Simon Says (26 ‘x 8’) is an exciting new series aimed at children up to eight years old produced by Fíbín Media for RTÉ.
Simon Says is set in a lighthouse. Simon lives there with a seagull called Gulliver. The postwoman Tallulah also calls once a week, weather permitting. Simon likes living in the lighthouse. He is a composer and a musician and is surrounded by his vast collection of vinyl records. The walls of the lighthouse are adorned with animated record covers showing a colourful array of characters. The one we get to know best is Diva. Diva is an opera singer with a big voice and an even bigger ego. She is Simon’s friend and often sings with him.
There is an old television monitor in the corner. Occasionally the television stutters to life and the test card is replaced by live children who interact with Simon. The children come from different backgrounds and reflect the diverse ethnicities that make up modern society.
Darach Ó Tuairisg, executive producer of Fíbín Media, said, “We are delighted to be working with RTÉjr again and creating a fresh series using the exceptional talent found in the west of Ireland. We are also extremely grateful to BAI and RTÉ for supporting us in making important content for young Irish audiences”.
Artfully blending both animation and live action, Simon Says reflects life with all its emerging societal variations. Through drama, humour and a song in every episode, the audience learns about inclusivity and diversity and champions kindness and empathy as traits to be admired and supported.
Simon Says is vibrant, tuneful, silly, warm and lots and lots of fun.
This series is officially being launched on Monday 6th February on RTÉjr at 12.50pm.
Simon Says was commissioned by RTÉ.
Simon Says will be on RTÉjr at 12.50pm and 16.15pm from Monday to Friday from the 6th February and on RTÉ 2 AT 09.25AM from Monday to Friday from the 6th February.
Simon Say’s Tx Eps 2-26
Simon Says – Ep2 Cheer Up, Simon!
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Simon is disappointed as bad weather prevents his parents from coming to visit.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Bad weather prevents Simon’s parents from coming to visit. Simon is disappointed. He had such plans for them! They were going to eat a delicious curry and have a sing-song. His friends cheer him up by playing a fun game of charades.
Simon Says – Ep 3 Goodbye Mr Chips
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Simon learns to deal with the loss of his goldfish
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Simon’s goldfish dies. Simon is grief-stricken. His friends help him to deal with his grief by remembering the happy times they spent together – looking at photographs, telling jokes and reliving old stories.
Simon Says – Ep 4 Being Me
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Gulliver learns to overcome his fears and sing in a concert on the radio
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Gulliver had been asked to sing at the Seagull’s Annual Concert, but he’s afraid. Help comes from an unexpected source – Diva! Diva shows Gulliver how to breathe away his anxiety. Simon reminds him that everyone wants him to do well. Gulliver decides to give it a go.
Simon Says – Ep 5 Clean the Beach
Short Episodic Synopsis –
The friends clean the beach after Gulliver gets entangled in some litter.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
There is litter all over the beach. Who is responsible? Everyone contributed to the problem so it’s everyone’s responsibility. On the advice of the children who visit on the television set, the characters organise a beach cleaning morning.
Simon Says – Ep 6 Up Up and Away!
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Outside the lighthouse the rain is falling. Simon is bored and wishes to go on a holiday. He shows his friends that with a big imagination you can travel anywhere.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Simon is bored and wishes to go on a holiday. He shows his friends that with a big imagination you can travel anywhere.
Simon Says – Ep 7 Best Friends
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Simon feels left out and thinks his friends don’t want to play with him anymore.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Simon wants to play cards while the others want to play a board game. He is left alone with his game. He sees the others having fun together and misses them. He wants to be back in the gang. When the others realise that he is sad, they welcome him back with open arms.
Simon Says – Ep 8 All Together Now
Short Episodic Synopsis –
The friends are preparing for a surprise party when disaster strikes.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Diva is asleep and the friends are trying to prepare a surprise birthday party for her without waking her when disaster strikes. Instead of panicking, they put their heads together and share their resources, and together they make it a party to remember.
Simon Says – Ep 9 Wanna Be In MY Band
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Gulliver is sad because he thinks he can’t play any instruments.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Gulliver is sad because he can’t play an instrument, especially as Simon is setting up a band. Simon convinces him that anyone can be in his band. There is more than one way to make music.
Simon Says – Ep 10 Some Sunshine
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Simon and his friends talk about the things they would do if it weren’t raining.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Simon wants the rain to stop. He and his friends talk about the things they would do if it weren’t raining. Simon would have a picnic. They decide to have an indoor picnic and have such a good time that they don’t realise that the rain has stopped and the sun is shining again.
Simon Says – Ep 11 The Rolly Roger Three
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Gulliver is afraid. His friends organise a game of Pirates to make him feel braver.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Gulliver hears a mysterious noise outside of the lighthouse, his vivid imagination convinces him that it is a monster that wants to eat him. The friends decide to dress up as pirates to make Gulliver braver. But does it work?
Simon Says – Ep 12 Second Chance
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Simon wants to throw things away. The others teach him to upcycle.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Simon is having a spring clean in the lighthouse. He wants to throw away some items as he thinks they have finished being useful. Diva and Gulliver teach Simon about upcycling and show him creative ways to reuse the items that he was going to get rid of.
Simon Says – Ep 13 Tallulah’s Back
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Tallulah has hurt her back preventing her from doing her job.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
One day Tallulah doesn’t turn up with the post. A different post person comes and explains that Tallulah has hurt her back. Simon and his friends want to help but don’t know what to do. In the end, Simon writes her a letter, through a song, addressed to Tallulah’s back, and asking it to leave her alone!
Simon Says – Ep 14 The Little Red Hen
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Everyone wants cake but no-one wants to help make it. Simon tells the story of The Little Red Hen.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
The friends decide that they would all like to eat a cake, however when it comes time to bake one Simon is the only one willing to do any baking. Simon tells the story of the Little Red Hen to show the value of working together so that everyone can benefit.
Simon Says – Ep 15 Dance
Short Episodic Synopsis –
With the support of her friends, Diva discovers she can dance, even though she thought it was impossible.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
The friends are in high spirits and decide they want to have a dance, everyone except Diva that is. She refuses to take part as she said that she never learnt how to. Simon tells Diva that there is no set way to dance, everyone can dance as they see fit. Is this enough to get Diva on the dance floor?
Simon Says – Ep 16 Bedtime Blue
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Simon wished he’d gone to bed on time. He is too tired to play with his friends.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Simon has stayed up way passed his bedtime yet again. When will he learn? His friends try and get him to join in with their games and recite some Limericks. Despite their best efforts Simon is too sleepy. Will he learn to go to bed on time?
Simon Says – Ep 17 Sandwich Monster
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Simon’s sandwich has been stolen, who is the culprit?
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Simon prepares a sandwich to reward himself after some exertions in the garden. On his return his sandwich has disappeared has it been eaten by the sandwich monster or are the greedy culprits closer to home?
Simon Says – Ep 18 The Egg
Short Episodic Synopsis –
The friends discuss which species they think will come out of an egg that Gulliver has found.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Gulliver has found what he thinks is an egg on the beach. The friends try to decipher which species will come out of the egg when it hatches. Some prefer some possibilities over others, shouldn’t they love them whoever it is? It could, of course, be a stone…..not an egg.
Simon Says – Ep 19 Words
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Simon is trying to write a song but is having trouble finding the right words.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Simon is trying to write a song about all the animals in the zoo. However he is having trouble finding the right words to fit and to rhyme. With the help of his friends, the gang find the perfect selection.
Simon Says – Ep 20 TLC
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Diva is under the weather. Could it be that it is just a case of a little TLC that will bring her back to a full bill of health?
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Diva is under the weather. The group suggest their own remedies to make her feel better, alas to no effect. Could it be that it is just a case of a little TLC that will bring her back to a full bill of health?
Simon Says – Ep 21 Nadine
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Gulliver has trouble looking after Diva’s plant whilst she is away.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Diva is going on a holiday. She is sad to leave her plant Nadine behind her, can Gulliver be trusted to make sure that Nadine survives Diva’s time away? The gang also learn about what we owe to the trees that help us exist.
Simon Says – Ep 22 Temper!
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Diva is not happy, she has lost her watch! The gang try and calm her down and find it.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Diva is not happy, she has lost her watch! This is making her angrier and angrier! Gulliver isn’t helping things as usual… The friends discuss what makes them angry and what they do to calm themselves down. But do they find Diva’s watch?
Simon Says – Ep 23 Friends
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Tallulah’s back hurts again but her friends don’t seem too sympathetic.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Tallulah’s back is playing up again, she is unable to compete in a race she has been preparing for. You would have thought she would get some sympathy from her friends? Dublin and Galway are playing however so Gulliver and Simon are preoccupied. Shouldn’t they be prioritising their friend?
Simon Says – Ep 24 Noises Off
Short Episodic Synopsis –
The friends can’t sleep, they keep hearing scary noises.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Simon, Diva and Gulliver are trying to get to sleep, however there are noises that are going bump in the night. Should they be afraid, or is it a just a plastic bag stuck in the window sounding like a vampire?
Simon Says – Ep 25 Sylvia Pirate
Short Episodic Synopsis –
Legend says that most pirates are men, not the case! Simon is writing a song about a pirate called Sylvia, she rocks!!
Long Episodic Synopsis –
Simon is writing a song about a pirate, not just any pirate, Sylvia the pirate! Gulliver and Diva have never heard of a female pirate. Simon teaches his friends that some of the most famous pirates in the world have been female, like Gráinne Mhaol.
Simon Says – Ep 26 Genie
Short Episodic Synopsis –
A Genie appears in the lighthouse. All the friends are granted a wish but things don’t turn out how they thought they would.
Long Episodic Synopsis –
A Genie turns up through the vessel of an ancient bottle Diva finds on the beach. He is irate and bored! He grants the gang each a wish, Diva chooses that everything she touches turns to gold. Big mistake! Everything she touches turns to gold including food and essentials rendering her unable to eat or touch anything. Can the gang reverse her wish? I think so….