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Timmy Mallett
Mallett in Market Harborough, 2008.
Born	Timothy Mallett (1955-10-18) 18 October 1955 (age 68) Marple, Greater Manchester, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Television/Radio presenter
Website	http://www.timmymallett.co.uk/

Timmy Mallett (born on 18 October 1955, Marple, England) is a TV presenter and broadcaster who achieved cult status in the UK on Manchester's Piccadilly Radio and then later on TV-am. He lives in Cookham, in Berkshire. Mallett is most notable for his striking visual style, involving loud shirts, colouful glasses and the giant pink foam mallet, labelled Mallett's Mallet that he carries with him, sometimes hitting children on the head, as well as his 'utterly brilliant!' and 'bleurgh!' catchphrases.

Early life

Mallett attended Rosehill Primary School ( Marple), Earnseat Prep School ( Arnside) and then Hyde Grammar School (now Hyde Clarendon College).

Career

Early radio career

His media career started while he was a student at the University of Warwick, where he worked for the student radio station, Radio Warwick. After graduating with a degree in History, he started work straight after his graduation day at BBC Radio Oxford. He later moved to Radio Luxembourg, Centre Radio (now Leicester Sound), and Manchester's Piccadilly Radio where his energetic style won him many fans and Sony Awards. The programme he hosted at Piccadilly was Timmy on the Tranny, a popular weekday evening show that ran from 8pm-11pm and took its name from Mallett's show on Radio Oxford. Chris Evans as his radio persona Nobby Nolevel was a regular on the programme. This led to Mallett presenting the Manchester based BBC2 youth music show Oxford Road Show for a year in 1984. In March 1985 he also stood in for David Jensen on the Network Chart, at the time broadcast to most if not all British commercial radio stations.

Television break

It was in television that he was to see his biggest success. In 1984 he became a presenter of Wide Awake Club, a new Saturday morning children's programme on ITV's breakfast station, TV-am, which also launched the career of Austin Powers actor Mike Myers. Mallett's personality came to dominate the show to such an extent that when TV-am found itself lacking a school holidays programme after Roland Rat left to join the BBC, he was offered the chance to present the replacement solo. The replacement, a spin-off of Wide Awake Club, was called Wacaday (based on the addition of 'aday' to the initials 'WAC' for Wide Awake Club) and began broadcasting in 1985.

Wacaday was even more successful than its parent. The programme was characterised by games such as Mallett's Mallet, a word association game where contestants were hit over the head by his famed mallet for getting answers wrong. In later years, a talking mini version of the mallet called Pinky Punky was introduced (the name Pinky Punky was chosen after Timmy asked viewers to write in with their ideas for a name) and soon became one of Mallett's established sidekicks along with Magic, his pet cockatiel. Wacaday ended in 1992 when TV-am lost its franchise to broadcast. ^[1] Since then, Mallett has run his own production company, Brilliant TV. ^[2]

A memorable moment occurred when Mallett met the then- Prime Minister in 1990, Margaret Thatcher - and bashed her with the mallet. ^[3]

In 1993, Timmy starred in The Children's Channel's Around the World in 80 seconds as Captain Everything. ^[4]

From 1997, Brilliant TV made three series of Timmy Towers for CITV, starring Mark Speight as the Abominable No Man, Rodger Bremble as Aunty Boney knees, and Alex Lovell as the delightful Miss Thing. Timmy Towers was a panto-style show where The Abominable No Man wanted to take over the world, kidnap kids, lock them in the Room with No TV and flush them down the toilet. Timmy's job was to save the world. ^[5]

Recent work

In 2002, Timmy Mallett forced West Ham United Football Club to stop selling copies of their mascot, Herbie the Hammer, in their club shop after he complained that it looked too similar to Pinky Punky. West Ham United called the matter "trivial". ^[6]

In 2002 Timmy's original foam mallet from the TV-am shows was lost during a Wacagig in Leeds club Evolution. "I was livid when the mallet disappeared," he told The Sun. "It was the one I used on TV and had taken all over the country. "The club doormen promised me 'Nowt gets past us' - but my huge foam, multi-coloured mallet did. I chased the bloke but he got away. I had to get a copy made." He continued: “Then the other day I got a tip-off there was a chap posing with it in a snap on Facebook. I never let anyone hold it unless I was with them, so I was suspicious. "All I want is my mallet back. I don't want to press charges or drop anyone in trouble." ^[7]

In 2004 he was a stand-in contestant for the ITV1 jungle-based reality series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. He did not become a contestant on the show, but recorded a video diary of his exploits in Australia, the setting for the series, for the ITV2 companion programme I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Now. ^[8] In 2008 he entered the show as a full contestant.

Mallett was a trialist on The Match in 2006 ^[9]. Mallett is also a supporter of Oxford United and regularly attends matches there. Timmy does a regular podcast for the Oxford Mail on United. ^[10] He can also be seen occasionally watching his local club Maidenhead United

From 2007, Mallett can be heard as the voice of Smelly Beep in the pre-school sitcom The Beeps on Five. ^[11]

As well as his broadcasting work, Mallett tours many students' unions, and clubs, performing his own show. In January 2008, Mallett appeared at Warwick Student Union where he performed before a record audience of several thousand. ^[12].

On the 22 June 2008, Mallett appeared on Big Brother's Little Brother and played the show's quiz Becca's Mind. ^[13]

In September 2008 Mallett appeared on the BBC1 politics show This Week talking about being positive when things get tough. ^[14]

In November 2008 Timmy Mallett appeared in the eighth series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!. He entered the show in a unique way: by being captured in an over-sized net and imprisoned in jungle jail. The celebrities were given an option to trade their possessions for him and David Van Day to enter. They refused. On 30th November 2008, Mallett was the fourth contestant and only celebrity to be eliminated in battle rather than public vote from I'm a Celebrity after losing a (play-off) Bushtucker eating trial to Brian Paddick. Mallett was at a disadvantage in the "Last Chance Saloon" when it was revealed to be an eating and drinking live creatures trial—he is a vegetarian. ^[15]

He also regularly performs in panto, including Sleeping Beauty at the Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl, in December 2007. ^[16] Mallett is booked to play the part of Mr Smee in Peter Pan at the Playhouse, Weston Super Mare in December 2008. ^[17]

Bombalurina

Mallett formed the band Bombalurina, along with female vocalists / dancers Dawn and Annie Dunkley, and released the single " Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini". The song entered the UK charts at number 23, rose to 13 the next week, then to 3 and finally to number 1 on 19 August 1990, where it stayed for three weeks. More than 1,000,000 copies of the single were sold around the World and it topped the charts in over a dozen countries. Follow ups included "7 Little Girls Sitting in the Back Seat" "The Bump", as well as an album, Huggin' an' a Kissin.

On 26 November 2008, The Sun newspaper claimed that Mallett did not sing on his hits, and that he had been miming to the vocals of Everton Barnes, a then- R&B singer who is now a Head of Year at Lea Manor High School in Luton, Bedfordshire. Barnes revealed that the record company found Mallett's vocals to be "as flat as a tortured pancake" and that "I sang the whole vocal track. I didn't want anybody knowing as it was a bit embarrassing and I still had ambitions in the music business". ^[18]

In 1986 he also became a presenter on pan-European music channel Music Box, and for this reason he also took part in a sort of music group called The Rap Pack made up of some of Music Box's presenters, who released a single called Back To The Rhythm along with an accompanying video.

In 2008 Timmy featured in Skepta's video "Rolex Sweep" ^[19] and accompanied Skepta to the MOBO nominations. ^[20]

During I'm a Celebrity, Mallett and David Van Day wrote and performed the song "Biff Baff Boff We're Celebrities". ^[21] The song has been subsequently put to music by Steps producer Barry Upton and is released on jungle celebrity records in December 2008 as a popular download. ^[22]

Charity work

Mallett was hailed a hero at the end of 2001 when he rescued a woman who had fallen into freezing waters at a marina in Hartlepool ^[23].

He is a patron of Prime Minister Gladstone's St Deiniol's Library in Hawarden, North Wales which is the only prime ministerial library in the country. ^[24]

Timmy supported the campaign to re-route the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) in Aberdeen and protect the Camphill movement community at Newton Dee. ^[25]

Timmy hosts It's a Knockout days for the charity Children Today, based in Chester, of which he is a patron.

Artistry

Timmy Mallett is an accomplished artist in acrylics and oil and exhibits regularly. His paintings and limited edition prints sell in galleries across the country. ^[26]

In 2002, for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, he completed a series of 50 portraits of people from around Cookham in Berkshire where he lives, including Lorraine Kelly, Sir Clive Woodward, Ulrika Jonsson, Jim Rosenthal, Wendy Craig and Stanley Spencer's grandson John. ^[27]

In autumn 2008 Timmy undertook a nationwide tour exhibiting his work at prestigious galleries across the UK. An exhibition of his work took place in the Tavistock Gallery in Devon, between November 8th - 20th. He shares tips for his art work with his good friend Rolf Harris. ^[28]

Selected Television programmes

• Oxford Road Show (1984)
• Wide Awake Club (1984-1990)
• Wacaday (1985-1992)
• The Maggot (1986) (for Music Box)
• Utterly Brilliant (1989-1991)
• Around the World in 80 Seconds (1993-1994)
• Way to Go (1996-1997)
• Timmy Towers (1997-2002)
• The Beeps (2007-present)
• I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! (2008 series)

References

External links

• Timmy Mallett Exclusive Interview
• Official Wacaday site wacaday.co.uk
• Buckingham Fine Arts - Publishing house for Timmy Mallett's originals and limited edition prints
• St Deiniol's Library, Hawarden - Mallett is patron
• Children Today - Mallett is patron of this children's charity
• Timmy Mallett's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! profile
• Timmy's appearance on the Totally Chappers Webcast three weeks before entering the jungle

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