Original subtitles

It is estimated that there are some 10 quintillion insects alive

at any one time. But forget about them.

This is about me, Lloyd. I'm a fly.

Arachnofly's face fills the panel.

His super senses warn him the Slug Master is nearby.

Then, Slug Master bursts from the plughole

and slides straight for him at super slither speed.

Oh, no. A super slither attack.

But at the last second, Arachnofly did this sort of wiggly flight.

Can you describe it?

It's indescribable. I'll... I'll just show you.

It starts with a sort of--

Yeah, yah, yah.

Lloyd, watch out. Ow!

Aah!

Polly, are you alright, dear? Oh, I think so.

Something hit me.

Well, it looks like that something was Lloyd.

Eek. Sorry, Polly.

My Arachnofly wiggly flight might need a bit of work.

Lloyd, are you OK? You hit Polly at quite a speed.

Oh, Polly, are you OK?

Yes, thank you, Abacus.

What's all the commotion?

I'll tell you the commotion, Malcolm.

Your son flying without due care and attention.

If he was my son, he'd be grounded.

Wow. Grounded.

Imagine that, Lloyd. You'd have to walk everywhere.

No flying? That's awful. No offence.

None taken.

I don't know, Molly. Grounding seems a little extreme.

It was just an accident.

Molly knows what she's talking about.

You know, she runs a flight-awareness course.

Most accidents take place within 10 centimetres of the home.

Learnt that on the course.

My star pupil.

Perhaps Lloyd, might consider taking the course himself.

Why? I know how to fly. I am a fly.

I'd have been fine if I'd been paying attention.

Yes. Well, that's rather the point, isn't it?

A fly who cares doesn't fly without caring.

Learnt that on-- The course. Yes, Berry, we get it.

Well, I guess some extra know how wouldn't hurt.

And I don't want to have to ground you.

You don't have to ground me in the first place.

No, but I like the idea of it now.

It's really very educational.

I cover emergency stops, reverse hovering.

I want to do those. Can I go, too?

Aah!

Well, how about can she, can she go instead?

I think it's best you both go.

And I'm going to have a lovely afternoon to myself.

Welcome. Take a seat. And we'll get started.

Now, Berry has kindly offered to demonstrate

his perfect flying technique.

Thank you.

Since it's you, Lloyd, I figured Molly will need help.

Have you started? Did I miss anything?

You don't need to be here, Abacus. You can't fly.

I'd still like to be flight aware, if that's OK.

Safety is all of our responsibility.

Hm. Well said. Fair enough.

Now, we've got a lot to get through,

so I need you all to watch carefully and listen closely.

Let's start by reviewing the basics.

Berry, show everyone the optimal flying stance.

Note the angle of the thorax, the relaxed arms,

wings at a 90 degree angle, legs gently bent.

Now you.

There, see, this stuff's easy. I'm going to ace this course.

Not bad, Abacus. Thank you.

Hmm. Hm.

I've always wondered when you fly, do you make your wings move,

or does it just sort of happen?

Well, I am. I don't think I think about it, do I?

Uh.

Oh. Oh, dear.

Let's hope you can manage better than that, Lloyd.

Or I may have to fail you. And that means grounding.

No, that's not fair. I was thinking. I don't normally think,

so I lost focus for a moment. It's not...

Oh, Lloyd, an unfocused fly is not fit to fly.

You'll learn that on this course. Aah! Hm.

Very good, Abacus.

Apart from the lack of wings, everything else is spot on.

Full marks.

Wow. My mum will be so proud.

OK, now the emergency stop.

Stop. Whoo.

Flawless emergency stop, Abacus. I hope you two were watching that.

PB, you're up. Ooh.

Yeah.

Stop.

Whoo! Good stop, PB.

But you only need to stop moving, not flapping.

You know. I broke the ceiling speed record during my emergency stop.

The faster you go, the more impressive the stop.

I can fly much faster,

and stop way more impressively than you.

Your turn, Lloyd. I hope you can impress me this time.

Oh, don't worry, Molly. I will.

When you're ready.

Yeah.

Faster. Faster.

Stop.

Stop, Lloyd, stop.

Lloyd, I found a tasty crumb.

Oh. Where?

Molly, why didn't you say stop?

I did. But you were not listening. You were not focused.

What? No. I was focused just on other things.

Oh. Oh.

Seriously, who flies backwards? Just fly forwards. It's so easy.

Deducting marks for talking while reversing.

What?

Lloyd! You too, PB.

You need to be aware of obstacles.

Beautiful work, Abacus. Safety over speed.

I can't be grounded. I can't.

I've got to ace this obstacle course.

So maybe listen, while Molly explains it.

I am listening.

Good. Peep.

Because I'm not going to repeat what I just said.

Nice obstacle course.

Thank you. It's a new addition.

Something to truly test flight skill and awareness.

So who's first?

Oh, oh! Me, me, me!

I like the enthusiasm.

Wings at 90 degrees, PB. Bend those knees.

As a non-flier, Abacus, it's fine if you want to sit this one out.

Oh, no. I'd rather fail the course than not complete it.

Oh.

Good luck, Lloyd.

Let me know if you need anything fetched from high shelves

once you're grounded. I'm not going to be grounded.

I'm an excellent flier. Really?

Can't say I've seen any evidence.

Oh, I'll show you evidence.

See? Perfect flying stance, forwards or backwards.

Whoa, whoa.

Hey. Easy.

Ha-ha!

Oh, no. Is Lloyd going to crash? No. Oh.

Uh-oh.

Super smooth. That's top marks, surely.

Smooth? Yes. Correct? No.

If you were focused and listened, you'd know that you went over

when you should have gone under,

under when you should have gone over,

...you missed the hardest section,

and you failed the most important part,

precision landing. Boom.

Oof!

Um. Can I have another go?

You failed me?

How did I do? How did I do?

Making allowances for your brother's distractions,

you scraped a pass.

Yes!

Please don't fail, Lloyd.

He's really very good at... Oh, I passed.

But how can you pass Abacus and not me?

He can't fly. No offence. None taken.

He displayed perfect technique and complete understanding.

His flight awareness is unquestionable.

But I didn't do that badly.

You failed every single element, optimal flying stance,

reverse hovering, emergency stop.

You didn't even complete the obstacle course.

So that's an automatic fail.

Hold on. Oh, sorry, sorry.

Hold on. The obstacle course is a new addition, right?

Something to truly test skill and awareness.

Well, I'm glad you were listening to something I said.

But that means Berry hasn't done it.

What?

So he can't have passed a flight awareness test either.

Well. Well, no, I...

Hm. That is true.

Very well. Let's use this as a teaching opportunity.

Berry, show him how it's done.

Sure.

I mean, it's not like it's difficult.

It is. If you do all of it. Yes, I found it very tricky.

Right. OK.

Yes.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Ha, ha, ha.

This is the hard bit you missed, Lloyd.

Easy for me, though. Forwards and backwards.

Focus, Berry.

What? I am focused. It's Lloyd who wasn't...

Look out!

Wow. Lloyd, that was amazing.

What was that?

Oh, uh, that was Arachnofly's special wiggly flight.

Probably needs a better name. Wow.

Berry didn't complete the obstacle course.

He destroyed it.

I, I was, was distracted.

An unfocused fly is not fit to fly. I learnt that on this course.

Looks like we're both grounded.

Oh.

He's right, Berry. I can't ground one of you and not the other.

But... but you can't do that.

I can. And I must.

No! I have to walk everywhere.

Ha-ha. That's right. Everywhere.

Now let's start by reviewing the basics.

PB.

Note the straight back,

smooth swing of the arms and roll of the feet.

Now you.

Oh.

Right.

Hmm.

Captions by Red Bee Media

Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation