Metal Mickey

2024-05-21T22:59:55Z

2A02:C7C:5D4A:1C00:A534:B7B:91A6:CDAB:

{{Short description|Children's TV sitcom (ITV, 1980–83)}}
{{About|the 1980s TV show|the Suede song|Metal Mickey (song)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
[[File:Metal Mickey.jpg|thumb|Metal Mickey, a robot character on UK children's television in the 1980s]]

'''Metal Mickey''' is a fictional five-foot-tall [[robot]], as well as the name of a [[Spin-off (media)|spin-off]] television show starring the same character. The robot character was created, controlled and voiced (using a [[Vocoder]]) by [[Johnny Edward]].

The character of Metal Mickey first appeared on British television in the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] children's magazine show ''[[The Saturday Banana]]'', produced by [[Southern Television]] in 1978. [[Humphrey Barclay]] saw Mickey on [[Jimmy Savile]]'s ''[[Jim'll Fix It]]'' television show. Seeing the children chatting in the marketplace with the friendly robot led to the creation of the ''Metal Mickey'' television show. Within a month the pilot had been video-taped, and shortly after this the series went live with its first six episodes. 41 episodes were made in total, broadcast over three separate series between September 1980 and January 1983. The show attracted viewing figures of around 12 million at its peak.<ref>Jictar rating</ref> [[Micky Dolenz]], formerly of [[The Monkees]] pop group, was brought in to produce and direct the series along with Nic Phillips and David Crossman.

In 2001, the show was voted number 58 in Channel 4’s 100 Greatest Kids TV Shows.

==''Metal Mickey'' television show==
{{Infobox television
| italic_title = no
| image = Metal Mickey title card.jpg
| creator =
| starring = Metal Mickey
| writer = [[Colin Bostock-Smith]]
| channel = [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]
| first_aired = {{start date|1980|9|6|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{end date|1983|1|15|df=y}}
| country = United Kingdom
| producer = [[Michael Dolenz]]
| company = [[London Weekend Television]]
}}
The television show was created under [[LWT]]'s [[Humphrey Barclay]] who described ''Metal Mickey'' as a show "with the appeal of ''[[Star Wars]]'', the [[Dalek]]s and ''[[Mork and Mindy]]''".<ref>[[The Guardian]], ''Situations vacant''; 27 May 1980</ref> It ran from 1980 to 1983.

The series was set in the home of an ordinary British family, whose youngest child was a science [[boffin]], who had created Metal Mickey to help around the home.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/m/metalmickey_1299002058.shtml|title=BBC - Comedy Guide - Metal Mickey|date=3 November 2004|accessdate=18 October 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041103005253/http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/m/metalmickey_1299002058.shtml|archivedate=3 November 2004|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The family consisted of a mother and father, three children and a grandmother. The show was made by [[London Weekend Television]] and shown on the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] network, with the entire run of 41 episodes being written by comedy writer [[Colin Bostock-Smith]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/television/54151/the_den_of_geek_interview_colin_bostocksmith.html |title=The Den of Geek interview: Colin Bostock-Smith |publisher=Den of Geek |date=2008-05-14 |accessdate=2012-09-24}}</ref>

British comedy actress [[Irene Handl]] played the grandmother, whom Mickey affectionately called "my little fruitbat" (she in turn would call him "Fluff"). He also referred to his inventor as "Clever Clogs", his inventor's sister as "Stringbean" and their father as "Bootface". Handl was never at home with science fiction, either watching it or appearing in it. She famously told BBC presenter [[Noel Edmonds]], when he asked her whether she cried over the death of [[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial|E.T.]], "Why should I cry over a bleedin' [[Vacuum cleaner|Hoover]] attachment?"

Metal Mickey's catchphrase was "boogie, boogie", and his favourite treat were Atomic Thunderbusters (which had the appearance of lemon [[bonbon]]s). At the height of the series' popularity, fizzbomb sweets were marketed in the UK under the name Metal Mickey's Atomic Thunderbusters.

===Cast===
*[[Michael Stainton]] ... Father
*Georgina Melville ... Mother
*[[Ashley Knight]] ... Ken
*Lucinda Bateson ... Haley
*[[Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey|Lola Young]] ... Janey
*[[Gary Shail]] ... Steve
*Metal Mickey ... Metal Mickey
*[[Irene Handl]] ... Granny

===Production credits===
*Directors: [[Michael Dolenz]], David Crossman, Nic Phillips
*Producer: Michael Dolenz
*Writer: Colin Bostock-Smith
*Designers: Mike Oxley, Rae George, David Catley, James Dillion, Phil Coulter
*Music: Phil Coulter

===DVD releases===
The first two series of ''Metal Mickey'' have been released on DVD. The third series was due to be released in mid-2009.

==Discography==
Metal Mickey was credited as artist on several record releases, some of them on his own label "Mickeypops":<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/artist/metal-mickey|title=Metal Mickey Discography - UK - 45cat|website=www.45cat.com}}</ref>
*"[[Lollipop (1958 song)|Lollipop]]"/"Eugene" ([[EMI]], 1979)
*"Metal Mickey Magic"/"Meet Metal Mickey" (Mickeypops, 1980)
*"Sillycon Chip"/"Dubb Vahzun" (Mickeypops, 1981)
*"Do The Funky Robot"/"Do The Funky Robot Again" (Mickeypops, 1982)
*"Theme Tune From 'Metal Mickey'"/"Fruitbat Rap" (Hollywood, 1982)
*"[[I Want To Hold Your Hand|I Wanna Hold Your Hand]]"/"Eugene Machino" (Hollywood, 1983)

==See also==
*[[List of fictional robots and androids]]
*[[Science fiction sitcom]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0163467|Metal Mickey}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081219110716/http://metalmickey.com/ Metal Mickey Official Site]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090322062612/http://www.itv.com/ClassicTVshows/kids/MetalMickey/default.html Metal Mickey — ITV TV Classics; including the complete first series available to watch online]

[[Category:1980 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:1983 British television series endings]]
[[Category:1980s British children's television series]]
[[Category:ITV children's television shows]]
[[Category:ITV sitcoms]]
[[Category:Fictional robots]]
[[Category:London Weekend Television shows]]
[[Category:British television shows featuring puppetry]]
[[Category:Television series by ITV Studios]]
[[Category:Television characters introduced in 1978]]
[[Category:British science fiction television shows]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]
[[Category:1980s science fiction television series|British]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Metal Mickey