Captain Zeppos () was a Belgian children's television series, which aired in 1964 and 1968. It was based on a script by

Lode De Groof In geology, a lode is a deposition (geology), deposit of wikt:metalliferous, metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fracture (geology), fracture (or crack) in a rock (geology), rock geological formation, formation or a vein (geology), ...

. In all, the

BRT BRT may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Bayrak Radio Television, a Turkish Cypriot broadcaster * Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (now ''VRT''), a Flemish broadcaster * Business Research and Training Center (BR&T), Ho Chi Minh Cit ...

made three series with a Flemish actor,

Senne Rouffaer Félicien P. I. (Senne) Rouffaer (19 December 1925 – 14 July 2006) was a Flemish actor and film director. One of his most successful films as a lead actor was ''The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short''. On television, he was chiefly known for his l ...

, in the title role. All episodes, except episode 16 which is a recap, have been released on DVD with Dutch subtitles and extras.

Storylines

Series 1 – Belderbos – 15 episodes (1964)

A strange man arrives in Belder on horseback, and introduces himself as Captain Zeppos. Initially, he is met with suspicion and jealousy, but he soon befriends a local, Ben Kurrel. It becomes apparent that Zeppos had a motive to come to Belder: when in Greece a stranger had made him an offer on a piece of land he had inherited near the town. Ben Kurrel and his friend Rita Mees help him investigate the mystery.

Series 2 – De Eglantier – 8 episodes (1968)

Strange things happen in Belder - a group of hunters are regularly spotted around town, and Zeppos' wife Arianne meets 'Aunt Cara' a mysterious woman who can stand on her head. All seems to revolve around

art theft Art theft, sometimes called art napping, is the stealing of paintings, sculptures, or other forms of visual art from galleries, museums or other public and private locations. Stolen art is often resold or used by criminals as collateral to ...

in nearby churches.

Series 3 – Tweng – 8 episodes (1968)

Tweng is a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

organisation led by Mr Elias, who asks Zeppos to take charge of his cause, as he is lacking the strength to continue. His daughter Marleen is Tweng's secretary and will help Zeppos.

Cast

- Captain Zeppos/Uncle Nico *Raymond Bossaerts - Ben Kurrel *Raymond Verhaeghe - Alfred Kurrel *Jo Nupie - Agnès Kurrel/Erna *Herman Smits - Roel Kurrel *Alex Wilequet - Policeman *Henriette Cabanier - Grandma *Cyriel Van Gent - Gust the Postman *Paula Sleyp - Slien *Jan Reusens - Miel *Truus Demedts - Rita Mees *Fik Moeremans - Pukkel *Vera Veroft - Ariane Despinal *Robert Maes - Ivo/Baker Mees *Rik Bravenboer - Ward/Policeman *Marc Van Acker - Ben, as a boy *Marc De Munck - Wim *Fons Derre - Nelis, Forester *Bart Rouffaer - Zeppos, as a child *Jacques Germain - Plumber * Alice Toen - Martha *

Dora van der Groen Dora van der Groen (10 March 1927 – 8 November 2015) was a Belgian actress and theatre director. She appeared in more than 120 films and television shows between 1945 and 2003. She played Vrouw Coene in '' Wij, Heren van Zichem'' and starr ...

- Beatrice * Ward de Ravet - Baral *Jo Coppens - Blonde Frans/Slome Piet *François Bernard - Marinus *Jef Van Dalsen - Raf *Jos Simons - Max *Ivo Pauwels - Figaro *Mary Boduin - Usherette *Dolf Denis - Bernard Spriet *Jackie Morel - Blonde Frans/Slome Piet *René Peeters - Wittock *Piet Herman - Notary *R. Berghmans - Flower Girl *Frank Struys - Postman *André Delys - Policeman *Hans Caprino - Black Person *Jos Mahu - Doorman *Mrs Schepers - Manageress *Jaak Van Hombeek - Policeman *Paul Van Roey - Drillmaster post *Jaak Germain - Overseer

Music

The theme tune for the series was 'Living it up', recorded by

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born ; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-kno ...

and His Orchestra. Featuring Kaempfert's characteristic trumpet sound, it became very popular at the time the first series was airing.

Cars

In series 1 Zeppos drove an Austin Champ ex-British Army Jeep style 4x4 vehicle powered by a Rolls-Royce engine. Zeppos drove an

amphibious vehicle An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian) is a vehicle that works both on land and on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious Amphibious cycle, bicycles, Amphibious ATV, ATVs, Amphibious automobile, cars, Duckboats, buses, truc ...

in series 2 and 3, resulting in this type of car being referred to as a 'Zeppos' in Flanders even years later.

Location shooting

Most of the location filming was done in

Roosdaal Roosdaal () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Borchtlombeek, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek, Pamel and Strijtem. It is also situated in the Pajottenland. On January 1, 2016 ...

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also ...

In other languages/countries

Series 1 was dubbed into English and screened by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

from October 1966. The dubbed version was also shown in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica and New Zealand, and was subtitled for broadcast in Japan, Egypt, Hong Kong and Nigeria. Short clips of the English dub are shown as an extra on one of the DVD sets. It was broadcast in the original Dutch in Belgium, the Netherlands and (with subtitles) in Sweden and Finland.

In popular culture

There are commemorative Captain Zeppos cafés in both

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

References

External links

{{commons category-inline
A dual-language Captain Zeppos tribute site
Flemish television shows Belgian children's television shows 1964 Belgian television series debuts Fictional characters from Flanders Zeppos 1968 Belgian television series endings Television characters introduced in 1968 Black-and-white Belgian television shows Television shows set in Belgium VRT 1 original programming