We’ve had the pleasure of having some of our questions answered by the one and only Paul Daniels.  The classic TV magician was the co-creator of Wizbit, a lovable pyramid-shaped character that found himself in Puzzleopolis.  Accompanied by Wooly, a man-sized white rabbit, and a variety of other magic-related inhabitants, he solved puzzles to find out more about the strange world around him.  For those that don’t remember, here’s a quick reminder:

Wizbit is to return as an animated series, and Mr Daniels has been kind enough to fill us in on some of the details…
I remember watching Wizbit when I was younger and loved the interesting characters, the world they lived in and the puzzles in the program. How did Wizbit come about?
Barry Murray (formerly Mungo Jerry’s record producer – Ed) was trying to find a way of linking tracks on an LP of magic tricks and had the idea of a ‘man’ coming from out of space to do the intros. I had read a story about people who were so tiny their voice frequency was different to ours, much faster and higher. I created the sound of Wizbit (a Bit of a Wizard).

The series is now coming back in animated form.  What was the thinking behind the change from live action to cartoon?
The original live action series really did cost a fortune. We even built the town of Puzzleopolis. Using the latest animation techniques allows us much more scope at a fraction of the price.

Were there any changes you had to make to Puzzleopolis and its inhabitants?
No, if anything more characters will appear and we may even be going back to the planet of WOW (World Of Wizards).

Is there a release date yet or news of which channel/network it will be on?
No, we have had great difficulty getting a channel to ‘bite’. One channel wants the stories to be simpler (I don’t think children are so stupid that they can’t follow the original plotlines) so we have been working on satisfying that demand and another statement thought that Wizbit was too close to a children’s magic school programme – despite Wizbit NEVER teaching a magic trick and being pure fantasy. Justine, the publisher/producer, is working SO hard at creating a product that will satisfy all requirements.

There are also a series of Wizbit books being published – did you have any involvement in these?  Is there any more merchandising in the pipeline?  A Wizbit computer game would be great!
The first four ‘easy reader’ books about Wizbit, for the very young, are already on the market and Borders, for example, are devoting their stores to ‘magic days’ throughout the coming months. Justine is already in negotiation about other ranges of books, toys, DVDs and so on. My involvement? I sit like a kind of overseeing guru, proofreading and editing, suggesting, nagging…..
 
TV magic in it’s purest form, such as the shows you used to make, is a rare treat nowadays.  Do you see a time when it will make a comeback?  Do you think “psychological magicians” like David Blaine and Derren Brown are entertaining?
Of course it will come back because it has been around since the beginning of history. It still exists in the top cabaret and show rooms of the world and on TV everything goes round and round.  I am not too keen on David Blaine ‘cos I have yet to see him do an unedited show, so I don’t know if he can really do a magic show.  Derren is much more straightforward and is the latest in a long line of TV ‘mentalists.
 
I don’t know if you get to see any Kids TV nowadays – if so, do you think it is too full of imported programs, or do you think these are necessary as a form of cross-cultural education?
I think that for too long the children have been brainwashed that pop music is the be all and end all of entertainment, and it isn’t. It is, however, something that promoters can make a lot of money out of and so… they promote it! A lot of children’s entertainment is also too childish and I know the kids in my family have avoided a lot of that kind of stuff. Kids aren’t stupid, they aren’t daft, and they don’t want to watch adults acting that way. It would also be nice to watch presenters who weren’t shouting all the time.

Finally, is the famous theme tune coming back for the new series?
No. Sadly we could not get the rights to it, so we can’t broadcast it.  I do think you will like the new tune though.

Click here to but the new Wizbit books or click here to go to the new Wizbit website.

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