Apologies for the lack of blog posts or any content of any form lately. I started a new full time job a few months ago which means I have been super busy and now have less free time than I did previously. But I do plan to write some new blog posts (and maybe some Youtube videos) reviewing some retro kids telly at some point.
The good news is, I am currently planning series 2 of the Throwback Attack podcast's. Unfortunately the podcasts are not something I can do regularly due to time and work constraints and chasing people up to take part for interviews. But I can definitely say that later this year a brand new series will be put out.
I have already been in the studio and got a few chats recorded and I have a few more lined up to record over the summer. Hopefully all being well, those will start being uploaded on a monthly basis around Autumn time. But I'll have a better idea of exactly when a bit later down the line!
In the meantime, why not refresh you memory of the chats I've already done? Series 1 can still be listened to here.
Just a quick blog post. But it was really cool to meet James Mackenzie a few weeks ago. Who is best known for playing Raven in the original version of the CBBC show between 2002-2010. We met in a shopping centre in Wolverhampton. No it wasn't a chance meeting, there was a comic con going on there!
I actually wonder if I would have recognised him if I just happened to walk past. Although James hasn't changed much at all. He does wear glasses now and I have to say was a lot more smiley and cheery than Raven's moody persona.
But Raven was definitely a show I watched a fair bit back in the day. It was basically Game of Thrones meets Knightmare meets Crystal Maze. At least for the first few series. It did run for 8 years and there were a number of spin off's that came about towards the end but I never really saw those. But I do remember the awesome Way of the Warrior challenge at the end of each show which no one ever seemed to win. I have to admit that a few times in recent years, Raven quotes done in the best Scottish accent myself and my friends can muster have been uttered during drunken nights out. I live life very much in the fast lane.
I am aware that Raven has recently returned with a new actress in the role and with James making sporadic appearances as "Raven of old". But I'm going to be honest, I haven't really seen it. I have to admit that I'm past the point of watching kids TV by quite some years now and I'm getting in to that rose tinted spectacled view of "kids TV was so much better in my day!".
I did ask James if he'd be happy to record a chat with me sometime soon if I emailed him and he said yes. He has already done a few which can be on Youtube. So I'll have to think up of some different questions. We'll have to see what happens...
Following on from my last blog post about 90's CITV comedy sci-fi show Snug & Cozi. As mentioned, I am pleased to announce my next podcast interview with Richard Vobes who wrote the show and starred as Snug.
Richard tells us the story of how the show came to be and how ITV picked up the show. As well as the troubles in production along side some of his fondest memories of the programme, including a car wash and a double bed!
Richard also updates us on his current activities with his podcasting and his The Bald Explorer series on Youtube.
On this blog I sometimes like to fly the flag for those nostalgic relics of kids TV past which have fallen by the wayside in the memories of the nation. One of those shows, is crazy sci-fi comedy. Snug & Cozi.
Snug & Cozi was a children's slapstick comedy which aired on CITV for two series between 1996 and 1997. The two title characters were spacemen who crash landed on earth and tried to adapt to human life. With the help of their earth friend Emily, who discovered them and hid them in her fathers shed. Obviously her father must have hated gardening then, to not notice two full grown men living in the shed the whole time.
You could describe the pair as bumbling, inept and down right clumsy. Causing chaos wherever they go and speaking a strange gibberish language. Slapstick shows seemed to be all the rage on Kids TV in the 90's. With Zzzap! and Chucklevision never being off the air.
A total of sixteen episodes were made. All of which were ten minutes in length and featured the two crazy spacemen getting in to a variety of farcical situations. From flooding their home with soap suds during bath night. To making a birthday cake containing sticks of dynamite instead of candles.
The show actually aired when I was three years old, so it's amazing I remember it. I say remember but it's more vague recollections. Years ago I did ask on forums if anyone remembered a show with two clumsy bald men, one with a moustache and no one had a clue what I was going on about. It was only when some time later someone messaged me asking me if I remembered a CITV show called Snug & Cozi and I said I didn't. Until they shown me an episode on Youtube and it all came back to me. This was the show I remembered!
In fact the Youtube uploads are all by the very man who not only played Snug in the show. But also created the entire thing. Richard Vobes. Who I have been in contact with ever since, over the last ten years. We've never met in person but exchanged many emails about his time on the show. As well as the various other CITV shows the two characters appeared on to promote it. Such as Scratchy & Co and Timmy Towers. The fact Richard has worked alongside the late great Mark Speight makes me very jealous!
Not only that but Snug and Cozi even released their own album of pop tunes! You can listen to one of the tunes here.
Richard has told me in previous conversations that the show was very much Laurel & Hardy in spacesuits. Seeing as I am a fan of those too. I can definitely see the influence. It's nice that particular style of humour was re-introduced to a new generation of children.
I can still remember one of the very first things I asked Richard back in 2009. I had this vague picture in my mind of Snug & Cozi entering a carwash on a bed. Naturally I thought I'd dreamt the whole thing up and gone mad. It sounded bizarre. Thankfully I wasn't, as Richard confirmed that yes, that really did happen. The scene in question, has since made an appearance online.
Richard, who has a love for writing, performing and comedy. Wrote and created the show while working as a street performer, mime, juggler and TV extra. Not only did he write a pilot show. He actually made one on film, out of his own pocket. Roping in his friend Nigel Cooper to play Cozi. Before sending the tapes off to various TV companies in the hope that someone would buy the idea. Amazingly, Scottish Television, who are part of the ITV network did. Part of me wonders if such a thing would happen now, whether a TV company would accept a pitch like that. One day, I wouldn't mind seeing the original pilot programme.
What's interesting to learn, from my many discussions with Richard. Is that his time having his idea made for TV wasn't always a happy one. With his vision of the show not being what the final product ended up being. Before being axed suddenly after just two series. A great shame. Due to the short run, the show has sadly been largely forgotten and doesn't pop up on nostalgia websites very often.
What's more positive though. Is since then, Richard has a new found love of producing videos and podcasts for the internet. Until the title The Bald Explorer where he explores Britain's history and heritage. You can find out more here https://baldexplorer.com/ and you can also follow Richard on Twitter.
Why not go on Youtube right now and enjoy some silly fun with Snug & Cozi? To get you started. This episode is a favourite of mine.
Also Richard has very kindly taken the time out to record a chat with me about his time working on the show. The podcast interview will be available very soon!
You can roughly tell someones generation by what they best know Lynda Baron for being in. I find those over the age of 35 best know her as Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in Open All Hours and anyone 20-35 knows her for being Auntie Mable in the children's educational programme Come Outside.
Now although this article is a bit of an amusing poke at the time one particular episode made a 5 year old me cry at school. I should really point out that Come Outside was a show I enjoyed hugely and have nothing but fond memories for. It was a wonderful educational programme for young children which was so incredibly popular and very deservedly so. What's testament to that is the fact that despite the show finished in 1997. Repeats carried on for a further 15 years afterwards!
Also, let's not forget how the nation mourned the loss of Pippin the dog in 2008. The country wept, flags were at half mast and the Pedigree dog food company held a moments silence.
OK so I'll be serious for a moment. So if you don't know the show (Seriously one friend of mine whose the same age once admitted this to the shock of the entire group of people with us at the time) it featured the adventures of Auntie Mable and her dog Pippin. Who lived in a cottage in the middle of nowhere. Who would go on lots of random adventures exploring how things work. Did they catch the bus? Oh no... this is the 90's remember. It had to be taken up a notch. She had her own aeroplane in her front garden! A spotty polkadot one at that. No questions asked as to how or why.
Your typical episode would feature Auntie Mable and her curious mind. Pondering how crisps, bread, toothpaste etc etc were made. Hopping in to her plane with her dog and flying away (cue shot of obvious stunt double consisting of a bloke wearing a ginger wig flying the plane).
Landing it somehow in the middle of a town. Turning up to a factory unannounced and being given a tour without any form of security checks. Oh what an innocent world we once lived in. Take me back.
For the most part this was actually an educational and gentle programme that little ones could enjoy... until one particular episode in the second series. The episode in question titled 'Useful Holes' (no sniggering).
Most of the episode featured Mable talking about *ahem* useful holes. Such as the holes small animals like mice and badgers dig to live in. All well and good and innocent and lovely.
Towards the end of the episode the episode takes a bit of a random turn from lovely woodland animals to Auntie Mable ending up in a life or death situation. Talking about how one day, a useful hole saved her life (This is getting silly now).
Auntie Mable talks about the time she had a dog flap installed. So Pippin could run in and out of the back garden with ease. Instead of clawing at the door constantly and disturbing her.
So the story leads to how one day Auntie Mable was cooking some chips. You can tell it's before the country became more health conscious as she's not cooking them with fry light or an air fryer. But with a chip pan. Silly old Mable goes in to her walk-in cupboard to get the lid for the pan. When the door shuts, trapping her inside (Why would you have it built so you couldn't open it from the inside too anyway?).
Realising she can't get out and there's a chip pan getting way too hot on the cooker.
Pippin jumps through the dog flap. Running all the way to the fire station and in true Lassie style. Alerts the fire brigade something is wrong who completely understand what Pippin is trying to say and speed off to Auntie Mable's aid.
They arrive just as the pan catches fire and put it out and let Auntie Mable out of the cupboard.
Who quite amusingly, despite almost being cremated just moments ago comes out with the very British line "Let's all go and have a cup of tea!". A sweet end to a potentially disastrous situation.
But seriously. Who thought up that would be a great thing to stick in to a programme designed for pre-school kids? A lady being trapped and almost being burnt to a crisp had it not been for the fact she had a dog flap installed days prior and that the local fire brigade can understand dog speak.
Because this particular episode. Made little old me at the age of about 4 or 5. Cry.
You see I had an irrational fear of fire back then. Even if I saw it on the TV. I would leap behind the sofa and have a tantrum. So y'know, back then. I just loooooved London's Burning and Fire Kills adverts on the TV. I remember watching Come Outside one morning before school and it being that episode. Getting to the point where Auntie Mable gets locked in and realising the pans going to catch fire. My mother immediately turned it off knowing I'll get upset.
Cut to a few days later and I'm at nursery school and it's playtime. But it's raining. So the teachers decides we'll sit and watch some TV for a bit and brings out some VHS tapes. What VHS tapes do they bring out? Well none other than Come Outside! I immediately burst in to a hysterical fit of tears and wailed that I didn't want to watch it. Much to the bemusement of everyone.
So, I sat in the classroom being consoled by a member of staff while everyone else went off to watch the show. Chances are it wasn't even that episode but I was put off from watching it completely! The funny thing was and I literally only remembered this recently. When my mother came to pick me up, a teacher had to genuinely sit down with her and mention that I had gotten really upset at the moment they announced we were watching Come Outside and my mother is like "Ah, yeah...."
But I did eventually go back to watching it and enjoying it. Like the big 90's kid I was.
So there's a bit of an amusing story about me from the late 90's. But I'll say it again, despite that one moment. It was a great show. Lynda Baron played the kind Auntie Mable role so wonderfully. I'm afraid I still can't go without seeing her on TV in any form and going "Look! It's Auntie Mable!"
If you want to relive the nostalgia. There's always plenty of episode on Youtube. But first off, why not revisit the theme tune...
Look up, Look down, Look all around, Up in the air, Or on the ground, Come for a walk, Come for a ride, There's so much to see, So Come Outside!
Jungle Run is a children's game show I remember watching with great fondness and occasional frustration. Often shouting at the TV in despair "HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SLOT TOGETHER A FOUR PIECE JIGSAW PUZZLE!". But aside from that, wasn't it just an awesome show for children? The sets, the games, the music, just about everything!
Just to make you feel old as well. As mentioned in a previous blog post. Jungle Run started on CITV in 1999. Meaning that this year is the 20th anniversary of the show. Yes, really.
But curious old me has wondered for a long time, what the experience of actually being on the show was like. Thankfully for me, an episode of Jungle Run popped up on Youtube recently. Uploaded by one of the contestants featured. Who I contacted and he kindly agreed to answer my questions.
Dan Burridge was a contestant on the very first series of Jungle Run. Alongside his friends Emily, Addison and Hannah. When the show was presented by one half of Dick & Dom, Dominic Wood. Another notable difference is in the early shows, contestants didn't play games to collect miniature monkey statues. They collected bananas instead. But the rest of the format was basically the same.
How did you apply for the show? We were part of a drama society called ‘Fairford Amateur Dramatics Society’ (FADS!). We had no idea about it, but I think our organisers had got in touch with the producers / must have responded to an advert or something, and we had some scouts come down to a rehearsal. We were more interested in fighting and sliding round on the floor really at that age, until they shortlisted a few of us and we went for a follow up meeting, which they then picked the final 4! What was your reaction when you were picked to be on Jungle Run?
Ever wanted to get that Hogwarts letter through the door? That's what it was like. I remember so vividly ripping it open before I could get upstairs to my room and reading it sat there. The letter had little yellow bananas around the edges. It was honestly one of the best days of my life haha. I'd never had anything like that happen to me before. I just couldn't believe it. Where was the show filmed? I can't remember the exact location but it was somewhere up north just off the M1 I think, as we stayed at my parents friends the night before in Cawthorne near Barnsley, it was a huge disused aircraft hangar from what I remember! (According to this tweet by Dom Wood. His series was filmed at Finningly Airfield in Doncaster.) What was your reaction upon seeing the set for the first time?
Wasn't sure what to expect, but was definitely amazed as it was my first time seeing a TV/film set of any type before. All of the cliffs/rocks were made out of chicken wire and spray foam and hanging about 1cm off the floor! You could go up and shake a whole cliff face ha ha. The belly of The Temple of the Jungle King was all foam as well. If you actually got trapped in it, it would have crumbled around you. What was Dominic Wood like?
An absolute diamond. Lovely lovely guy, made us feel really comfortable and relaxed as we were pretty nervous. Taught me how to do a lot of the magic tricks which I was trying to do for years after...
Did you see the people who played Sid and Elvis out of costume at all? No one knows who played them!
Absolutely! I can't remember their names but it was two very attractive girls haha... They had to stay in costume all day (they could take the heads off) so each had their own freezer to lie in in-between shots as they were so hot! I don't think it was anyone famous though, sorry to disappoint haha. They were a great laugh :)
How long did it take to film the episode?
So there was another team in the morning up until lunch, and that's when we had our sort of training 'dress rehearsal'. The other team had their training the afternoon of the previous day. Then we filmed our episode after lunch. Think it only took around 5-6 hours. The production team were extremely professional and rapid! Out of all the games you played. Which one was your favourite? Has to be the water one man... that pool/cavern thing was so cool. I was obsessed with swimming as a kid and I'd have LOVED that in my back garden ha ha. It was like an artificial tropical rainforest and was so deep you could do dives and backflips in to it etc. I think there were two divers out of shot for health and safety which was quite cool as well.
You managed to get the golden banana in the pool challenge. How proud are you of that achievement? Mostly - relieved! We all clocked it at the start, I was terrified I'd wasted all my jumps getting a total of 0 bananas because I was only going for the golden one.
Luckily I managed it on my last try. I swear to god if it was 1mm further away I wouldn't have done it and it's not like I grabbed it either, only just managed to knock it off. I didn't know I had done it either, until I realised they were all shouting at me haha. My mates still take the piss to this day, but all in all I'm absolutely made up about it!
Your team did very well in the challenges. But struggled in The Temple Of The Jungle King. Was this disappointing?
Right... here's the thing. I've watched that level we got stuck on 1000 times. (Which involved completing a puzzle of a Butterfly) I still wouldn't get it today. I honestly think the borders around the edges of those blocks were too thick and the gaps between each block were too wide as well. It was difficult to line up/work it out man! People have said to us it seemed pretty harsh. I think Dominic and the producers seemed to be a bit guilty / sheepish about it as well (Maybe we're just rubbish). We're quite gutted as that was only the second puzzle so we don't really know how difficult the rest of it was... Would have loved to at least have seen what the other puzzles were. We'll never know... Or am I imagining that? Do they show it on the episode maybe...
That second puzzle haunted me for months ha ha. I think we could have won a trip to Disneyland or something. We were only on the first series, but I think up until that point, we'd got the most amount of bananas anyone had ever got on the programme and the most amount of time anyone had in the temple... And we did the worst anyone has done in the temple yet! I remember looking at the camera I had won on the way home and basically using the whole film taking pictures out of the window thinking "You've failed Dan". Absolute anti climax!
Do you still own the camera you won and the Jungle Run sweatshirt and bag? Camera is long gone but I still have the T shirt and bag! Never ever losing those. Won a few bets as well with people who didn't believe me until I shown them these. In hindsight I'm so glad with this merch, any other prizes would be a memory by now but I'll always have these :)
Any funny behind the scenes stories to tell? Anything which didn't make it into the final programme. I do remember the swamp one, we had to redo the second half as I got carried away and told Sid or Elvis (can't remember which one) to f**k off when I was trying to get the bananas off the trees. Producers weren't too happy!
When the show aired. Were you the coolest kids in school? Did everyone watch it?
Not really! Perhaps a few slightly jealous mates I think and quite a few people thought that it was lame. The head teacher made us stand up in assembly and tell everyone about it. when it was airing etc. Pretty embarrassing! People were saying the catchphrases to us for years afterwards... To this day. Do you still tell people you were on Jungle Run? Do people still think it's amazing? When it comes up in conversation 100%! In response to your last question though - it's the opposite now - it's not really been talked about until about 3 years ago, when Addison managed to find the VHS and converted it to digital. We kept it secret due to embarrassment until about 6 months or so ago (I guess whenever you spotted the Youtube video!) when the demand from our mates (new people we'd all met at uni etc) got too high and we couldn't say no. This second wave of people definitely think it's amazing and never shut up about it now! It was just at the time people weren't bothered really. So after the dizzy heights of Television fame. What are you up to now?
We kept doing our pantomimes. I did actually audition to be Harry Potter and got called back to London twice, got in the final 16-20 or something, then the lady who was organising quit her job as she wasn't happy with any of us and the rest is history really haha. Now I am a venue booker for Wire and Hifi Club in Leeds (PS. Check my band Deadset Dream out). Emily is heavily involved in theatre and showbiz I think. Addison is a teacher and head of year. I don't actually know what Hannah does :/
Cheers Dan!
Dan's appearance on Jungle Run can be viewed here!
Once again it was time for MCM Comic Con to return to Birmingham's NEC during March. I had attended the previous one dressed as Neil Buchanan, complete with red Art Attack jumper and giant pencil. Made with toilet roll tubes, paper mache and paint. An effort I'm sure Neil would be proud of.
The cosplay actually went down a storm with numerous people approaching me for photos. A few people asked me if I remembered Zzzap! Not only do I remember the show. It's had a special place in my heart and nostalgic affections for quite some time. I watched it religiously back in the day. I'm still have to occasionally watch an episode now.
I was surprised I was asked as I didn't think many would remember the show. It finished in 2001 and hasn't had many repeats since. So the idea started brewing in my head.
The show had a few characters I'm sure you're aware. The natural choice after cosplaying as Neil would be his alter ego Smart Arty.
Now, I'm not a skilled costume maker, I haven't touched a sewing needle since primary school. So making a costume was a no and finding the right parts which look close to the real thing was difficult. Plus, someone else has already done a really good job.
So I chose Cuthbert Lilly. Complete with pink suit, yellow shirt and polka dot bow tie and pocket square. All of which were purchased easily online! The pink suit if you're wondering how to get one was available from Opposuits!
I also roped in a friend of mine to go as Daisy. She had to put up with me stressing for weeks that her costume looked right. But after much shopping around. We got there with a few days to spare.
I also created a comic for us to carry. I'd like to say I drew it free hand...that would be a bit of a lie. I actually traced it from the t-shirt available from Truffleshuffle which I own. But even that was a hard task. Tracing a t-shirt on to tracing paper. Imprinting it on to normal paper and then drawing the lines in with a pen before colouring.
I'm pleased to say the costume went down brilliantly with lots of good reactions and lots of pictures taken! Nice to hear from other people who enjoyed the show back when it was a staple of CITV's schedules.
