Series / Watt On Earth

Watt On Earth was a British children's television science fiction/comedy series which aired on CBBC in the UK from 1991-1992. It was written by former Doctor Who writers Pip and Jane Baker.

Watt, whose real name was never revealed, was an alien prince whose parents had died in a mysterious transporter accident on the way to their coronation celebration, and whose uncle had stolen the throne, declaring himself Regent Projector. He now wanted to eliminate Watt and had sent an assassin, Jemadah, after him to Earth. Watt found himself in the English town of Haxton and befriended a ten-year-old boy, Sean Ruddock, who was the only human being aware of Watt's existence. Sean tried to help Watt evade Jemadah, who would stop at nothing to fulfil his mission. He had to conceal Watt from his parents Tom and Val, who ran local newspaper the Haxton Weekly from offices/printing works at the rear of their house, and from his bossy, overbearing sister Zoë.

Watt had the ability to transanimateobjectify, which essentially meant that he could shapeshift to look like any object, though his skills were imperfect, meaning there was always a mistake in the object - an apple with a blue core, a teapot with two spouts, a clock with reversed numbers, etc. Being an object made him (mostly) invisible, but also immobile, leaving him vulnerable to Jemadah. Jemadah, meanwhile, had the ability to transanimatepersonify, allowing him to change his appearance to look like human beings male or female, which made it even harder for Sean and Watt to detect him. Watt's skills in this field were even worse, meaning that although he resembled a young human male, he had back-to-front ears in the first series, and green ears in the second.

In the second series, Watt's uncle was facing overthrow, and Jemadah's time to complete his mission was running out...

The series starred Garth Napier Jones as Watt and Tom Brodie as Sean. It aired in November and December of 1991 and 1992, twice-weekly in fifteen-minute episodes, in a similar manner to Simon and the Witch, and had the same producer, Angela Beeching. Director Roger Singleton-Turner and BBC Radiophonic Workshop composer Richard Attree later worked together again on the original TV series of The Demon Headmaster (CBBC, 1996-98).

---

Watt On Earth provides examples of:

• The '90s: Enormous desktop computers that use floppy disks; equally enormous mobile phones; pagers; satellite dishes; VHS tapes and references to contemporary pop stars such as Michael Jackson and Jason Donovan.
• Adults Are Useless: Hardly any adults (apart from Jemadah) know of Watt's presence on Earth, and those who do see him, with a hat covering his ears (such as Hilda Lacey) have no idea he is an alien.
• Ambiguous Ending: The first series had one: Watt has captured Jemedah's iontagger, has used it to establish a link with his home planet, then says: "I'm through!". Caption: To be continued. It takes until the beginning of series 2, a year later, for us to discover what happened: Watt disappeared back to his planet without saying goodbye and Sean was left wondering what had happened, until Watt returned.
• Assassin Outclassin': The whole basis of the series.
• Backstory: The novelisation sketches in some additional background and motivation for both Watt and Jemadah:
  • Watt - "He'd always wanted to visit Earth. And had leapt at the first opportunity. Without seeking permission. / He'd been experimenting with the Astral Chronograph in the out of bounds Atelier of Cosmography when his planet came into conjunction with Earth. In typical Watt-style, he'd stepped impulsively into the Corridor..."
  • More on Watt - "When his parents had died, he'd been shipped off to a sheltered, solitary existence in the Alcazar of Hegemony: a college for kings, with only one pupil - Watt. / Cossetted he may have been, but close friendships were not encouraged. Sean was the first real friend he'd ever known."
  • Jemadah - "... he contemplated the end of his quest and the honours which the grateful Regent Protector would shower on him. Surely he'd no longer be a mere lieutenant. One of many. Eliminate Watt and he'd deserve to be made Second In Command. Subservient solely to the Regent."
• Beauty Contest: Zoë has ambitions to be the Gala Princess at the Charity Gala, but faces competition from Kate.
• Big Sister Bully: Zoë picks on and belittles her imaginative younger brother Sean.
• Bittersweet Ending: To the second and final series. Watt has finally discovered his parents were murdered by his uncle, who has now been overthrown. With him and Jemadah gone, Watt is free to return home and claim his throne. He says a final goodbye to Sean, leaving him a photo. Sean says he will always remember Watt, then sadly leaves the room, before the photo says it will always remember Sean.
• The Brigadier: Brigadier Jones, known to all and sundry as 'Jones'. Also impersonated by Jemadah in series 2.
• Catchphrase: "Black holes and quasars!" Watt's favourite exclamation of frustration.
• Character Aged with the Actor: At the start of series 2, a year has passed (as it had in real life) and Sean is now at secondary school.
• Cliffhanger: Each episode, apart from the very last, ends on a cliffhanger.
• Cold Ham: Jemadah, sometimes, although it depends who's playing him.
• Corrupt Politician: Councillor Carrington.
• Creator Couple: The series was written by husband-and-wife team Pip and Jane Baker.
• The Ditz: Watt himself, very often. Although he has huge scientific knowledge unknown on Earth, he's naive and clumsy trying to adapt to life on a different planet.
• Everybody Calls Him "Barkeep": Jones.
• Fading Away: Watt, like all his race, is kept alive by a technological bracelet known as an Amulet of Vitalis. If this is removed, he will literally start to fade away, bit by bit, unless the Amulet is returned to him. He can only survive for a quintaxon (in Earth terms, an hour) without it.
• Good Parents: Tom and Val Ruddock.
• Hey, Let's Put on a Show: Tom and Val assist in a production of The Mikado in the second series, and, with his ears covered, Watt takes a part.
• Hidden Depths: Watt turns out to have a good singing voice when he auditions for The Mikado.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Jemadah has successfully posed as a smoke detector salesman and has installed them throughout the Ruddock house, but they contain a concealed gas which knocks the family out. He then enters the print works, where Watt is disguised as a piece of paper, and is about to set fire to him... then in the Cliffhanger resolution, the sprinklers in those very detectors go off, drenching Jemadah and saving Watt. In the novelisation, the Bakers even use the phrase "hoist with his own petard" to describe the incident.
• Immoral Journalist: Zoë has ambitions to be an Intrepid Reporter, but as Val discovers when she allows Zoë to write a pop column, she's not too particular when it comes to disparaging pop bands or their fans.
• Instrumental Theme Tune: By Richard Attree, with a single synthesised "Hello!" from Watt in the opening titles.
• It's All About Me: Watt thinks Sean should devote his whole time to looking after him and helping him escape. However, when Sean or the rest of the family is in danger, he is ready to protect them, even if this may mean surrendering himself to Jemadah.
• Lethal Chef: Watt enjoys Earth foods, but has no idea what goes with what, enjoying bananas with pickle, apple pie with brown sauce, etc.
• Magic Tool: The transmigroforum, used by Jemadah and twice stolen by Watt and Sean in the second series. Although its primary purpose is to allow Jemadah to communicate with the Regent Protector, it can also convert into a video camera and transmitter just when the plot requires it, and later is instrumental in Jemadah's defeat and transporting Watt home.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: The transporter crash that killed Watt's parents. In the final episode, he discovers for certain this was arranged by his uncle. His uncle has also recruited Jemadah to destroy Watt, so he cannot be seen to have acted directly against him.
• Manchild: Although Watt is 300 years old and has vast scientific knowledge, Sean realises he is just a child by the standards of his own planet. He's naive, sometimes sulks, and expects to be the centre of attention with Sean, almost treating him as a substitute parent.
• Master of Disguise: Jemadah - he can change his entire form to resemble others and even has an award for this on his own planet - the Scarlet Buckle. Averted with Watt who can look like various objects but nearly always gives himself away.
• Meaningful Name: When Jemadah takes the form of others, whether a person invented by him or to impersonate a real person that Sean knows, their name always contains one or more Gs or Js to make the "Je" sound, giving a clue to his real identity - Jonah the Clown, Giselle, Jones, Councillor George Carrington, Gillian, JJ Jefferson, etc.
• No Name Given: We don't know the real names of Watt (who chooses his own name from a lightbulb he's transformed into), his parents or his uncle, the Regent Protector.
• Novelisation: Pip and Jane Baker wrote a novelisation of the first series, published by BBC Books. It ends rather abruptly after Watt's trip to the Charity Gala, with a hasty, tacked-on epilogue, and does not include the final episodes of series 1. This may have been to avoid Spoiler, since the book was being promoted on CBBC while series 1 was still airing.
• Pop the Tires: Sean does this to Jemadah's car in the first series, letting all four tyres down.
• Private Detective: Jemadah impersonates one, JJ Jefferson, at the climax of the second series, posting false adverts for a missing heir to try to find Watt.
• Professional Killer: Jemadah.
• Put on a Bus: Watt and Sean temporarily dispose of Jemedah for the third and fourth episodes of series 2, spending the time dealing with some con-artists instead.
• Rapid Aging: Jemadah undergoes this at the end of a series 2 episode, as a result of components being removed from his Amulet of Vitalis. He's saved when the Regent Protector teleports replacements to him.
• Sassy Black Woman: Hilda Lacey.
• Shapeshifting: Both Watt and Jemadah. Watt can transanimateobjectify into everyday objects (albeit with errors) and Jemadah can transanimatepersonify to impersonate other beings. Jemadah is a Grand Master at this, holding the Scarlet Buckle, and is very convincing...
• Shout-Out:
  • There are references to James Bond, Sherlock Holmes (when Watt is using a deerstalker to conceal his ears) and the 1969 film Captain Nemo and the Underwater City, scripted by the Bakers.
  • DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe, the final episode of which was scripted by the Bakers, features a mysterious JJ Chambers. Jemadah's secret identity at the end of Watt On Earth series 2 is JJ Jefferson. Also, Geoffrey Hughes, who played Mr Popplewick in that story, was a friend of the Bakers and (incredibly) their original casting choice for Watt. The novelisation of the first series is dedicated to him - "Only he knows 'Watt' for...!".
• Sinister Car: Jemedah drives one, described in the novelisation as "A black, hearse-like limousine with tinted windows".
• Smitten Teenage Girl: Zoë has a crush on Jonah. Unfortunately, he's Jemadah in disguise.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Jemadah.
• Technobabble: An iontagger, a transmigroforum, transanimateobjectification, transanimatepersonification, Amulets of Vitalis... (but this was written by Pip and Jane Baker, creators of the megabyte modem). Even more in the novelisation - see Backstory above.
• Three Cameras: Interiors in a multi-camera studio; exteriors on OB video.
• Title Drop: Tom Ruddock does this at the end of series 1, when Hilda asks after Sean's friend, "Mr Watt".
  Tom: Mr Watt? What on Earth...?
• Totally Radical: Jemadah as Jonah. "Hey, Zoë, I'm no yuppy" / "Computers are my scene" / "What a dingbat! I goofed!" / "Right on, Zoë" etc. Partly justified in that it's an older alien from another planet trying to sound like a young human male.
• The Usurper: Watt's uncle, the Regent Protector.
• Who's on First?: When Sean first discovers Watt's (adopted) name.
  Sean: What's yours?
  Watt: Watt.
  Sean: Your name?
  Watt: I told you.
  Sean: All you said was what.
  Watt: That's right.
  Sean: Secret, is it?
  Watt: What?
  Sean: Your name.
  Watt: No.
  Sean: Then tell me.
  Watt: Watt.
  Sean: I've had it! You appear out of nowhere! Give no explanations! Answer no questions!
  Watt: I have answered.
  Sean: All you say is 'what'.
  Watt: Of course I do.
  Sean: Why?
  Watt: Because that's my name.
  Sean: What is?
  Watt: Watt is.
  Sean: Oh, I give in!
• Would Hurt a Child: Jemadah spends the whole series trying to murder someone who is a child by the standards of their own planet. He has no qualms about threatening Sean's life, either.
• You Leave Him Alone!: When Jemadah has captured Sean at the end of the opening two-parter to series 2, Watt is (apparently) ready to surrender his Amulet of Vitalis to him... as long as he will let Sean go.