The Magic Key

The Magic Key is a series of books published for children as part of the Oxford Reading Tree, from Oxford University Press. The books are co-written by Alex Brychta and Roderick Hunt, and primarily follow the lives of three children, Biff, Kipper and Chip Robinson, their parents and grandmother, and their dog, Floppy.

In the TV show Floppy wears around his neck a collar with a golden key upon it. The key is magic, as the title suggests, and seems to do some strange things whenever Floppy wishes for something. It transports the children and sometimes their grandmother, to exciting adventures, such as dealing with trolls in an underground cavern, being characters inside a computer game, or finding a fountain of youth. In the books the key is kept in a box and Floppy does not go on all the adventures.

As well as Biff, Chip and Kipper Robinson, 4 other children also appear in the stories and occasionally find themselves in the adventures caused by the Magic Key. They are: Wilf and Wilma Page, Nadim Shah (whose mother and father own the local corner shop which features in a couple of the stories), and Anneena Patel.

The books are aimed at children from 5 to the age of 8, and form part of the English language syllabus in the National Curriculum, designed to help children learn to speak and read Standard English.

The books were developed into a Television series, consisting of 26 episodes, each featuring a different story, plus helpful hints towards teaching children good use of English.

The series was shown as part of the BBC Schools segments in the morning, then transferred to CBeebies in 2004, and shown during 2004 and 2005.

Main characters

*Kipper Robinson
*Biff Robinson
*Chip Robinson
*Mum and Dad
*Floppy the Dog
*Gran

Friends

*Wilf and Wilma Page
*Anneena Patel
*Nadim Shah

TV tie-in book titles

*The Patchworker
*Troll Talk
*Tumbleweed Desert
*The Flying Circus
*Fabulous Fancy Foods
*Underwater World
*The Demon Drill
*Lug & the Giant Storks

26 TV Episodes

*HMS Sweet Tooth
*Lug & the Giant Storks
*The Rook King
*Clutterland Band
*Troll Talk
*The Patchworker
*Code Calling
*Zandoodle & the Wheezlebang
*Biff of the Jungle
*Nadim's Machine
*The Flying Circus
*Fraser the Eraser
*The Anneena Academy
*Dragon Land
*The Queen of Hearts
*Floppy & the Puppies
*The Giant & the Knee Nibblers
*The Cream Cake Mystery
*Master Hansel & Miss Gretal
*The Sound Monster
*Tumbleweed Desert
*The Stone of Contentment
*The Demon Drill
*Fabulous Fancy Foods
*The Fountain of Youth
*Underwater World