Timmy Mallett
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Timmy Mallett is a former children's TV presenter and broadcaster who achieved cult status in the UK during the 1980s.
Mallett is most notable for his striking visual style, involving loud shirts, comedy glasses and a giant foam mallet he carries with him, as well as his 'utterly brilliant!' and 'bleurgh!' catchphrases.
His media career started while he was a student at the University of Warwick, where he worked for the student radio station (Radio Warwick). After graduating with a history degree, he began his career at BBC Radio Oxford before moving onto Piccadilly Radio. His energetic style won him many fans and Sony Awards.
But it was in TV that he hit the bigtime. In 1984 he became a presenter of Wide Awake Club, a new Saturday morning children's programme on ITV's breakfast station TV-am. Mallett's personality came to dominate the show to such an extent that when TV-am found itself lacking a school holidays programme after the sale of Roland Rat to the BBC, he was offered the chance to present the replacement solo. The replacement, a spin-off of Wide Awake Club, was called Wacaday and began broadcasting in 1985.
Wacaday was even more successful than its parent. The programme was characterised by games such as 'Mallett's Mallet', where contestants were hit over the head by his famed mallet for getting answers wrong. A talking mini version of the mallet called Pinky Punky was introduced and soon became one of Mallett's established sidekicks along with Magic, his pet cocatiel.
At the height of his fame, Mallett formed the band Bombalurina and released the single 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini'. The song, produced by none other than Andrew Lloyd Webber, entered the UK charts at number 23, rose to 13 the next week, then to 3 and finally to number 1 on August 19th 1990, where it stayed for three weeks. More than 1,000,000 copies of the single were sold in the UK before it went on to be a hit in over a dozen more countries. More, less successful, singles followed as well as an album, Huggin' an' a Kissin'.
Another memorable moment occurred when Mallett met the then-Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher - and hit her over the head with his giant mallet.
Wacaday ended in 1992 when TV-am lost its licence. Since then Mallett has made only limited TV appearances, preferring to concentrate on his behind-the-camera career centred around his production company, Brilliant TV.
As well as his broadcasting work, Mallett tours a lot of students' unions, performing for students who remember watching Wacaday when they were children. He also regularly performs in panto.
Mallett briefly returned to the limelight at the end of 2001 when he rescued a woman who had fallen into freezing waters at a marina in Hartlepool.
See Also
- Wide Awake Club
- Wacaday
- TV-am
- Pinky Punky
- Magic (cockatiel)
- Bombalurina
- Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
- Huggin' an' a Kissin'
- Brilliant TV
External Links
- Official Site (http://www.timmymallett.co.uk/)
- BBC News: Mallett to the Rescue (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1735261.stm)
- BBC Radio Essex Interview (2003) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/features/essex_celeb/timmy_mallett.shtml)