Metal Mickey
Metal Mickey was a 5 foot tall fictional robot character who first appeared on British television in the ITV children's magazine show The Saturday Banana, produced by Southern Television in 1978.
The Metal Mickey TV show
He then went on to his own show from 1980 to 1983. Mickey was created and controlled/voiced by John Edward, some episodes of the show were produced and directed by Micky Dolenz, formerly of The Monkees pop group. The comic theme was of an ordinary British family whose youngest child is a science boffin and who created Metal Mickey to help around the home. The family consisted of a mother and father, two children and a grandmother. The show was made by London Weekend Television and shown on ITV.
British comedy actress Irene Handl played the grandmother, who Mickey affectionately called "my little fruitbat". Handl was never at home with science fiction, either watching it or appearing in it. She famously told BBC presenter Noel Edmonds, when he asked her whether she cried over the death of E.T., "Why should I cry over a bleedin' hoover attachment?" When asked, therefore, why she was appearing in Metal Mickey, she gave the pragmatic reply, "'Cos I've got a mortgage, love!"
He also had a theme song. [1]
The later works of John Edward (Johnny Edward, these days) can be viewed at commuvox.com where you can find audio sketches featuring Metal Mickey. Johnny is currently working on the Pop Opera that gave birth to Metal Mickey although Mickey was removed from the project fairly soon and became a success in his own right. Shortly after the series finished, a song written by Johnny and his wife Sue shot to number One and stayed there for four weeks in 1983; it was Renee and Renato with 'Save Your Love'.
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (November 2007) |
- Metal Mickey is the title of a song by UK band Suede, released on September 14, 1992 on Nude Records. It charted at number 17 on the UK singles chart.
- Metal Mickey's catchphrase was "boogie, boogie, boogie".
Production Credits
- Directors: Michael Dolenz, David Crossman, Nic Phillips
- Producer: Michael Dolenz
- Writer: Colin Bostock-Smith
- Designers: Mike Oxley, Rae George, David Catley, James Dillion, Phil Coulter
- Music: Phil Coulter