90's Kids TV Memories At The BFI

I was alerted back in June that the BFI (British Film Institute) were holding an event all about 90's Kids TV. It took me all of about 7 seconds to agree that I was going.

The event was due to take place on July 28th and promised to feature clips from a wide range of children's television shows from the era such as Bodger & Badger, Mike & Angelo, Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, Zzzap!, Live & Kicking, The Queens Nose and many more. As well as some special guests to speak at the event.

So this was pretty much right up my street. Although part of me also felt a bit concerned that 90's kids TV was getting that retro that events were being held about it.

So the day came and I travelled down to London with my friend John. Me donned in my finest Zzzap! T-shirt (Well come on, it was my favourite show as a nipper!)

The event was held at BFI's Southbank base. It was pretty cool to visit the BFI after hearing so much about it down the years. If you don't know who they are, they're a charity which specialises in preserving British Television Programmes and Films.

Once seated and given a programme, the show began. First off with a quick introduction by TV researcher Dick Fiddy who works for the BFI.

Then there was a 25 minute montage of 90's Kids TV shows created by one of the younger members of staff (So jealous, I'd have loved to have been paid to do that!).  The montage itself I have mixed feelings about...

First thing I noticed was that a lot of clips used were clearly ripped off Youtube (there was one clip featured that I recognised as being something I'd uploaded years ago) and on a giant cinema screen, the picture quality looked pretty bad. I thought it was a bit odd that for an archive TV and film company. That more higher quality footage was not used. But hey ho.

Now don't get me wrong. I was grinning from ear to ear to see shows like Zzzap! and Mike & Angelo on a big screen. My two gripes were that a lot of clips featured from shows were taken from the middle of scenes with no context so you were a bit lost as to what was going on. Or didn't feature the main character. For instance a scene from the 90's version of The Worst Witch which didn't feature Mildred Hubble.

The other gripe was a lot of the compilation featured lots of obscure American cartoons, some of which I'd never heard of. But very little British content which was the whole point of the thing really. Some really big shows were missed out like Fun House and Get Your Own Back and absolutely nothing from Ragdoll Productions big hits like Tots TV, Rosie & Jim, Teletubbies and Brum were featured.

I actually forgot to take any photos of the montage being shown. Sorry about that!

So that was all a bit odd. So after that was the panel discussion with the guests. The guests being...

Sir Tony Robinson. Who I don't think many people in this country don't know who he is. Baldrick in Blackadder and of course presenter of the hugely popular Time Team. But of course the entire reason he was there was due to the cult CBBC classic Maid Marian and her Merry Men.

Francis Wright. An actor, writer and puppeteer who started out operating puppets on the likes of Spitting Image and the David Bowie film Labyrinth. His first major kids TV show was the long running show of the 80's and early 90's You and Me. Before being part of many big kids TV shows in the 90's such as Five Children and It, Wizadora and Beachcomber Bay. As well as writing and performing in the excellent early morning GMTV programme Bug Alert! It has to be said though perhaps his most famous role (in my eyes anyway) is that of 'The Head' on CITV's Art Attack between 1992 and 2004. Actually I knew Francis was going well in advance due to the fact we've been chatting via email for quite a while now and I have to say he's a lovely chap!

Finally the third and final guest was Catherine Robinson. A Television producer and managing director of 2 Sides TV. Who specialise in children's television and are responsible for shows such as Bug Alert! and The Adventures of Captain Zeelig. 

So the discussion first off turned to Tony. To talk about Maid Marian.

I do have a slight confession...

I have never watched it...

Before pitchforks and flaming torches are sent to my door. In my defense, the show originally aired between 1989 and 1994. I was born in 1994. It was repeated on the CBBC channel. But apparently the first time was in 2002 (We didn't get a Freeview box till the year after) and the last time was in 2007 when I was 13 and pretty much watching less kids TV.

How ever, upon seeing some clips at the event and bursting out laughing. I've made a point to at some point watch them.

I actually wished I had watched it as a fair bit of discussion was dedicated to the show and I could definitely see why as it comes across as a show which stood out from the crowd and is very much deserving of it's on-going cult status. Also Kate Lonergan (Marian) and Wayne Morris (Robin) happened to be in the audience. Who came down to have a quick chat too.

Next up was Francis who spoke about all the wonderful shows he worked on. The guy has an incredibly long CV of credits to his name. But particular focus was put on his work on 5 Children and It, Mortimer and Arabel and Grotbags. Where some clips were shown. Discussion about his work on Art Attack was brought up but no footage of The Head shown which I felt was a great shame. But he did briefly slip in to the voice. Which was great to hear and a bit surreal as Francis's normal speaking voice sounds nothing like The Head's!

Catherine spoke about her work as a producer on children's TV and how back then the budgets were much bigger and there was more risk taking. Something which is sadly lacking now. Her company 2 Sides TV produced the GMTV/Channel 4 children's show Bug Alert! which Francis co-wrote and puppeteered on. Some footage was shown. It's actually pretty cool that a show which has sadly fallen in to a bit of obscurity was being shown on a cinema screen in London to an audience. I found myself singing along to the theme tune much to the annoyance of my friend sat next to me. Bug Alert! was a great show, very funny, full of slapstick and wonderfully surreal. Do check it out if you haven't!

"We're the bugs, We're the bugs, We're the ugly cuddly bugs!"

After a short Q&A session with the audience. The show was wrapped up. I then shot up and hurriedly left to try and get some stuff signed... but not before tripping over my shoe laces on almost ending up in another audience members lap.

While most people went to chat to the Maid Marian cast. Being the life long fan of Art Attack I am. I had to go and have a chat with Francis. Who I had promised to speak with before hand anyway. Really cool to have a quick chat and some signed goodies. Including a photo of Francis with The Head and my Bug Alert DVD.

I hope more 90's Kids TV nostalgia event spring up over time.

It's pretty cool to be able to say "I've met The Head off Art Attack"

Pump it Up

I have very fond memories of being six years old and rushing home on a Friday afternoon to watch Pump It Up and then chatting about the outcome of the show with my friends the following Monday morning at school.

Pump It Up. Is one of those childhood TV shows that I remember but no one in my immediate social circle does. Which is a shame, it was awesome.

I guess it was one of those shows commissioned to fill the void left by the departure of Fun House. It had gunge, some hyperactive presenters and a race around the studio. So some similarities.

It aired on CITV and sadly didn't have an incredibly long run. Lasting just two series from 1999 to 2000. Both series were hosted by Andy Collins. Who later went on to host Family Fortunes for a short while and is now a successful TV warm up man. The first series was co-hosted by Julia Bradbury (yes, the same one who has presented Countryfile and many other outdoorsy nature type documentaries).

The second series was co-hosted by Fearne Cotton. Commentary was provided by Richard Webb, who later went on to be the commentator on CBBC's Bamzooki.

So what made the show awesome for me? Well the set was impressive. I have no idea where it was filmed, if anyone wants to let me know then feel free to get in touch. It looked like it may have been in filmed in an aircraft hangar. As the show was made by Carlton Television I would assume it was filmed somewhere near Nottingham. I'm not entirely sure. A large inflatable assault course stretched the outer rim of this set. Called the Gunge-A-Thon. The show was very much of it's era, with nightclub style lighting. Dance/Trance style backing music and combat trousers featuring as part of the contestants outfits. But it looked like some considerable amount of money was spent on making the show.

I only recall the first series vaguely. I remember the second series a lot better and even own an edition on VHS tape still.

The game play was this. Two teams of four played four games. There was a pool of games that were selected. All involved inflatables (hence the title!). Some of the games played were...

Dodgy Geezer - Team members had to navigate a bouncy assault course (which had a big water feature in the middle of it, making it slippery) grab a pole and run back an attach it to a capstan. Once all four pieces had been attached. The first team to turn the capstan would inflate a large wobbly man.

Grand Prizza - A race around the set on electric scooters. Delivering pizzas to the hosts.

Blown 2 Bits - The teams would run around inside giant inflatable sausages with spikes on the end. Using them to pop giant balloons hanging from a gantry.

That was just a small selection of games featured. Many more were used over the course of the show.

The winning of a game by a team earned them to right to deactivate a gunge zone in the final Gunge-A-Thon. Which will become clear in a moment.

So after the four games. The Gunge-A-Thon takes place. Both teams have to cross a large inflatable assault course. Featuring bridges, pools of gunge, hills...that kind of thing.

Half way through this assault course is Gunge Gulley. This is where the gunge zones come in to play. Gunge Gully was essentially a hill in four sections. Flat, uphill, downhill and flat. Each section represented a colour. White, purple, yellow and green and two large gulleys ran through this section for the teams to travel through.

Now if a team had deactivated a gunge zone. Nothing would happen when they would travel through that relevant section. If they hadn't, a nice shower of gunge would rain down on them. This was supposed to make things a bit more difficult. Teams would often struggle to cross this bit.

The final part of the assault course after running through lots of sludge for the last 5 minutes. Was to get all of your team mates up the top of a large inflatable uphill slope.

First team that did, won. There were semi finals and quarter finals. Before a grand final where the winning team won a holiday.

I enjoyed the show as a six year old. Perhaps in hindsight maybe the show copied Fun House and 50/50  in places. But to the target audience, who cared? I loved it. I'd love to see the show repeated again (listen up Challenge TV!) but that seems unlikely. I was surprised to see clips of the show featured in the 30 years of CITV documentary in 2013 though. It's one of the most obscure CITV shows from the noughties. A huge shame it didn't stretch beyond two series. If anyone has any episodes lurking on VHS tapes. Please do upload or share them. So very little of this show is available online.