Live & Kicking
Encyclopedia
Live & Kicking was a BBC
Saturday morning children's magazine programme, running from 1993 to 2001. The fourth in a succession of Saturday morning shows, it was the replacement for Going Live!
, and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, comedy, competitions and the showing of cartoons. Once Live & Kicking had become established in series two, it reached its height in popularity during series four, when it was presented by Zoe Ball
and Jamie Theakston
; their final episode won a BAFTA award. After this the series ratings dropped with the launch of SMTV Live
on ITV and was eventually cancelled in 2001.
, a successful Saturday morning programme that had been running for six years. It was first broadcast on 2 October 1993 at 9am on BBC One
. The original hosts were Andi Peters
, Emma Forbes who had presented a cookery segment in Going Live!, and John Barrowman. For the second series, John Barrowman
was relegated to host the showbiz Electric Circus segment, leaving Andi and Emma to become the main hosts. He left after one series of Electric Circus to concentrate on acting. Comedy duo Trevor and Simon
and Peter Simon, in the Run the Risk
segment, were also regulars who had featured on Going Live!.
While the first series was not as popular as its predecessor, the second series was more successful. It was broadcast during the winter months, from September to April, with Fully Booked
replacing it during the summer. New episodes of the Rugrats
were shown opposite ITV
's What's Up Doc?
which began broadcasting at the same time, which ensured viewers would continue to watch.
From the second series, many of the long-term regular features were introduced, such as Sage and Onion, two puppet leprachauns (voiced by Don Austen
and John Eccleston
), and later on Mr. Blobby
, played by Barry Killerby. Andi Peters expressed his intention to move on in March 1996, and Emma Forbes decided to follow after finding out she was pregnant.
They were replaced by Zoe Ball
and Jamie Theakston
, who presented it for three series. According to the BBC, the show's popularity was at its peak during the 1996/1997 series when the show regularly had 2.5 million viewers. After three series, Ball decided to move on due to a hectic schedule, and Theakston followed. The final episode hosted by Ball and Theakston later won the show a children's BAFTA award for Best Entertainment show in November 1999.
The show returned in Autumn 1999 with new presenters Emma Ledden
and Steve Wilson
,. They only lasted for one series, due to ratings dropping to 1.6 million during their tenure. At the same time rival SMTV Live
on competitor channel ITV
was relaunched to feature more comedic elements and began to gain popularity, known for its innuendo and features. Fully Booked, the BBC's summer replacement, was also revamped and retitled as FBi, but ratings continued to drop. The following October, the final series was a complete revamp, with a lineup of four: Ortis Deley
, Katy Hill
, Trey Farley
and Sarah Cawood
.
Ratings continued to plummet, due to the continuing success of SMTV Live
. In March 2001, the BBC made an unprecedented move and extended the series over the summer, like SMTV was broadcast, but announced it would be the final series. Hill was replaced by Heather Suttie
as the show was moved to BBC Scotland on 21 April until 15 September 2001 when the final show aired. It was replaced by The Saturday Show
, which continued to be broadcast all year round.
, and later Ben, Gez and Rich from The Cheese Shop
and SuperGirly. A segment in the first few series that was an adaptation of Going Live's Double Dare was Run the Risk, a game in which teams of children completed various obstacle courses and challenges. Gunge
was often included to make the tasks harder. Run The Risk was later broadcast separately. From 1994 until 2000, there was a showbiz segment called the Electric Circus, which featured the latest films, music, computer games and gossip. It was first presented by John Barrowman after he stepped aside as a regular presenter, and was later hosted by a variety of people.
The first series featured the computerised head of a cat named "Ratz" who provided links, but this was dropped after one series. It was replaced by commentator Mitch Johnson, who, as well as providing commentary and links for each item, would interact with both audience and presenters too. From the second series, two puppet leprachauns, later named as Sage and Onion became regulars. They were played by Don Austen
and John Eccleston
, and were designed and built by Darryl Worbey Studios. They performed comedy sketches throughout the morning, and often interacted with the people in the studio. Another comedy character who first appeared in the third series was Mr Blobby, who had previously appeared in Noel's House Party
. Most regular features were dropped for the final series, when the show was revamped. A feature that stuck throughout was the jingle for the phone number, first 081 811 8181, then 0181 811 8181, then 0845 610 1515.
As well as the television show, Live and Kicking launched a music CD, composed of the best music that artists had sung live on the programme. A video game called Live and Kicking: Showmaker was also created, where the user could combine elements of the show to create their own television production on a small scale. A monthly magazine was also produced, though towards the end of Live & Kickings production, the sales of the magazine dropped significantly, reflecting its loss of viewers.
For series five and six, there was a short version of the show that aired on Friday afternoons called L&K Friday, but this was cancelled after two series. The regular Saturday presenters Jamie Theakston
and Zoe Ball
presented the first series, and Steve Wilson and Liz Fraser presented the second series. A 90-minute version of the show also aired on BBC Choice
and was entitled L&K Replay.
In May 2000, two months before Steve & Emma were officially resigned from Live & Kicking, the show was brought back for a one-off special during the summer break. It was to mix in with the BBC's Music Live and the show was titled as Music Live & Kicking with Steve & Emma returning to present along with future presenter Ortis Deley and special guest presenter Stephen Gately
of Boyzone
. This special was dedicated to a series of music performances (hence the title) and was the first edition to be broadcast in widescreen.
One of the last features was L&K Castaway, a spin-off of the BBC reality show Castaway 2000
. Each week, six children would spend four days on a remote Scottish island, learning how to survive, among other skills. Points were earned through passing various tasks, and were lost if contestants entered the "Temptation Hut", which contained various modern electrical appliances.
which broadcast opposite on ITV
was slowly becoming more popular, and gaining the audience the BBC was losing. After just one series, Ledden and Wilson's contracts were not renewed. Wilson later said that they were dropped just as they were starting to form a relationship, and that Ant & Dec, presenters of SMTV Live, had the edge over them as they had known each other much longer. Ledden had already been dropped when Wilson went through several meetings with the BBC. He decided it was better to leave after one good series, rather than do a second "lame" series, and went on to appear in rival SMTV Live's 100th show, in the Friends
skit, 'Chums'. When Live & Kicking returned in October 2000, it was completely revamped, with brand new titles and a lineup of four presenters. However, this did nothing to increase viewing figures, and the chemistry between the presenters was even less apparent. It was decided not to end the show in April and replace it with a summer show, because the replacement FBi had lost even more viewers for the BBC. Live & Kicking continued until September after a move to Glasgow where the summer show had normally been filmed. Just before the move it was announced it would be the final series. The principal reason given for the decision was the increasing loss of viewers to SMTV Live
, which had a similar format and was more successful. Live and Kicking was replaced by The Saturday Show
, fronted by Dani Behr
and Joe Mace
, which was shown all year round until September 2003 when it began an Autumn-Spring/Summer loop with Dick and Dom In Da Bungalow
. Live & Kicking was featured in the BBC's It Started With Swap Shop programme in 2006, where Noel Edmonds
interviewed the first pair of presenters, Andi Peters
and Emma Forbes, about their time on the show.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Saturday morning children's magazine programme, running from 1993 to 2001. The fourth in a succession of Saturday morning shows, it was the replacement for Going Live!
Going Live!
Going Live! was a Saturday morning magazine show, broadcast on BBC1 between 1987 and 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene.Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Peter Simon, Emma Forbes, and puppet Gordon the Gopher....
, and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, comedy, competitions and the showing of cartoons. Once Live & Kicking had become established in series two, it reached its height in popularity during series four, when it was presented by Zoe Ball
Zoë Ball
Zoë Louise Ball is an English television and radio personality, most famous for becoming the first female host of the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show and for her earlier work presenting the 1990s children's show, Live & Kicking.-TV career:The daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his...
and Jamie Theakston
Jamie Theakston
Jamie Theakston is an English television and radio presenter, producer and actor.-Education:...
; their final episode won a BAFTA award. After this the series ratings dropped with the launch of SMTV Live
SMTV Live
SMTV Live , also written SM:TV Live and in early promotional material SMTV://live, was a British Saturday morning children's television programme, first broadcast on ITV on 29 August 1998 and last broadcast on 27 December 2003.On the surface, the programme did not seem to stray away from the format...
on ITV and was eventually cancelled in 2001.
History
Live & Kicking was conceived as a replacement for Going Live!Going Live!
Going Live! was a Saturday morning magazine show, broadcast on BBC1 between 1987 and 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene.Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Peter Simon, Emma Forbes, and puppet Gordon the Gopher....
, a successful Saturday morning programme that had been running for six years. It was first broadcast on 2 October 1993 at 9am on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. The original hosts were Andi Peters
Andi Peters
Andi Eleazu Peters is an English television presenter and television producer.-Education:Peters was educated at Emanuel School, a co-educational independent school in Battersea, in south-west London.-Life and career:...
, Emma Forbes who had presented a cookery segment in Going Live!, and John Barrowman. For the second series, John Barrowman
John Barrowman
John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
was relegated to host the showbiz Electric Circus segment, leaving Andi and Emma to become the main hosts. He left after one series of Electric Circus to concentrate on acting. Comedy duo Trevor and Simon
Trevor and Simon
Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson are a British comedy duo, best known for their contributions to the BBC1 children's television series Going Live! and Live & Kicking during the late 1980s and throughout much of the 1990s...
and Peter Simon, in the Run the Risk
Run the Risk
Run the Risk was a BBC1 children's show, which aired from the latter half of 1992 until the beginning of 1998. It was aired on Saturday mornings during Going Live, and later Live & Kicking, and was later repeated as its own individual show. It was presented by Peter Simon for the entire run...
segment, were also regulars who had featured on Going Live!.
While the first series was not as popular as its predecessor, the second series was more successful. It was broadcast during the winter months, from September to April, with Fully Booked
Fully Booked
Fully Booked was a magazine show for children produced by BBC Scotland and broadcast from 1995 to 1999, and in revised form as FBi in 2000. The show was a summer-time replacement for Live & Kicking, which would normally not broadcast over the summer months...
replacing it during the summer. New episodes of the Rugrats
Rugrats
Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, and aired its last episode on June 8, 2004....
were shown opposite ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's What's Up Doc?
What's Up Doc? (TV series)
What's Up Doc? was a Saturday Morning children's variety series produced Scottish Television and aired on ITV from 1992 to 1995 and hosted by Andy Crane, Yvette Fielding and Pat Sharp...
which began broadcasting at the same time, which ensured viewers would continue to watch.
Don Austen
British puppeteer Don Austen joined the Jim Henson Creature Shop in 1986 for the movie Labyrinth.He was a puppeteer for other blockbuster movies including Santa Claus: The Movie , The Little Shop of Horrors , Who Framed Roger Rabbit , The Bear , The Witches , and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom...
and John Eccleston
John Eccleston
John Eccleston is a puppeteer, writer and presenter known for his work as lead puppeteer of Rygel in Farscape, Groove in The Hoobs and his many roles on British children's television alongside Don Austen...
), and later on Mr. Blobby
Mr. Blobby
Mr Blobby was a character on Noel Edmonds' Saturday night variety television show Noel's House Party, portrayed by Barry Killerby. A large pink blob, covered with yellow spots, sporting a permanent toothy grin and jiggling eyes, he communicated only by saying the word "blobby" in an electronically...
, played by Barry Killerby. Andi Peters expressed his intention to move on in March 1996, and Emma Forbes decided to follow after finding out she was pregnant.
They were replaced by Zoe Ball
Zoë Ball
Zoë Louise Ball is an English television and radio personality, most famous for becoming the first female host of the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show and for her earlier work presenting the 1990s children's show, Live & Kicking.-TV career:The daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his...
and Jamie Theakston
Jamie Theakston
Jamie Theakston is an English television and radio presenter, producer and actor.-Education:...
, who presented it for three series. According to the BBC, the show's popularity was at its peak during the 1996/1997 series when the show regularly had 2.5 million viewers. After three series, Ball decided to move on due to a hectic schedule, and Theakston followed. The final episode hosted by Ball and Theakston later won the show a children's BAFTA award for Best Entertainment show in November 1999.
The show returned in Autumn 1999 with new presenters Emma Ledden
Emma Ledden
Emma Ledden is an Irish television presenter and model. She began her television career on Raidió Teilifís Éireann's children's strand, The Den, in the mid-1990s....
and Steve Wilson
Steve Wilson (presenter)
Steve Wilson , is a British television presenter, best known for presenting CBBC and Live & Kicking in the late 1990s/early 2000s. He is an occasional reporter on This Morning, usually reporting on Gadgets...
,. They only lasted for one series, due to ratings dropping to 1.6 million during their tenure. At the same time rival SMTV Live
SMTV Live
SMTV Live , also written SM:TV Live and in early promotional material SMTV://live, was a British Saturday morning children's television programme, first broadcast on ITV on 29 August 1998 and last broadcast on 27 December 2003.On the surface, the programme did not seem to stray away from the format...
on competitor channel ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
was relaunched to feature more comedic elements and began to gain popularity, known for its innuendo and features. Fully Booked, the BBC's summer replacement, was also revamped and retitled as FBi, but ratings continued to drop. The following October, the final series was a complete revamp, with a lineup of four: Ortis Deley
Ortis Deley
Ortis Deley is a British television presenter, radio DJ and actor of Ghanaian/Nigerian descent. He went to Ernest Bevin College in Tooting Bec, London. He is currently one of the presenters of The Gadget Show and presenter of Choice FM on Sunday mornings....
, Katy Hill
Katy Hill
Katy Hill is an English television presenter, who worked on the BBC children's magazine programme Blue Peter for five years.-Biography:...
, Trey Farley
Trey Farley
Trey Farley is an actor and television presenter.-Early life:Farley's father is English and his mother Filipino...
and Sarah Cawood
Sarah Cawood
Sarah Cawood is an English television presenter.-Career:Cawood grew up in the Cambridgeshire village of Maxey and was educated at Stamford High School, Lincolnshire near Peterborough, United Kingdom. She also attended the Royal Ballet School and Arts Educational Schools London.Between 1995 and...
.
Ratings continued to plummet, due to the continuing success of SMTV Live
SMTV Live
SMTV Live , also written SM:TV Live and in early promotional material SMTV://live, was a British Saturday morning children's television programme, first broadcast on ITV on 29 August 1998 and last broadcast on 27 December 2003.On the surface, the programme did not seem to stray away from the format...
. In March 2001, the BBC made an unprecedented move and extended the series over the summer, like SMTV was broadcast, but announced it would be the final series. Hill was replaced by Heather Suttie
Heather Suttie
Heather Suttie is a Glasgow-based presenter.In the 1990s she presented BBC Children's Saturday morning show Live & Kicking, children's science programme Hyperlinks, ITV2's youth entertainment show Bedrock and appeared on Channel 4's' 'MovieWatch'....
as the show was moved to BBC Scotland on 21 April until 15 September 2001 when the final show aired. It was replaced by The Saturday Show
The Saturday Show (BBC TV series)
The Saturday Show was a BBC children's Saturday morning show that first aired in 2001, replacing the popular Live & Kicking. It had a mix of audience participation, cartoons, games and gunge. Initially it was presented by Dani Behr and Joe Mace. They left in 2002 and were replaced by Fearne Cotton...
, which continued to be broadcast all year round.
Format
Live & Kicking was a weekly magazine show broadcast every Saturday morning, normally from September to April and later all year for the final series, and it was aimed at young people. It featured music performances, "hot seat" questions for celebrity guests, phone-ins, games, comedy sketches, competitions, and television programmes and cartoons. It used the taglines "Miss it, miss out" and "The only way to start your weekend" on promotional adverts for the show. As well as the main presenters, there were regulars such as comedy duo Trevor and SimonTrevor and Simon
Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson are a British comedy duo, best known for their contributions to the BBC1 children's television series Going Live! and Live & Kicking during the late 1980s and throughout much of the 1990s...
, and later Ben, Gez and Rich from The Cheese Shop
The Cheese Shop
The Cheese Shop were a troupe of six comedy writer-performers from the revue circuit of University of Warwick.Between 1997 and 1999, Gerard Foster, Dave Lamb, Gordon Southern, Tim Verrinder, Ben Ward and Richie Webb appeared in three series of their comedy sketch show The Cheese Shop Presents: The...
and SuperGirly. A segment in the first few series that was an adaptation of Going Live's Double Dare was Run the Risk, a game in which teams of children completed various obstacle courses and challenges. Gunge
Gunge
Gunge as it is known in the British Isles, or slime as it is known in America and other parts of the world is a thick, gooey, runny substance similar in consistency to paint. It has been a feature on many children's programmes for many years around the world and has made appearances in game shows...
was often included to make the tasks harder. Run The Risk was later broadcast separately. From 1994 until 2000, there was a showbiz segment called the Electric Circus, which featured the latest films, music, computer games and gossip. It was first presented by John Barrowman after he stepped aside as a regular presenter, and was later hosted by a variety of people.
The first series featured the computerised head of a cat named "Ratz" who provided links, but this was dropped after one series. It was replaced by commentator Mitch Johnson, who, as well as providing commentary and links for each item, would interact with both audience and presenters too. From the second series, two puppet leprachauns, later named as Sage and Onion became regulars. They were played by Don Austen
Don Austen
British puppeteer Don Austen joined the Jim Henson Creature Shop in 1986 for the movie Labyrinth.He was a puppeteer for other blockbuster movies including Santa Claus: The Movie , The Little Shop of Horrors , Who Framed Roger Rabbit , The Bear , The Witches , and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom...
and John Eccleston
John Eccleston
John Eccleston is a puppeteer, writer and presenter known for his work as lead puppeteer of Rygel in Farscape, Groove in The Hoobs and his many roles on British children's television alongside Don Austen...
, and were designed and built by Darryl Worbey Studios. They performed comedy sketches throughout the morning, and often interacted with the people in the studio. Another comedy character who first appeared in the third series was Mr Blobby, who had previously appeared in Noel's House Party
Noel's House Party
Noel's House Party was a BBC television light entertainment show hosted by Noel Edmonds that was broadcast live on Saturday evenings throughout the 1990s. It was set in a large house in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, leading to much innuendo. The show was broadcast during the...
. Most regular features were dropped for the final series, when the show was revamped. A feature that stuck throughout was the jingle for the phone number, first 081 811 8181, then 0181 811 8181, then 0845 610 1515.
As well as the television show, Live and Kicking launched a music CD, composed of the best music that artists had sung live on the programme. A video game called Live and Kicking: Showmaker was also created, where the user could combine elements of the show to create their own television production on a small scale. A monthly magazine was also produced, though towards the end of Live & Kickings production, the sales of the magazine dropped significantly, reflecting its loss of viewers.
For series five and six, there was a short version of the show that aired on Friday afternoons called L&K Friday, but this was cancelled after two series. The regular Saturday presenters Jamie Theakston
Jamie Theakston
Jamie Theakston is an English television and radio presenter, producer and actor.-Education:...
and Zoe Ball
Zoë Ball
Zoë Louise Ball is an English television and radio personality, most famous for becoming the first female host of the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show and for her earlier work presenting the 1990s children's show, Live & Kicking.-TV career:The daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his...
presented the first series, and Steve Wilson and Liz Fraser presented the second series. A 90-minute version of the show also aired on BBC Choice
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
and was entitled L&K Replay.
In May 2000, two months before Steve & Emma were officially resigned from Live & Kicking, the show was brought back for a one-off special during the summer break. It was to mix in with the BBC's Music Live and the show was titled as Music Live & Kicking with Steve & Emma returning to present along with future presenter Ortis Deley and special guest presenter Stephen Gately
Stephen Gately
Stephen Patrick David Gately was an Irish pop singer–songwriter, actor, dancer, musician and author, who, with Ronan Keating, was one of two lead singers of the pop group Boyzone. All of Boyzone's studio albums hit number one in the United Kingdom, their third being their most successful...
of Boyzone
Boyzone
Boyzone are an Irish boy band comprising Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating,Shane Lynch, and formerly Stephen Gately. Boyzone have 19 singles in the top 40 UK charts and 21 singles in the Ire charts. The group currently have 6 UK number one singles and 9 number one singles in Ireland with 12...
. This special was dedicated to a series of music performances (hence the title) and was the first edition to be broadcast in widescreen.
One of the last features was L&K Castaway, a spin-off of the BBC reality show Castaway 2000
Castaway 2000
Castaway 2000 was a reality TV programme commissioned by the BBC in 2000.-The Concept:Castaway 2000 is a successful British television show that, because it was aired in the same year that Survivor first aired in the United States and Big Brother first aired in Great Britain, is often regarded as a...
. Each week, six children would spend four days on a remote Scottish island, learning how to survive, among other skills. Points were earned through passing various tasks, and were lost if contestants entered the "Temptation Hut", which contained various modern electrical appliances.
Demise and replacement
The Ball and Theakston series are considered to be when Live & Kicking was at its peak in popularity. After their final series in 1999, it was believed the BBC would replace Live & Kicking with another programme, as its two predecessors had both lasted six years. Instead, they continued with Live & Kicking, with new presenters Emma Ledden and Steve Wilson. The series was the beginning of the end for the show; Ledden and Wilson did not know each other at the start of the series, and so there was none of the interaction seen between Ball and Theakston between them. Additionally, SMTV LiveSMTV Live
SMTV Live , also written SM:TV Live and in early promotional material SMTV://live, was a British Saturday morning children's television programme, first broadcast on ITV on 29 August 1998 and last broadcast on 27 December 2003.On the surface, the programme did not seem to stray away from the format...
which broadcast opposite on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
was slowly becoming more popular, and gaining the audience the BBC was losing. After just one series, Ledden and Wilson's contracts were not renewed. Wilson later said that they were dropped just as they were starting to form a relationship, and that Ant & Dec, presenters of SMTV Live, had the edge over them as they had known each other much longer. Ledden had already been dropped when Wilson went through several meetings with the BBC. He decided it was better to leave after one good series, rather than do a second "lame" series, and went on to appear in rival SMTV Live's 100th show, in the Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
skit, 'Chums'. When Live & Kicking returned in October 2000, it was completely revamped, with brand new titles and a lineup of four presenters. However, this did nothing to increase viewing figures, and the chemistry between the presenters was even less apparent. It was decided not to end the show in April and replace it with a summer show, because the replacement FBi had lost even more viewers for the BBC. Live & Kicking continued until September after a move to Glasgow where the summer show had normally been filmed. Just before the move it was announced it would be the final series. The principal reason given for the decision was the increasing loss of viewers to SMTV Live
SMTV Live
SMTV Live , also written SM:TV Live and in early promotional material SMTV://live, was a British Saturday morning children's television programme, first broadcast on ITV on 29 August 1998 and last broadcast on 27 December 2003.On the surface, the programme did not seem to stray away from the format...
, which had a similar format and was more successful. Live and Kicking was replaced by The Saturday Show
The Saturday Show (BBC TV series)
The Saturday Show was a BBC children's Saturday morning show that first aired in 2001, replacing the popular Live & Kicking. It had a mix of audience participation, cartoons, games and gunge. Initially it was presented by Dani Behr and Joe Mace. They left in 2002 and were replaced by Fearne Cotton...
, fronted by Dani Behr
Dani Behr
Dani Behr is an English singer, actress and television presenter.-Early life:Behr was born in Mill Hill London, of South African Jewish descent. Her father is a partner in London estate agents Behr & Butchoff...
and Joe Mace
Joe Mace
Joe Mace is a British radio and television presenter. Former host of the programme The Album Chart Show on the UK's Channel 4 and the Dream Ticket on BBC 6 Music....
, which was shown all year round until September 2003 when it began an Autumn-Spring/Summer loop with Dick and Dom In Da Bungalow
Dick and Dom in da Bungalow
Dick and Dom in da Bungalow was a CBBC children's entertainment television series presented by the duo Dick and Dom...
. Live & Kicking was featured in the BBC's It Started With Swap Shop programme in 2006, where Noel Edmonds
Noel Edmonds
Noel Ernest Edmonds, is an English broadcaster and executive, who made his name as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presented many light entertainment television programmes, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Top of the Pops, The Late, Late Breakfast Show, Telly Addicts, Noel's Saturday...
interviewed the first pair of presenters, Andi Peters
Andi Peters
Andi Eleazu Peters is an English television presenter and television producer.-Education:Peters was educated at Emanuel School, a co-educational independent school in Battersea, in south-west London.-Life and career:...
and Emma Forbes, about their time on the show.
External links
- Live & Kicking at Saturday Mornings