Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S4 E2 - A Chat With Mike McClean

It's podcast time again and this month it's a chat with Mike McClean!

 

Jack's Throwback Attack · S4 E2 - A Chat With Mike McClean

You can also listen to the chat on Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

I was really chuffed to get this interview as Mike is someone I remember seeing during my days of watching Kids TV, especially on CITV. 

However, Mike's Kids TV career actually started on the then new UK version of Nickelodeon in the mid 90's, which he stayed with for four years. Presenting numerous live shows and continuity links and also The Red Lobster stage tours. 

Mike in his Nickelodeon days.

In 1997, he jumped to ITV to host the gameshow It's Not Fair which was part of the Saturday morning show Scratchy & Co. Which was a fairground based gameshow with crazy assault courses and lots of gunge. 

In 1998 Mike created the live entertainment show Mad For It for CITV which is what I best know Mike for. It was a thirty minute show filled with games, competitions, pop acts... oh and of course, more gunge! It ran for two series and 39 episodes before being (in my opinion unfairly) axed when it was hitting it's stride. 

Yiolanda and Mike - Definitely Mad For It!

My memory's of the show remained quite vivid, especially since I kept one episode on VHS tape for years. What's nice is a number of episodes have now popped up on youtube, some in rather nice quality! To this day I use the dance tune that became the Mad For It theme tune ("Harmonica Man" by Bravado if you're wondering) as the opening music to a radio show I host. 

After that, Mike went on to present for Channel 4, for The Big Breakfast and The Richard and Judy Show. As well as making a cameo appearance in The Office. In more recent years he's appeared on Shameless and My Mad Fat Diary. He regularly does panto and stand up comedy and in 2018 released an autobiography called Oh, I Remember Him! 

You can follow Mike on Twitter and you can find his website here. 

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S4 E1 - A Chat With Michael Underwood

It's back! Can you believe it? Not only that for a FOURTH series, I certainly would never have thought that my crazy little project would go on for this long.

 

Jack's Throwback Attack · S4 E1 - A Chat With Michael Underwood

 You can also listen to the chat on Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

To start off this new series, I am incredibly proud to present a chat with someone who I watched a lot during my kids TV watching years and is also someone I have been requested to interview A LOT over the last few years, first episode of the new series I am chatting with Michael Underwood. 

In this mega 90 minute edition we discuss Michael's career in children's television at length but Michael had a pre-fame appearance on TV. He was one of the lucky six contestants who took part in the first Christmas special of The Crystal Maze in 1990. Naturally seeing as I am a big fan of that show we talk about that first. 

We then chat about Michael's path to CBBC presenting through the Saturday night talent show Whatever You Want where Michael won a six week contract to present the continuity links. In the end Michael ended up doing 3 years with CBBC and also presenting the make and do show The Make Shift. 

Michael then jumped to CITV (which is explained in the chat) where he got the chance to present a wide range of really great shows such as Eliminator, The Big Bang, Ministry of Mayhem and of course the excellent Jungle Run which we discuss at length. Over 25 minutes of this chat is Jungle Run talk alone!

In 2010 Michael married fellow CBBC presenter Angelica Bell. These days Michael has decided to step down from TV presenting for the foreseeable future and is now a primary school teacher. He also hosts a radio show on Virgin Radio, you can follow him on Twitter. 

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S3 E8 - A Chat With Lizzie McPhee

It's the final podcast of the series and to finish things off, here's some magic memories with Lizzie McPhee.   

Jack's Throwback Attack · S3 E8 - A Chat With Lizzie McPhee

You can also listen to the chat via Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

Remember Wizadora? If you're a regular follower of this blog or the youtube channel then you probably do. It was a pre-school show aired on CITV in the 1990's featuring the title character, a trainee wizard and her group of peculiar looking friends who all lived at her cottage. Such as Hangle, The Draw People, Filbert and Tatty Bogle. 

The show actually started in 1991, written by Carolyn Callum and Don Arioli and developed by Oxford University Press and was designed to help teach English. With Maria Gough in the title role (also there's rumours Connie Booth played the role in an unaired pilot, how true this is I don't know) Originally broadcast on SWR in Germany. To the best of my knowledge I don't think it was ever aired in the UK but if anyone knows different let me know!

The version we know better was aired on CITV and produced by Meridian Broadcasting who had picked up the format and gave it something of a complete design overhaul. Starting in 1993, Wendy Van Der Plank took the role of the trainee wizard for five series and Lizzie McPhee took over the role for the final two series of the show between 1997 and 1998. 

This interview came about rather unexpectedly. I had always wanted to interview both the CITV Wizadora's but found finding a way to contact either rather difficult. Then one day I happened across this video on Youtube. Which features Lizzie talking about mental health as well as her day's on Wizadora so I got in contact with Sean who created the video, who put us in touch. 

In this chat we discuss just about everything to do with the show. How Lizzie unexpectedly got the role and how it was the complete polar opposite to her previous acting work. Her memories of working on the show and working with the likes of Brian Murphy (Stan the shop keeper) and Steve Ryde (Tatty Bogle) as well as Hangle puppeteer Michael Bayliss. 

With many thanks to Lizzie for taking part and if you want to read more about her time on the show. I recommend the book Legends of Kids TV which also features anecdotes from Lizzie. 

Also, that's it for this series! Many thanks for listening, I'll be back later in the year with a new series. 

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S3 E7 - A Chat With Joe Grossi

It's podcast time once again and this time something a bit different as this podcast explores a BBC Kids TV show from the 1980's.

     

The chat can also be found on Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In this edition I chat with actor Joe Grossi. Way back in 1987 Joe played Hopkins, the butler for Lady Fox Custard (played by Carry On star Joan Sims) in the Children's BBC series Simon and The Witch. It was based around a series of books written by Margaret Stuart Barry and featured Simon (played by Hugh Pollard) and his best friend The Witch (played by Elizabeth Spriggs). The Witch would often create havoc with her magic spells. To the delight of the children that went to visit her and annoying teachers and authority figures. 

Hugh Pollard as Simon and Elizabeth Spriggs
as The Witch.

Out of the twenty five episodes made over the two series, Hopkins appeared in almost all of them and became a favourite character with fans of the show. Hopkins would always switch from speaking with received pronunciation around Lady Fox Custard to his original cockney accent when around the children. Often helping them out with their schemes and joining in with the mischief. Especially with Lady Fox Custard's nephew Cuthbert (Played by Ilan Ostrove) who Hopkins would always help sneak off to visit the Witch and distract her ladyship. 

Now if you're a regular listener you will know I normally only focus on UK Kids TV shows from the 90's and 00's as that's when I grew up. I don't normally cover 80's TV shows, however Simon and the Witch did have a repeat run on the now defunct satellite channel BBC Choice. I seem to recall it was the summer of 2000 I saw it and I instantly loved it, so much so I even bought a few of the books which I read over and over. 

VHS copies of the episodes made their way on to Youtube in the late 2000's which gave me the opportunity to watch them again and then fast forward to 2018 when I was originally started this project up and a new facebook group called Simon and the Witch Memory Board appeared, run by none other than Joe himself. So I dropped a message asking if Joe would be interested in answering a few questions about the show, this was back when this project was going to be more of a blog and the podcasts hadn't been thought of. Joe replied back and agreed to and... I forgot to reply back! Ooops!

Joe as Hopkins. This image
was used in the end credits
of the show. 

During the summer of 2020, due to lockdown I was a bit bored one day and one of the things I was doing was going through a bunch of VHS tapes that I'd been given to look for any interesting content to digitise before throwing them away. On one tape from 1993 in an advert break was an advert for Argos featuring Joe. Sporting a white suit with the Argos logo emblazoned all over it. I decided to recontact the group and asked Joe if he had a copy to which it turns out Joe had copies of all the adverts he'd been in... except that one! So I digitised it and forwarded him the clip and off the back of this we got talking again about doing an interview and I said would you be happy to do a podcast and well, here it is!

Joe in a 1993 advert for Argos

It's a wonderful discussion, I love Joe's story telling of his career and some wonderful anecdotes are shared about Simon and the Witch especially about working with Joan Sims and also Ilan Ostrove who unfortunately passed away in 1997 at the age of just 22. Joe also talks about what life is like being an actor and the various other cool things he's been in such as The Da Vinci Code and even starring alongside David Jason in a cigar advert!

Joe with Joan Sims who played
Lady Fox-Custard.

Oh and you no longer have to make do with ropey VHS copies of the show, as it was all released on DVD in 2018. 

Joe's website can be found here. 

Sit back and enjoy the chat!

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S3 E6 - A Chat With Ronnie Le Drew

It's time for another podcast and it's a chat with someone you could subscribe as an absolute stalwart of puppetry. Someone who had a career spanning some fifty years and is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. It's a chat with Ronnie Le Drew. 

   

Jack's Throwback Attack · S3 E6 - A Chat With Ronnie Le Drew

You can also listen to the chat via Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

In this bumper ninety four minute edition of the podcast, Ronnie talks about his career in puppetry. Starting off with a love for puppets as a child and then fresh out of school joining the Little Angel Theatre in London which specialised in puppetry in the mid 1960's. 

Ronnie (Centre) outside the Little Angel Theatre
with John & Lyndie Wright, Christopher Leith,
Joyce Wren and Mary Kenny in 1964. 

From humble beginnings this lead to a varied career in TV and film. Ronnie's best known work is that of being the puppeteer for Zippy on Rainbow. Which Ronnie has been doing since 1973! Roy Skelton was the original voice of Zippy, however Ronnie has also provided the voice since the show was briefly revived twice in the mid 90's after the original Thames version finished in 1992and also during any sporadic appearances on other TV shows such as The Last Leg. 

Ronnie's work as Zippy spans nearly 50 years
as of 2021!

Aside from Rainbow, Ronnie has also had a long association with Sooty. Puppeteering Sweep for the most part as well as occasionally the other characters for a few years during the Matthew Corbett days in the 1970's and also alongside Richard Cadell both in the late 90's and also in 2018. 

Ronnie with a 1970's Sweep puppet which was
a gift from Matthew Corbett

Ronnie also puppeteered for other kids TV shows such as Mortimer and Arabel, Roger and the Rottentrolls and Jay's World. 

Moving on from TV, Ronnie has also done a lot of film work. Helping operate many characters on the likes of Labyrinth, Little Shop of Horrors and The Muppet's Christmas Carol. 

Ronnie now has an autobiography out called Zippy and Me which tells the story of his career and you can also follow him on Twitter. 

A great read! I recommend it

All episodes of Tots TV are coming to Britbox in 2021

 "I'm a tot, je suis une tot, Tilly, Tom and Tiny. We're the tots on Tots TV. 1-2-3 BOO!..."

Earlier this year I wrote that some classic 90's UK children's shows were being released on the streaming service Britbox. This included a single episode of the classic CITV pre-school show Tots TV.

If your memory is fuzzy, it featured the adventures of the tots. Tilly, Tom and Tiny who lived in a secret cottage alongside their pet donkey and a mysterious furry dog-like creature unbeknownst to them called Furry Boo. 

It has been recently been announced that in 2021 the entire series of Tots TV will be available to stream. The show ran for a whopping 276 episodes between 1993 and 1998 originally.

I am pleased at this news. I doubt I'll sit and watch a full episode myself but more so because it can introduce the show to a whole new generation of children. Other 90's kids shows coming to Britbox include Maid Marian and Her Merry Men and The Demon Headmaster. Other classic kids shows from other decades are coming soon too.

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast - S3 E4 - A Chat With Tim Whitnall

"He came from another demension from a different universe beyond infinity and he fell to earth with a bump *BUMP* in to Mike King's wardrobe. It's not easy, stepping out in to an alien world where anything can happen, but who is the mysterious stranger that answers to the name of Angelo?" 

This months podcast is focused on Mike & Angelo. A wonderfully wacky sci-fi sitcom that aired on CITV between 1989 and 2000 for an amazing 12 series and a whopping 123 episodes. I am very proud to present a chat with Angelo himself, Tim Whitnall.

 

Jack's Throwback Attack · S3 E4 - A Chat With Tim Whitnall

        

You can also listen to the chat via Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Although Tim wasn't actually the first person to play Angelo as the role was originally performed by Tyler Butterworth. Tyler stepped down from the role after just two series so the part had to be recast and this is where Tim came in who stayed with the role for 10 years right up until the very end. 

For those of you who may have fuzzy memories or aren't familiar with the show. Mike & Angelo featured the adventures of Mike, who had moved to England from America and his crazy alien pal Angelo. Who had landed in Mike's new home one day when he was escaping his home planet that was self destructing. This then leads to 12 series of crazy adventures featuring Angelo's many bonkers inventions, walking on the ceiling and lots and lots of juggling. That's the basic premise of the show but it's worth noting Mike & Angelo went through A LOT of cast and character changes during it's run. With none of the original cast being present by the final series. However, this did not stop the show from being the success it was or being an enjoyable watch. Thanks to the wonderful performances of those involved, the behind the scenes crew and the writing talents of the shows creators, Lee Pressman and Grant Cathro. 

I have enjoyed every interview I have recorded for this project but I have to say this one was very special to me. Mike & Angelo started in 1989 which was a few years before I was born so my introduction to the show was very much at the tail end. I'd say the last three series or so based on the fuzzy memories I have, but I did have a VHS tape which contained a few episodes that were recorded off the telly which I watched again and again. So many times in fact that I'm surprised I never worn the tape out. With the dawn of Youtube and people uploading various episodes they recorded it's given me a chance to see a lot of the ones I missed and of course CITV repeated two episodes in 2013 as part of their 'Old Skool' weekend which I excitedly got myself up at the crack of dawn to watch despite being about 19 at the time. I am a huge fan and I really wanted to learn to juggle off the back of the show. I eventually did teach myself some years later. 

Off the back of all this, Tim was someone I'd wanted on my podcast pretty early on. It's taken me until recording my third series to finally pluck up the courage to ask if he'd like to take part. I still find it daunting to email people I am a fan of and ask them for their time. I sent off an email to Tim's production company 'Feather Productions' and got a speedy reply from Tim's partner Anna Murphy who very kindly passed the message on to Tim's email for me and said we should be able to record something once Tim had finished writing his latest project. So a few weeks went by and I emailed Tim directly and got a lovely reply back and the date was set. It's been a while since I had proper nerves doing a podcast but I did have them for this one. 

I'll never forget picking up my phone and hearing "It's Angelo!" on the other end of the line. Followed by a big laugh and "I haven't said that for 20 years!". There was a slight cockup my end to start of with as I had given Tim the wrong phone number for the recording studio I was in. I'd actually given him the number for the reception desk. Luckily he had my mobile number to let me know he couldn't get through, one quick redial later and we were away. We then ended up chatting off the record for 20 minutes like we were old mates before realising we should probably start recording. 

What then followed was an enjoyable hour of discussion and reminiscing and a lot of laughter. What I love is Tim's energy and enthusiasm really shines and sometimes the spirit of Angelo comes through I feel. We discuss everything from Tim's musical theatre background, his eventful audition for Mike & Angelo and working with the likes of Katy Murphy, Michael Benz, Elizabeth Estensen, John Savident and Steven Geller to name a few. Oh and we also learn learn the wonderful story of the link between Mike & Angelo and Tim meeting Anna, his partner of over 20 years. I do also have to thank Tim for being kind enough to even being late for dinner as we were having such a good time and had so much to discuss!

Please do sit back and enjoy this one, and afterwards why not stick an episode on. There's plenty of episodes online via this channel. 

A big thanks to Tim and Anna and check out their current work at Feather Productions and on Twitter too.