What's Up Doc? is a British children's entertainment show that aired on ITV on Saturday mornings from 5 September 1992 to 29 April 1995. It was hosted by Andy Crane, Yvette Fielding, and Pat Sharp. Jenny Powell replaced Fielding for the final part of the series.
The first two series were produced at The Maidstone Studios before moving to the studios of Scottish Television in Glasgow for the final series.
Format The series included a variety of characters such as Simon Perry, Colin, Wooly, Billy Box, Baljit, Pasty the Worm, Mister Spanky, Naughty Torty, Gaston, Sam Sam, and the wolves Bro and Bro. What's Up Doc? was designed to promote and feature products created by Warner Bros. in the UK which included video games, movies, tours of their studios, and their vast library of Looney Tunes animated shorts from which the "What's up Doc?" catchphrase was derived, and new animated series; Animaniacs, Batman: The Animated Series and Taz-Mania.
What's Up Doc? made use of the "phone-in" game format made popular by BBC mainstays such as Going Live!. Phone-in games that featured on the programme included Hugo the Troll and Joe Razz. The show was also responsible for the success of Batman: The Animated Series and Animaniacs on terrestrial television. Music was a large part of the show and played a role in launching the careers of music groups Take That, East 17 and Eternal.
What's Up Doc? featured puppet comedian duo Don Austen and John Eccleston as the show's central new puppet characters, a pair of wolf brothers named Bro and Bro who would comically "devour" any celebrity guest on the losing side of the phone-in games.
Despite its initial success, the Independent Television Commission later expressed concerns about the anarchic humour of What's Up Doc? which was often considered insensitive for a Saturday morning children's programme. Concerned that Warner Bros. would pull the plug on their involvement with the show, Scottish TV requested that the show's humour be toned down to an acceptable level. The show's producers refused and eventually resigned at the end of the second series, along with many of its cast including Austen and Eccleston who were given a spin-off series, Wolf It, also on Children's ITV.
The third series saw production move to Scottish Television's own studios in Glasgow, but without much of its original cast. A decline in ratings led to the show being cancelled in April 1995.
Series guide Series Start date End date Episodes 1 5 September 1992 1 May 1993 34 2 4 September 1993 30 April 1994 35 3 3 September 1994 29 April 1995 33
Episodes This is the episode list of What's Up Doc? episodes that aired on Saturday mornings on ITV. The show lasted for a total of 102 episodes from 1992 to 1995.
Series 1 (1992–93) +EpisodeBroadcastGuestsCartoons015 September 1992 Bananarama Baseball Bugs Batman: The Animated Series: The Cat And The Claw: Part 1 Taz-Mania0212 September 1992 East 17 Gareth Jones Jason Priestley Tonbridge Bobcats Reduced Shakespeare Company A-Lad-In His Lamp Batman: The Animated Series: The Cat And The Claw: Part 2 Taz-Mania0319 September 1992 Rhythm N' Bass Neil Buchanan Greg & Max Paul Morocco and The EC Big Band Rabbit Of Seville Batman: The Animated Series: On Leather Wings Taz-Mania0426 September 1992 Bob Geldof Crowded House Nick Hanna Simon Entwistle His Bitter Half Batman: The Animated Series Taz-Mania053 October 1992 The Farm Sue Hutton Kevin Keegan Haggis McLeod Rabbitson Crusoe Batman: The Animated Series: Be A Clown Taz-Mania0610 October 1992 Take That Dr. Bruce Fogle Fast And Furry-ous Batman: The Animated Series: The Forgotten Taz-Mania0717 October 1992 TLC Hank Marvin Greg & Max Gladiators Putty Tat Trouble Batman: The Animated Series Taz-Mania0824 October 1992 Lindy Layton Mike Read Chinese State Circus Dr. John Brackenbury Foghorn Leghorn Batman: The Animated Series: The Last Laugh Taz-Mania0931 October 1992 Go West ACU Youth Action David Manning Chloe Sayer Roberto Ruiz Tiburcio Soteno Stork Naked Taz-Mania Batman: The Animated Series107 November 1992 Rage Greg & Max Linda Strath Ronnie McCann Mark Stewart Sarah Jane Stringer Andrew Mitchell This Is A Life? Taz-Mania Batman: The Animated Series: Two-Face: Part 1/Part 21114 November 1992 Pasadenas The Electro Acoustic Cabaret Paul Spooner Sahara Hare Taz-Mania Batman: The Animated Series: Two-Face: Part 3/Part 41221 November 1992 Kylie Minogue Keith Fields David Manning Paul Mungo John Eccleston Hyde And Go Tweet Taz-Mania Batman: The Animated Series: As Told By Batman1328 November 1992 Undercover Cal McCrystal Paul Simons Greg & Max John Eccleston Kevin Brady Water, Water, Every Hare Taz-Mania Batman: The Animated Series
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