A new TV program for youth in English – from South Africa

“Intro” is an original TV show for the youngest teenagers, in which words and expressions from the Bible are explained in a simple and practical way. BCC Media and the local church in South Africa have worked together to produce new episodes with English as the original language.


By Ulrikke Andresen – Photo: BCC Media

The last year, the first two seasons of “Intro” was launched; a program for children entering into their teen years. You can see all 10 episodes on BCC Media’s website and YouTube channel.

Now the church in South Africa has produced their own episodes, with new English-speaking program hosts. Two episodes are already out and they are currently working on filming several more.

Just as in the Norwegian edition, the episodes include animation, music, and interesting films which answer questions about faith that are common to many in the years between childhood and adolescence.

On this page you will find all the new episodes produced in South Africa.

The international collaboration in BCC Media has increased over the past year, and the local church in South Africa has produced TV for both children and young people. Photo: BCC Media

“The gospel is for everyone”

“The project has created a way to have good conversations about faith. It doesn’t matter what someone looks like or where they come from – the gospel is for everyone. I’m so glad to be a part of this and to be able to see what it has meant for myself and for the young ones”, says Anna Lisa Goxo (26), who is one of the program hosts.

“Intro makes what is written in the Bible simple, understandable, and practical, and reminds us to use God’s word as a help and inspiration in daily life. It’s important that more people can hear this vital content, and I think that English viewers will get more out of the episodes when they are in English.”

She also tells us that the show has had positive repercussions for tweens in South Africa:

“Once a week the tweens and their mentors meet to watch Intro together, then discuss it and do the tasks, before the evening continues with an activity or sports”.

READ MORE: Tweensday – a day for older children

Anna Lisa is one of the hosts in the Intro broadcasts. Photo: BCC Media

International church = international TV

From the start, the Norwegian series has been translated and dubbed into a total of 13 languages. With this new production, viewer experiences will be further improved.

Grethe du Preez (26) is the project manager for the English episodes, and believes that it will be easier for more people to understand the content now:

“I think the content is more interesting when the original language is English. It’s easier to capture the attention of native English speakers that way. Dubbing can be distracting when the sound and the image don’t match up, and the content loses its authenticity, to a degree”, says Grethe.

The team in South Africa is mainly made up of volunteers, and Grethe tells us that it is a committed group of people who really want to capture the attention and interest of the kids:

“We realized that if we wanted to keep the kids’ attention, we had to include a lot of movement, both with the filming and the actors themselves. That’s what keeps the episodes interesting and dynamic.”

“We’ve cooperated well together with BCC Media, and we’ve received a lot of direction and input throughout the process, so we’ve learned a lot along the way, says Grethe. It was especially exciting to make the music videos, which both have animation and real actors. It was the first time we’ve tried something like that.”

Grethe tells about a learning process, with a dedicated and committed team. Photo: BCC Media

Several language and cultures are represented

“The COVID pandemic actually accelerated international cooperation through the BCC online concept. It has really paid off, because we now have many volunteer resources to tap into for creating good TV sources for children”, says Elise Schöll, editor at BCC Media. She is very happy to work with the team in South Africa, where there has been a long-time commitment to contributing to creating content for children, youth, and adults.

READ MORE: BCC Online sunday school: together with Afrika

“We are an international church, therefore  we want diverse languages and cultures to be represented. I believe that if we do this we will be able to reach more people with the message”, says Elise.