Scratchy & Co.
title: "Scratchy & Co." type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1990s-british-children's-television-series", "1995-british-television-series-debuts", "1998-british-television-series-endings", "british-television-shows-featuring-puppetry", "british-english-language-television-shows", "itv-children's-television-shows", "max-headroom", "television-series-by-itv-studios", "television-shows-produced-by-central-independent-television"] topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratchy_&_Co." license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox television"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| image | Scratchyandco.jpg |
| genre | Children's entertainment |
| starring | Ronni Ancona |
| Elliot Henderson-Boyle | |
| Mark Speight | |
| country | United Kingdom |
| language | English |
| num_series | 4 |
| num_episodes | 72 |
| company | Mentorn Midlands in association with Carlton UK Productions and Central |
| network | ITV |
| first_aired | |
| last_aired | |
| :: |
| image = Scratchyandco.jpg | genre = Children's entertainment | starring = Ronni Ancona Elliot Henderson-Boyle Mark Speight | country = United Kingdom | language = English | num_series = 4 | num_episodes = 72 | company = Mentorn Midlands in association with Carlton UK Productions and Central | network = ITV | first_aired = | last_aired =
Scratchy & Co. is a British children's entertainment show that aired on ITV on Saturday mornings from 6 May 1995 to 25 April 1998.
Premise
Scratchy & Co. starred Mark Speight as "Scratchy" and Elliot Henderson-Boyle as "Reg". Other characters included Annabel and a Scottish girl, both played by comedian and impressionist Ronni Ancona. The main gimmick of the show was that the cast wore solid rubber wigs and eccentric jackets. A stylistic similarity might be noted between this approach and Max Headroom. This format only lasted for its first series.
Later series introduced other characters such as Sedgely the penguin and Fathead the football.
From the second series, the show moved away from the original Max Headroom-esque style, into a studio where Scratchy (now minus the rubber wig) sat behind a desk, with Reg behind a window. At this point, guests were invited into the studio and interviewed. However, most of the characters which had been introduced earlier were dropped.
Gail Porter was a frequent guest presenter in the third and fourth series.
The show was nominated for a BAFTA. It was axed after the fourth series in 1998 as part of a revamp of CITV's Saturday morning line-up which took effect that autumn with the launch of SMTV Live and CD:UK.
Programmes
- Gladiators: Train 2 Win (1995)
- It's Not Fair (1998)
- Massive! (1995)
Transmissions
::data[format=table]
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 May 1995The making of a diarist. Author: David Flusfeder. Date: Saturday, May 6, 1995 | ||
| 2 | 4 May 1996 | 24 August 1996 | 17 |
| 3 | 4 January 1997 | 26 April 1997 | 17 |
| 4 | 3 January 1998 | 25 April 1998 | 17 |
| :: |
References
References
- (2008-04-14). "Mark Speight". Telegraph.
- (2015-12-07). "Malcolm Jeffries {{!}} Perfect Timing".
- Saturday, Dec. 16, 1995. Publication: The Times (London, England). Issue: 65452
- Saturday, May 4, 1996. Publication: The Times (London, England). Issue: 65571
- Saturday, Aug. 24, 1996. Publication: The Times (London, England). Issue: 65,667
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