 = Live & Kicking = 
 
 Live & Kicking is a BBC Saturday morning children 's magazine programme , running from 1993 to 2001 . The fourth in a succession of Saturday morning shows , it was the replacement for Going Live ! , and took many of its features from it , such as phone @-@ ins , games , comedy , competitions and the showing of cartoons . Once Live & Kicking had become established in series two , it reached its height in popularity during series four , when it was presented by Zoë Ball and Jamie Theakston ; their final episode won a BAFTA award . After this the series ratings dropped with the launch of SMTV Live on ITV and was eventually cancelled in 2001 . 
 
 = = History = = 
 
 Live & Kicking was conceived as a replacement for Going Live ! , a successful Saturday morning programme that had been running for six years . It was first broadcast on 2 October 1993 at 9 am on BBC1 . The original hosts were Andi Peters , Emma Forbes who had presented a cookery segment in Going Live ! , and John Barrowman . For the second series , John was relegated to host the showbiz Electric Circus segment , leaving Andi and Emma to become the main hosts . He left after one series of Electric Circus to concentrate on acting . Comedy duo Trevor and Simon and Peter Simon , in the Run the Risk segment , were also regulars who had featured on Going Live ! . 
 While the first series was not as popular as its predecessor , the second series was more successful . It was broadcast during the winter months , from September to April , with Fully Booked replacing it during the summer . New episodes of the Rugrats were shown . The series went out opposite ITV 's What 's Up Doc ? but during its third series issues were raised by the ITC , and a number of people left including Don Austen and John Eccleston ( Bro and Bro 's puppeteers ) who defected to Live & Kicking to star as a couple of leprechaun brothers Sage & Onion . 
 Andi Peters expressed his intention to move on in March 1996 , and Emma Forbes decided to follow after finding out she was pregnant . 
 They were replaced by Zoë Ball and Jamie Theakston , who presented it for three series . According to the BBC , the show 's popularity was at its peak during the 1996 / 1997 series when the show regularly had 2 @.@ 5 million viewers . Around this time Mr. Blobby , played by Barry Killerby , also appered on series . 
 After three series , Ball decided to move on due to a hectic schedule , and Theakston followed . The final episode hosted by Ball and Theakston later won the show a children 's BAFTA award for Best Entertainment show in November 1999 . 
 The show returned in Autumn 1999 with new presenters Emma Ledden and Steve Wilson , . They only lasted for one series , due to ratings dropping to 1 @.@ 6 million during their tenure . At the same time rival SMTV Live on competitor channel ITV was relaunched to feature more comedic elements and began to gain popularity , known for its innuendo and features . Fully Booked , the BBC 's summer replacement , was also revamped and retitled as FBi , but ratings continued to drop . The following October , the final series was a complete revamp , with a line @-@ up of four : Ortis Deley , Katy Hill , Trey Farley and Sarah Cawood . 
 Ratings continued to plummet , due to the continuing success of SMTV Live . In March 2001 , the BBC made an unprecedented move and extended the series over the summer , like SMTV was broadcast , but announced it would be the final series . Hill was replaced by Heather Suttie as the show was moved to BBC Scotland on 21 April until 15 September 2001 when the final show aired . It was replaced by The Saturday Show , which continued to be broadcast all year round . 
 
 = = Format = = 
 
 Live & Kicking was a weekly magazine show broadcast every Saturday morning , normally from September to April and later all year for the final series , and it was aimed at young people . It featured music performances , " hot seat " questions for celebrity guests , phone @-@ ins , games , comedy sketches , competitions , and television programmes and cartoons . It used the taglines " Miss it , miss out " and " The only way to start your weekend " on promotional adverts for the show . As well as the main presenters , there were regulars such as comedy duo Trevor and Simon , and later Ben , Gez and Rich from The Cheese Shop and SuperGirly . A segment in the first few series that was an adaptation of Going Live 's Double Dare was Run the Risk , a game in which teams of children completed various obstacle courses and challenges . Gunge was often included to make the tasks harder . Run The Risk was later broadcast separately . From 1994 until 2000 , there was a showbiz segment called the Electric Circus , which featured the latest films , music , computer games and gossip . It was first presented by John Barrowman after he stepped aside as a regular presenter , and was later hosted by a variety of people . 
 The first series featured the computerised head of a cat named " Ratz " who provided links , but this was dropped after one series . It was replaced by commentator Mitch Johnson , who , as well as providing commentary and links for each item , would interact with both audience and presenters too . From the second series , two puppet leprachauns , later named as Sage and Onion became regulars . They were played by Don Austen and John Eccleston , and were designed and built by Darryl Worbey Studios . They performed comedy sketches throughout the morning , and often interacted with the people in the studio . Another comedy character who first appeared in the third series was Mr Blobby , who had previously appeared in Noel 's House Party . Most regular features were dropped for the final series , when the show was revamped . A feature that stuck throughout was the jingle for the phone number , first 081 811 8181 , then 0181 811 8181 , then 0845 610 1515 . 
 As well as the television show , Live and Kicking launched a music CD , composed of the best music that artists had sung live on the programme . A video game called Live and Kicking : Showmaker was also created , where the user could combine elements of the show to create their own television production on a small scale . A monthly magazine was also produced , though towards the end of Live & Kicking 's production , the sales of the magazine dropped significantly , reflecting its loss of viewers . 
 For series five and six , there was a short version of the show that aired on Friday afternoons called L & K Friday , but this was cancelled after two series . The regular Saturday presenters Jamie Theakston and Zoë Ball presented the first series , and Steve Wilson and Liz Fraser presented the second series . A 90 @-@ minute version of the show also aired on BBC Choice and was entitled L & K Replay . 
 In May 2000 , two months before Steve & Emma were officially resigned from Live & Kicking , the show was brought back for a one @-@ off special during the summer break . It was to mix in with the BBC 's Music Live and the show was titled as Music Live & Kicking with Steve & Emma returning to present along with future presenter Ortis Deley and special guest presenter Stephen Gately of Boyzone . This special was dedicated to a series of music performances ( hence the title ) and was the first edition to be broadcast in widescreen . 
 One of the last features was L & K Castaway , a spin @-@ off of the BBC reality show Castaway 2000 . Each week , six children would spend four days on a remote Scottish island , learning how to survive , among other skills . Points were earned through passing various tasks , and were lost if contestants entered the " Temptation Hut " , which contained various modern electrical appliances . 
 
 = = Demise and replacement = = 
 
 The Ball and Theakston series are considered to be when Live & Kicking was at its peak in popularity . After their final series in 1999 , it was believed the BBC would replace Live & Kicking with another programme , as its two predecessors had both lasted six years . Instead , they continued with Live & Kicking , with new presenters Emma Ledden and Steve Wilson . The series was the beginning of the end for the show ; Ledden and Wilson did not know each other at the start of the series , and so there was none of the interaction between them , as seen between Ball and Theakston . Additionally , SMTV Live which broadcast opposite on ITV was slowly becoming more popular , and gaining the audience the BBC was losing . After just one series , Ledden and Wilson 's contracts were not renewed . Wilson later said that they were dropped just as they were starting to form a relationship , and that Ant & Dec , presenters of SMTV Live , had the edge over them as they had known each other much longer . Ledden had already been dropped when Wilson went through several meetings with the BBC . He decided it was better to leave after one good series , rather than do a second " lame " series , and went on to appear in rival SMTV Live 's 100th show , in the Friends skit , ' Chums ' . When Live & Kicking returned in October 2000 , it was completely revamped , with brand new titles and a line @-@ up of four presenters . However , this did nothing to increase viewing figures , and the chemistry between the presenters was even less apparent . It was decided not to end the show in April and replace it with a summer show , because the replacement FBi had lost even more viewers for the BBC . Live & Kicking continued until September after a move to Glasgow where the summer show had normally been filmed . Just before the move it was announced it would be the final series . The principal reason given for the decision was the increasing loss of viewers to SMTV Live , which had a similar format and was more successful . Live and Kicking was replaced by The Saturday Show , fronted by Dani Behr and Joe Mace , which was shown all year round until September 2003 when it began an Autumn @-@ Spring / Summer loop with Dick and Dom in da Bungalow . Live & Kicking was featured in the BBC 's It Started with Swap Shop programme in 2006 , where Noel Edmonds interviewed the first pair of presenters , Andi Peters and Emma Forbes , about their time on the show . 
 
 = = Programmes = = 
 
 Rugrats ( 1993 – 2001 ) 
 The Simpsons ( 1997 – 2000 ) 
 X @-@ Men ( 1993 – 1996 ) 
 Kenan and Kel ( 1997 – 2001 ) 
 Smart Guy ( 1997 – 2000 ) 
 The Wild Thornberrys ( 1999 – 2001 ) 
 Roswell Conspiracies ( 2000 – 2001 ) 
 Monster Rancher ( 1999 – 2001 ) 
 Clarissa Explains It All ( 1993 – 1996 ) 
 Grimmy ( 1994 ) 
 Eek ! The Cat 
 
 