series and Lewis MacLeod in the rest), the oldest of the Neurons who is particular about his appearance and speaks in a posh accent. He is coloured green, and represents touch and feel.
Belle (Voiced by Kelly Harrison), the vice leader of the Neurons who can be quite loud and bossy but is still friendly and nice. She speaks in a Yorkshire accent, coloured red with a pink face, and represents hearing and sound.
Luke (Voiced by Patrice Naiambana), the group leader of the Neurons with a laid-back/relaxed personality and speaks in a Jamaican accent. He is coloured yellow, and represents sight and looking.
Ollie (Voiced by Siobhan Redmond), A Neuron referred to as being 'sweet, self-assured and a bit of a goth.'^[3] She speaks in a Scottish accent, is coloured purple and violet, and represents smell and scent.
Bud (Voiced by Sharon Small), the youngest of the Neurons and Ollie's younger brother. Being young, can be quite enthusiastic and easily excited within the world around him. As with Ollie, Bud also speaks with a Scottish accent. He is coloured blue and represents taste and eating.

Awards and nominations

BAFTA Scotland 2007

Awarded Best Children's Programme^[4]^[5]

BAFTA Scotland 2008

Nominated as Best Children's Programme^[6]

Composer: Scottish Composer Graham Ness

Exhibits

There is a themed Nina & the Neurons activity trail at the Glasgow Science Centre.^{[citation needed]}. There was also an attraction located at Alton Towers themed to the show called Nina's Science Lab which opened in 2014 and closed in 2018.

Episodes

The series has seen many different changes through its eight-year run, with a majority of seasons focusing on specific themes of science or technology.

Series 1 (2007)

The first series premiered on 26 February 2007, functioning as one of the many new additions to the rebranded CBeebies channel, and ran until 30 March 2007. Episodes centre on Nina visiting a family, whose kids are in need of the answer to a scientific problem. They become "Experimenters" for the day, adorning light blue T-shirts and solve the question with the help of the Neurons.

(The titles for Series 1 and 2 are from Digiguide^[7])

1. Stars
2. Do We All Smell Different?
3. Amazing Maze
4. Trumpet
5. Snowballs
6. Eyebrows
7. What's Cooking?
8. All Bunged Up
9. Nina Needs A Wee
10. Spy kit
11. Granny's Glasses
12. Where's The Bad Smell?
13. Wakey Wakey
14. Why Is My Tongue Wet?
15. Shadows
16. Birthday Surprise
17. Different Tastes
18. Monster Hunt
19. Making Music
20. Distance
21. Staying Cool
22. Too Much Salt
23. Bud Needs Help
24. Echoes
25. Colours

Series 2 (2008)

Series 2 aired on CBeebies from 31 March-2 May 2008. This series retained the format of Series 1 but focused more on topics about physics and human functionalities. There were more kid-only episodes than in Series 1, and would continue on for the rest of the show.

1. Hide And Seek
2. Getting Goosebumps
3. Nina's Cake Bake
4. I Can See A Rainbow
5. Terrific Teeth
6. Touching The Clouds
7. Smelly Feet
8. In A Spin
9. Bubble Trouble
10. Fun In The Sun
11. Tummy Rumbles
12. Finding Flowers
13. Lovely Lollies
14. Brilliant Bones
15. Rumbling Thunder
16. Nina Gets Nosey
17. What A Fright
18. Let's Hear It For Ears
19. Making Waves
20. Splish Splash
21. Baby Talk
22. Funny Honey
23. Digging Dogs
24. When the Wind Blows
25. Tremendous Toes

Go Eco! (2008)

The third series - Go Eco!, premiered on 13 June 2008 and continued on weekly until 15 August. It was commissioned as part of CBeebies' year-long green initiative called EcoBeebies, and so episodes focus on green-related topics. For this series only, the Experimenters wore green T-shirts instead of the light blue or red ones in other series.

1. Branching Out
2. Food, Glorious Food
3. Keeping Cosy
4. Super Slimy Slugs
5. Mouldy Food
6. Something Fishy
7. Recycling
8. Flying High
9. Monkey Business
10. Every Drop Counts

Go Inventing (2009)

The fourth series - Go Inventing, aired from 18 May-19 June 2009. This series focuses on how things work as Nina invites several young inventors to her lab to invent their own versions. This was the first series to have the children (referred to as "Inventors" in this series) wear red T-shirts, which would continue on for the rest of the series.

1. Bouncy Beds
2. Pen and Paper
3. Loud and Clear
4. In the Box
5. Mirror Mirror
6. Wheels
7. Clean It Up
8. Lift Off
9. Round and Round
10. Get Wet
11. Sliding Doors
12. Handy Handles
13. Cooking With Waves
14. Time for Cogs
15. Hot and Cold
16. Buckle Up
17. Dirty Dishes
18. Top Taps
19. Keys
20. Eyes in the Dark
21. Near and Far
22. Hubble Bubble
23. In a Flush
24. Extraordinary X-Rays
25. Swish Swish

In the Lab (2010)

The fifth series - In the Lab was broadcast weekly from 27 September-10 December 2010. In the show, Nina and the experimenters discover changes and reactions. From this series onwards, the experimenters also wore replicas of Nina's white coat alongside their red T-shirts.

1. Melty Chocolate
2. Sleepy Dust
3. Rattling Pan
4. Burnt Toast
5. Sugar and Teeth
6. Super Sand
7. Ferocious Fire
8. Soap Suds
9. Boats Float
10. Grass Stains
11. Salty Sea
12. Wobbly Jelly
13. Steamy Mirrors
14. Fragrant Flowers
15. Noisy Foods
16. Popcorn Pops
17. Sniffing Smells
18. Mighty Metal
19. Sticky Jam
20. Bubbles Burst
21. Onions Make Us Cry
22. Wrinkly Fingers
23. Glow Stars
24. Wet Paint
25. Marvellous Milk

Brilliant Bodies (2011)

The sixth series - Brilliant Bodies, focused on parts of the human body, and aired from 5 September 2011.

1. Heart
2. Handy Hands
3. Sneeze
4. Two Ears
5. Blood
6. Brain
7. Wrinkly Face
8. Earwax
9. Exercise
10. Tickly Feet
11. Yawn
12. Digestion
13. Sleep
14. Eyelashes
15. Bellybuttons
16. Scabs
17. Eyes See
18. Burp
19. Spine
20. Breath
21. Skin
22. Balance
23. Memory
24. Broken Bones
25. Fingertips Feel

Go Engineering (2013)

The seventh series - Go Engineering, premiered at the start of 2013. It also focuses on inventions and how things work.

1. Aeroplanes Luke
2. Glass Luke
3. Electricity Belle
4. Bin Lorry Ollie
5. Hovercraft Belle
6. Robots All Neurons
7. Cranes Luke
8. Hot Air Balloons Luke
9. Ships Felix
10. Roads Luke Wellies
11. Tunnels Luke
12. Cereal Bud
13. Cable Cars Luke
14. Steam Pump Ollie
15. DVDs All Neurons
16. Diving Felix
17. Luggage Luke
18. Biscuits Bud
19. Cars Belle
20. Computers Felix and Luke
21. Tall Buildings Luke
22. Canal Locks Felix
23. Sticky Fabric Felix
24. Bridges Luke
25. Mobile Phones Belle

Earth Explorers (2013)

The eighth series - Earth Explorers, premiered in Late-2013 and has Nina and the experimenters looking at earth, the sea, and beyond.

1. Space Rockets
2. Grand Canyon
3. Sand Dunes
4. Living in Space
5. Mountains
6. Volcanoes
7. Giant's Causeway
8. Solar System
9. Rivers
10. Exploring Space
11. Cliffs
12. Night and Day
13. Dinosaurs
14. Living on Earth
15. Stripy Rocks
16. Geysers
17. Loch Ness
18. Moon Shape
19. Caves
20. Shooting Stars
21. Coal
22. Earth Is Round
23. Deserts
24. Gravity
25. Waterfalls

Get Sporty (2014)

The ninth series - Get Sporty, premiered in Early-2014, and focuses on the realm of professional sports and how they work.

1. Cycling
2. Curling
3. Football
4. Trampolining
5. Climbing
6. Rugby
7. Marathon
8. Sprinting
9. Swimming
10. Long Jump
11. Snooker
12. Gymnastics
13. Diving
14. Cricket
15. Basketball

Go Digital (2014)

The tenth series - Go Digital, premiered in Late-2014, and focuses on technology and gadgets, and how it works.

1. Driverless Cars
2. Internet
3. 3D Printing
4. Coding
5. Animation

Get Building (2015)

The eleventh and final series - Get Building, aired in 2015 and focused on how buildings and structures are constructed and how they stay together.

1. Triangles
2. Pointy Roofs
3. Piers
4. Nests
5. Houses
6. Windmills
7. Beaver Dams
8. Skyscrapers
9. Bridges
10. Demolition
11. Floating Houses
12. Rollercoasters
13. Arches
14. Lighthouses
15. Living Underwater
16. Living Underground
17. Igloo
18. Spiders
19. Domes
20. Amphitheatres

References

^ BBC Scotland Press Release
^ Lucille McLaughlin at IMDb
^ Cbbeebies Grownups Archived 2 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine at the BBC
^ "The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2007". BAFTA Scotland. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
^ "Last King rules at Scots Baftas". BBC News. 19 November 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
^ "The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2008". BAFTA Scotland. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
^ "Nina and The Neurons Episode Guide". Digiguide. 2009. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2009.

External links

Glasgow Science Centre Activity Booklet

[1] BBC Scotland Press Release

[2] Lucille McLaughlin at IMDb

[3] Cbbeebies Grownups Archived 2 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine at the BBC

[4] "The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2007". BAFTA Scotland. Retrieved 17 March 2010.

[5] "Last King rules at Scots Baftas". BBC News. 19 November 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2010.

[6] "The Lloyds TSB BAFTA Scotland Awards 2008". BAFTA Scotland. Retrieved 17 March 2010.

[7] "Nina and The Neurons Episode Guide". Digiguide. 2009. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2009.

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