When this was on CITV (Children's Integalactic Television) I used to think it was one of the best entertainment shows for kids, and you could enjoy every minute of it. With the great array of characters in the large comic book activated by remote control, there was never a dull moment. These great characters and acts included the mean keen Daisy Dare, Claire Macaulay (Deborah McCallum), a blue glove and yellow glove both creating something, The Handymen (Sarah Pickthall), the silly almost Mr. Bean like Cuthbert Lilly (Richard Waites), my favourite creative and overactive artist Smarty Arty (Art Attack's Neil Buchanan, who also created all colourful backgrounds). The only one I wanted ignore was the pretty ridiculous Smarty Arty replacement, Minnie the Mini Magician (Sophie Aldred). It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Entertainment. Good for kids!
8 Reviews
A great start to the weekend
Liquid-Snake12 October 2005
Ahh. I almost forgot about ZZZap! and all the other Friday shows that followed. For me, this was the start of the weekend after school on Fridays. For as long as i watched it, the show never changed yet continued to mesmerise.
Cuthbert Lilly - A failed Sting impersonator, trying to make his way in the world doing different odd-jobs here and there.
Smart Art - The big blue cloaked fellow whose magic pen brought cars and washing machines to life.
Daisy Dares You - The mischievous hillbilly that dragged schoolkids into insane challenges.
The Handymen - A blue glove and a yellow glove joining forces in the only real competition to Blue Peter's 'here's-one-I-made-earlier' malarkey. THE HANDYMEN MADE CHOC-ICES, RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES!!!
All these were separated by 30 seconds of guessing an item from close up, usually bubble-wrap or a BIC biro.
Friday TEA-TIMES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.
ZZZap![1993-2001]: You will be missed. R.I.P.
Cuthbert Lilly - A failed Sting impersonator, trying to make his way in the world doing different odd-jobs here and there.
Smart Art - The big blue cloaked fellow whose magic pen brought cars and washing machines to life.
Daisy Dares You - The mischievous hillbilly that dragged schoolkids into insane challenges.
The Handymen - A blue glove and a yellow glove joining forces in the only real competition to Blue Peter's 'here's-one-I-made-earlier' malarkey. THE HANDYMEN MADE CHOC-ICES, RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES!!!
All these were separated by 30 seconds of guessing an item from close up, usually bubble-wrap or a BIC biro.
Friday TEA-TIMES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.
ZZZap![1993-2001]: You will be missed. R.I.P.
Masterpiece
Duzniak382 August 2006
Zzzap! is a fantastic TV show. It ran from 1993-2001 and is now being sorely missed. Series One of Zzzap! was just excellent. Cuthbert Lily, Daisy Dares You, Smarty Arty, The Handymen and Tricky Dicky were just some of the weird and wonderful characters contained in this giant comic. Zzzap! was basically comic sketches come to life. Each characters antics would be watched through the panels of each comic frame. Zzzap! was originally designed for deaf children, so it has a much wider visual appeal, ensuring all of the story lines key elements are portrayed through the characters movements and through big comical words popping up on the screen. The big characters have always been Cuthbert Lily and Daisy Dares. Cuthbert Lily was a fantastic slapstick legend. He was dead silly, and always ended up getting into mishap or trouble! Daisy Dares was a ragtag young woman who would get kicks out of making a crowd of schoolchildren complete a practically impossible task; usually involving cold baked beans, old milkshake, or anything mouldy, rancid, old and gunky. There has also always been the Handyman as well. Expert craftsmen in the form of two silk-gloved arms. These arms would make games, food, drinks and toys right before your very eyes, in a clear and concise manner, in a way that makes it easy for children both deaf and hearing to remember how to make. Then, there was Smarty Arty (played by the fantastic Neil Buchanan), a fantastically funny artist, who could draw things such as cars and people, and make them come to life! In the recent series there has also been the goof-ball character Minnie the Mini Magician, and irritating, boring character; but don't let her put you off of this unmissable television show. Two thumbs up!
ZZZap! is Fantastic.
Professor_Burp31 December 2006
What can I say about ZZZap!? It was one of the best children's TV shows ever made. Every Friday afternoon, 15 minutes of laughs, fun and general happiness at the thought of getting home and watching ZZZap!.
The show revolved around a TV comic which had come to life. It starred: Cuthbert Lilly, Played By Richard Waites: A character which has been in every episode of ZZZap! His frame says: Cuthbert Lilly: He's Dead Silly.
Daisy Dares You, Played By Deborah McCallum (Series 2 - 8) and then Claire Macaulay (Series 9 and 10): A character who likes to set different and sometimes messy challenges for groups of children.
Smart Arty, Played By Neil Buchanan: A character which in the first series made big pictures out of different materials, and in Series 2 - 7 had a magic pen which brought anything he drew to life.
The Handymen, Played By Sarah Pickthall: Two hands which made lots of tricks and interesting things too make.
Minnie The Mini Magician, Played By Sophie Aldred: A witch who was in learning, and made a lot of her spells go wrong.
Tricky Dicky, Played By Richard Waites: A character who was considered scary for young children only appeared in Series 1, made difficult and messy challenges for groups of Children.
Although aimed at Deaf Children, ZZZap! can be enjoyed by everyone.
Lots of people liked this show, and although there were many changes over the course of the Ten series, it was and still is one of the best, if not the best Children's show on TV.
ZZZap! 1993 - 2001.
The show revolved around a TV comic which had come to life. It starred: Cuthbert Lilly, Played By Richard Waites: A character which has been in every episode of ZZZap! His frame says: Cuthbert Lilly: He's Dead Silly.
Daisy Dares You, Played By Deborah McCallum (Series 2 - 8) and then Claire Macaulay (Series 9 and 10): A character who likes to set different and sometimes messy challenges for groups of children.
Smart Arty, Played By Neil Buchanan: A character which in the first series made big pictures out of different materials, and in Series 2 - 7 had a magic pen which brought anything he drew to life.
The Handymen, Played By Sarah Pickthall: Two hands which made lots of tricks and interesting things too make.
Minnie The Mini Magician, Played By Sophie Aldred: A witch who was in learning, and made a lot of her spells go wrong.
Tricky Dicky, Played By Richard Waites: A character who was considered scary for young children only appeared in Series 1, made difficult and messy challenges for groups of Children.
Although aimed at Deaf Children, ZZZap! can be enjoyed by everyone.
Lots of people liked this show, and although there were many changes over the course of the Ten series, it was and still is one of the best, if not the best Children's show on TV.
ZZZap! 1993 - 2001.
Greatest Kids Show On Television
solidsnake121127 June 2006
Zzzap! by far was the greatest TV show i have ever seen. I still have a huge interest in it. It is about a comic that comes to life with all these wacky characters. The show went on from 1993-2001 and since then a majority of the characters have been swapped. The first series had characters including Cuthbert Lilly, Smart Arty, Tricky Dicky(my personal favourite), The Handymen and a puzzle page, From the on up to the end of series 8 the characters were Cuthbert Lilly, Smart Arty, Daisy Dares You, The Handymen and the puzzle page. From 9-11 the characters were Cuthbert Lilly, Minnie The mini magician, The Handymen, Daisy Dares You, and a few more puzzle page. At the very last season it was completely different and the giant comic was scrapped. All the characters stayed the same but instead of the comic it just had squares floating around the screen which was rather disappointing. Zzzap was excellent and made my childhood a thing to remember. I am still in search of episodes of the first season. I would highly recommend it to ANYONE
And the most addictive series from your childhood you watch on YouTube goes to...
IAmMrDexB10 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
... ZZZap! It's obviously a good reminder that children's television was better than nowadays.
In this show, ZZZap! is not based around talking but silent sketches with sound effects and voices done mostly by Neil Buchanan, later done by the actors themselves when Smarty Arty (same person) left.
The characters: Cuthbert Lilly, the main character played by Richard Waites. He is Mr. Bean-like but goes into sillier situations such as destroying antiques, trying to get some, (literally) frozen ice cream out and posting flowers (complete with the flower pot) for a birthday.
Smarty Arty, as I said played by Neil Buchanan. An artist who draws things that come to life. Similar to Penny Crayon but like Cuthbert Lilly with sillier situations.
Minnie the Mini Magician, the replacement played by Doctor Who alumni Sophie Aldred. Unfortunately, the most disliked of all of the characters. A magician in training who practises with stuff and try to solve her mistakes.
The Handymen, a pair of blue and yellow hands who appear in an educational segment with recipes, magic tricks and arts and crafts.
Tricky Dicky, also played by Richard Waites. A man in a disguise who investigates if a group of kids (as well as adults) who win a challenge which is harder compared to a smaller version. If they win, he holds a sign Mission Possible, if they don't, Mission Impossible
Daisy Dares, played by Deborah McCallum, later by Claire Macaulay. A replacement for Tricky Dicky but in a female form and has a tantrum or a laugh instead of holding a sign.
Now, about the final few series. The first 5 series are perfect. But I have other reasons why I didn't like the final 5 as much. The sound effects started to go downhill. I think the voices changed too much, particularly to Daisy Dares. And the splodges sounded less like gunge and more like well, you don't want to know. Minnie wasn't bad at all! But the worst thing on the final 3 series was the animation. Where did the remote go? The loss of the sparks in the animation to be replaced with a explosion made the word ZZZap! a little more difficult to understand.
But other than that, it was a fantastic show overall and now I'm addicted to it on YouTube. Feels great watching it on YouTube, usually when I'm bored to pieces with TV one night. So, to any kids out there, don't go to the current Kids' TV! It's just full of American imports set in talent schools (see Victorious), features overacting, auto-tuned guys who work with a real idiot who only supports commercial music (see Big Time Rush) and people just jump into music, even if they don't want to (see The Entire Disney Channel). The British stuff hasn't been the same without gunge and more recently creamy muck muck with Dick and Dom. 90s/00s kids TV rules and will always rule!
In this show, ZZZap! is not based around talking but silent sketches with sound effects and voices done mostly by Neil Buchanan, later done by the actors themselves when Smarty Arty (same person) left.
The characters: Cuthbert Lilly, the main character played by Richard Waites. He is Mr. Bean-like but goes into sillier situations such as destroying antiques, trying to get some, (literally) frozen ice cream out and posting flowers (complete with the flower pot) for a birthday.
Smarty Arty, as I said played by Neil Buchanan. An artist who draws things that come to life. Similar to Penny Crayon but like Cuthbert Lilly with sillier situations.
Minnie the Mini Magician, the replacement played by Doctor Who alumni Sophie Aldred. Unfortunately, the most disliked of all of the characters. A magician in training who practises with stuff and try to solve her mistakes.
The Handymen, a pair of blue and yellow hands who appear in an educational segment with recipes, magic tricks and arts and crafts.
Tricky Dicky, also played by Richard Waites. A man in a disguise who investigates if a group of kids (as well as adults) who win a challenge which is harder compared to a smaller version. If they win, he holds a sign Mission Possible, if they don't, Mission Impossible
Daisy Dares, played by Deborah McCallum, later by Claire Macaulay. A replacement for Tricky Dicky but in a female form and has a tantrum or a laugh instead of holding a sign.
Now, about the final few series. The first 5 series are perfect. But I have other reasons why I didn't like the final 5 as much. The sound effects started to go downhill. I think the voices changed too much, particularly to Daisy Dares. And the splodges sounded less like gunge and more like well, you don't want to know. Minnie wasn't bad at all! But the worst thing on the final 3 series was the animation. Where did the remote go? The loss of the sparks in the animation to be replaced with a explosion made the word ZZZap! a little more difficult to understand.
But other than that, it was a fantastic show overall and now I'm addicted to it on YouTube. Feels great watching it on YouTube, usually when I'm bored to pieces with TV one night. So, to any kids out there, don't go to the current Kids' TV! It's just full of American imports set in talent schools (see Victorious), features overacting, auto-tuned guys who work with a real idiot who only supports commercial music (see Big Time Rush) and people just jump into music, even if they don't want to (see The Entire Disney Channel). The British stuff hasn't been the same without gunge and more recently creamy muck muck with Dick and Dom. 90s/00s kids TV rules and will always rule!
Tricky Dicky - Should he have stayed?
black_delcatty23 April 2007
Hello Zzzap fans. I have a question for you all. Do you think Tricky should have stayed longer than series 1? I think he should have done as it wasn't fair.
Zzzap was a unique show i must admit combining the comic and the TV together in other words. SIMPLY AMAZING.
Only thing wrong with it is that we can't buy a Zzzap comic anywhere :( Plus who is your favourite character? Mine is Tricky Dicky and Minnie. I have given Zzzap a 9/10 in greatness But back to Tricky Dicky's Jelly sketch. He wasn't being scary he was just being friendly but the people didn't seem to notice that
Zzzap was a unique show i must admit combining the comic and the TV together in other words. SIMPLY AMAZING.
Only thing wrong with it is that we can't buy a Zzzap comic anywhere :( Plus who is your favourite character? Mine is Tricky Dicky and Minnie. I have given Zzzap a 9/10 in greatness But back to Tricky Dicky's Jelly sketch. He wasn't being scary he was just being friendly but the people didn't seem to notice that
A show of very few words!
Rabical-9127 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This fondly remembered kids show for ITV was enjoyed by a wide audience of the young and old alike. With there being no dialogue, very little needed to be understood. It was all just visual fun performed with such energy and gusto by the cast members.
Each episode would open with a huge comic book appearing on screen. The camera would then zoom in on a window of the comic containing a character. The strip would then come to life and see the character in question performing a slapstick comedy sketch involving a particular situation.
Characters in 'ZZZap!' included the brightly dressed and unbelievably clumsy 'Cuthbert Lilley' ( ''He's dead silly!'' ) who would often try to do something normal like decorating, only to mess it up in a unbelievably stupid way. 'Smarty Arty' would create ( very well done ) drawings which would come to life. For instance, if he drew a door, he would be able to open it! Then there were 'The Handymen', a pair of disembodied hands which would perform magic tricks or arts and crafts. My favourite character however was Daisy Dare, a pig-tailed young girl who would often instruct children to get involved in messy pranks. Most of the time Daisy would have her day, but very occasionally the children would get one over on her, resulting in her crying in a fit of temper!
The sketches were often wonderfully performed and the incidental music caught the flavour of the whole piece excellently. Great fun for all the family.
Incidentally, Neil Buchanan, who played Smarty Arty, was a big hit on the BBC with his talent for art in the long running kids show 'Art Attack'.
Each episode would open with a huge comic book appearing on screen. The camera would then zoom in on a window of the comic containing a character. The strip would then come to life and see the character in question performing a slapstick comedy sketch involving a particular situation.
Characters in 'ZZZap!' included the brightly dressed and unbelievably clumsy 'Cuthbert Lilley' ( ''He's dead silly!'' ) who would often try to do something normal like decorating, only to mess it up in a unbelievably stupid way. 'Smarty Arty' would create ( very well done ) drawings which would come to life. For instance, if he drew a door, he would be able to open it! Then there were 'The Handymen', a pair of disembodied hands which would perform magic tricks or arts and crafts. My favourite character however was Daisy Dare, a pig-tailed young girl who would often instruct children to get involved in messy pranks. Most of the time Daisy would have her day, but very occasionally the children would get one over on her, resulting in her crying in a fit of temper!
The sketches were often wonderfully performed and the incidental music caught the flavour of the whole piece excellently. Great fun for all the family.
Incidentally, Neil Buchanan, who played Smarty Arty, was a big hit on the BBC with his talent for art in the long running kids show 'Art Attack'.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
