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.

A New Series Of Podcasts - Coming Soon!

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.

https://soundcloud.com/jacksthrowbackattack

I met James Mackenzie (AKA CBBC's Raven)

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...

Jack's Throwback Attack Podcast (Episode 7) - A Chat With Richard Vobes

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.



You can also listen to the interview on Youtube.

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.

Enjoy!

Snug & Cozi

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!

Come Outside and The Childhood Nightmare Fuel

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!