Wide Awake Club, 1984
Wide Awake Club was a long running Saturday morning kids TV show.
It started life as an hour long live show broadcast from 8.30 to 9.30 Saturday mornings as part of then TVam. Originally presented by Arabella Warner, James Baker, Timmy Mallet and Michaela Strachan.
Wide Awake Club became an instant hit, so much so that after returning from it’s summer break on Saturday 14th September 1985 the show now ran for almost two hours.
Wide Awake Club would continue for many years with only minor changes to the format. However, in April 1989 it was relaunched as WAC ’90, a longer programme broadcast from Granada’s Manchester studios as opposed to TVam’s London base. In June 1990 WAC ’90 came to an end.
During it’s run Wide Awake Club produced two spin offs Wacaday shown on a morning during school holidays and WAC Extra a Sunday moring version of the show.
WAC Extra finished in 1990 whilst Wacaday continued until TVam lost it’s franchise in 1992.
Summary
Wide Awake Club was a live programme. It combined comedy, games, celebrity guests, competitions and viewer interaction.
There were also more educational features, that would include visiting experts such as Carol Vorderman for the science slot, as well as attempts to explain historical and contemporary events like the Cold War. A spelling contest, ‘Bonk and Boob’ was praised by teachers for encouraging children to learn to spell properly.
Clips
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Presenters
Arabella Warner
James Baker
Timmy Mallett
Tommy Boyd
Michaela Strachan
Details
Channel: ITV
Devised By: Nick Wilson
Original Transmission Dates: 1984 – 1990