The Slammer
Contents |
Host
Ted Robbins as The Governor
Co-hosts
Lee Barnett as Jeremy Gimbert
Dave Chapman as Peter Nokio
Ian Kirkby as Mr Burgess
Melvin Odoom as Melvin
Announcer: Steve Ryde
Broadcast
CBBC for BBC One, 22 September - 29 December 2006 (15 programmes)
Synopsis
OK, so you thought the synopsis for You Should be So Lucky! is odd - wellll, you haven't heard anything yet.
Mastermind's official warm-up man Ted Robbins plays the role of a Governor of a showbiz prison where the encarcerated variety acts have to perform in front of the Parole Board of 50 children who then decide which of the four acts gets released from the Nick.
Various prison officers ask the children for their opinions of the performances in a Dixon of Dock Green style. The kids all seem to have some kind of clipboard even if they're just saying "Brilliant!", "Amazing!" etc.
Despite the bizarre concept, the acts are great to watch and the production values are very solid with a cleverly matched set and lighting scheme that makes the whole thing horribly plausible. The weird scoring on the clapometer is perhaps something to tweak (why 107.4?) but overall this deserved a long spell on BBC One.
The Slammer was voted Best Entertainment Programme at the 2007 Children's BAFTA awards. This didn't save it from the axe after just one series.
Theme music
Andy Blythe and Marten Joustra
Catchphrases
"If you can't sing, dance or rhyme, don't do the crime".
