Metal Mickey

What do you do after being the drummer in the Monkees? Produce an 80's comedy with a robot as the central character. Microcomputers, digital watches, everything that's so dated now that was so exciting then. Metal Mickey was exciting to my young mind. A talking robot on TV. I didn't understand special effects or voice coders. But unlike my old BBC microcomputer Metal Mickey is not obsolete. It has the look of a 1980's show, a children's show where the budget has gone on the radio controlled robot but with Irene Handel and Michael Stainton this remains a classic. As well as a nostalgia trip to the beginning of the 80's.

The set up is a robot living in suburbia in Englands at th beginning of the 80's. He's the center of the show and too much the center at the cost of the script which is its main problem. But like My Family, a BBC sitcom, its balanced by using some really fine actors. Seeing it again it does lose a bit in now knowing that the glitzy robot is all voice coder and twiddling on a remote control. Would have been better if it was written for a slightly older audience.

I stumbled on this one as I was looking up Me & My Girl, (currently being shown on weekday avo's here) and I was immediately taken back some 20 odd years. Memories of coming home from school and blobbing out in front of the telly, watching Ollie Ohlson's latest offerings. Any kiwis out there remember "Keep Cool 'Till 'After School'"? Anyway, how dare *anyone* diss Metal Mickey, he was *cool*!!!!! "Metal Mickey, dumm dum dum de dum Metal Mickey, dumm dum dum de dum." :-)

Wow .... I hadn't seen Metal Mickey since 1985. When I was 15 my family moved to Sharjah and Metal Mickey was one of the very very few English programs broadcast on Dubai TV.

All these years since returning to Australia (where I have never found anyone who has even heard of the series), all these years I have wondered whether I just had such fond memories of Metal Mickey as there was little else to watch.

Well today I finally received my DVD copy of Metal Mickey (Series 1) from Amazon UK. Needless to say I couldn't wait to watch it.

I am very happy to say that Metal Mickey is as charming and hilarious as I remember. 23 years later I still enjoyed it.

Some episodes are only moderately funny (like the Pilot episode), but overall it is very funny. The running gags about beetroot, declining loans, boggie-ing etc are not tiresome. Granny, dad and Metal Mickey are the stars of course.

The episode when Metal Mickey is kidnapped, Granny comes to his rescue and is kidnapped herself and Father joyfully refuses to pay the 10 pound ransom for both of them is the standout episode of Series 1 for me.

Metal Mickey is a sitcom that would appeal to everyone (young and old) and I for one cannot wait for Series 2 on DVD.

I can't argue with Rob Taylor - Metal Mickey was, let's face it, a pile of rubbish. But, to be fair, it was so bad, it was laughably bad.

Metal Mickey didn't only have one of '80s Comedy's most bizarre title characters, but the criminally underrated Michael Stainton and the stupendously talented (and critically acclaimed) Irene Handl in its' ranks. The latter did not appear at all in series 3, and her appearances became increasingly sporadic in the closing stages of the final series' run, but the first two series (in which she was the show's main attraction besides Mickey himself), were enjoyable, harmless fun. Mickey summoning aliens, Mickey sending people back in time, Mickey bringing chaos to situations where this word had never existed before, Mickey spouting his catchphrases "Boogie Boogie" and "My Little Fruitbat"... wow, even as I think about it twenty years on, those memories of my younger life come flooding back.

Rubbish? Undoubtedly.

Suicidally catastropohic? No way!!

A sitcom type of show similar to Basil Brush or Rentaghost. Mickey's vocoder voice is sometimes difficult to listen to, and the cast ham it up for laughs. One to two risqué gags can be found, referencing breasts, gynaecology and other innuendo, but generally its good clean fun. Some jokes now - references to British Leyland, Margaret Thatcher etc, have dated the show, but these are few. Irene Handle is great but sadly seems confined to a handful of catch phrases.

Most of the episodes are very samey, but mickey has an undeniable charm for a robot actor. Mickey Dolenz from the Monkees produced the show, but did not name Metal Mickey.

First series is available on DVD in the UK (went on sale in Feb 2008)