Michaela Strachan, presenter
I was studying musical theatre at the ArtsEd school in London and got picked to join a dance troupe called Wacky Feet, for the Wide Awake Club pilot. I went on to do Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the West End, then I heard that TV-am were looking for new children’s presenters. At the audition I sang The Chicken Song from Spitting Image waving a rubber chicken in the air. They must have thought, “She’s completely bonkers,” which was exactly what they were looking for. So I joined in 1986, at the age of 20. I was still doing Seven Brides. I had to be in TV-am by 3.30 in the morning, then do matinee and evening performances at the theatre. Oh, for the energy of youth.
The Wide Awake Club had a team of five – Timmy Mallett, Arabella Warner, James Baker, Tommy Boyd and me. I’d never done live TV. I was told to look at the camera with the red light, but I didn’t realise the light moved, so in lots of the early shows I’m looking into the wrong camera. I got to work with just Timmy on WAC Extra on Sundays and Wacaday, which was the school-holiday version. He was such a character, massively popular. I remember doing a personal appearance at a festival with him. So many people came to see him, they had to close the road.
The show was so much fun. We had huge creative freedom. We had a spelling game called Bonk’n’Boob with a contraption that looked like a ghetto-blaster with a hooter. If the kids spelled the word right, they got a bonk. If they got it wrong, it was a boob. I can’t remember the rules very well but I can remember the sound effects. We would sometimes start the show by sliding down a tube and arriving in shot in a heap. Timmy would fart in the tube to make us laugh and put us off.
I think the Wide Awake Club and Wacaday are fondly remembered because not only were they a part of people’s childhood, there was very little other choice. In those days, there were only four channels. If you were watching telly at 7.30 in the morning, it was either us, the test card or something on BBC One. I’m pleased to say most people preferred us.
Timmy Mallett, presenter
TV-am started in 1983. Before that, telly only ran in the afternoon after all the educational programmes for schools. Having something on at breakfast time was really unusual and people tuned in to see what it was all about. Roland Rat had done the school holiday slot, but in 1985 he left for the BBC, on a Friday – and we started Wacaday the following Monday.
For the record, my name came first. I wasn’t named after the mallet. We were in the office thinking of a new game. “How about word association? You know: orange – banana – apple – er? And if the contestant pauses or gets it wrong, you hit them over the head with a mallet. We’ll call it Mallett’s Mallet. You all right with that, Timmy?” I remember thinking: “Yeah, that’ll be fun – for a couple of months.”
The first mallet prototypes were too heavy. Mallett’s Mallet is not inflatable but made of foam and the cover is regularly washed. Every time I get booked for a festival or a gig, the first thing they say is: “Don’t forget your mallet.” It’s probably bashed several million heads around the world. It travels in a black bag labelled: “Top secret.” Every time it goes through an airport scanner, they ask: “Is that what I think it is?” And I reply: “Can’t tell you. It’s top secret!”
Michaela and I also presented WAC Extra on Sundays. We had a game called Singing in the Shower, which was like an early version of karaoke. I recently met Eddie Redmayne and he said: “Hello. The last time I saw you, I was on Singing in the Shower with my brother.” “How did you get on?” I asked. He said: “I lost. My brother won the Wham! album and the WAC pack. I was so jealous.”
He could even remember the prizes! How lucky I am to have worked on a programme that was loved by a whole generation.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion