Here’s the second part of my look back at the best of the rest of the CBBC/CITV Saturday Morning shows.
On The Waterfront (CBBC, 1988-1989) A show that inbetween the usual cartoons actually featured various comedy sketches performed by a group including none other than Andrew O’Connor, plus also Bernie Nolan and Kate Copstick.
Saturday Banana (CITV, 1978-1979) Another show from before my time but it does sound interesting for a few reasons. Firstly the story goes that the show was to be called The Saturday Bonanza but because of some bad handwriting it became The Saturday Banana. Also it was hosted by the mighty combination of Bill Oddie and Metal Mickey. 
The Saturday Picture Show (CBBC, 1984-1986) A show where a pre-Blue Peter Mark Curry introduced some ancient cartoons, but the show is only really remembered now for Mark having an embarrassing moment live on air which made everyone laugh and was repeated endlessly for a while.
The Saturday Show (CBBC, 2001-2005) At last, a replacement for the past-it Live & Kicking was this show, hosted by Dani Behr (which surprised some people who knew her from Channel 4’s The Word, definitely not a children’s show) and Joe Mace who was a popular presenter at the time, although they were both replaced after a while. The show also had a puppet double act Tiny and Mr Duk who got a CBBC spin-off. 
The Saturday Show (CITV, 1982-1984) No relation to the above show, this show had the tough task of filling the gap left by Tiswas. It was hosted by the Terrific Tommy Boyd and Larry Grayson’s mate Isla St Clair. Wrestler Big Daddy was supposed to take part too, but he pulled out just before the launch. From what I’ve seen of this show it does seem to be something of a directionless mess but also a lot of fun. 
Saturday Starship (CITV, 1984-1985) A sort-of sequel to the above with Tommy now joined by Bonnie Langford… but this time on a spaceship!
Saturday SuperStore (CBBC, 1982-1987) Mike Read, who was also popular on BBC Radio 1 at the time, hosted this one, with Keith Chegwin among the lads in the warehouse helping him out. Just about every pop star of the time appeared to take calls from viewers and pull postcards out of hats to announce competition winners. Oh, it was crazy.
Third and final part coming soon…
ADAM'S NOSTALGIC MEMORIES 