Tricky TV

Tricky TV
Format	Educational
Starring	Stephen Mulhern
No. of series	3 (Series 1: 10 x 30' Series 2: 13 x 30' Series 3: 20 x 25)
No. of episodes	43
Production
Producer(s)	The Foundation
Running time	less than 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV Network (CITV) Cartoon Network Philippines Super RTL MBC 3 Stöð 2 NRK Super VRAK.TV ATV World
Original run	September 5, 2005 – present

Tricky TV is a fast paced modern magic show for CITV. Presented by children's presenter and magician Stephen Mulhern, the show features magic on the street, "wicked wind-ups", illusions, and teaches a number of tricks step-by-step.

Synopsis

The show featured magic tricks ranging from making a tank vanish to making an entire football team appear. The "wicked wind-ups" included a gorilla that came to life and a cinema with exploding popcorn and unstoppable drinks machines. Classic con tricks were also exposed in "Beat the Cheat". Each show usually closed with a performance of a classic "grand illusion", such as Sawing a Woman in Half.

In Series 1, Mulhern was joined each week by one or more special guest celebrities, who often took part in a number of tricks during the show, and also usually participated in the show's closing illusion. In Series 2, the show format changed slightly, and the different special guests were replaced by Mulhern's regular co-presenter on Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown, Holly Willoughby, who acted as his assistant in the closing illusions. Then in series 3, the format is dramatically redesigned as Stephen Mulhern presents more in the background and allows a 'Tricky Team' of young magicians to perform the illusions.

Season 1

.

Season 1 consisted of ten episodes, and ran from September 2005 to November 2005.

Episode 1

• Original air date: September 5, 2005.
• Special guest: Jennifer Ellison.
• A full-sized model gorilla comes to life, Stephen makes a dream come true for a class of schoolkids - by causing their teachers to vanish. Jennifer Ellison is amazed by a card trick,

Episode 2

• Original air date: September 12, 2005.
• In this episode, Stephen Mulhern attempts to make a tank disappear, a boy is put through a mangle, a cookery class gets out of hand, and a classic confidence trick is explained in Beat the Cheat.

Episode 3

• Original air date: September 19, 2005.
• Special guest:

Episode 4

• Original air date: September 26, 2005.
• Special guest: The Cheeky Girls.
• In this episode, the Cheeky Girls help Stephen perform a trick with playing cards - by sitting on them. Plus Stephen demonstrates a trick where a handkerchief turns into an egg with a touch of magic.

Episode 5

• Original air date: October 3, 2005.
• Special guest: Bradley Walsh.
• In this episode, Stephen amazes actor Bradley Walsh with a football-themed card trick and tries to turn an old family car into something much classier. Plus, the sight of a harmless plastic spider alarms members of the public.

Episode 6

• Original air date: October 10, 2005.
• Special guest: Rachel Stevens.
• In this episode, magical mayhem abounds on a school trip to the cinema, and singer Rachel Stevens is amazed when Stephen performs a mind-boggling trick with her expensive ring. Plus, Stephen produces a fridge out of nowhere and encounters the Table of Death, where he has to escape from his shackles before a bed of sharp spikes falls and impales him.

Episode 7

• Original air date: October 17, 2005.
• Special guest: Jack Osbourne.
• In this episode, Stephen presents a baffling trick with a box of tissues and shows the secret of card prediction, while guest Jack Osbourne receives some unusual help to overcome his jet-lag.

Episode 8

• Original air date: October 24, 2005.
• Special guest: Joe Pasquale.
• In this episode, comedian Joe Pasquale plays a version of Russian roulette, and Stephen tries to turn a pack of cub scouts into brownies.

Episode 9

• Original air date: October 31, 2005.
• Special guest: Peter Andre.
• Stephen makes a sleeping person levitate, and singer Peter Andre receives a shock when the presenter attempts a trick using a fearsome fork.

Episode 10

• Original air date: November 7, 2005.
• Special guest: Mischa Barton.
• In this episode, Stephen teaches special guest Mischa Barton a trick called “The Infected Ear”. In this trick, she uses a sewing needle to thread a length of dental floss through the hole in her pierced ear. Having tied it in a knot to form a continuous loop passing through and underneath her earlobe, she pulls it straight through her lobe without ripping it.

Season 2

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Season 2 ran from March 10 to June 2, 2006

Episode 1

• Original air date: March 10, 2006.

Episode 2

• Original air date: March 17, 2006.
• Special guest:

Episode 3

• Original air date: March 24, 2006.
• Special guest: David Beckham.
• In this episode, Stephen makes Holly’s wedding ring vanish from inside her closed hand and then reappear inside a rose, and brings a David Beckham waxwork to life.

Episode 4

• Original air date: March 31, 2006.

Episode 5

• Original air date: April 7, 2006.

Episode 6

• Original air date: April 14, 2006.

Episode 7

• Original air date: April 21, 2006.

Episode 8

• Original air date: April 28, 2006.

Episode 9

• Original air date: May 5, 2006.

Episode 10

• Original air date: May 12, 2006.
• Stephen attends a school in Denbigh and puts a schoolgirl called Sophie through an illusion called the Wringer where she is flattened.

Episode 11

• Original air date: May 19, 2006.

Episode 12

• Original air date: May 26, 2006.
• Stephen surprises a mother with some conjuring, and takes to the high seas for an illusion with pirates. Plus, magic tips for viewers in the Secret Circle.

Episode 13

• Original air date: June 2, 2006.

Season 3

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Season 3 consisted of twenty episodes, and ran from September 14 to October 15, 2010. Episodes 1-14 were presented by Stephen Williams.^[1]

Episode 1

• Original air date: September 14, 2010.

Episode 2

• Original air date: September 15, 2010.

Episode 3

• Original air date: September 16, 2010.

Episode 4

• Original air date: September 17, 2010.

Episode 5

• Original air date: September 21, 2010.

Episode 6

• Original air date: September 22, 2010.

Episode 7

• Original air date: September 23, 2010.

Episode 8

• Original air date: September 24, 2010.

Episode 9

• Original air date: September 28, 2010.

Episode 10

• Original air date: September 29, 2010.

Episode 11

• Original air date: September 30, 2010.

Episode 12

• Original air date: October 1, 2010.

Episode 13

• Original air date: October 5, 2010.

Episode 14

• Original air date: October 6, 2010.

Episode 15

• Original air date: October 7, 2010.

Episode 16

• Original air date: October 8, 2010.

Episode 17

• Original air date: October 12, 2010.

Episode 18

• Original air date: October 13, 2010.

Episode 19

• Original air date: October 14, 2010.

Episode 20

• Original air date: October 15, 2010.

Tricky Quickies

Tricky Quickies is a cut down version of the show which has a duration of 5 minutes. Series 1, 10 editions. Series 2, 15 editions.

Production

The show is produced by The Foundation, the same company that makes Finger Tips, Globo Loco and Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown which also starred Stephen.

Tricky TV was first broadcast in the 4pm slot on ITV from 5 September 2005. Creative consultant was Paul Andrews. The show's executive producer was Vanessa Hill for The Foundation. Series 2 was produced by Ian France and directed by Paul Andrews.

Series Guide

Series	Premiere	Last in series	Episodes
1	5 September 2005	13 November 2005	10
2	10 March 2006	2 June 2006	13
3	14 September 2010	15 October 2010	20

The Quick Trick Show

The Quick Trick Show is a British children's television series. It was presented by Stephen Mulhurn and like its sister show, Tricky TV, the show featured magic tricks, "wicked wind-ups", illusions, and taught a number of tricks step-by-step. Five series in total were produced and aired on CITV between 1999 and 2002.

Series Guide

Series	Premiere	Last in series	Episodes
1	13 April 1999	18 May 1999	6
2	23 February 2000	5 April 2000	7
3	27 February 2001	20 March 2001	13
4	24 September 2001	11 October 2001	13
5	16 October 2002	18 December 2002	10

International

Tricky TV was aired in the Philippines on Cartoon Network, in Germany on Super RTL, in the Arab World on MBC 3, in Iceland on Stöð 2, in Norway on NRK Super, in Canada on VRAK.TV and in Hong Kong on ATV World.

External links

• Tricky TV at itv.com

References