The tics are a family of characters who are so small, almost nothing at all, whose names all end in tic and who look exactly like their names - if only you could see them. But you can hear them - they have developed the ticnology to break into radio programmes, cd players and even ipods...

Arctic is an Eskimo, Diagnostic is a doctor, Majestic is the King, Dramatic is an actor, and the oldest tic of all is Arthritic. But the main characters are Frantic and Antic who drive the shows. Among the regulars are Slapstic the clown, who always has a new act to try out on the show and Rustic the farmer, with endless tales from the countryside. tics live in clocks and watches and anything that measures the time - Egyptic lives in an egg-timer full of sand...

You can sometimes see them - those bright pin-points in a shaft of sunlight are probably tics having fun.