Mike and Angelo

Last updated

Mike and Angelo
Mike and Angelo Titlecard.jpg
Genre Sitcom
Created byGrant Cathro
Lee Pressman
Written byGrant Cathro
Lee Pressman
Alex Bartlette
Starring Shelley Thompson
Matt Wright
Tyler Butterworth
Tim Whitnall
Michael Benz
Katy Murphy
Gemma Gregory
Steven Geller
ComposersAlan Coates
Kim Goody
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series12
No. of episodes123
Production
Running time20 minutes
Production companies Thames (1989-91)
Tetra Films and Carlton (1993-2000)
Original release
Network ITV (CITV)
Release16 March 1989 (1989-03-16) 
7 March 2000 (2000-03-07)
Related
Spatz

Mike and Angelo is a British children's television, sci-fi sitcom series, that ran on CITV between 16 March 1989 and 7 March 2000. [1] The show is ITV's longest running sitcom (as per series count). [2]

Contents

Plot

The shows initially centred on Mike King (played by Matt Wright), and his mother Rita moving to London from the United States after she divorces Mike's father. In their new house, and feeling lonely in his new surroundings, Mike discovers a mysterious wardrobe. It bursts open containing Angelo (Tyler Butterworth), an alien who came from another world; the portal being the wardrobe. Angelo has no knowledge of life on Earth or of his own - so relies on the help of Mike to understand the world he has crashed on. At the same time, Mike is in turn helped by Angelo to integrate into life in London. [3]

Together, Mike and Angelo have many crazy adventures, all within the vicinity of the house that they live in. Angelo is always inventing something crazy, or walking on the ceiling (due to him being an alien), and generally misunderstanding various aspects of human behaviour and daily life which leads to various escapades and situations. [4]

The series frequently featured guest actors in various roles. Some actors which appeared in the show include: Ron Moody, John Savident, Christopher Ryan, Brian Murphy and Anthony O'Donnell. [5]

History

Development

The title of the series is a play on the name of the painter Michelangelo. In the early planning stages of the series, creators Grant Cathro and Lee Pressman had toyed with the idea of making Angelo somehow a guardian angel towards Mike. They were inspired by Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam . Although the idea of the guardian angel was ultimately unutilised in the series, they liked the name-play and stuck with it. [5]

Writers Lee Pressman and Grant Cathro set Mike & Angelo in Cricklewood, London - which would also later be the setting of their later series Spatz . [5]

Thames Television era (series 1-4)

The tone of the first two series was more comedy-drama (early episodes were even billed as a drama.) Several episodes of the first series focussed on the loneliness Mike was feeling after moving to a different country which was helped by his new friendship with Angelo. The original two series featured a quirky, whimsical flute-led theme tune on the opening and closing credits, written by Jim Parker.

The first changes to the show would occur with repeats of the first two series in 1990. The original theme tune was replaced by the version which would later be used from Series 3 onwards, written by David Stafford, as well as a new opening credits narration (read by Matt Zimmerman), also used from Series 3, was also added to these repeated episodes. Additionally, a laugh track was added, which would until the end of the show's run, was also dubbed on, where it had not originally been present. These changes to the originally shown versions were in part to make the series more 'uniform', as Children's ITV had hoped to sell the series to stations in America; a plan which never fully came to fruition.

Series 3 would feature the first of the show's many cast changes, with Tim Whitnall replacing Tyler Butterworth as Angelo. In the first episode of the series, Angelo falls ill and eventually "regenerates" (borrowing a concept first used in Doctor Who ). Tim Whitnall would remain as the character for the rest of the programme's run. At around this point, the comedy drama tone of the first two series began to be shifted towards the more fantastical and farcical, with Angelo creating many inventions which typically run out of control, and occasionally summoning up historical figures from the past. [5]

Mike King moves back to the US at the beginning of Series 4 to be with his dad, with Ellie, a young neighbour, filling the gap left by the character for the rest of Series 4, befriending Angelo and getting caught up with his various gadgets and escapades.

Tetra Films era (series 5-12)

Mike and Angelo was recommissioned in 1992 by Carlton Television for a fifth series, after Thames Television lost its ITV franchise. Series 5 would be produced by Tetra Films, and featured a new theme composed by Kim Goody and Alan Coates, which would remain, in several slight variations, for the remainder of the show's run. Rita's nephew Mike Mason (Michael Benz) is introduced - as well being in keeping with the title of the series (despite the character of Ellie in Series 4), Benz would become the longest-running "Mike" character, featuring in 6 of the 12 series.

By the start of Series 7, Rita has decided to return to the USA. Her place was filled by new character Katy Andrews (Katy Murphy), a new housekeeper.

Series 11 saw the exit of Michael Benz, and the series began with Angelo and Katy reading a postcard explaining that Mike was having a good time in America after returning there. In his place, recurring neighbour character Daphne Fawkes-Bentley's niece Mickey (Gemma Gregory) became Angelo's sidekick.

For the final series, Katy's nephew - also called Mike (Steven Geller), joined. Geller later passed away in 2015 aged 30.

Although the series never came to an official conclusion, it was not renewed after Series 12 (2000) due to it being felt that the series had run its course, and because of a shift in Children's ITV's audience demographic.

Cast and characters

Main

Supporting

Transmissions

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
1
16 March 1989
18 May 1989
10
2
14 September 1989
16 November 1989
10
3
14 November 1990
13 February 1991
13
4
17 October 1991
19 December 1991
10
5
7 January 1993
11 March 1993
10
6
22 February 1994
26 April 1994
10
7
5 January 1995
9 March 1995
10
8
4 January 1996
7 March 1996
10
9
9 January 1997
13 March 1997
10
10
8 January 1998
12 March 1998
10
11
5 January 1999
16 March 1999
10
12
4 January 2000
7 March 2000
10

Old Skool Weekend

In 2013, two episodes of Mike & Angelo were repeated on CITV as part of its 30th anniversary Old Skool Weekend: [6]

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References

  1. "BBC - Comedy Guide - Mike & Angelo". Archived from the original on 2 November 2004. Retrieved 6 September 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. Eames, Tom (10 August 2016). "What are the longest-running TV sitcoms of all time?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  3. Percival, Ash (3 July 2020). "25 Much-Loved Kids' TV Shows From The 90s You'd Probably Forgotten About" . Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  4. Farrelly, Mark. "CITV's Other Alien Show That You Forgot Existed". College Times. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Glad You Remember: Mike & Angelo". Glad You Remember. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  6. "CITV celebrates 30th anniversary with a weekend of classic children's programmes". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2020.