I must've had a great big grin on my face the entire time while re-watching this. It's such an awesomely nostalgic feeling to be brought right back to a time when television just had so much more character and soul overall. What's ironic is that, as a result of that feeling, I'm appreciating this programme today even more so than I did as a young'un.
I wasn't aware that Tricky Dicky preceded Daisy in this series, but yeah, I can imagine that his design and concept might've been seen by some as being a bit, shall we say, suspect, when you consider that he's interacting with young'uns. It makes sense that the producers changed to the character idea of Daisy for season 2 and onwards.
This has just brought it back. I have a really early memory of watching these end credits, we're talking 97 or 8, I was absolutely tiny at the time, it must have been a repeat, and I think even then I remember wondering what happened to the normal ones. So strange seeing it again.
I re-descovered Zzzap! 2 yesterday having not seen it in probably 15 years, it initially terrified me but now I can't stop going back to it. Thank you for posting the first ep. I think Tricky probably did scare me when I was little, and he was played by Richard but voiced by Neil fun reading the comments and seeing people feel exactly as I do about it.
The introduction to Series 1 was filmed in Chequers Shopping Centre in Maidstone showing a boy buying a copy of a comic called "ZZZap!" from a newsagent.
The shopping centre is the Chequers Mall in Maidstone. Studio work was at the Maidstone Studios, formely a TVS studio, while Cuthbert / Daisy and Tricky Dicky's exteriors were shot around Maidstone / Faversham sometimes brancing off to Dreamland in Margate, Rotunda in Folkestone and the coast. Alot of the school children featured in Art Attack, were from schools in Kent as seen in the credits. I met Richard Waites in Maidstone 1996 as they were filming a Cuthbert sketch and got his autograph!
+Chris Marshall (Noxy83) Yeah I'm getting that impression by watching this, I was only 1 when this show started, so it wasn't till about 96/97ish when I started watching :)
@REDANGELMUNNS The ironic thing is that Daisy, the character who replaced him, was far scarier (at least she was to me). I thought Tricky Dicky's was great; the music and the mystery setting were so exciting when I was a kid! I wonder whether the real reason so many parents complained was because some idiot parents thought the name was too sexual?
Loved this as a kid, kinda creepy now I feel like one of the kids from the candlelight cove creepy pasta; next someone else will remember the episode when the hands strangled someone... im not sleeping tonight
@EmoTheElephant They got rid of him because he scared the younger viewers, apparently. I was already 11 when the show started so I wasn't particularly creeped out but I can understand why he might have scared little kids. I can't remember those panels ever doing anything, I think they were just there for visual effect. :)
i remember zzzap!!! xDD i watched this all the time when i was like 4 or 5 years old!!!! :DDor maybe younger!! ^^ i only remember the hands and smarty arty!!! ^0^~~#
Hey everyone, I've also posted this on the first episode of Zzzap video on my channel as well but after some info! Does anyone know where abouts they filmed the Tricky Dicky scene on this episode? Part of me is guessing it may have been at the old West Malling Airfield near Maidstone which is now the Kings Hill Development? I recognise most locations such as Weak Street, Chequers Centre (now The Mall) around Maidstone. Would be interesting if someone could confirm this location! Absolutely loved this show as a kid and whenever I visit Maidstone always reminds me of Zzzap!
@christhecoolboy I simply asked the Media Merchants and they gave these eps to me. But I'm afraid they've disbanded now since then. And yes, Richard Waites did indeed play both Tricky Dicky and Cuthbert Lilly.
tricky dick was always my favourite. It was the whole mystery behind what he really looked like that intrigued me when I was a kid (Like Dr Claw in Inspector Gadget). I remember when I discovered this show I saw one ep with him and the very next time it was on he'd been replaced. I was furious lol
@JOEDEAN2008 Totally agree... I didnt know it was him... I got a question for everyone, how much footage is there of Richard Waites actually speaking... and did he speak on "Cuthbert's Diary"
hi was you ever in any of the zzzap sketchs.also do you know what Richard waites is doing today as I read on Wikipedia he was other TV shows. From Tara
Dan, How did you get a copy of the original episodes from MM? I want another series of Zzzap, if u ever have 2 go back to MM, can u suggest it to them lol, oh... also didnt richard (waites) play tricky as well as Cuthbert? BOY! He must of had a busy schedule!
I've never seen tricky dicky before, did they get rid of him cause he looked like a bit suspicious in that get up whilst driving a bus full of kids? Does anyone know what the foot waving/moving eye/laughing clown panels did cause I never got to see them.
i would love to have popped balloons... with a man wearing a raincoat and mask watchin me :S im soo glad i dont remember tricky dicky, hes too creepy; ill stick with daisy any day
@MisterTwoPiece yes it is. It was given to me by the Media Merchants, whose production code is at the beginning of part 1. They cheerfullly informed me that this wasthe first episode.
Tricky Dicky! THAT was his name. He used to freak me out no end when I was a kid. If I'd have remembered the effeminate little 'tee hee hee!' I think I would've been a lot less scared... Still, why aren't there still programmes like this nowadays and less animated drivel? What happened to simple pleasures like popping balloons on a bus?!
haha no I was only a year old when this show was first on the air. And I don't think richard waites has done much since leaving, I think he was in another children's show for like one episode but that's it. Any other questions just ask ;)
@MsStarsea I heard something different, I heard that richard waites who played both Cuthbert and Tricky, couldnt deal with both and after series 1, Tricky was axed cause of that reason and they also wanted a girl on the show as all the characters were men!!! thats what I heard...
@christhecoolboy Could be, I'm just going by what Wikipedia says. I'd post the link but it won't let me. Search for 'List of Zzzap! characters' You'd have to ask Richard Waites for the full story!
I know it's only meant as a joke n all but I wish people wouldn't say that. He was my favourite character as a kid and I imagine for anyone who's really been molested in real life, there's nothing funny about it.
ahh the good old days. now with health and safety they wouldn't even be able to show something like that. the kids on bus should have been seated or wearing seatbelts lol
@dandaman62 I Know!!! I came on herre looking for him! That detective dude, seriously!! I couldn't wee at night when I was a kid because I was worried he was outside the bathroom window!! Lol
Why aren't those children sat down and belted in whilst the coach is moving? How irresponsible. That is such a violation of; and shows a complete disregard for,the health and safety of those kids.
Ever been on a city bus? still no seatbelts on them and they allow standing passengers. this is on some disused airfield with nothing to crash into probabluy going 30mph at most.
I must've had a great big grin on my face the entire time while re-watching this. It's such an awesomely nostalgic feeling to be brought right back to a time when television just had so much more character and soul overall. What's ironic is that, as a result of that feeling, I'm appreciating this programme today even more so than I did as a young'un.
I loved tricky dicky, no one ever remembered him!! but looking back at this now... he seems a bit creepy haha.
I wasn't aware that Tricky Dicky preceded Daisy in this series, but yeah, I can imagine that his design and concept might've been seen by some as being a bit, shall we say, suspect, when you consider that he's interacting with young'uns. It makes sense that the producers changed to the character idea of Daisy for season 2 and onwards.
This has just brought it back. I have a really early memory of watching these end credits, we're talking 97 or 8, I was absolutely tiny at the time, it must have been a repeat, and I think even then I remember wondering what happened to the normal ones. So strange seeing it again.
I re-descovered Zzzap! 2 yesterday having not seen it in probably 15 years, it initially terrified me but now I can't stop going back to it. Thank you for posting the first ep. I think Tricky probably did scare me when I was little, and he was played by Richard but voiced by Neil fun reading the comments and seeing people feel exactly as I do about it.
I used to get excited on fridays for this!!! the bit when it hovers over the comic is so creepy, but I like that
Tricky Dicky: the first Mythbuster
SHiiiiiiiit! I never realised the shopping centre they're in was the Chequers centre?! Thats like 10 minutes from me.
The introduction to Series 1 was filmed in Chequers Shopping Centre in Maidstone showing a boy buying a copy of a comic called "ZZZap!" from a newsagent.
The Tricky Dickey theme sounds a lot like "The Pink Panther Theme"!
And a bit of In the hall of the mountain king.
couldn't help but bop and jive to the Tricky Dicky music XD
Tricky Dicky scared me as a child....and looking back at it, this whole show is...really weird and unsettling
Tricky Dicky scares me
Watching this has only reminded me just how terrifying and disturbing I found this entire show as a child.
The Handymen were always my favorite.
Woah! I haven't watched this show in well over a decade and I could still hum the Handy Men's theme without thinking about it!
The Handymen is so very cute.
i used to be terrified when tricky dicky came up to the screen when i was 4 in 1996
The original and most known theme is a library track available from the De Wolfe library, titled 'Memories of the Music Hall' by Roger Webb
Anyone else notice how Cuthbert Lilly just chills at 0:09?
The shopping centre is the Chequers Mall in Maidstone.
Studio work was at the Maidstone Studios, formely a TVS studio, while Cuthbert / Daisy and Tricky Dicky's exteriors were shot around Maidstone / Faversham sometimes brancing off to Dreamland in Margate, Rotunda in Folkestone and the coast.
Alot of the school children featured in Art Attack, were from schools in Kent as seen in the credits.
I met Richard Waites in Maidstone 1996 as they were filming a Cuthbert sketch and got his autograph!
That's cool was richard funny as he was in zzap do you know what he been doing since he was in zzap read online he is a librian
Even as a kid, I thought the feel and sound of series one was a bit dark and surreal
+Chris Marshall (Noxy83) Yeah I'm getting that impression by watching this, I was only 1 when this show started, so it wasn't till about 96/97ish when I started watching :)
Tricky Dicky sort of reminds me of a less psychotic version of Rorschach from Watchmen :D
My God, the interludes with the giant comic book used to freak me out as a kid.
Tricky Dicky used to scare me lol
yse 2 watch this when i was a kid i miss all the old childrens programmes
YES. This is the REAL Zzzap!
Daisy Dare was a good character, but I always preferred Tricky Dicky.
When I was a kid I was scared to death of those hands.
Tricky Dicky looked like MC Hammer xD
@REDANGELMUNNS
The ironic thing is that Daisy, the character who replaced him, was far scarier (at least she was to me).
I thought Tricky Dicky's was great; the music and the mystery setting were so exciting when I was a kid!
I wonder whether the real reason so many parents complained was because some idiot parents thought the name was too sexual?
The lack of face probably
Loved this as a kid, kinda creepy now I feel like one of the kids from the candlelight cove creepy pasta; next someone else will remember the episode when the hands strangled someone... im not sleeping tonight
@EmoTheElephant They got rid of him because he scared the younger viewers, apparently. I was already 11 when the show started so I wasn't particularly creeped out but I can understand why he might have scared little kids.
I can't remember those panels ever doing anything, I think they were just there for visual effect. :)
Still not available in DVD yet..?! *sigh*
Just to put things into time perspective whilt this was being made they were making Vauxhall Cavalier MK3 SRi from new 😂❤
Nostalgia
i remember zzzap!!! xDD i watched this all the time when i was like 4 or 5 years old!!!! :DDor maybe younger!! ^^ i only remember the hands and smarty arty!!! ^0^~~#
Was quite scary when you look back at it
I would still buy this comic.
Tricky Dicky is blantley wearing a morph suit. ;D
Hey everyone, I've also posted this on the first episode of Zzzap video on my channel as well but after some info! Does anyone know where abouts they filmed the Tricky Dicky scene on this episode? Part of me is guessing it may have been at the old West Malling Airfield near Maidstone which is now the Kings Hill Development? I recognise most locations such as Weak Street, Chequers Centre (now The Mall) around Maidstone. Would be interesting if someone could confirm this location! Absolutely loved this show as a kid and whenever I visit Maidstone always reminds me of Zzzap!
@MisterTwoPiece other way round actually. Tricky Dicky was only present for one series (the first) then Daisy replaced him.
LOL @ 4:18 - It's the surprising adventures of Sir Digby Chicken Caesar!
The handymen was ALWAYS my favourite
Wait a minute, isn't that the same mall that the show Tricky TV is filmed for the wicked windups?
@christhecoolboy I simply asked the Media Merchants and they gave these eps to me. But I'm afraid they've disbanded now since then. And yes, Richard Waites did indeed play both Tricky Dicky and Cuthbert Lilly.
If want to do that bottle lifting trick that The Handymen did, you’d now have to use a pipe cleaner since they’re now trying to ban plastic straws.
tricky dick was always my favourite. It was the whole mystery behind what he really looked like that intrigued me when I was a kid (Like Dr Claw in Inspector Gadget). I remember when I discovered this show I saw one ep with him and the very next time it was on he'd been replaced. I was furious lol
Apparently he was deemed too scary for kids.
And let's face it, the part with the eyes at the start of his segment was pretty creepy.
Great TV!
i like how this was aimed at deaf kids
hense the words and why no one said anything..the music was just to keep kids entertained.
This used to trigger my ASMR as a kid
hi cool was you in any of the zzzap sketches.
@JOEDEAN2008 Totally agree... I didnt know it was him... I got a question for everyone, how much footage is there of Richard Waites actually speaking... and did he speak on "Cuthbert's Diary"
same here scousevampire! he used to give me nightmares!
hi was you ever in any of the zzzap sketchs.also do you know what Richard waites is doing today as I read on Wikipedia he was other TV shows. From Tara
lol I always wanted the screen to go to the eye and the leg :D
It visited the eye many times in the later series
@@SuperDouginator yeah it did but I wanted it in the earlier ones
It was the music inbetween when they used to go to the characters tht scared me :(
Tricky Dicky sounds a bit like John Alderton.
Dan, How did you get a copy of the original episodes from MM? I want another series of Zzzap, if u ever have 2 go back to MM, can u suggest it to them lol, oh... also didnt richard (waites) play tricky as well as Cuthbert? BOY! He must of had a busy schedule!
haha!! i used to love the handy man!!
do you know the leg under the eye was that ever used in zzzap
Whats the tune to the Handymen?
i used to have dreams about beeing in the shopping centre!
I've never seen tricky dicky before, did they get rid of him cause he looked like a bit suspicious in that get up whilst driving a bus full of kids?
Does anyone know what the foot waving/moving eye/laughing clown panels did cause I never got to see them.
i would love to have popped balloons... with a man wearing a raincoat and mask watchin me :S im soo glad i dont remember tricky dicky, hes too creepy; ill stick with daisy any day
I think youngieyoung the theme is called Tea dance or something like that.
dandaman? have you got any more videos of Zzzap! series 1 (tricky dicky) ?!
@MisterTwoPiece yes it is. It was given to me by the Media Merchants, whose production code is at the beginning of part 1. They cheerfullly informed me that this wasthe first episode.
Hit Entertainment own the rights for ZZZap and Art Attack but apparently don't see a large enough market for them anymore :(
Handymen freak me out
found the vhs of this in my garage earlier, don't have a vhs player so came here....The memories.....
Tricky Dicky! THAT was his name. He used to freak me out no end when I was a kid. If I'd have remembered the effeminate little 'tee hee hee!' I think I would've been a lot less scared... Still, why aren't there still programmes like this nowadays and less animated drivel? What happened to simple pleasures like popping balloons on a bus?!
@nassima78610 actually, the handymen were actually a woman, sarah pickthall
nah just a health and safety nut :)
ZZZAP!!!!! :') oh the days!
the handymen is a woman!? D:
FLASHBACK
BIG TIME
haha no I was only a year old when this show was first on the air. And I don't think richard waites has done much since leaving, I think he was in another children's show for like one episode but that's it. Any other questions just ask ;)
name that tune BTW.
@MsStarsea I heard something different, I heard that richard waites who played both Cuthbert and Tricky, couldnt deal with both and after series 1, Tricky was axed cause of that reason and they also wanted a girl on the show as all the characters were men!!! thats what I heard...
@christhecoolboy Could be, I'm just going by what Wikipedia says. I'd post the link but it won't let me. Search for 'List of Zzzap! characters' You'd have to ask Richard Waites for the full story!
0:41 lift a bottle has a rule and that is lifting a bottle without hands
I still am haha!
sarcasm I hope...
Watch this while you're high.
@georginak44 lol he used to scare the shit out of me aswell
@MsStarsea Wikipedia is fan edited tho don't forget.
kids out there seat on a moving bus - those were the good old days
I know it's only meant as a joke n all but I wish people wouldn't say that. He was my favourite character as a kid and I imagine for anyone who's really been molested in real life, there's nothing funny about it.
@dandaman62 LOL... Richard must be old now LOL!!!
trickey dickey is scary
ahh the good old days. now with health and safety they wouldn't even be able to show something like that. the kids on bus should have been seated or wearing seatbelts lol
@dandaman62 I Know!!! I came on herre looking for him! That detective dude, seriously!! I couldn't wee at night when I was a kid because I was worried he was outside the bathroom window!! Lol
Why aren't those children sat down and belted in whilst the coach is moving? How irresponsible. That is such a violation of; and shows a complete disregard for,the health and safety of those kids.
Ever been on a city bus? still no seatbelts on them and they allow standing passengers. this is on some disused airfield with nothing to crash into probabluy going 30mph at most.
No one is belted on a bus now. Your thinking of a coach. And that’s because people weren’t pussys then
@punkolele indeedy :)
no indeed
the show is creepy as fuck now i look back
@ 0.42 here's a twist.
@ 4.18 cue the music.
3:22 cue the mugs
Is it me or when t moves onto the next person/ section the music sounds like a softer version of life on mars when he waked up and shizz?
@JOEDEAN2008 probably just a random anyone.
Humor is subjective. You're right, there is nothing funny about being molested. But no one is, it's a joke. Lighten up.
Allow man, they won't even let any character have a deliberate covered "black" face nowadays.