JoJo and Gran Gran: It's Time to Make a New Game

Descriptive Transcript

[Title] “JoJo & Gran Gran”.

[Logo] “BBC”.

[Gentle, upbeat music]

SINGERS: JoJo and Gran Gran

DESCRIPTION: In an animated world, Gran Gran knocks on her granddaughter, JoJo’s, door. JoJo lives in a brick house in a London neighbourhood. JoJo’s Mum and Dad open the door and smile at Gran Gran, who has gray hair tied in a bun and wears a yellow sweater and a blue necklace. JoJo’s Mum has brown braids tied back in a bun and wears a white shirt, gray pants, and gold earrings. JoJo’s Dad has brown hair and wears glasses, a pink shirt, and jeans. JoJo runs out the door and takes Gran Gran's hand. JoJo is five years old and has brown hair that she wears in two buns. JoJo wears a green sweater and blue pants, holding Panda, her stuffed animal companion, in her arms. JoJo and Gran Gran walk down the street together.

SINGERS: Take my hand and come with me on a journey through our streets. We'll say hello to everybody that we meet.

DESCRIPTION: As Gran Gran and JoJo walk down the street, the weather changes from sunny and warm to rainy and cold. Gran Gran and JoJo now wear rain jackets and hold umbrellas. Together, they jump through puddles.

SINGERS: Through the year, as seasons change, exploring every day. Take our time to stop and play.

DESCRIPTION: The season changes, and the sun is shining. JoJo wears an orange tank top and blue shorts. In a park, JoJo cartwheels and rolls down a grassy hill with Gran Gran.

SINGERS: And when the springtime blossom turn to summer sun, JoJo likes to get outside Gran Gran always makes it fun.

DESCRIPTION: In the autumn, JoJo wears a yellow coat and red boots. She picks up a pile of orange and red leaves and throws them into the sky. Then, Gran Gran and JoJo walk down a snow-covered London street, as a neighbour builds a snowman.

SINGERS: When the autumn rainfall turns to winter snow, I know a special place, a place where we can go.

DESCRIPTION: JoJo and Gran Gran finish their walk, and it is springtime once again.

SINGERS: Take my hand, we're heading home With JoJo and Gran Gran!

[Title] “JoJo & Gran Gran”.

[Episode title] “It’s Time to Make a New Game”.

[Opening credits] “Written by Ashley Joseph”.

DESCRIPTION: In Gran Gran’s sitting room, Gran Gran, JoJo, and JoJo’s friend, Raya, play a board game together. Raya has dark hair tied in a braid and wears a yellow sweater.

GRAN GRAN [narrating]: It was a winter morning. The trees were bare, the air was frosty. And Raya, JoJo and Gran Gran, that's me, were playing Snakes and Ladders in the sitting room.

DESCRIPTION: Raya rolls a die and moves her game piece.

RAYA: Five! One, two, three, four, five!

RAYA: [Gasping] Up the ladder! I'm catching up.

GRAN GRAN: Your turn now, JoJo.

JOJO: I need... one, two to win, Panda.

DESCRIPTION: JoJo rolls the dice.

JOJO: One. Oh. Oh, no.

GRAN GRAN: You've landed on the snake.

JOJO: Can I try rolling again, Gran Gran?

GRAN GRAN: [Chuckling] It's against the rules to roll again, I'm afraid.

JOJO: Aw. Down the snake.

DESCRIPTION: JoJo returns her game piece back down the game.

GRAN GRAN: Your turn, Raya.

DESCRIPTION: Raya rolls a die.

RAYA: Three.

[JoJo and Gran Gran gasping]

RAYA: One, two, three.

GRAN GRAN: Ah, yes! Well done, Raya.

JOJO: If I was making a game, I wouldn't have a slivery snake at the end.

GRAN GRAN: Hm. That gives me an idea for a Gran Gran plan. We can create a new board game ourselves.

RAYA: Whoo-hoo!

JOJO: Yes!

DESCRIPTION: In a series of live-action interviews, children sit down and chat.

CHILD ONE: I like playing games because it's fun and we get to play with our friends and our families.

CHILD TWO: The games we play are like hide and seek, tag, and...stuck in the mud.

CHILD THREE: To play charades you have to mime something, which means you're not allowed to speak.

DESCRIPTION: The third child pretends to lock her lips and throw away the key. The fourth and fifth children play charades.

CHILD FOUR: A star!

CHILD FIVE: Yes.

CHILD THREE: I like playing games with Daddy because...he... teaches us how to play new games, and teaches us all the rules in a fun way.

DESCRIPTION: The fourth and fifth child play together.

CHILD FIVE: Let's play Rock, Paper, Scissors.

CHILD FOUR & FIVE: Rock, Paper, Scissors, go.

DESCRIPTION: Two more sets of children play together.

BOTH: Rock, Paper, Scissors. Go.

BOTH: Rock, Paper, Scissors, go.

CHILD SIX: I win.

CHILD SEVEN: Aw.

[Laughing]

DESCRIPTION: The live-action interviews end. In animation, in the sitting room, Gran Gran places down a cardboard box on the carpet. Raya and JoJo stand together.

GRAN GRAN: Do we want to make a small game or a big game?

BOTH: A big game!

[Both giggling]

GRAN GRAN: Let's start with this.

DESCRIPTION: From the box, Gran Gran pulls out a large, blue blanket and lays it out on the carpet.

RAYA: Wow, that's much bigger than Snakes and Ladders.

JOJO: It looks like the sea.

JOJO [Gasping]: We can make it a Captain Chloe game. With pirate ships.

RAYA: And sharks.

GRAN GRAN: What should we call our game?

RAYA: Sharks...

JOJO: ..and pirate ships.

[Gentle, upbeat music]

DESCRIPTION: Raya and JoJo sit together at the kitchen table. They make their own dice out of a small cardboard box and draw pirate ships and sharks on pieces of paper.

RAYA AND JOJO: One, two, three!

DESCRIPTION: A grid is drawn on the blanket. Sharks and pirate ships are placed in different squares. Islands sit on the blanket. A treasure chest filled with gold is at the end of the game next to Gran Gran. Panda and Hugo, Raya’s stuffed dinosaur, sit together on an island in the centre of the game.

[Hugo squeaking]

GRAN GRAN: So, how do we play Sharks and Pirate Ships?

RAYA: We have to get to the island in the middle to pick up Hugo and Panda.

JOJO: And then, at the end, we rescue Gran Gran and find...

BOTH: The treasure!

GRAN GRAN: Oh!

[Gran Gran chuckling]

GRAN GRAN: I think we need some rules. What happens if you land on a pirate ship?

JOJO: Hm. You move forward by...five squares.

RAYA: But... if you land on a smiley shark...You got backwards by 10 squares.

JOJO: Let's play.

DESCRIPTION: Together, JoJo and Raya roll their dice and move down the game.

JOJO: Three. One, two, three.

GRAN GRAN: Go, Raya.

RAYA: Two. One, two.

[Both giggling]

RAYA: Five.

DESCRIPTION: Raya lands on a shark.

RAYA: Oh, no. A shark.

GRAN GRAN: Oh, back you go, Raya. Six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

JOJO: Four. Yes! A ship!

DESCRIPTION: JoJo steps onto the centre island and picks up Panda.

JOJO: I've got you, Panda. Not so long before we get to the treasure chest.

[Gran Gran chuckling]

GRAN GRAN: Be careful, JoJo. There's still lots of sharks up ahead.

RAYA: Two. One, two… Oh.

DESCRIPTION: Raya lands on another shark. She frowns.

RAYA: I'll never get to rescue Hugo because of all these sharks.

JOJO: Hm, I've got a new rule. No more sharks.

[Raya giggling]

RAYA: Bye bye, Sharks.

DESCRIPTION: All of the sharks disappear from the board. Raya and Jojo restart the game and quickly move through it.

JOJO: Four. One, two, three, four.

[JoJo sighing]

JOJO: I think the game is a bit too easy now.

RAYA: Sharks and Pirate Ships isn't very fun without the sharks.

GRAN GRAN: Oh, games need rules and they need to be fair. But, most importantly, they need to be fun.

RAYA: What if we put the sharks back, but not as many as before?

GRAN GRAN: Yes. And maybe... dance like a pirate every time you land on a ship.

JOJO: Yay!

RAYA: Yes! Pirate dancing!

DESCRIPTION: JoJo and Raya place sharks back on the board.

JOJO: Let's have...one, two, three, four sharks!

DESCRIPTION: Raya rolls another die, and they start again.

RAYA: Three. Come on, Hugo.

JOJO: Pirate dancing.

DESCRIPTION: JoJo moves her knees and elbows in a pirate dance.

[Raya and JoJo giggling]

JOJO: I've got you, Panda. Now to get Gran Gran and the treasure!

RAYA: One.

[Laughing]

GRAN GRAN: You've almost rescued me.

DESCRIPTION: Three spots away from Gran Gran, JoJo rolls a dice.

[JoJo and Raya gasping]

JOJO: Three! I did it! I rescued Gran Gran.

RAYA: And you found the treasure.

GRAN GRAN [Laughing]: You made a great new game.

BOTH: Can we play again?

GRAN GRAN: Of course. Back to the beginning.

BOTH [Giggling]: Yay!

[Gentle, upbeat music]

DESCRIPTION: In live-action, two children, Gabriella and Brandon, get together on a grassy field to play a game. They hold hula hoops, footballs, foam squares, cones, blankets, and a circus tube.

GABRIELLA: Me and my friend Brandon are going to make up our very own game in the garden.

BRANDON: We're going to make our new game from a mix of other games.

DESCRIPTION: Gabriella and Brandon set up the tube. They look at each other through it.

GABRIELLA: Three, two, one. Go.

BRANDON: Oh. I'll do this.

GABRIELLA: Hello.

BRANDON: Hello.

[Gentle upbeat music]

GABRIELLA: Finished. Here are the rules.

DESCRIPTION: The children demonstrate and narrate how to play their game.

GABRIELLA: First, you need to hop on the mats, and if you fall off you need to start again.

BRANDON: Then you have to hop around the cones. If you knock one over you have to start all over again. Next you have to go all the way through a tunnel.

GABRIELLA: Then, we have to pull the hoops over our head. Like this, Brandon.

BRANDON: Yes! Then, we have to kick the ball into the net. But if we miss we have to go all the way to the start.

DESCRIPTION: Gabriella flips over a small hourglass.

GABRIELLA: Ready? Let's go! Okay! Three, two, one, go!

DESCRIPTION: Brandon runs off and starts the obstacle course.

GABRIELLA: We need to do all that one at a time before the sand goes from the top to the bottom. Go, Brandon! Go, Brandon!

DESCRIPTION: Brandon hops on the mats, runs around the cones, and crawls through the tube.

GABRIELLA: Go, Brandon! Go, Brandon! Go, Brandon! Go, Brandon!

DESCRIPTION: Brandon flips the hula hoop over his head.

GABRIELLA: Go, Brandon! Go, Brandon!

DESCRIPTION: Brandon kicks the football into the net and runs back to Gabriella.

GABRIELLA: Yay! Come on, Brandon, time's running out. My turn!

DESCRIPTION: Gabriella completes the course. Brandon cheers her on.

BRANDON: Go, Gabriella! Let's go, let's go! Go, go, go, go, go! Go, Gabriella! Go, Gabriella! Go, Gabriella! Go, Gabriella! Go, Gabriella! Go, Gabriella! Go, Gabriella! Go, Gabriella! Yay!

GABRIELLA: Yay, we did it. We loved making up our own game.

DESCRIPTION: Brandon and Gabriella hug and high-five. The live-action ends. In animation, JoJo and Gran Gran are in the sitting room together. The game is packed up in the cardboard box.

[JoJo sighing]

JOJO: All cleared up, Gran Gran.

GRAN GRAN: We can play Sharks and Pirate Ships the next time Raya comes 'round to play.

JOJO: I loved making our board game today, especially coming up with the rules.

GRAN GRAN: Oh, and what was your favourite rule, JoJo?

JOJO: Dancing like a pirate. That was very fun. Ooh, and rescuing you. I love you, Gran Gran.

GRAN GRAN: Oh, I love you too, JoJo.

[Gentle, upbeat music]

[End Credits] “JoJo: Taiya Samuel. Gran Gran: Cathy Tyson. Great Gran Gran: Llewella Gideon. Script Editor: Sufiyaan Salam. Casting: Sue Needleman. Educational Consultant: Claire Seeley. Script Assistant: Lissi Simpson. Voice Director: Steve Cannon. Production Coordinator: Rhys Scully. Based on Characters Created by & Associate Producer Laura Henry–Allain. Series Producers: Tom Cousins & Angela Young. Series Director: Ben Halliwell. Produced in association with AP A Productions. BBC Studios Kids & Family Productions for BBC”.