In 1989, presenter Neil Buchanan and producer Tim Edmunds created a show for Children’s ITV called Art Attack, which showed kids how to make quirky and unusual things from household objects.
With Art Attack being such a success, Buchanan and Edmunds were asked to create a new show for ITV in 1992.
Zzzap!, first broadcast in January 1993, was a children’s sketch show about a giant real-life comic meaning you could watch it as well as read it.
With the obvious influence of the Beano, Dandy and numerous comics, Zzzap! was originally aimed at children with hearing difficulties. There was no real dialogue, only comical sound effects like The Benny Hill Show and words busting on the screen in the style of the 1960s Batman series.
There were different segments of Zzzap! throughout the series run, similar to a regular comic.
Cuthbert Lilly, played by Richard Waites, was a more camp version of ITV’s Mr Bean. Both were very much an homage to the silent movies of the 1920s, and succeeded comedic characters like Frank Spencer who were accident prone and slightly idiotic.
Cuthbert, with his signature pink suit, bow-tie and thumbs up trademark at the end of almost every sketch, became the show’s most popular character and even had a spin-off at one point called Cuthbert’s Diary (1997). Richard Waites also portrayed Tricky Dicky.
Tricky Dicky was a very dark and mysterious character who had no facial features and wore a fedora hat and trenchcoat. He claimed to be a ‘detective’ but used to trick school kids into doing impossible missions.
Ironically there was another character called Tricky Dicky in The Beezer and Topper at the point the first series of Zzzap! was broadcast. The comic version of Tricky Dicky was a boy who played practical jokes on people around him and had been running for over fifteen years before Zzzap!.
Now the Zzzap! version of the character is largely seen as plain creepy.
Daisy Dare was swiftly brought in from Season 2 (1994) to replace Tricky Dicky and played the element similar to Beryl The Peril in The Topper or Minnie The Minx in The Beano.
The character was first played by Deborah McCallum, an actress perhaps best known for Scottish TV’s drama Take the High Road. Deborah left the show in Season 8 (1999), and was replaced by Claire Macaulay from Season 9 (2000).
The Handymen represented the creative side of the programme. The Handymen were a pair of floating hands in a theatre who would demonstrate how to make unusual things or tricks from common household objects.
Zzzap! was immediately popular and lasted a jaw-dropping eight years. The show was nominated for a BAFTA despite the constantly low budget. The series marked Neil Buchanan’s first dabbling in the world of producing.
Neil Buchanan did all the gibberish male and female voices for Zzzap!. These were done with the filmed footage playing on a huge screen and had to be done in one take.
Neil Buchanan originally had no plans to feature in the programme, but considering nobody either came forward or couldn’t be found for the role of French artist Smart Arty, he took upon himself to play the role, later complaining that the make-up and costume were a nightmare to use.
When he decided to call it a day with Smart Arty, former Doctor Who companion Sophie Aldred was asked to play a new female character called Minnie The Mini Magician.
Sophie came to Zzzap! at regrettably a bad time. The ratings were slipping, and changes to the cast and format made the programme slide further. Minnie was harshly criticised by fans of Smart Arty for being unlikable, and latterly was claimed to be one of the reasons the series got axed in 2001.
In actual fact the move to ‘modern’ CGI graphics was the final straw and CITV cancelled it.
After the launch of Zzzap!, Neil Buchanan and Tim Edmunds went on to create the following under their production company The Media Merchants: Terror Towers (1994-1996), Animal Crazy (1994-1995), It’s a Mystery! (1996-2002), Quids In (1995), Telegantic Megavision (1996), WOW! (1996), You’ll Never Believe It! (1997-1999) and of course the BAFTA-winning Art Attack (1990-2007).
Zzzap! has been largely forgotten by many and is underrated; not just as a children’s programme, but one of the most entertaining and bizarre comedy shows ever.
What are your memories of Zzzap!? Let us know below…