| Genre: | Fantasy Comedy Musical Family |
| Creator: | Steve Hanson |
| Director: | Tony White |
| Starring: | Richard O'Brien Joyce Springer Richard Ridings Toyah Willcox Gary Martin Felicity Todd Stefan Weclawek Paul Springer Allen Williams |
| Theme Music Composer: | Adrian Lee |
| Composer: | Adrian Lee |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 7 |
| Executive Producer: | Ruth Beni |
| Producer: | Paul Springer |
| Cinematography: | Derek V. Browne |
| Runtime: | 30 |
| Company: | Tyne Tees Television |
| Network: | ITV (CITV) |
The Ink Thief is a 1994 British children's TV show, shown on the ITV channel during their CITV segment. It starred Richard O'Brien and Toyah Willcox. The series was produced by Animus Entertainment for Tyne Tees Television.
The titular antagonist known only as the Ink Thief (O'Brien) steals the power of imagination by sucking the "ink" out of books and drawings. At the start of the show, brother and sister Jim and Sam stumble upon his gothic world filled with Oobs, Bumps, and other imaginary creatures. During the course of the show, the children's friendship is tested as Jim gets seduced by the Ink Thief, whereas Sam fights to stop him. Each episode is peppered with plot-specific songs, giving the show a musical feel.
Illustrator Steve Hanson developed the first concept art for the show. Production Designer Murti Schofield says on his website: "It should be remembered that it was Steve’s brilliant concepts that got everybody fired up in the first place."[1] The show was written by Paul Springer, who also authored a book based on the series.
Director Tony White described it as "very much a low-budget, no-time effort but it was successful on British Television, making No. 5 in the ratings"[2] Some of the production crew, including White and Schofield, also acted in the show in small parts. The writer Paul Springer appeared in a larger role, as the character "Toddy", the Ink Thief's bumbling cat henchman. The series' various songs were composed by Adrian Lee. The show only lasted for one season, consisting of seven half-hour-long episodes.
Main cast:
Appearing in five episodes or less:
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
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