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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Lifestyle
Dominic Moffitt

Trev and Simon: The legends of 90s kids' TV who vanished from our screens

Do you remember TV legends Trevor and Simon - who dominated kids programming back in the 1990s?

The 1990s was a magical time to be alive in the UK, with Britpop exploding and British TV becoming as wacky and wild as possible.

The likes of Chris Evans and Noel Edmonds starred in some downright crazy programmes during that decade, bringing the likes of Mr Blobby and TFI Friday to life.

But one comedy duo, sure to evoke nostalgia in people of a certain age, are University of Manchester alumni Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson, who rose to fame through their appearances on the Saturday morning show Going Live.

Read more: How many do you remember? 60 stores loved by shoppers that have vanished from Greater Manchester's high street

Hosted by Phillip Schofield (remember him?) and Sarah Greene, it had comedy sketches, agony aunt segments, music video votes and, of course, gunge.

Trevor and Simon, who had met at Manchester University in 1981 at the drama department's Christmas show - in which Trevor played a squirrel on a skateboard - acted out a series of returning sketches on the show.

Their recurring characters included a pair of rogue traders, the witch finders (who appeared each Halloween), and DJ Mick McMac with his only fan, and avid rave-goer, Moon Monkey.

Comedy duo Trevor and Simon met at the University of Manchester (PA)

It was on Going Live that Trevor and Simon conceived their most well known sketch ideas.

One of the duo's regular skits was The Singing Corner, with Trevor and Simon playing the role of two wayward folk singers who worked with famous music artists.

The likes of Kylie Minogue, The Prodigy, Erasure, Lisa Stansfield, and even Barbara Windsor appeared in this segment.

Trevor and Simon later released a song as part of The Singing Corner sketch, the chorus of which would become synonymous with their fame.

Swing Your Pants, which came with its own hands on knees dance, would become the catchphrase for the duo.

One of the most popular Trevor and Simon sketches was The Singing Corner (Daily Star)

The song goes like this: "Daddy's taking us to the zoo tomorrow, the zoo tomorrow, the zoo tomorrow.

"Daddy's taking us to the zoo tomorrow, we're going to swing our pants."

Another popular catchphrase was "we don't do duvets" an exclamation stemming from the duo's sketch about a dry cleaners run by two grumpy old men.

Going Live ended in 1993 but Trevor and Simon, who had built up connections with Bottom stars Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson while at Uni, were lined up to feature in the show's replacement.

Live And Kicking took up where Going Live had left off and would run until 2001 - it had obstacle courses with gunge, comedic sketches, and a game that involved guiding a pig towards truffles (yes really), presenters including Andi Peters, John Barrowman, Zoe Ball and Jamie Theakston.

Trevor and Simon developed their comedy duo on the hit show (BBC)

When Live And Kicking came to a close, Trevor and Simon seemed to fade from the spotlight.

But the duo have continued to do work behind the scenes, script writing for a host of CBeebies shows including the dinosaur-themed Dinopaws.

They were also key contributor to the popular noughties comedy, My Parents Are Aliens.

In 2018, the duo reconnected with Phillip Schofield on This Morning, showing off the must have Christmas toys of the year before performing a quick rendition of Swing Your Pants.

The duo also created a crowdfunded comedy drama podcast, Strangeness In Space, in 2016, starring Trevor, Simon, and children's TV actor Sophie Aldred.

Do you remember Trevor and Simon? What was your favourite sketch of theirs? We want to know, drop us a comment below.

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