Geordie Racer/Gameplay

Controls

 * Y and N: Once the 8-bit version of the serial's theme song, Flying Free, Flying High, has finished on the title screen, the text "Have you played before? (Press Y or N)" will appear at the bottom of it; for the full effect, you have to press N for "no", because if you press Y for "yes", you will be asked "Do you want to go to: Part 1 or Part 2" (Part 1 covers the first to fifth challenges, while Part 2 covers the sixth to tenth ones), rendering all except the last challenge skippable if desired (this was presumably for the benefit of players who could not finish the entire game in a single sitting).
 * Space: When the sign of four horizontal lines stacked on top of each other appears in the bottom-right corner of the screen, you will have to push this key to continue; when you have to make a choice, you also have to push it to move the highlight the next option and push Enter to confirm it.
 * Esc: If you get stuck or do not know what to do in a particular challenge push this key to get help from the show's mascot Wordy; however, when you press Space to return to the challenge, it shall get returned to its original state if you had partially completed it, so doing this is not advisable.
 * U, D, L, R and 1-9: In the final challenge, use these keys to tell Sal which direction she must go in and how many metres to move.

Characters

 * Wordy: The Look and Read mascot (who was originally coloured orange with black arms in the show, but due to technical limitations, he appears as red with white arms here), who shall guide the player through the game and give them advice if they do not know what to do in particular challenges.
 * Pigeons: At the start of the first challenge you have to choose one of three red pigeons to fly in a race: Star (who is brave), Homer (who is fast) and Bonny (who is strong); later on in the fourth challenge you will meet Fluff the baby pigeon, who can let your chosen pigeon into the locked loft if you give him five (or three, in the case of Bonny) passwords. In the fifth challenge, you will also meet four white carrier pigeons named Blink, Flap, Flip, and Flop, who each have a message on which the rain has washed one of the words off - and you will have to pick the right missing word from four.
 * "Beastly" Baz: A crook whose men steal things and hide them for him to collect later; in the second challenge, you have to help your chosen pigeon find three stolen things by choosing the right places to go, while in the sixth challenge, you'll have to choose the right things to help you in the cellars of Delaval Hall to prevent him from getting ahead of you. In the ninth challenge, he will row his boat forward each time you visit one of the caves - so you have to tell the bats who live in the noisy cave what's in the smelly one in as few tries as possible before he rows off the right side of the screen.
 * Sal the Sea Serpent: A character who was created specifically for the game and did not appear in the serial; in the final challenge, you have to help her through the rocks to catch Baz by telling her which direction she must go in and how many metres to move (as her head is exactly one metre, or three rocks, long). Once Sal makes it to Baz she'll wrap her tongue around him and lift him, still in his boat, out of the water - and he cannot escape.