Metal Mickey ( TV Series 1980 - 1983 )
Plot
Metal Mickey was a five-foot-tall fictional robot, which was created, controlled and voiced by Johnny Edward. A modernised vision of a 1950s space toy, Metal Mickey first appeared on British television in the ITV children's magazine show The Saturday Banana, produced by Southern Television in 1978. Humphrey Barclay saw Mickey on Jimmy Saville's 'Jimm'l Fix It' and seeing the kids chatting in the marketplace with our friendly robot, he realised this was what he was looking for! The Metal Mickey TV Show was born... within a month the pilot was videoptaped and shortly the series went live with it's first six episodes. Thirty nine episodes were made in all.
The Metal Mickey TV Show ran from 1980 to 1983. The show 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. The family consisted of a mother and father, three children and a grandmother. The show was made by London Weekend Television and shown on ITV network.
British comedy actress Irene Handl played the grandmother, whom Mickey affectionately called "my little fruitbat". 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., "Why should I cry over a bleedin' Hoover attachment?"
Metal Mickey's catchphrase was "boogie, boogie", and his favourite treat was Atomic Thunderbusters (which had the appearance of lemon bonbons).
In 2008, Metal Mickey made a public appearance at a Toy and Model Fair in Portsmouth. On this occasion, Johnny Edward was available for photos and autographs, while Mickey was operated and voiced on this one occasion by by Liverpudlian actor Lee Jackson. In 2010, he appeared as a guest DJ at a Club de Fromage event at the O2 Academy Islington. He is currently being redesigned as a CG character and a pilot has been written.
Cast
Michael Stainton ... Father
Georgina Melville ... Mother
Ashley Knight ... Ken
Lucinda Bateson ... Haley
Lola Young ... Janey
Gary Shail ... Steve
Metal Mickey ... Metal Mickey
Irene Handl ... Granny
Episode Guide
Series 1
Metal Mickey Lives
School Master Mickey
Mickey Makes Money
Taking the Mickey
Hiccy Mickey
Top Secret Mickey
Mickey In Love
Music Man Mickey
Series 2
Caveman Mickey
Mickey the Demon Barber
Hard Man Mickey
Many a Mickey
Mickey Plays Cupid
Series 3
It Came From Outer Mickey
A Girlfriend for Mickey
Goodbye Mickey
Mickey and the Future
Football Crazy Mickey
Medical Mickey
Fairy Godmother Mickey
Marshall Mickey
Merry Christmas Mickey
Panto Mickey
Series 4
Maturity Mickey
A Night Out With Mickey
Go Away Mickey
Video Mickey
His Worship the Mickey
Yogi Mickey
Fancy Mickey
Mickey Meets Mumsie
Mickey Under Siege
The Incredible Shrinking Mickey
Mickey Pops The Question
Somebody Stop Mickey
Mickey Saves The World
Detective Mickey
Mickey To The Rescue
Mickey and the Magic Wishbone
