''WOW!'' is a children's entertainment magazine programme, broadcast in 1996 on the UK's ITV television network (under the

CITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

ing). It aired for 16 weeks from 31 August to 14 December 1996, preceded by the Summer 1996 run of Scratchy & Co. and followed by the spring 1997 run of the same show. The presenters of ''WOW!'' were Simeon Courtie (previously of

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

) and

Sophie Aldred Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''D ...

(a former

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

star). The programme was broadcast from

The Maidstone Studios The Maidstone Studios, formerly TVS Television Centre, is the largest independent television studio complex in the United Kingdom, and is based at Vinters Business Park in Maidstone, Kent, England. It has been home to a varied selection of inde ...

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, also home over the years to shows such as No. 73,

Motormouth ''Motormouth'' was a Saturday morning children's entertainment series that was produced by TVS and broadcast across the ITV network for four series, running between 3 September 1988 and 4 April 1992. Each series generally ran from the autum ...

, and

Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown ''Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown'' (previously titled ''Ministry of Mayhem'' and ''MoM'') is a British children's entertainment programme that was broadcast on ITV (later CITV) from 10 January 2004 to 1 July 2006. Overview ''Ministry of ...

. (On one occasion, a power issue in the studio meant that part of the episode was an outside broadcast from the studio car park.) The programme was produced by The Media Merchants in association with

Meridian Television ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at midnight on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...

for ITV. The show was a live, anarchic, entertainment magazine similar to

Tiswas ''Tiswas'' (; an acronym of "Today Is Saturday: Watch And Smile") was a British children's television series that originally aired on Saturday mornings from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982 and was produced for the ITV network by ATV. It was c ...

. It featured imported cartoons, guest interviews and music performances, games and competitions, and comedy. Comic characters featured within the show included the 'Tea Ladies' - played by male actors Peter Cocks and Woody Taylor - supposedly 'interrupting' the show to provide banter and bicker with the guests; and Sidney the Fly (A British Bluebottle), a

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...

arachnid voiced by Phil Cornwell. The show was originally expected to air up until April 1997, however CITV's budget was cut considerably after ITV purchased the rights to

Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor racing from the BBC. This led to both ''WOW!'' and its sister programme ''The Noise'' being cancelled after just half a series each, with both shows being brought to an abrupt end before Christmas 1996, and were replaced by the third series of Scratchy & Co. which began airing many months earlier than originally planned. The following autumn, ITV launched its latest Saturday morning series called '' Tricky''.

References

External links

*
''WOW!''
on Paul Morris' SatKids {{British Saturday morning television 1996 British television series debuts 1996 British television series endings 1990s British children's television series British television shows featuring puppetry British English-language television shows ITV children's television shows Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Mattel Television Television shows produced by Meridian Broadcasting