Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin(1987)

2. The Stranger Arrives (II)

1987-07-25

30m

The only contact with Poopsnagle that remained was a telephone number. When Garcia called the number, he got a message machine. He left a message for his old friend to contact him at the Secret Valley holiday camp. Instead of Poopsnagle, Garcia was surprised when a young boy of 12 years old turned up instead. It was none other than Poopsnagle's grandson. Together they resolved to build a flying bus which was originally designed by Professor Poopsnagle to help them in their search for the minerals.

3. The Stranger Arrives (III)

1987-08-01

30m

In a nearby deserted town, the children gathered all sorts of junk to help make the flying contraption. Luckily, they found the wreck of an old bus as the basis of the machine. With the help of the children, and following Poopsnagle's plan, the bus was eventually completed, and based on steam power it was able to rise into the sky and fly at will. Count Sator, however, sent another henchman called Willie Dingle to spy on the children, and within the ranks of the children he commissioned the young boy named Matt to keep him informed.

4. The Stranger Arrives (IV)

1987-08-08

30m

Poopsnagle's grandson Peter also had an ancient parchment that his grandfather had left him, and on the parchment was a cryptogram written in Latin. After the cryptogram had been decoded, it was only a matter of time before they found the first golden salamander. The golden salamanders had been buried long ago to indicate where each mineral could be found. After the first one was found, the cryptogram on it would lead the children and the doctor to the next one. What they had to do in each case was to decipher the cryptogram on each salamander. The first one led them to a cave not far from Secret Valley, where after being caught in a mine shaft and surviving a gas explosion, they were able to find their way down the shaft and into an unknown valley where they found the second salamander and the first mineral.

5. Island Adventure (I)

1987-08-15

30m

The cryptogram on the second salamander indicated that the children were to follow the arrow pointing towards the sea. Once they had taken off in the Poopmobile, and were traveling in the right direction, they found themselves caught in a gale. The storm buffeted the bus mercilessly, and after some time in which the doctor had great difficulty in keeping control, the bus eventually came out of the other side of the storm. Seeing an island, they decided to land and check to see if they needed to repair the bus.

6. Island Adventure (II)

1987-08-22

30m

Once they had landed on the tropical island, they found themselves confronted by a weird sound, and they also discovered footprints of an enormous size which indicated that there was a monster on the island. The cryptogram of the last salamander, when it was deciphered, turned out to be the island that they were on. Inadvertently the storm had placed them on the correct island, so they decided to split up in various groups to search for the next salamander and the next mineral.

7. Island Adventure (III)

1987-08-29

30m

In their search, two of the children were captured by pirates, and Willie Dingle had been flown to the island by Murk to keep an eye on what the children were doing for Count Sator. With great stealth, the doctor was able to free the two children and in turn Willie Dingle was captured by the pirates.

8. Island Adventure (IV)

1987-09-05

30m

Together with Dingle, the doctor and children pressed on to discover the third salamander, after climbing down into a deep ravine, behind a waterfall. And surrounding the salamander was the second mineral. Once the Poopmobile had been fixed by Peter, the band took off from the island and headed homeward.

9. Lost in the Desert (I)

1987-09-12

30m

After returning to Secret Valley and deciphering the latest cryptogram. Doctor Garcia and the children prepare to search for the Rosy Prize. They know the way they must go, by the predetermined direction on the ancient Torres Parchment.

10. Lost in the Desert (II)

1987-09-19

30m

When Dingle takes to the air in his hang glider, helped by Matt, he crashes, but manages to bring the Poopmobile down using Mats darts to burst the hot air balloon. The children narrowly escape injury, but their precious Bus has been badly damaged. They have lost all the water from the steam turbine and it has evaporated away into the heat and sand. Jamie believes he must prove to himself that he has the ability to use his bushman's knowledge to find water in the desert, and he takes Shorty and Sparks with him on a journey into the wild desert.

11. Lost in the Desert (III)

1987-09-26

30m

When Sator returns to his comp, he berates Dingle and Matt for having lost the water, and commands them to raid the Poopmobile's camp. They do this at night, but are frightened out of their wits by Jamie, who has painted himself in ceremonial paint to commune with the spirits. He is trying to use his Aboriginal dream time powers to bring the rain. Whilst the Doctor and children are out looking for Jamie, Sator manages to raid the Poopmobile and steal the Doctors notes on Mega Steam. The Doctor and Children are devastated.

12. Lost in the Desert (IV)

1987-10-03

30m

The next morning the rains come in torrents. The children gather the water to fill the fixed steam accumulator. Eventually they are airborne once more, but Count Sator has become bogged in the desert. It is Carmen who realizes that they are staring at the Rosy Prize and after a wind storm which whips some of the Doctor's notes away from Sator, the children not only find the Rosy Prize, but the Salamander as well.

13. Commando Raid (I)

1987-10-10

30m

In the barn at Secret Valley, the doctor and children decode the latest cryptogram. Matt however is listening outside and when the others leave the barn, he creeps inside and takes a copy of the decoded message. He is disturbed by the others, but not before he has planted a listening bug under the table, which Dingle is tuned in to, nearby. The lookout sees Dingle's car and Sparks decides to investigate. He discovers Dingle and learns that the barn is bugged. He runs back to warn the others. They find the bug and send Dingle in a different direction by giving him a false lead. The doctor and children leave the camp to search for the next salamander and mineral.

14. Commando Raid (II)

1987-10-24

30m

Followed by Murk in disguise, they make their way to a fishing village where two of the children are trapped in the hold of a ferry. Murk kidnaps Doctor Garcia and takes him to the castle, where Sator interrogates him and then throws him into a cell, not far from Poopsnagle himself. They do not know that they are so close to each other. The children suspect that the Doctor has been captured and enlist the help of the police to question Sator. Sator is very helpful and allows them to search the dungeons, but they do not find a thing. Poopsnagle has escaped once more and, as the door to allow the police to leave opens automatically, Poopsnagle takes his chance and runs out; but Sator soon recaptures the old man once more.

15. Commando Raid (III)

1987-10-31

30m

The children mount a night raid on the castle to find Garcia, as they are convinced that he is in the dungeons. They find Garcia (but not Poopsnagle, as they do not realise that he is also in the dungeons), however Sator traps them in the tidal cell, where the tide will eventually drown them. Matt, however, has been following their movements and he is able to help the children escape from a high air grate.