Jack's Throwback Attack - S6E2 - A Chat With Richard Cadell

It's time for another interview and I'm really pleased to say this time I am chatting with Sooty's right hand man, it's Richard Cadell. 

You can also listen to the podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud and Apple Podcasts. 

I was really glad to get Richard on the podcast, he is someone I'd wanted to interview ever since I started this project. In April 2024 a one off event was held in Nottingham called 'Sooty This Is Your Life' which was a look back at Sooty's career, with some interviews and behind the scenes bits that was intended for older fans. Afterwards there was a meet and greet where I met Richard where I was able to ask and here we are! 

Richard has always been a magician, starting at a young age. In 1985 he won Young Magician of the Year and part of the prize was to appear on The Sooty Show. Little did he know that in 13 years time, his life would change forever based on that one off appearance. In-between this he also ran funfairs and amusement arcades with his brother. 

In the 1990s, Matthew Corbett the then current owner of Sooty decided to retire. He sold the rights to the format and a new presenter was needed. They needed someone who had an understanding of magic and a performance background and one of the names suggested was Richard Cadell. 

After many months of auditions and being on a list with several other names, Richard was picked and the rest is history! Richard was selected along with Liana Bridges to front the show and they first appeared on the final series of Sooty & Co. The first series without Matthew was Sooty Heights where Richard, Liana, Sooty, Sweep, Soo and Scampi ran a hotel, it aired for two series. 

In 2001 the show was revamped, the title was reverted to just Sooty and was still set in a hotel (albeit a very different looking one to the one previously). Richard Cadell remained but Liana was dropped from the show and Vicki Lee Taylor became the co-host. This was a bit of a rocky time for the show as by this point the format had been sold to another company that deals with children's television formats and a lot of changes were made which didn't go down well with fans. Richard had no control over the format at this point, he was incorrectly blamed for the route the show went by viewers. In 2004 ITV axed Sooty and Richard went back to running his theme park. 

In 2008, the rights to Sooty had been put up for sale and Richard decided he had to put things right and bought the rights meaning he had full creative control of the format. He worked incredibly hard with the old Sooty crew to get the show back on TV. After producing a pilot in 2009 called The Big Day Out, Richard was able to convince ITV to have the show back and in 2011, Sooty returned to our screens and has become a hit all over again with a new generation of fans. 

This is a real treat of an interview, Richard talks about his early career, how he got the job of Sooty, the rocky period in the early 00s and how he brought the show back. There's some great anecdotes! 

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S6E1 - A Chat With Brenda Longman

Once again I have been spending my summer chatting with people about their memories of working in children's television in the UK. I wasn't sure if I was going to be doing another series but a few opportunities came up which I couldn't refuse, so here we go! This time around though it is a much shorter series of interviews, however it's still a great bunch. To start off in this edition I am chatting with actor and voice artist Brenda Longman. 

You can also listen via Spotify, Soundcloud and Apple Podcasts. 

Brenda Longman is best known as being the voice of Soo the panda, Sooty's girlfriend. Brenda has been part of the Sooty team since 1981, taking over the role from the original voice of Soo, Marjorie Corbett. Not only has Brenda been the voice of Soo but she has also appeared on screen as Mo From T'Market in Sooty and Co and Dotty in Sooty Heights. As well as appearing as several extras and bit part characters throughout The Sooty Show.

Brenda started out in classical singing and has a long career in acting on stage alongside her role as Soo. We talk about all of this and many Sooty topics including how she became the voice of Soo, the story of Soo winning The Weakest Link and that infamous episode of Sooty and Co which caused a bit of a stir at the time. Enjoy listening/watching, it's a great episode with some wonderful anecdotes from one of the UK's most iconic kids TV shows. 

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S5 E5 - A Chat With Robin Stevens

Time for another nostalgic chat and it's the last one in the series, this time I am chatting with puppeteer Robin Stevens. 

You can also listen to the podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud and Apple podcasts

Robin has appeared on the podcast before chatting about Rosie and Jim with his co-stars Rebecca Nagan and Neil Brewer but I wanted to chat with him about his wider CV of work. 

Robin trained in puppetry at The Cannon Hill Puppet Theatre in Birmingham. His best known work is with Ragdoll Productions working as a puppeteer on Pob's Programme (as Pob), Rosie and Jim (as Jim), and Tots TV (as Tom). He also appeared in character on Boobah (as Grandpapa) and Blips (as Mr.Perfect). 

After working with Ragdoll for nearly 25 years Robin stepped down and has since moved to North Carolina and works for Noble Cider. 

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S5 E4 - A Chat With Liam Dolan

This months podcast is a chat with Liam Dolan, we take a trip down memory lane discussing his kids TV career in the 2000's. 

You can also listen to the podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud and Apple Podcasts. 

Liam presented the in-vision continuity links on CBBC which broadcast from Studio 9 of BBC Television Centre between 2000-2001. Before moving to GMTV kids and hosting the weekend shows Diggit and later Diggin' It for a few years. Before moving to Studio Disney as part of The Disney Channel. 

Liam in his CBBC days along with Michael Underwood,
Angelica Bell and Adrian Dickson.

These days Liam is performing standing up comedy and panto every Christmas. 

Enjoy this chat, some great memories are shared of those golden days of live kids TV before and after school, performing to large crowds at live events and the many pop stars of the day that appeared regularly on children's TV. 

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S5 E3 - A Chat With Lee Pressman

 

In this edition of the podcast I am chatting with Lee Pressman who talks about his career writing for children's television. This is the first time I have interviewed someone who has entirely written for kids TV rather than appear on it. 

You can also listen to the chat on spotify, soundcloud and apple podcasts

In this chat we discuss Lee's career beginnings in the early 1980's, writing for shows such as Play Away and Rainbow. In the mid 80's he formed a writing partnership with Grant Cathro, where they created a number of shows for the next 15 years such as T-Bag, Spatz, Mike and Angelo, Cone Zone and Polterguests. All of these shows are discussed including how they came about and why Mike and Angelo survived the loss of Thames Television but T-Bag and Spatz did not.

We also talk about Lee's writing work since the 2000's which has included Shaun the Sheep, Thomas and Friends and Fireman Sam. 

Enjoy this interview, some really interesting anecdotes are shared! 

Also a big thanks to VideotapeFTW on Youtube who made this interview possible. 

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S5E2 - A Chat With Marc Silk

It's podcast time once again and what an interview I have for you this month. For this episode I am chatting with voice actor Marc Silk. 

The podcast is also on Spotify, Soundcloud and Apple Podcasts

Marc's CV is extraordinary, with thousands of adverts, cartoons, TV announcements, video games and films under his belt. Marc's voice is one I heard a lot during my childhood, as during the late 90's/early 00's his voice was frequently heard on Cartoon Network, CITV and adverts for Tomy Toys. It wasn't until 2015 I would learn who the man behind the voice was...

Back then I was involved in Big Centre TV, the then local TV station for Birmingham and The Black Country on Freeview Channel 8, which unfortunately only lasted 18 months. I attended the launch of the channel and one of the people speaking was Marc and as soon as I heard his voice I instantly recognised it. 

Fast forward to Christmas 2022 and I attended a comic con in Telford which Marc was appearing at and we got chatting and I asked if he would like to be on my podcast and he agreed and this is the result. Over the course of just over an hour we discuss Marc's career beginnings in radio and CITV which lead to job offers from The Disney Channel and Cartoon Network because of his ability to create a range of voices and mimic famous cartoon characters. Which has led to him being the UK based voice artist for Scooby Doo and Shaggy and Johnny Bravo.

We discuss his voice work on the likes of Fifi and The Flowertots, Bob the Builder in the US and Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace.

Also this is the first one I'm uploading with the video included as well as the audio in the youtube version. I did this with most of the interviewees this series. Just testing the waters really, I have always been more an audio guy but I thought I'd give it a go. 

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S5 E1 - A Chat With Nic Ayling

After a break, I'm back with a new bunch of interviews and to start off I'm talking to someone who has worked more behind the camera than in front of it.

The podcast is also on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts and Spotify 

I have been in touch with Nic since the early 2010's as Nic worked on some of my favourite shows from my childhood and he has always been happy to answer my questions, tell me great anecdotes and has helped with some of my research for this project for which I am very grateful.

In this chat Nic talks about how his love for No.73 (an 80's Saturday morning show) lead to him a few years later working in television at The Maidstone Studios in Kent. This lead to working for The Media Merchants, working on shows such as Zzzap!, Art Attack and It's a Mystery. Doing everything from making art work to appearing an an extra. As well as when he briefly did some presenting on Quid's In for Channel 4 and Slop's Diner on Telegantic Megavision for CITV.

Nic with Francis Wright, working on 'The Head' segments
for Art Attack in 2004.

Since The Media Merchants closed in 2007, Nic worked on other kids art shows Finger Tips and Mister Maker for The Foundation production company. 

Since 2016, Nic works for Terrific Television a production company set up by himself and business partner Driana Jones (who also worked on all the same shows I've just mentioned) which is based at The Media Merchants former home of The Maidstone Studios. Terrific TV has produced My World Kitchen and Nick Cope's Popcast for Cbeebies, The Makery for Sky Kids and the third version of HOW for CITV.