All around the World: Introducing the Go Jetters
The Go Jetters is CBeebies new series that takes children all over the world and teaches them about some of the most famous landmarks.
We had a chat to the producers of the show to find out more about the latest CBeebies show!
Tell us a bit about yourself and your role in making Go Jetters…
Hi there, we’re the show’s producers and essentially it’s our job to make sure that each episode is as good as it can be.
We get to see the show evolve from the very first story idea through to the finished episode. Our team works with some amazingly talented writers, directors and composers to try to tell each story in the most interesting, visual and entertaining way for the audience.
Tell us briefly what the show is all about and what children will learn from it?
‘Go Jetters’ is about four young heroes in the final stages of their training at the 'Go Jet Academy' visiting the world’s wonderful landmarks with their mentor, Ubercorn, as they put the skills and knowledge they’ve learnt so far to the test. It’s basically the ultimate school trip!
Their adversary is Grandmaster Glitch who, along with his mechanical Grimbots, has a habit of putting landmarks to his own use with no regard for the consequences – and it falls to the Go Jetters to put things right using all the knowledge they’ve acquired (with a little help from Ubercorn).
We first show the landmark as it should look so that when our young audience see it ‘glitched’ they’ll understand that something about it has changed.
Each episode has a ‘funky facts’ section where Ubercorn tells the Go Jetters about the place in the world they’re about to visit. We’ve put something in there to interest a wide range of ages and abilities, so for example, a 3 year old might learn that Table Mountain is in South Africa, whereas an older child would also be interested in how the famous mountain clouds are formed.
The production team is working alongside the Geography association and we’re also learning new things all the time!
The Eiffel Tower being 'glitched'.
Can you tell us a bit about each of the characters and what inspired them?
Lars, Foz, Xuli and Kyan are the Go Jetters and each one of them brings something unique to the show. Lars is a gentle giant with an interest in plants and animals; Foz is the youngest Go Jetter and something of child prodigy; Xuli is our ace pilot – cool and calm under pressure, she’s always at the heart of the action. Then there’s sporty Kyan who’s great at gymnastics and loves any kind of outdoor activity, he’s got bags of confidence that can sometimes make him rush straight into the action.
Ubercorn is their mentor – a cool, disco loving guru to the world of Geography. And a unicorn, obviously.
Then there’s Grandmaster Glitch who flunked out of the Go Jetter Academy and now lives in Grim HQ with his mechanical grimbots for company. He’s a loveable anti-hero who just can’t resist meddling with monuments and transforming landmarks into personal playthings.
He NEVER deliberately sabotages though - it’s always just a side effect to his latest play plan.
The mischievous Grandmaster Glitch's 'Grimbler'.
Where do the Go Jetters get to travel to and how did you come up with all the destinations?
As the theme tune says; ‘All around the World’! We really do visit every continent – even Antarctica.
We wanted to get a really good mix of locations across the series, so we visit ancient monuments like the Easter Island Statues, modern landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and areas of natural geography, like the Amazon rainforest.
What’s your favourite episode or part of the show?
It’s tricky to decide on a favourite episode – we just have favourite little moments with the characters.
We’ve also included a few filmic references across the series that we love, so hopefully grown-ups will spot some of those and enjoy them just as much as we do!