Boom!

Boom! transmitted on Channel 4 on Sunday mornings (after Pob!) and Wednesday teatimes between 1989 and 1991.

Rich in concept, the big idea was that Boom! was a print comic, Andrew was its editor and viewers were encouraged to participate as Boom! reporters. But there was a twist. The Boom! office (in reality the former Rank Studios at Hillside in Bushey, little sister of Pinewood and home of the Rank Charm School) was haunted by a cartoon strip character Millie (played by Elizabeth Banks), forever stuck in the 1920s and the source of many surreal exchanges with Andrew.

In the second series Andrew was joined by zoo-keeper Jane, creating tensions between both presenters and Millie! The series director Crispin Evans skilfully wove this narrative into typical children's fare of the time such as pop star guests, action VTs and a sci-fi cartoon starring former Dr Who, Tom Baker.

The final twist in the Boom! mix were disabled children just doing normal stuff - and who were entirely invisible on mainstream kids shows at that time. In that aspect, Boom! was groundbreaking and led the way to the greater integration we see today.

Its also worth remembering that education for disabled children in the UK at that time was entirely segregated, so the Boom! approach, alongside that of sister series Beat That with Mik Scarlett, was heavily aspirational.