News

Alex Westthorp Sep 14, 2016

Did fantasy dramas Chocky, The Box Of Delights and Dramarama leave an impression on you as a kid? Revisit those nightmares here...

Spooky, always magical and occasionally downright scary dramas are the bedrock of kids' television. For me, the pinnacle of this sort of programme was reached in the 1980s. The decade saw a new approach to both traditional and contemporary drama by both UK broadcasters: ITV committed itself to regular seasons of children's plays with Dramarama (1983-89), a kind of youth version of the venerable BBC Play For Today (1970-84), which saw the 1988 television debut of one David Tennant. The BBC, building upon an impressive body of work from the early 70s onwards, produced some of its very best family drama in this era, embracing cutting edge technology to bring treats like The Box Of Delights (1984) and The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (1988) to the screen.

ITV is developing a new weekend breakfast format for children.

Scrambled! will be produced by the team behind Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown, and it will air in early 2014.

The show will soon be established as a brand on ITV and Citv, and will air between 7.30am and 9.25am on Saturdays and Sundays, reports Broadcast.

It is being produced by Zodiak Media company The Foundation, and will include established and new cartoons and sitcoms, such as Almost Naked Animals and Bottom Knocker Street.

The show will also feature chat, comedy sketches, games and celebrity guests, in a similar format to past weekend morning shows such as Live & Kicking and Smtv Live.

Citv head of programmes Jamila Mertran said: "Scrambled! will build on ITV's heritage of brilliant Saturday morning shows for today's generation of children.

"Highlights will include the ability for children to have their original content used on the show through...

Holly Willoughby has revealed that she almost had her nose broken by Santa Claus. The This Morning presenter recalled how she was injured during a particularly violent cake throwing incident on Ministry of Mayhem. Former co-host Stephen Mulhern said: "We had Santa Claus one year and all he had to do was put a cake in Holly's face - simple. "For whatever reason he picked up the one that was like a brick. He caked Holly and nearly broke her nose." > Sooty Show, Fun House, Press Gang return for Citv 30th birthday (more)...

Citv is celebrating its 30th birthday by scheduling a weekend of retro kids TV classics from the '80s and '90s. The Old Skool Weekend, which will take place on January 5-6, will feature repeats of popular old favourites such as The Sooty Show, Knightmare, Fun House and Press Gang. Watch 'The Sooty Show' intro: ITV children's presenters from the last 30 years such as Ant and Dec, Holly Willoughby, Fearne Cotton, Christopher Biggins and Matthew Kelly will also be interviewed about their favourite memories and shows. The full schedule for the weekend is below: Saturday, January 5

09.25 Mike & Angelo

09.50 Super Gran

10.15 Wizadora

10.30 T-Bag Strikes Again Watch a clip of 'T-Bag Strikes Again': 10.50 Engie Benjy

11.05 The Raggy Dolls

11.15 Puddle Lane

11.35 Count Duckula

12.00 The Sooty (more)...

Stephen Mulhern has stated his belief that Lady GaGa would be unable to win Britain's Got Talent. The former Citv presenter, who hosts spinoff show Britain's Got More Talent, argued that the famously-unconventional star would fail to stand out from some of the contest's crazier contestants. He told The Sun's Buzz Magazine: "Everyone would probably say that Lady GaGa could storm it in front of the judges. But I'm sorry, she's just not eccentric enough. "That said, I think Lady GaGa would definitely get to the semi-finals because she's quite different... (more)...

In the 1990s Matthew Kelly represented all that was great about Saturday night entertainment. Whether it was fronting another nervy Stars In Their Eyes grand final or holding court on You Bet!, Kelly always sparkled with his spangly showbiz outfits and infectious warm nature. Starting out on Game For A Laugh in 1981, Kelly also worked on CiTV, Wish You Were Here and short-lived quizshow Never Had It So Good with Fred Dinenage and Rowland Rivron. Unlike his BBC Saturday night rival Noel Edmonds, who too (more)...