A huge children’s TV star in the 1980s, Mallett is now an artist and has written a new memoir. It charts the bike ride he took, inspired by his older brother, who had Down’s syndrome and lived an extraordinarily rich life
Children’s television presenters occupy a strange place in one’s memory, somewhere between grandparents and primary school friendships. They are not mere celebrities, but a part of your childhood, and if you grew up in the 80s and spent most of your time watching TV, as I did, then Timmy Mallett will occupy such a space. In the mid 80s, he was one of the team of presenters of Wide Awake Club, the Saturday-morning children’s show, although it is only Mallett, with his garish clothes and colourful glasses, that I can really remember. He quickly also became the face of the school-holiday show Wacaday. A whole generation of children grew up hitting their siblings over the head with a cushion, or worse, as they recreated his word association game Mallett’s Mallet at home.
Mallett, now 64, has written a memoir, following the journey of a two-month bike ride through France and Spain two years ago, taking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. The book is punctuated with memories of his life and career, which is why we are talking, on a sunny day in lockdown, over Zoom. Mallett is mostly an artist these days, so life has changed very little.
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