Transmission Impossible (BBC2, 1996-1997)
The comedy double-act Trevor And Simon first found fame when they appeared on the first series of CBBC Saturday Morning show Going Live! in 1987, where they created and played a rather bizarre group of characters that earned plenty of laughs. Among their most popular characters were the folk musicians The Singing Corner, who in 1990 even got as far as releasing a single that was a minor hit, and appearing on the cover of NME (yes, really).
They left Going Live! after the fourth series in 1991, to be replaced by another double-act. It was around this point that they went on tour across the country, and some tapes were released that featured highlights of their silliest sketches. I never had these myself, but those that did seemed to be really fond of them, watching them so frequently, that they could practically recite them word for word (and probably still can to this day).
They returned for the sixth and final series of Going Live! in 1992, and stayed on for the launch of the successor Live & Kicking in 1993. This gave them an opportunity to introduce even more characters. In 1995, they were given their own summer special on BBC1. And a year after this, Transmission Impossible was launched, in an evening slot on BBC2.
This was essentially all of their sketches from the previous week’s Live & Kicking put into one 15-minute show (the features Electric Circus and Hit, Miss Or Maybe were also shown as standalone shows on BBC2 around this time). The characters who featured included the art critics, Picklin’ Jeff who would try to pickle anything, a look at various things in How It Works, and an investigation into the paranormal.
And any celebrities who happened to be around in the studio would be encouraged to take part in a sketch with them, and it was always good seeing who would be game enough to be mildly embarrassed by their antics. After the second series of Transmission Impossible ended in 1997, Trevor And Simon left Live & Kicking (having done this for almost a decade by this point).
In the years since, although they haven’t appeared on TV a huge amount, they have contributed to a few other CBBC shows as writers, along with working on various other comedy projects (and they seem to be rather good at Pointless too which is terrific). A lot of people who are around my age still think fondly of them, and it’s rather clear to see why.
ADAM'S NOSTALGIC MEMORIES 