The Demon Headmaster

All of these were must-see for me, and I’d like to see them again: Watt on Earth, Alfonso Bonzo and its spinoff, Billy Webb’s Amazing Stories, Kevin and Co., T-Bag, Simon and the Witch, Woof!, Jonny Briggs, and Uncle Jack, in which Fenella Fielding was wonderfully sinister as The Vixen. Jimmi Harkishin, who now plays Dev in Corrie, was in it too.

I was always partial to The Girl from Tomorrow and its sequel series. Haven’t seen it in years though so probably wouldn’t hold up too well these days.

Demon Headmaster was much better in book form methinks but I did enjoy the TV show. I used to love Knightmare (remember that one boys and girls?) and Maid Marian and her Merry Men (which I’m ashamed to say, even though I watched Red Dwarf as a kid too, I didn’t recognise Danny JJ in the dreads!) Woof! indeed was fab.

I remember watching The Simpsons back in ’91/’92 when it only used to be shown on a Sunday evening on Sky One at 6pm, two episodes. I couldn’t fall asleep that night as me any my little brothers kept singing ‘Do the Bartman!’

Don’t think Star Fleet was ever released on DVD……including the Brian May theme tune.

What about Children Of The Dogstar. I think that was it’s title. Scared me shitless!!

I was always partial to The Girl from Tomorrow and its sequel series. Haven?t seen it in years though so probably wouldn?t hold up too well these days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJvO7HGpqEo

Weird… just searched for Palace Hill, and got the completely unrelated Round The Bend in the same vid:

>Also? Round The Bend is a classic.

I knew I forgot something! Yes, a Round The Bend DVD release would be ace.

CBBC mostly. I think The Real GhostBusters, Knightmare and, um, Sooty were the only thing I watched on CITV.

CBBC had Turtles, Grange Hill, Byker Grove, Maid Marian, The Movie Game, Round the Twist, Johnny Briggs, Rugrats, Alfonso Bonzo…

Always preferred the CBBC Saturday shows as well. They seemed a bit slicker than their ITV counterparts. Plus, they had Trevor and Simon. We don’t do duvets!

I used to watch a cartoon called The Bluffers… does anyone remember it??? (I have a Facebook group with 95 members!)… it was about a gang of animals living in a forest under threat from the “crazed maniac” Clandestino… wonderful hippy, anti-capitalist cartoon from The Netherlands, I think!
Also of course Fun House, Get Your Own Back, all that stuff…

Oh, and don’t you open that Trap Door. There’s something down there.

And Button Moon!

Come on, CITV wins hands down!

In terms of Saturday Morning for ITV. Motormouth, What’s Up Doc and Sm:tv Live were brilliant

BBC had Going Live and Live and Kicking.

They had their eras…

> I?d still love to see Spatz and Kappatoo again.

I meant to include Spatz in my list. It starred Jennifer Calvert (Loretta in Gunmen) and Emile Charles was in at least one episode.

The W word? How do you suggest going about it?

Aquila

I’ve just found out that this was written by Andrew Norriss, as was Woof!, Bernard’s Watch, Matt’s Millions and of course Brittas. Andrew Norriss is fucking awesome.

I?ve just found out that this was written by Andrew Norriss, as was Woof!, Bernard?s Watch, Matt?s Millions and of course Brittas. Andrew Norriss is fucking awesome.

And Richard Fegen, don’t forget! At the very least, Aquila, Bernard’s Watch and Brittas were all co-written by him, too.

(Fegen and Norris are clients of ours. Have I not mentioned the Aquila thing before? I found that amusing when I discovered it, too)

Can I throw Channel 4 into the mix for their excellent importing of foreign/Nickelodeon stuff? Namely Pugwall, Saved by the Bell, Eerie Indiana, assorted Nicktoons, Renford Rejects, and so on. Kudos to BBC1 for nabbing Clarissa, though. Kudos to ABSOLUTELY NOBODY for never showing The Adventures of Pete & Pete on a UK terrestrial station.

Reminiscing about kids’ shows never gets old, does it? I torrented season three of Saved by the Bell recently. I really don’t ever get tired of vicariously re-experiencing elements of my childhood.

> Ah, the good old days? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg-E2jXVx5k

Hah, I came across that exact clip not long ago! I remembered that just before I got my Mega Drive for Xmas ’95, I saw the Scorpion on sale in a local indie games shop. (I actually briefly considered getting it instead of the MD!). So a while ago I had a look online for information about the Scorpion, and that Bad Influence clip was one of the first things I found.

Off the Telly interviewed Andy Crane a few years ago.

> SO how bout everyone else? Were you a CITV loyalist? A CBBC patriot? Or one of those fence sitting channel hoppers?

CITV. Mainly for the Warner Bros cartoons – Taz-Mania, Tiny Toons, Batman, Animaniacs and Freakazoid. Of the home-grown cartoons, they had Treasure Island, Captain Zed, and The Dreamstone. Of the live-action kids’ programmes, I think Rolf’s Cartoon Club, Woof!, Knightmare and Art-Attack were pretty much the only ones I watched.

I remember I started watching weekday CITV not long before they replaced the on-screen presenters with just voiceovers…

I found an old tape of the first 2 series of the Demon Headmaster a year or two back, so myself and some friends all sat down to re-watch it over some drinks. We’d never realised just how terrible the child acting was, but that made it incredibly funny, especially when a little bit sloshed. We?d also forgotten that Danny is in the first series as the quiz host.

ahh Jonny Briggs, that was great. always used to watch that. ITV did have one classic which no one has mentioned yet: Inspector Gadget!

For those wanting comfort that great kids TV is still being made, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Ed and Oucho’s Excellent Inventions on Saturday mornings, which gives me more laughs than the vast majority of “adult” “comedy”.

I probably would, actually.

>I probably would, actually.

It’s that cheeky grin he’s got, isn’t it?