Tricky TV
Tricky TV is a fast paced modern magic show for CITV. Presented by children's presenter and magician Stephen Mulhern, the show features magic on the street, "wicked wind-ups", illusions, and teaches a number of tricks step-by-step.
Format
The show featured magic tricks ranging from making a tank vanish to making an entire football team appear. The "wicked wind-ups" included a gorilla that came to life and a cinema with exploding popcorn and unstoppable drinks machines. Classic con tricks were also exposed in "Beat the Cheat". Each show usually closed with a performance of a classic "grand illusion", such as Sawing a Woman in Half.In Series 1 and 2, Mulhern was joined each week by one or more special guest celebrities, who often took part in a number of tricks during the show, and sometimes participated in the show's closing illusion. In series 3, the format was dramatically redesigned as Stephen Mulhern presents more in the background and allows a 'Tricky Team' of young magicians to perform the illusions.
Production
The show is produced by The Foundation, the same company that produces Finger Tips, Globo Loco and Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown, which also starred Mulhern.Tricky TV was first broadcast in the 4pm slot on ITV from 5 September 2005. The creative consultant was Paul Andrews. The show's executive producer was Vanessa Hill for The Foundation. Series 2 was produced by Ian France and directed by Paul Andrews. Series 3 was co-produced, written and directed by Paul Andrews and has sold to over 100 countries.
Transmissions
Episodes
Series 1
Series 1 consisted of ten episodes, and ran from 5 September 2005 to 7 November 2005.| Episode | In series | Original air date | Special guest | Episode details |
| 1 | 1 | 5 September 2005 | Jennifer Ellison | A full-sized model gorilla comes to life, Stephen makes a dream come true for a class of schoolkids - by causing their teachers to vanish. Jennifer Ellison is amazed by a card trick, and then cut into three in the "Zigzag Girl". |
| 2 | 2 | 12 September 2005 | A school trip to the Kent Museum of life takes a turn when Stephen flattens a schoolboy called josh by putting him through a mangle, attempts to make a tank disappear, and then leads a cookery class that gets out of hand. | |
| 3 | 3 | 19 September 2005 | Caprice | Stephen demonstrates the illusion of levitation, customers at an ice-cream van are served up a surprise, and in the closing illusion, Caprice is left feeling a little cut up in a giant card trick. |
| 4 | 4 | 26 September 2005 | The Cheeky Girls | In this episode, the Cheeky Girls help Stephen perform a trick with playing cards - by sitting on them. Plus Stephen demonstrates a trick where a handkerchief turns into an egg with a touch of magic. Finally, the Cheeky Girls help Stephen with another trick where he saws them both in half and switches their lower halves. |
| 5 | 5 | 3 October 2005 | Bradley Walsh | In this episode, Bradley Walsh is amazed by a card trick with a football link; Stephen transforms a viewer's old family car; a poster comes to life; a harmless toy terrifies members of the public; and a viewer asks Stephen to use their mother in a dangerous feat. |
| 6 | 6 | 10 October 2005 | Rachel Stevens | In this episode, magical mayhem abounds on a school trip to the cinema, and singer Rachel Stevens is amazed when Stephen performs a mind-boggling trick with her expensive ring, and then saws her in half while she's standing up. Plus, Stephen sends a bodybuilder to the Table of Death to be impaled by a bed of sharp spikes falling from above. |
| 7 | 7 | 17 October 2005 | Joe Pasquale | In this episode, comedian Joe Pasquale plays a version of Russian roulette, and Stephen tries to turn a pack of cub scouts into brownies. |
| 8 | 8 | 24 October 2005 | Peter Andre | Singer Peter Andre receives a shock when the presenter attempts a trick using a fearsome fork, Stephen shows a secret to make a person levitate, and a big trick with a plane. |
| 9 | 9 | 31 October 2005 | Stephen visits a sleepover to show a sleeping levitation, rescues a cat with magic, and shows off the secrets of a haunted house. | |
| 10 | 10 | 17 October 2005 | Jack Osbourne | Stephen presents a baffling trick with a box of tissues, guest Jack Osbourne receives some unusual help to overcome his jet-lag, and a bodybuilder volunteers for a dangerous underwater trick. |
Series 2
Series 2 ran from 10 March – 2 June 2006| Episode | In series | Original airdate | Special guest | Episode details |
| 11 | 1 | 10 March 2006 | Stephen visits Blackpool beach; Holly appears from nowhere, and then uses a magical changing room to put on her bikini. In the closing illusion, Stephen uses a bodybuilder to demonstrate the "Beach BBQ". | |
| 12 | 2 | 17 March 2006 | We find out how magicians make ice cream; and a donkey gets a ride for once. In the closing illusion, a bodybuilder goes to pieces in the 'Bikini Blocks'. | |
| 13 | 3 | 24 March 2006 | David Beckham | In this episode, Stephen makes Holly’s wedding ring vanish from inside her closed hand and then reappear inside a rose. He also brings a David Beckham waxwork to life, and then makes a horse disappear. |
| 14 | 4 | 31 March 2006 | Nikki Sanderson | Stephen takes a knight to pieces in a suit of armour, amazes Nikki with a trick with a bottle, and brings some magic to a library. |
| 15 | 5 | 7 April 2006 | Philip Schofield | Stephen amazes Philip with a close up magic trick, shows off his magic picnic basket, and then makes a viewer's mother float high in the air above London. |
| 16 | 6 | 14 April 2006 | On Blackpool beach, Stephen borrows an Aunty - then makes her vanish. A card trick becomes a donkey trick. Aunty Linsey reappears in a tank of water. Beat the Cheat shares another secret. Aunty Linsey is penetrated by light-bulbs. | |
| 17 | 7 | 21 April 2006 | In "The Disembodied Princess", Stephen makes a gymnastics coach's body disappear, leaving just her head and legs. | |
| 18 | 8 | 28 April 2006 | Stephen uses a small tree house for a Big Trick and teaches magic in the Secret Circle. He also visits a gym and stretches and squashes a bodybuilder to impossible sizes in "The Stretcher". | |
| 19 | 9 | 5 May 2006 | Stephen introduces Holly to his idea of "Modern Art" when he saws her in half while she's standing up. | |
| 20 | 10 | 12 May 2006 | Stephen attends a school in Denbigh and puts a schoolgirl called Sophie through an illusion called the Wringer where she is flattened. At a gym in London, Stephen performs Bodybuilder Bisection, using a buzzsaw to slice the man in half. | |
| 21 | 11 | 19 May 2006 | Stephen gets right to the point with a gym teacher, a classic confidence trick is exposed in Beat the Cheat, and a French lesson is cut short by a guillotine. | |
| 22 | 12 | 26 May 2006 | Stephen surprises a viewer's mother with some conjuring, and helps her dress the part, before she takes to the high seas for an illusion with pirates. Plus, magic tips for viewers in the Secret Circle, and Stephen's volunteer assistant being cut into nine in an illusion called "The Slicer". | |
| 23 | 13 | 2 June 2006 | In "Girl Through Glass", Stephen pushes Holly through a solid pane of glass, and also cuts her in half. |
Series 3
Series 3 consisted of twenty episodes, and ran from 14 September – 15 October 2010. Episodes 1-14 were presented by Stephen Williams.| Episode | In series | Original airdate | Special guest | Episode details |
| 24 | 1 | 14 September 2010 | Girls Aloud | Girls Aloud join Stephen at the seaside, and take part in some magic. Stephen's apprentices demonstrate their skills |
| 25 | 2 | 15 September 2010 | Nell McAndrew | Sporty magic with special guest Nell McAndrew |
| 26 | 3 | 16 September 2010 | ||
| 27 | 4 | 17 September 2010 | ||
| 28 | 5 | 21 September 2010 | ||
| 29 | 6 | 22 September 2010 | ||
| 30 | 7 | 23 September 2010 | ||
| 31 | 8 | 24 September 2010 | ||
| 32 | 9 | 28 September 2010 | ||
| 33 | 10 | 29 September 2010 | ||
| 34 | 11 | 30 September 2010 | ||
| 35 | 12 | 1 October 2010 | ||
| 36 | 13 | 5 October 2010 | ||
| 37 | 14 | 6 October 2010 | ||
| 38 | 15 | 7 October 2010 | ||
| 39 | 16 | 8 October 2010 | ||
| 40 | 17 | 12 October 2010 | ||
| 41 | 18 | 13 October 2010 | ||
| 42 | 19 | 14 October 2010 | ||
| 43 | 20 | 15 October 2010 |