Birthday Club BC of Anglia Television - 1980 to 2002 - 22 Glorious Years... And A Reunion With Auntie Helen McDermott...

A signed... er.. pawed photo of BC in his late 1980s glory days.

Still staggering - even in black and white - a BC signed pic from 1982.

Happy, happy days of the 1980s! Uncle Michael Speake with BC and Auntie Helen McDermott in the Anglia TV studios in Norwich. BC is undergoing a bit of a spruce-up c.1982/1983 as he had got a bit grubby. Image was very important in those days. Auntie Helen's mascara suffers as a result. 

Uncle Michael, of course, became BC's official biographer in 1986 with the publication of 'BC and the Magic Book'. For some reason the book did not make the top of the year's best seller list, and some of us suspected jealousy and foul play within the ranks of those compiling the list. 

1985, and BC brings a touch of that certain sartorial something to the Birthday Club studio. Not for nothing are the 1980s remembered as the 'Style Decade'.

Boxing Day, 1988, and BC, seen here with a very bright and breezy Uncle Patrick Anthony, is seriously in need of an Alka-Seltzer.

How sad it was that June day in 2002 when it was announced that BC of Anglia Television's Birthday Club was to be retired in July, after twenty-two glorious years with the company. Since his arrival in 1980, he had become a legend in his own tea time. But a discreet online announcement on 22 June 2002 brought an end to those halcyon days:

Anglia spokesman Tom Walshe told the Eastern Daily Press newspaper: 'Anglia has decided that BC will be retired from next month owing to daytime schedule changes. The changes are in line with recently announced plans to give more prominence to regional programmes at peak times, and the time currently devoted to BC's Birthday Club will be allocated to extra regional news.

'BC has had a marvellous run on Anglia for 22 years, and we appreciate that many viewers will be sorry to see him go. But nothing is forever in television.'

Mr Walshe went on: 'Children's ITV has undergone many changes over the past two decades, and it has become increasingly difficult to accommodate BC within the schedule. Requests for birthday greetings have also fallen off markedly in recent times.'

'We can assure all his fans that BC will be given an honourable retirement and we know his memory will live on in the hearts and minds of parents and children all over the East of England.'

Stunned silence reigned across the East of England. Then, of course, came the hot tears, the denial, the relief grief.

A few years later, dear Auntie Helen, Helen McDermott, one of the station's presenters who had had the honour of working with BC right from the start, indeed had helped to draw him to the station in 1980, promising him perks like a limitless supply of lollipops and plenty of presenters to harass assist, sought him out and brought him briefly back to our screens. BC, it turned out, was still living in Norwich. He was living in a secret location because he didn't want to be mobbed. This was very wise. Me and my cousin Brian had been desperate to mob this celebrity of celebrities since 1985, when he was at the peak of his fame. And our desire had in no way lessened over the years.

Auntie Helen takes a puppet replica of BC out to meet a young fan in the 1980s. The real BC, of course, was usually studio-bound because of the ever-present threat of being mobbed - although he did have his own vehicle to attend some public events - BC4U.

BC had put on a bit of weight and Auntie Helen commented on his changed appearance - had he had a facelift, perhaps? But he still had the old magic. 

The reunion ended slightly acrimoniously as Auntie Helen discovered the somewhat fickle nature of our hero. Seems he was not oblivious to the charms of younger TV presenters. But that's what stardom does to people. Or leopards. Or bears. Or whatever he is.

My BC. I made this and based him on the BC who was so familiar to us in the 1980s, using a c.1983 screen capture for the model. From around the late 1980s, BC underwent several cosmetic changes - but denies surgery. If you would like to know how I made him then you are almost as sad as I am. My reasons were simple. I wanted my own BC that I could mob at home.

Anyway, enjoy our original tribute to this star of stars here.

Gilbert's Fridge: Calling For Bob...

Regular readers of this epic '80's work (bless you, both!) will know that I am a lover of that very 1980s celebrity Gilbert the alien. In fact, I adore Gilbert so much I have a Gilbert bendy in the bedroom and a Gilbert poster in the loo. Phil Cornwell, the man who brought Gilbert down from Drill, is plainly an English hero and the episodes of Gilbert's Fridge are something that we all want, as Victoria Wood might have said, to keep and keep again.

But is Bob a real painting or was he, like Helen Daniels's finest works in Neighbours, splurged out by somebody 'in scenery'?

But who IS 'Bob', you cry, the creepy chappie from Twin Peaks who was written into the script when the set dresser inspired David Lynch in 1989?

Well no, achuwarly. Bob was the Boston terrier or French-bulldoggie-type-doggie in the painting in the 1988 screen capture from Gilbert's Fridge above. Gilbert, posing as a frightfully posh fine art person, tried to flog him to Dieter Meier of Yello. Dieter was unimpressed and didn't seem to have a drawing room, which would obviously have been the best place to display Bob, so Gilbert gave up, having to admit that Bob was an 'ugly little blighter',

So, is Bob a real painting? According to Gilbert in 1988, Bob was painted by a chap called Merry Pottinger in 'the year 171766 or so', but knowing Gilbert that might not be quite right.

If you know if Bob is a real work of art, please drop me a line to actual80s@btinternet.com.

I imagine this plea will go unanswered, calling forlornly out into the inky blackness of the webby night - 'OOOWOOO! OOOWOO!' - with occasional breaks for a plate of Batchelor's Savoury Rice, a Bejam mini-pizza and a mug of Café Hag - but who knows!

Hoping to hear... one day...

I remain yours, in hoops...

XXXXX

The '80s Sooty Show - Soo, A Personal Stereo, And Auntie Brenda...

The Sooty Show entered a new era in the 1980s, with a change of format. Matthew Corbett introduced a new setting - a lovely house called "The Sooteries" on the Christmas 1980 show, and this became the permanent home of the show from 1981 onwards. 1981 was also the year Soo the panda gained a new voice - that of the very talented Brenda Longman.

My own Sooty era was over long before the 1980s began, I'd been a kiddywink viewer in the days when Harry Corbett, Matthew's father, was in charge, but I glimpsed the show at times as a young adult in the 1980s, and had to smile.

Sooty and his friends had been wowing the kids for several decades by that time, and were continuing to do so - and indeed still do. They're still going strong under the watchful eye of Richard Cadell.

My favourite characters were Sweep and Soo, with Sweep way out in front. Was there ever a more appealing puppet? The emotions contained in his squeaks - from sorrow to frustration to sympathy - and his gorgeous way of getting things wrong... Sweep rules, OK?

I loved Sooty too, of course, but he was a little quiet for my tastes.

Butch was always a treat.

Soo gained some street cred with me as an adult when she was seen with a personal stereo in 1985. It was more the size of a ghetto blaster to her, but I was heartened that my chldhood heroine was keeping up with the trends of the 1980s.

Soo gained even more street cred when an out-take from the show was included in the wonderful It'll Be Alright On The Night series.

Sooty, Sweep and Soo had been sent a flower press by their Auntie Brenda, but it was not easy to use with paws, and when a piece of it fell off the surface our pals were using, Sooty scuttled the rest of it, and the usually prim and proper Soo uttered the immortal words: "Bloody Auntie Brenda - she always was trouble!"

Of course, this was cut from the show, but the out-take survived for Denis Norden to delight us with. 

I laughed so much, it hurt.

Sooty, Sweep and Soo, we love you...

And Auntie Brenda, of course.

Roland Rat - 30 Years - 1983-2013

Time to celebrate a very special birthday! Roland Rat was born in the sewer under King's Cross Station on 12 March, and made his TV debut on 1 April 1983. He freely admits to being a licensed character, and boasts that because of this he still looks the same as he did in the 1980s. Wish I did!

Makes me feel a tad old to realise it, but 1983 is now thirty years ago. It was a year like no other. In fact all '80s years were unlike no other. But 1983 is a truly stand-out twelve months. Why? Hip Hop bringing along a wave of new-fangled break dancing to the '80s party? The world's first hand-held cell phone, the Motorola 8000x, being unveiled in America? Shergar vanishing? Bonnie Tyler giving us Total Eclipse Of The Heart? Breakfast TV starting? New Order being brilliantly innovative with Blue Monday?

It can be said that all those things were important, but they pale into insignificance beside the arrival of a fabulous new superstar.

Yeeaahhh!!!

The posey young decade had already introduced us to many new stars by 1983: Depeche Mode and Eurythmics had both formed in 1980; Boy George had made his chart debut in 1982, and, as one of my aunties said, didn't seem to know whether he was Arthur or Martha; U2 had finished tuning up and were belting out some fabby rock tunes by 1983; the New Romantics had arrived in 1980 ("To cut a long story short, I lost my mind..."); Madness were in their golden era; Simple Minds had changed direction with their New Gold Dream and were really making the '80s grade; Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five had knocked our socks off with The Message; a Flock Of Seagulls had given great synth pop and hair inspiration; the Human League and Duran Duran had both formed their classic line-ups in 1980... but the decade still lacked a style icon. A superstar. Somebody who would lead the way.

Then HE came along, the one, the only Roland Rat, rescuing the ailing breakfast TV station TV-am in one fell swoop, and lighting up goggle boxes across the land...

Number 1 Ratfan Kevin the gerbil came scurrying down from Leeds to join his hero at the very beginning of Roland's fame in 1983, and has been there ever since. Kev loves the colour pink and is pictured here in a very 1980s pink and grey sporty outfit. He adores pink buckets, and hoards them obsessively. He was thrilled to dress up as Julie Andrews for a production of "The Sound Of Music".

Roland was the '80s celebrity to top all '80s celebrities - charismatic, justifiably egotistical, brash and gobby, er, I mean highly honest, he, like Elvis, had a hairy chest, and his presence on any TV show was likely to produce an hysterical response from viewers.

The increasingly sophisticated 1980s scene was no problem for Roland. As he rapped in Rat Rapping, "la de dah, la de dee". He took it all in his stride - truly a superstar par excellence. He said.

Roland also introduced us to his pals - including his No 1 fan, pink bucket-loving Kevin the gerbil.

He delighted '80s children (and some discerning souls like me who were slightly older!) with his TV-am and BBC shows - including Rat On The Road and Roland Rat - The Series.

 An all-rounder, Roland turned his hand to TV and music. Remember "Rat Rapping"? Remember "Love Me Tender"? Remember Kevin the gerbil's version of "Summer Holiday"? Mmmmm... glory days, when music really WAS music! This is a publicity poster for Roland's 1980s classic "Cassette Of The Album". In the pic are Roland, Kevin,  Roland's little brother, Reggie, and Errol the hamster. No sign of Glenis the adorable guinea pig. I'll have to find some pics of her to up-load!

Roland loved his rat fans. As he said, they recognised his talent and the void he filled in their lives, and he respected them for that. He still does.

And, also respecting his fans' desire to buy Roland-related merchandising, he quickly launched Roland Rat Enterprises, unleashing a tidal wave of cuddly toys, jigsaws, spaghetti shapes and other goodies, all snapped up by the adoring millions.

From his humble TV beginnings in "The Spectacular ShedVision Show", broadcast from a shed on the roof of the TV-am building in 1983, Roland quickly scaled the heights of superstardom.  Here he is with Kevin on the cover of "Look-In", the junior TV Times, embarking on a new series of "Rat On The Road". This was, in Roland's own words, a "rodent travelogue" and featured Roland and Kevin visiting various cities around the UK. The old  Ford Anglia car they travelled in, dubbed the Ratmobile,  cost £85 and Kevin chose the bright pink colour scheme. Roland thought it was rubbish.

And what has become of the mighty rodent since the 1980s? Well, there's been no descending into a decrepit old age for Roland. These days, he spends much of his time in the USA, and he and his friends all have their own Facebook pages (where we recently learned, via Kevin the gerbil, that Errol the hamster had returned some leeks to the supermarket  as they were "substandard"). 

This year, Roland made a triumphant return to England and breakfast TV.

Roland's comments and observations in more recent years have, as always, been priceless nuggets of wisdom. He told Anne Robinson, horrid person of The Weakest Link, that, being a licensed character, he still looked the same as he did in the 1980s - which was more than she did! And, after all the naff (and often highly inaccurate) TV nostalgia shows in the BBC's I Love... vein, Roland appeared on Trisha and commented that people were just desperate to feel nostalgic about "any old rubbish".

As Roland himself might say, he's a true geni-arse. 

And we love him.

See our first Roland Rat feature here.

Roland Rat, Kevin The Gerbil And The Rat Fans - "Yeeaaah!"

Born in a sewer at King's Cross (some say that he was actually created, voiced and operated by one David Claridge, so believe what you will), Roland was the rat who helped to save the good ship TV-am in 1983.

He's seen here on both sides of his picture disc Rat Rapping - "High class music for discerning rodents". He was a class act (still is, check him out on Facebook!) and the ultimate '80s superstar.

I was keen on Kevin the gerbil too. Loved that pink bucket! And then there was the delectable Glenis the guinea pig and the leek-loving Errol the hamster.

Inspired '80s TV fun!

The very lovely Kevin the gerbil - pictured here with his pride and joy pink bucket - got a taste of the limelight in 1984 with the release of his own single - Summer Holiday. Kevin was, and still is, Roland's Number 1 fan. He hails from Leeds and, despite a tendency to panic, and sometimes even faint, under pressure, is a valued pal of the great rat.

 Kevin the gerbil strikes a pose in the wonderfully posey mid-1980s.

Roland was also a badge star - here he doesn't drop litter and advertises his own spaghetti shapes in 1987.

Love this - Kevin the gerbil money box.
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Roland Rat really was the ultimate '80s superstar. I found all this in a 1984 mail order catalogue - Roland Rat and Kevin the gerbil jigsaws, a stencilling kit, Roland, Errol the hamster and Kevin the gerbil toys and your very own RATMOBILE!

I must say, however, that the idea that the "big bad 1980s" was the first decade to target kids as consumers is nonsense. When I was little, the big thing was "The Magic Roundabout" - and the memory of the amount of merchandising available still boggles my mind today!

Article Updated 25/8/12

The Riddlers

One day in 1989, feeling a little jaded after a heavy night out, I sat down in front of the telly and was startled to see a boggle-eyed, bushy eye-browed fellow called Mossop lecturing a Boy George clone called Tiddler. Both of these intriguing fellows were apparently Riddlers, little people (English cousins of the Irish Leprechauns?) who lived at the bottom of a well in the garden of Miss Marjorie Dawe's cottage at Riddleton End. 

The Riddlers was a new tots' programme from Yorkshire TV which went on to run until 1998 - 226 episodes, all written by Rick Vanes, with a story in each episode - many of them by Shirley Isherwood.

Marjorie Dawe, played by Victoria Williams (of the excellent children's series The Changes over a decade before), wrote and illustrated children's books. She was the show's voice of reason - providing friendship and guidance for Mossop and Tiddler.

Mr Grimley (Peter Llewellyn Jones), Marjorie's neighbour, was, well, a little on the common side. He became a chimney sweep and was there for amusement value and to show that adults sometimes get things wrong too. But Mr Grimley, dear old Montgomery, could also be depended upon to come up with occasional nuggets of good advice for Mossop and Tiddler. 

The Riddlers programme is fondly remembered by my cousin's children, who were of the right age to be watching, but me and my mates, twenty-four going on four, loved it too - although we were never convinced by the Riddlers characters' insistence that Tiddler, the Boy George/Pete Burns clone (who was voiced by puppeteer Mike Gallant), was in fact a girl. What did they take us for?!

"Hello, you two!"

Around the Internet, there are many references to The Riddlers starting in 1986, but I believe this is incorrect as I was certainly "in at the beginning" and remember it being rather later. The show's writer Rick Vanes states that it began in 1989 on his website, and actress Victoria Williams commented of her central role as Marjorie Dawe in 1996: "I've done that for seven years."

In the story, Tiddler was initially a trainee Riddler, with good hearted and sometimes big headed Mossop fulfilling the role of tutor.

Tiddler graduated to full-Riddler status after answering correctly a series of "Ezup's Foibles" (does that sound vaguely familiar?!).

Marjorie Dawe was declared an honorary Riddler and invited to the dawn graduation ceremony in the back garden at Riddleton End.

Tiddler was then able to choose a new name to take him/her/it through adult life, and opted for Tiddlup.

There's no accounting for taste.

A happy group at Riddleton End - Marjorie, Mr Grimley and the little fellas.

Other Riddleton End regulars included a third Riddler called Middler, a hedgehog called Postie (all Riddler mail is delivered by hedgehogs), a squirrel called Filbert and a hoover called Edgar.

Richard Robinson, puppeteer, a founder member of the Spitting Image team, also worked on The Riddlers - he made the puppets and provided the voices for Mossop and Middler.

One of the most delightful things about the show was its detailed studio set, which comprised Marjorie's living room; the back of her cottage; her conservatory and garden wall (complete with imposing iron gates); the garden (complete with well and Riddling tree); part of Mr Grimley's garden; and the side of his cottage. 

It was all very skillfully constructed, but, of course, it is easy to tell studio from open air, and this slightly unreal look to the scenario worked in the show's favour - giving it, I always thought, a rather magical feel.

Me and der lads loved it.

Tiddler, Marjorie and Mossop. Tiddler was a trainee Riddler who graduated and became Tiddlup, Marjorie was the show's token sensible adult and Mossop, a fully-fledged Riddler, was a little on the bumptious side.

1989 - a "Riddlers" book called "Marjorie's Ring" - part of the Parent and Child Programme, written by Shirley Isherwood.

Spitting Image

Peter Fluck and Roger Law met at the Cambridge School of Art many moons ago. As time went on, the pair began producing "sculpted caricatures" for outlets such as the New York Times Sunday Magazine.

The venture was not very profitable, but then, in 1981, Fluck and Law produced caricatures of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer for the Not The Nine O'Clock News spoof book Not The Royal Wedding.

Infamy beckoned!

From the Sunday Mirror, June 28, 1981.

"We are not amused!" said the general public, unused to such "disgusting" disrespect.

I am amazed that these sadistic caricatures of Prince Charles and Lady Diana were allowed to appear in the Sunday Mirror.

Not only were they in atrociously bad taste but they were intensely cruel as well, since the Royal couple are unable to retaliate.

I have a sense of humour, but I wouldn't put this new book in my toilet.

I found the feature quite disgusting, especially the models by Fluck and Law. Would they want models of themselves to look like this? Nor do I agree that the Not The Nine O'Clock people are the BBC's top comedy team.

I think the BBC's "top comedy team" should be mentally examined.

1981 was also the year that Martin Lambie-Nairn invited Fluck and Law to lunch. A graphic designer at London Weekend Television, Lambie-Nairn thought a political TV programme which used puppets or animation would be a good investment. He offered to front Fluck and Law the capital for a pilot episode...

Some right Royal egg cups... from the Daily Mirror's Peter Tory column, June 11, 1982:

Making sport of Prince Charles' ears is enormous fun. But members of the Royal Family who come across these items on their friends' mantlepieces might be slightly alarmed by the figure in the middle.

What would happen if the mite, depicted here by Cambridge artists Peter Fluck and Roger Law, really turned out to look so gruesome? The poor thing would probably have to spend its days locked away in a dungeon at Glamis Castle.

Daily Mirror, December 31, 1983. Looking forward to 1984 - and the debut of Spitting Image. Said Jon Blair, producer: "We hope to have a Royal spot every week, with the Queen and Margaret Thatcher discussing world affairs.

"We scan the papers every day to keep our list of characters up to date."

From the Daily Mirror, June 16, 1984.

The Queen is not amused, but Prince Phillip jokes "This is me, not one of those puppets!"

Spitting Image was incredibly anarchic by the standards of the 1980s - blood thirsty, brutal satire of a kind never seen before. It left audiences gasping with outrage - or delight. In a show filled with highlights in its heyday, Steve Nallon's voice of Mrs Thatcher still stands out in my mind. 1985 saw the publication of The Appallingly Disrespectful Spitting Image Book. On the cover, Norman Tebbit was getting a real eyeful...

Inside, Mrs Thatcher was getting to grips with the unemployment situation...

... and Nouvelle Cuisine for the disadvantaged was covered, courtesy of Tom King, Employment Minister - amongst many other delights.

The "Nouvelle Cuisine" concept had been around for a little while (although we commoners had never heard of it), and in the desperate-to-be-posh mid-80s, fancy restaurants up and down the land saw the chance to make a killing - serving up hardly anything for exorbitant prices.

The Spitting Image book puts it best:

Nouvelle cuisine is a posh and expensive way of not having very much to eat.

A rip off, pure and simple, if you ask me.

Some politicians and celebrities claimed to enjoy the "fame" of being selected to be caricatured on Spitting Image. Michael Heseltine offered to buy his puppet for £2,500 - and eventually upped his offer to £7,500. "To whom shall I may the cheque payable?" he asked.

"The Labour Party," came the reply.

Exit Mr Heseltine - in something of a strop.

Anglia Television: BC Of Birthday Club

B.C. - Terror of Anglia Television's Birthday Club in the 1980s...

You had to keep your wits about you with BC on the scene...

B.C. will be well known to younger viewers of ITV regional station Anglia in the 1980s. The puppet was introduced early in the decade to "help" the on-screen continuity person read out young viewers' birthday cards in the popular daily "Birthday Club" sessions, and inspired by the long-running ITV regional puppet character Gus Honeybun - a rabbit.

Helen McDermott worked with Gus at Westward.  

As the 1980s began, Helen was just months into a new role as a continuity announcer with Anglia Television. She put forward the idea to the Powers That Be of the time that an Anglia version of Mr Honeybun would be ideal for that channel's birthday club slots. Anglia was initially unimpressed with the idea, but Helen persevered. It would be good, she said, to have something in the Birthday Club feature that would amuse children who were not waiting for a birthday mention. Eventually, Anglia agreed. Interviewed years later, Helen recalled that the original puppet was then made by somebody called "Vera, from down the road." B.C. made his debut in late 1980.

B.C. - allowed to stay up to welcome in the New Year of 1985.

B.C. looked rather like a leopard, although many thought his ears were more bear-like! Before his launch, there was a competition to name the character. The winning entrant came up with "B.C." (for "Big Cat" and also "Birthday Club") and the little git proceeded to wreak absolute havoc in the years that followed.

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An angelic wave for a young viewer from BC - but Helen isn't convinced...

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B.C. liked lollipops, and was absolutely charming to the presenter-on-duty. Helen McDermott, the woman who brought him about, was a favourite presenter of mine. She was highly competent at serious reporting/presenting, but also evidently possessed of a sense of humour. She often appeared to be about to get her own back on B.C. as the screen faded to black after a Birthday Club session.

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All the daytime presenters, including Katie Glass, Patrick Anthony, Caroline Oldrey and Michael Speake, did battle with B.C. in the '80s. In 1986, Michael Speake wrote a book about the character, B.C. And The Magic Book.

The Anglia TV presenters were very much part of our lives, almost like family. "Ooh, Michael's still got that cold," we'd say, or, "What's Patrick cooking tonight?" B.C. was a personality in his own right (as far as I was concerned), a somewhat anarchic addition to the team. But what made him tick? What (or who) was his motivating force?

David Clayton was a presenter at Anglia throughout 1982, and recalls:

"The continuity studio was by necessity small and had the usual collection of discarded announcer presents and letters, the odd pile of face powder compacts, hairbrushes and B.C., the birthday club puppet. My debut as an announcer was with my hand up B.C. operating it for the on-duty day announcer. If you did an evening shift you came in to relieve the day announcer so he or she could get some lunch and a break. You also became the unofficial puppeteer around tea-time for the children's birthday club.

"I think I was B.C. first to Katie Glass and had to crouch down at her side out of shot and try and make B.C. animated and cheeky. Michael Speake used to be quite ruthless with the puppet but Katie was the most frightening to work with. One of B.C.'s features was that one of your hands held a stick coming out of the base of him, the other hand was inside one of his paws. If you were announcing with Katie doing the puppet she had the habit of making B.C. grab your tie just at the last second and yanking downwards with some degree of violence.

"This then made your tie knot extremely small and tight to the point it was virtually impossible to undo it. So for the entire programme you had just linked to, you were struggling to actually undo and re-tie your tie. Short of cutting it off with scissors it was touch and go whether you could make yourself presentable for the next link. Sadly there wasn't an equivalent female garment with which to exact your revenge when roles were reversed."

David also recalls the deelyboppers craze of 1982, and taking a pair in for B.C. to wear on-screen. B.C. was very active that day, lots of head waggling, and one of the boppers fell off. David almost said: "Oh, B.C., you've lost one of your balls!" but managed to substitute the word "baubles" at the last minute! True professionalism!

If anybody has any Birthday Club footage, I would love to see it. It's time to start a B.C. archive! You can E-mail me at: actual80s@btinternet.com

I must confess, I was about sixteen when B.C. made his debut and his target audience was tiny tots and primary school children. But I thought he was great.

Why?

"You were, and are, naturally childish," says my loving wife.

Not at all. B.C. was... er... well... he was... um... cult... yes, that's it, he was cult!!

That makes him respectable.

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The celebrity at home in 1986. The former co-presenter of Birthday Club celebrates his own birthday on April 1st. In 1986, B.C. was living in this desirable residence at the bottom of Uncle Michael's garden. Where is he now?

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Helen in more recent years. That's not the REAL B.C. with her, just a puppet.

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Courtesy of YouTube - inspired 1980s lunacy with BC and his companions.

Gilbert's Fridge

A Gilbert profile from 1988. Gilbert sez: "'Ere! I just 'ad an 'orrible thought! A dead zebra!"

Gilbert the alien came from the planet Drill and first turned up on the Millennium Dustbin - the space ship which took Get Fresh presenters Gaz Top and Charlotte Hindle (daughter of Madge Hindle, of Nearest and Dearest, Coronation Street and, more recently, Barbara) to various locations around England and the rest of the UK.

From "Look-In", May, 1987. The identity of the new "special guest presenter" is a secret. Who is he, she or it? We could never have guessed!

Surreal old Gilbert. Weird old Gilbert. Brilliant old Gilbert. Snotty old Gilbert.

Gilbert made his Get Fresh debut at the start of the second series in May 1987, and was set in motion by Michael Forte, the producer. Inspired by Fungus The Bogeyman, he contacted Fluck and Law, the Spitting Image creators, and asked them to come up with an original creation with the same capacity to endear and disgust. Original Gilbert certainly was - though his lips had come from a mould previously used for the Spitting Image Ringo Starr puppet and other Spitting Image puppets were "cannibalised" during his creation!

The responsibility for creating Gilbert's voice and personality was given to impressionist Phil Cornwell (he was told he could say what he liked, but NO swearing!), and the puppeteers were John Eccleston and Richard Coombes.

The snotty green alien was part of the new breed of non-cute TV puppets that emerged in the 1980s. Think of Gilbert's earthly cousins on Spitting Image. Think of Roland Rat. You get the idea?

Gilbert added an anarchic edge to Get Fresh, coming out with several controversial utterings. Legend has it that he once told the drummer from Aswad to "skin up", and viewers strained their ears to hear Gilbert's background babble whilst others spoke in the foreground.

Gilbert say: "Did you know that the Atlantic Ocean is over four times bigger than it is?"

Aside from all these fascinating facts and miraculous memories, three things are plain:

1) Gilbert was at the peak of his popularity in 1987, 1988 and 1989.

2) Gilbert had a very runny nose.

3) Gilbert was very original, very funny and very snotty indeed.

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The "TV Times" from November 1988 shown in the illustration, as well as featuring Gilbert, also lists two children's shows which began in 1981 - "Button Moon" (note the picture of Tina, Mr Spoon and Egbert) and "Dangermouse".

In "Sons and Daughters", Beryl Palmer was searching for her double, a woman called Ruby Hawkins (both parts were played by Leila Hayes). Ruby was later murdered and Beryl posed as her to bring the killer to justice.

Another Aussie soap, "Richmond Hill", was showing at 2pm, and "Jimmy's" (7pm), the documentary set in St James' University Hospital, Leeds, had come to the final episode of its present run - it was described in the "TV Times" as "the series which proves that real life is far more gripping than fiction."

In 1988, Gilbert spun off from Get Fresh into his own series, Gilbert's Fridge. Around the World Wide Web, Gilbert's Fridge is sometimes listed as being first broadcast in 1989 - but the TV Times page shown above, dated November 1988, places the series in its rightful year.

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1988 - Gilbert in reflective mood.

Kim Wilde, she of "Kids In America" and "You Came" fame, finds Gilbert's talents as an agent somewhat lacking: "Mrs Huxtable from Cheadle Hulme has offered us a seventeen night deal in her larder. Now, I haven't confirmed this yet, Kim, 'cos I wasn't sure if you were confident about filling the larder..."

In a viewers' question-and-answer session with Phil Cornwell on BBC Online a few years ago, the subject of Gilbert cropped up twice. Phil told us that Gilbert was now retired and living in a small box - "in Scarborough or somewhere like that", and that he and Gilbert were still the greatest of friends and loved each other very much.

Of Gilbert's attitude to celebrities appearing on the show, Phil said:

"I was basically given carte blanche and I was told I could say what I liked. I made it up as I went along. I have very fond memories of having a go at pop stars of the day and trying my best to puncture a few egos. Somebody should have punctured mine!"

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One of my favourite "Fridge" scenarios - Dieter Meier (Yello, "The Race") visits Gilbert, the incredibly posh art dealer, who tries to sell him a painting called "Bob" - "painted by a chap called Merry Pottinger in the year 171766 or so..."

Sandi Toksvig and Gilbert take to the open road...

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In Gilbert's Fridge, as well as celebrity guests and bizarre sketches, there was a song, the theme tune to a featured (and absolutely heart rending) saga of POW life in World War Two, called How Far To Hitchin? It went something like this:

"How far to Hitchin? It's Hitchin I'm missin'...

How far to Hitchin? It's Hitchin I'm missin'...

How far to Hitchin? It's Hitchin I'm missing...

HITCHIN!"

How I remember that song!

A kids' show? Nah, I was 23 at the time and thought that Gilbert's Fridge was brilliantly weird.

I still wonder why Gilbert took a load of dead fish, including Petula and Susan, on holiday to Benidorm with him. Susan never was much fun.

Charlotte Hindle, Gilbert's old pal from Get Fresh, also appeared in the holiday sequences, coping with Gilbert's sunburn, the aroma of dead fish and an unscrupulous admirer.

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"Sunny Jolly Hols" - Gilbert writes a postcard to Charlotte's parents.

"Gilbert's Guide To Life", 1988 - including the lowdown on "The White Stuff" - milk.

"Tapes 'N' Tales" - Gilbert treasure from 1989. This comic came with an audio cassette of "Gilbert Gets It Sorted", read by Phil Cornwell in character as Gilbert. After a short burst of a very weird version of "The Girl From Ipanema" (played on what sounds like a fairground organ), Gilbert takes us back to a day much like today "only plumper..."

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A rare piece of Gilbert merchandising - the Bendy toy of 1989.

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Yes, it's "Giz The Dosh" with your host MARMADUKE SMARMY! Other tasty treats in the "Fridge" included David Bottlesock On The Network, Gadgie in rainy bedsit land ("You can always dream...") and "What's Your Problem, Chummy?" ("Yours in hoops...")

Oddly enough, I found myself really liking, even caring about Gilbert - who was basically a weird, green con artist. And, even more basically, a puppet.

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Sometimes telly can be genius. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it's good to recognise that fact.

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Gilbert, oh hugely snotty one, I take me hat off to yer!

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Remember Nifty and the chaps?