Threshold Kids — control

Topher and Meg, the central characters of the show.

Threshold Kids is a series of educational videos created by the Federal Bureau of Control to teach children, particularly those in the Prime Candidate program (implicitly Dylan Faden) about paranatural topics and phenomena.

Parapsychologist Bethany Harrington (who took a few puppet-making courses while attending community college) came up with the idea for a television show and submitted a proposal to Director Zachariah Trench. She believed that the series would be way to slowly introduce Dylan to paranatural concepts, while being good for FBC staff morale, and would guarantee that the young boy would respond positively to the information. The Research Staff built the sets, recorded the footage, and even did the voices. The budget for the series was minimal.

The primary characters are a pair of children living at the Oldest House, Meg and Topher, intended to mirror the lives of Prime Candidates P7 and P6. Both have oversized eyes and exaggerated features as expected of puppets, as well as jaws that work on a simple drop mechanism allowing them to mimic speech. Both characters make vague references to past traumatic experiences or personal losses, again intended to mirror the lives of the two young Candidates. Topher is far more eager and excitable, with a tendency to react in an overly emotional manner or to panic; Meg is significantly more reserved, though still prone to emotional outbursts on occasion.

The only other character seen in the known episodes is Mr. Bones, a puppet of a skeleton wearing a purple suit and a mask in the shape of a baby's face. Unlike Meg or Topher, Mr. Bones is implied to be an adult member of the FBC, though his disturbing physical appearance with exposed bones and organs as well as his references to accidents suggests he may not still be alive^[1]. Mr. Bones' primary role in the episodes he appears in is to explain how things work within the FBC, the rules that are enforced, or potential hazards to Topher and Meg based on whatever supernatural events are currently taking place. Most often this exposition is unhelpful, excessively aggressive, or noticeably dark in tone.

The general formula for each episode begins with a supernatural event happening or a topic coming up in conversation, such as a House Shift or psychic test results, followed by a discussion of the topic amongst the characters. The conversation will almost always go toward what the FBC knows about a topic, or what a person should do in certain situations, but rarely provides any constructive answers or advice.

List of episodes

Trivia

Topher was named after Christopher, the older brother of Narrative Lead Anna Megill. Meg was taken from their last name.^[2]
Meg's long, almost straightjacket-like sleeves were designed as a symbolic suggestion that she's a prisoner.^[3]
Additionally, Meg's puppet has a third eye in back, hidden under her hair.^[3]
Topher's outfit was adopted from the uniforms of the Rangers.^[3]
Per Anna Megill, Mr. Bones looks the way he does after being crushed during a House Shift.^[1] His unusual speech pattern was the result of the voice actor trying to match the pre-recorded puppet’s mouth movements.^[3]
According to Clay Murphy in The Art and Making of Control, Topher is voiced by Sean Durrie and Mr. Bones is voiced by Ronan Summers. Meg was originally voiced by Antonia Bernath (voice of Emily Pope), but was recast with Remedy level designer Rebecca Richards because the original voice sounded too similar to Topher's.
During a 30th annivesary play stream, it was revealed that Control's composer Petri Alanko sang the Threshold Kids theme song^[4]. He also provided the voice of The Board^[5].
Clay Murphy credits the Youtube series "Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared" as an inspiration, along with old-school PSA's in children's cartoons such as G.I. Joe.^[3]
Given Control's roots in internet-based horror fiction such as the SCP Foundation^[6], it is most likely an homage to the creepypasta story Candle Cove, a similarly strange and disturbing vintage kid's show involving marionettes and a sinister skeleton character.
The lyrics to the theme song don't have subtitles, and the voices are distorted and difficult to make out, but they seem to be: