Ollie

Ollie is an alien in the Look and Read educational serial "Earth Warp". The series had 10 episodes and was broadcast in 1994.

Information
Ollie is a scaly, plump little alien from a planet called Gia, who lands in Southport, England on a mission - befriending three children (Martin, Jenny and Amina), who aid him in his task.

Ollie was sent to Earth by his people to find a pollution-monitoring probe (Charley) they sent to Earth 100 years ago. The probe is sending a distress signal as the amount of pollution in the atmosphere is causing it to malfunction, meaning it will blow up after a few days - the force of the explosion been strong enough to destroy all of Southport. The source of the pollution is from a chemical factory owned by Mr. Belcher - a fatcat who is cutting costs by illegally dumping chemical waste into the sea, which in turn is causing a mysterious illness that affects the area and is causing trouble for Martin's mother (who runs a seaside hotel that is struggling financially). Jenny's dad protests against what the company is doing and later quits when Amina gets sick from the illness.

Not a lot is known about his planet, his people or his family with the exception that he has a sister called Ellie. His name 'Ollie' is an approximation of his real name - which is unpronouncable to humans (His sister Ellie is most likely the same, with her name been an approximation). According to Ollie, the distance between Earth and Gia is one thousand, million, billion, trillion, zillion lightyears and 5 meters exactley (although he claims he can cover the distance in three weeks in his ship). Among the abilities he has, he can shrink and turn invisible, while he also has some items that aid him during his mission on Earth. These items include a wrist computer that allows him to speak various languages (he is briefly heard speaking Chinese as he tries to find the right language) and warns him and the children of how long they have left before Charley self-destructs.

Another item he has is a mysterious sphere that glows when in use - its functions including fixing broken and/or damaged objects and healing. The device can be used by both Ollie and humans, shown as when he uses it to heal everyone of the illness caused by the pollutants (Although he claims that this feature cannot be used too often) and when the children later use it to heal him when he is severely weakened.

Finally, he can summon his spaceship (hidden in the sea) by whistling. The spaceship itself is shown to possibly be semi-sapient, but unfortunatley responds to anyone who is whistling. This is shown when the hotel Chef is walking along the pier and whistling, only for the ship to surface. Upon realising it isn't Ollie, the ship 'apologises' in a low growling voice and submerges again. When the ship arrives on Earth and later leaves, it causes a brief but unique electrical storm with multi-coloured lightning bolts. Whether this happens on other planets as well and/or is a effect caused by the ship is not known.

Ollie is shown to have a very large appetite, with the children having to constantly find food for him or for Ollie to find food for himself - often causing trouble along the way. Furthermore, exposure to Earth's atmosphere is shown to make him uncoordinated and 'clumsy', with it eventually weakening him. In an ironic twist, Ollie is shown to have a fear of heights - although when Martin tells him he was higher up than the stairs they are going down at the time, Ollie replies "Yeah, but I had my eyes shut then".

With help from the children (including Mr Belcher's daughter Clare), Ollie manages to find the probe and deactivate it - saving Southport from destruction. Mr Belcher, meanwhile, is arrested by the police both for obstructing them (stopping an officer and news journalist from capturing Ollie) and for releasing toxic chemicals into the sea. With his mission complete, Ollie gives his sphere to Amina as a gift (due to her kindness and for using it earlier to heal him) and - after hovering briefly long enough for the children to wave goodbye - departs from Earth on his long journey home. The illness clears up, Mr. Belcher is fined, Jenny's dad gets his job back under a new, eco-friendly boss and the hotel becomes a success again. When the children wonder if Ollie will ever come back to Earth, Martin jokes about him coming back "for an 'oliday".

Appearances
Earth Warp (1994)