Live and Kicking: Steve and Emma's first show

The start of series 7, and the point at which it all began to go wrong. Steve Wilson and Emma Ledden take over L&K, and to be fair they are no worse here than Zoe and Jamie in their first show (and better than Andi, Emma and John, who refused to gel for an entire series), but it didn't get much better in the weeks that followed. And with SM:TV Live just hitting it's stride on the other side the game was up anyway (speaking of which, look out for an outrageous not-so-subtle jibe at the opposition at 2:40).
Also worth watching for some surprise faces from the past, short-lived puppet "Renoir", the "new" titles (which had one shot of the redeveloped TV Centre before cutting back to the rest of the sequence in which it didn't feature) and Emma's former home The Den (which is such a rip-off of the broom cupboard it even has a monitor in the back of shot).
25.09.99, all copyright remains BBC.
This clip is from my own VHS recording. Any duplication on You Tube has been stolen from my channel. Just so we're clear!

[@birdy100]

At 02:34 "Do remember Saturday Morning Television Live was created for the BBC by the BBC. What ever you do, don't step on the ANTS, don't kick the CAT or some one may well DEC you" Only just got that SM:TV Live reference!

[@eliemajdalani7077]

👍👍

[@johnking5174]

In fact Saturday morning television created by Tiswas before the BBC for ITV.

[@shahlatona6768]

OH, OF COURSE!!! But that line didn’t aged well, doesn’t it?!

[@PutTheTellyOn]

I agree. Full of gimmicks (and Blobby overload) to try and keep up with Ant and Dec on ITV by this point.

[@kylebulger4240]

I lost it when Andi Peters roasted CITV’s SM:TV Live in the opening scebe

[@FreakinSweet86]

Live and Kicking was brilliant but SMTV was a stroke of genious on ITV's part, mind you LaK was finished by then I think or at least on the way out

[@meridian2000]

No it wasn't, it was all thanks to Nigel Pickard who didn't realise that L&K was a BBC Brand along with Blue Peter, Top of the Pops and loads more.

[@thepod96]

@JB1601 I've just noticed that - if they couldn't be bothered changing the sound effect or the wide shot, why bother at all? They could have just updated the signage to the proper one which wasn't up when the BBC rebrand happened. Another pointless update is the new 3D logo which pops out of the building near the end but still has that same ball crashing noise which used to come out of it. And when they went widescreen, they just zoomed the titles in to make it look widescreen on digital!

[@johnking5174]

2:10 - I remember that entrance so well at Television Centre. In 2018 it is now the new foyer for the apartments at the new Television Centre complex. Only three studios remain TC1, TC2 and TC3.

[@lkfan8212]

Emma Ledden joined The Den on RTE from 1995-2005 and later CBBC from 1997-2002

[@kylebulger4240]

Unfortunately these two got kicked out before it even started and Mitch Johnson was retired from announcer duties after that season ended as four new hosts would be brought in for the final season the following autumn on 7th October 2000 and and the show moved taping of its final five months of episodes to BBC Broadcasting House in Glasgow Scotland the next spring on 28th April 2001 after that

[@Irishgui83]

I remember watching this live and just knowing it wasn't going to work. Seeing the previous presenters at the beginning just made me pine for them to return again. I kept watching ofcourse, depending on the guests appearing each week and the chemistry between them never improved and it always felt very awkward with a nervous energy each time. Shame as it was a brilliantly unmissable show for years prior and you could tune in every Saturday - even if they had guests you didn't really know or like - and still be guaranteed an entertaining show with Emma & Andi/ Zoe & Jamie.

[@meridian2000]

I am sick of you making comments about who should present Live & Kicking when it's meant to be a live children's show. And besides, nobody is the stars of Live & Kicking, the show is, The same with Smtv Live, And Dec and Cat weren't the stars of the show, that's why they left to make room for new exciting presenters. So if your reading this message and your somebody who made comments about Zoe and Jamie, Andi and Emma were better than Steve And Emma, then I'm very disappointed in you.

[@sickpup820]

Ironically, Steve joined ITV after he left L&K and appeared on SMTV Live lol.

[@Classictv90s]

I'm afraid to say when Steve Wilson and Emma Ledden took over from Zoe Ball and Jamie Theakston as hosts of Live Kicking's seventh series it was the beginning of the end for the show.

[@eliemajdalani7077]

i agree

[@rajnirvan3336]

Classictv90s To be honest it should have been stopped when Zoe and Jamie quit and replaced with new show

[@Classictv90s]

The other thing about Emma & Steve's presentation on Live & Kicking was....they didn't know each other very well and there was certainly a lack of rapport between them. I think it was only right they had to go at the end of the series.

[@rajnirvan3336]

Classictv90s They were good at their previous individual jobs apparently but this just didn't suit them. At least when Emma and Andi left they were replaced by Zoe and Jamie who were experienced kids presenters and both were different in their own way. Emma was meant to continue but obviously she became pregnant had to leave

[@meridian2000]

No it wasn't, they were good presenters, remember this was a Live flagship children's weekly show, Zoe and Jamie couldn't present it forever. I'm very disappointed in you.

[@tigerbread78]

To be honest, it all started to go wrong when Zoe Ball and Jamie Theakston took over in '96. Trev and Simon lost their comedy groove, and then we got "Men in Trousers"

[@ForestKicks]

Sadly, Jason never got his photo

[@ChristopherHeward]

All these American programmes, particularly the cartoons, were the death of it. Who wants to watch three episodes of Rugrats?!!? Even as a kid I just watched it for the guys and the banter.

[@JB1601]

If you meant the roadsigns sequence, it was originally used as an ident in early 1999 but very quickly became the end sequence (replacing that crap spinning coin thing) - and performs much the same job here as this was always the final CBBC link of the day, but they didn't put the copyright info on it as L&K followed it.

[@JB1601]

6. They left studio 7 after series 4 of L&K (which was then taken by news, who still have it today)

[@2001JamesTV]

I might be wrong (as there isn't enough detail in this clip), but doesn't the shot of TV Centre still have the old signage on the front- that which was taken down in 1994?

[@JB1601]

It does - although this was never changed on any other the other titles that showed the new BBC logos. The sequence as a whole is dire - why add a new opening shot when the rest of the sequence shows the building as exactly the same? Plus the ball smashes through glass instead if brick and still makes the same noise! On another note, the backdrop to the sequence is the goldy/brown that was used in the final Going Live! title sequence, meaning it lasted 8 years!!

[@JB1601]

Yep. It's very faint (presumably why they never bothered editing that shot), clearer on an actual TV. But definitely not the squares BBC logo (or the slanty one before that).

[@JB1601]

Blobby overload started the year before, when he was dropped from House Party, but it really started to distract by this point - especially as this year they dropped the comedy act, resulting in more Leprechauns and Blobby, neither of which were particularly by this point.

[@2001JamesTV]

The title sequence is a mess really, but then it seems so was the whole show by this point. I don't recall ever watching this series apart from in passing. I'd been a viewer of SM:TV right from the first episode!

[@eliasmajdalani7050]

Me too after emma andi live and kicking was not the same

[@meridian2000]

@2001JamesTV You must have a very weak brain then, you know full well that Smtv was crap, L&K was far better, the best Saturday morning show ever, Smtv only lasted 5 minutes before it was finally axed in 2003.

[@Joyousmicor]

Modified (Instead of TC1, Stage 6 was shown)

[@johnking5174]

The reason being, the TC1 building had the old BBC logo and not the new 1997 version which is still in use today 2020. So, they could not edit the old logo out of the titles, and so created this new version.

[@MultiVince95]

Saturday 25th September 1999

[@birdy100]

What's the name of the tune playing over the menu trail?

[@thepod96]

Didn't know that they used the end credits as an ident.

[@dsd310580]

It was never the same when Zoe and Jamie left.

[@meridian2000]

Zoe and Jamie couldn't be the presenters forever, very disappointed in you.

[@dsd310580]

@@meridian2000 Could’ve found decent replacements that had the same charisma, same chemistry together, and kept the show as good. But they got poor replacements. Was never as good, after. Then they totally ruined it towards the end, and that’s why it got cancelled. Very disappointed in that.

[@meridian2000]

They didn't need to have the same chemestry remember this was a Live children's weekly programme, not a adults programme.

[@dsd310580]

@@meridian2000 So kids have no concept of enjoying a show, or the presenting? Bit patronising of kids. The fact it was a kid’s shoe means even more that they should’ve had chemistry and charisma. Are you related to one of them? Taking it a bit personally, oddly.

[@GTAWildestPolicechases]

Curious as to how you know these things do you work there??

[@JB1601]

Nah - generally through seeing it mentioned on screen but it's common knowledge on certain nerdy forums :)

[@birdy100]

Is that studio 6 or 7 they're in?

[@comicbossone2411]

Sad. Nowhere near as good as the previous incarnations.

[@thepod96]

This is my fifth comment on this video now (some I deleted because they sounded stupid) but I'm just wondering here whether the other reason why this series failed is because most of us thought it would end by now. I'm sure Swap Shop, Saturday SuperStore, and Going Live all lasted for six years, and the previous series of L&K had just marked the six year period too. Maybe The Saturday Show should've started here instead.

[@meridian2000]

Listen, I'm glad Live & Kicking, didn't end because that would be a big mistake. I'm also very disappointed in you to think it failed because it didnt. Remember it was a Live flagship weekly programme, not a series.

[@thepod96]

@@meridian2000 It still had series though. It didn’t run all year until the last year in a desperate attempt to compete with SMTV cos they did the same.

[@neilogden]

Chris Bellinger (Editor) told me that it was a hard call to make - whether to start new after Zoe and Jamie left or have new presenters again. Live and Kicking was a strong brand though. It had already survived one presenter change, it had a magazine to go with it and a Friday evening spin off. There was no reason to think they couldn't do it again, but Chris also told me maybe they weren't bold enough in evolving the show after that. When Jamie Theakeston joined, he was described as a "gamble" . It was unusual for them to get the presenting duo wrong. I think Steve and Emma would have grown into the show more but they just didn't have the time because of what ITV had done. The usual time of each show was 5 or 6 series, L and K did 8. The magazine outlived the TV show by a year. Interesting that Saturday Mash Up Live, the current Saturday morning show has so many throwbacks to the L and K days. It has also survived a presenter change. It is also just about to start series 6. I wonder if that will be its last... I liked Steve and Emma by the way.

[@classicsportclassictiyl8547]

​@@neilogdenthe fact itv got pokemon also played a part because ant and dec really leant into what was going in the playgrounds at the time with the pokerap and poke battle sketches

[@SClub8Official]

Where's the rest?

[@JB1601]

I think that's pretty much it - it outlived it's natural life span and viewers got fed up. CBBC seemed to think it could be like Blue Peter and go on forever just changing the presenters, because they got lucky doing it the first time in 1996.

[@mcflymaniacoftheyear]

omigosh I remember this cbbc with the yellow things and live and licking ahh I was only like ... 4 :L

[@LindsayLoving]

best show ever

[@ferryjammy]

best show ever and good old micheal

[@metafis2490]

Bewitched....nice girls Im sure, but they irritated me no end!!.

[@JB1601]

@AidanLunn the definition of a cheapo relaunch! plus the news centre isn't built on the second shot either...

[@mooghead]

Who the hell are these 2?

[@unipal390]

Mr Blobby XD

[@rajnirvan3336]

These 2 shouldn't have been given the job on Live and Kicking after Zoe and Jamie quit the show should have been stopped. If it was a new show then yes new presenters

[@meridian2000]

Excuse me but they were great presenters, Zoe and Jamie couldn't be the presenters forever, very disappointed in you.

[@meridian2000]

Stop it all of you. I am sick of all of you making comments about who should present Live & Kicking when it's meant to be a live children's show. And besides, nobody is the stars of Live & Kicking, the show is, The same with Smtv Live, And Dec and Cat weren't the stars of the show, that's why they left to make room for new exciting presenters. So if your reading this message and your somebody who made comments about Zoe and Jamie, Andi and Emma were better than Steve And Emma, then I'm very disappointed in all of you.

[@ToastyBoiChannel]

why don't you tell that to yourself, no one really cares about your opinion mate

[@markxist]

They were rubbish presenters. Steve Wilson was irritating and Emma Ledden had zero personality, and just one joke-that her name sounded like the motorway M11

[@meridian2000]

No they weren't rubbish presenters You idiot, They were fantastic presenters, Very disappointed in you.

[@thepod96]

You can't.

[@Kianthesimpsonsfanatic2023]

What

[@thepod96]

Just noticed how Andi tries to make SMTV sound bad and L&K sound good.

[@meridian2000]

That's because L&K was good and SMTV was indeed bad, Fact.

[@eliemajdalani7077]

worst season evet just got worse

[@meridian2000]

No it wasn't you idiot.