| Toonattik | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's television |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | London, England, UK |
| Running time | 120 minutes (includes adverts) |
| Production company(s) | ITV Breakfast (CITV) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV (ITV Breakfast) |
| Original run | February 2005 – January 2011 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Up On the Roof (2002-2005) |
| Related shows | The Fluffy Club, Action Stations! |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Toonattik was the flagship children's strand of the British breakfast television station, ITV Breakfast (known on-air as CITV at weekends). It began on 5 February 2005 and ran until New Year's Day 2011.
The strand aired on Saturdays and Sundays from 7.25am until ITV Breakfast's closedown at 9.25am, featuring a selection of both British and imported cartoons from brands such as Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Since 12 March, 2006, ITV simulcasted Toonattik on its section of the CITV Channel, allowing younger Sky Digital, Virgin Media and Freeview viewers to access the show through the children's section of the EPG for the first time. Also, the EPG it gave details for the programmes broadcast in the Toonattik time slot.
Contents |
Originally, Toonattik was a show with a mix of cartoons for ages 4–12 every Saturday and Sunday from 6:00–9.25 am. However, the presenters would not appear to present in the studio until 7:15 after the pre-school shows. The presenters of Toonattik were Jamie Rickers and Anna Williamson, with relief presenters such as Chloe Bale, Laura Hamilton and Nigel Clarke presented continuity links in between cartoons. From the summer that year, the pre-school slot had its own name, Wakey! Wakey! and Toonattik re-launched with an updated look and refurbished studio, which looked more like a proper attic (hence the word 'attik' in the show's title). Occasional celebrity guests appeared on the show and there was a team of relief presenters who filled in for Jamie and Anna when they were on time off.
The show followed a similar format every week. Each week, Jamie's 'pie boys' (assisting children presenters) would play a series of randomly selected games against Anna and her 'pie girls'. The loser of the show, either the boys or the girls, would be given a pie in the face as a punishment. Each of the games were chosen randomly by spinning the "Golden wheel of twizzle" and who was playing these games is determined by the "Toonattik twizzler". Viewers also had the chance to send in games, these were pulled from a special chest named the "challenge chest".
Toonattik was originally under the on screen brand of GMTV Kids, but was changed to under the name of CITV when the service launched its digital channel on 11 March 2006. But the show remained a GMTV Kids production until Jamie & Anna's later departure.
On 6 March 2010 it was reported that Toonattik and Action Stations! presenters Jamie and Anna would be made redundant,[1] as part of ITV plc's buyout of Disney's 25% share in GMTV (since renamed to ITV Breakfast). So on Sunday 9 May 2010, Jamie and Anna departed with a heart-breaking song to end their final Toonattik and left to present a brand new show on Nickelodeon. From the following weekend, the slot re-launched with out-of-vision presentation and Toonattik began airing British cartoons in slot as well as imported.
The Toonattik on screen name was dropped by the start of 2011 and has since been replaced by standard CITV out-of-vision continuity presentation.
There were some occasional time changes to its schedule due to coverage of certain events on ITV1. Throughout September 2007, the show was broadcast for three hours on a Sunday until 10.20am and this was named Super Size Sunday. However on the day of the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix 2007, the show was shortened and was named Silly Size Sunday.
Action Stations! is a children's slot, featuring cartoons for children aged 9 to 12 every weekday, airing from 6am - 9.25am on the CITV channel when Toonattik is not on. Originally, Action Stations! featured the voices of Toonattik presenters Jamie Rickers and Anna Williamson in the form of robots with pre-recorded links in between cartoons. Between September 2009 and May 2010, the slot had the presenters provide in-vision presenters presenting links from the Action Station's "space base".
| Preceded by Up on the Roof |
Toonattik 2005–2011 |
Succeeded by Current Incumbent |
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