{{for|the 19th century American political organization|Wide Awakes}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{use British English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox television | image = | caption = | runtime = 30 min. | presenter = Timmy Mallett<br>Arabella Warner<br>James Baker<br>Tommy Boyd<br>Michaela Strachan | country = United Kingdom | channel = TV-am (ITV) | first_aired = {{start date|1984|10|13|df=y}} | last_aired = {{end date|1989}} | num_episodes = | related = Wacaday (1985 – 1992) }}

'''''Wide Awake Club''''' (often abbreviated to '''''WAC''''') is a children's television series that was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the breakfast television channel TV-am between 1984 and 1989.

==History== ''Wide Awake Club'' started on Saturday 13 October 1984, broadcasting for an hour each Saturday morning at 8.30&nbsp;am as TV-am's flagship kids series. It replaced two separate shows, ''Data Run'' and ''SPLAT'' which had been created by Ragdoll's Anne Wood then as Head of Children's Programmes. The change to ''Wide Awake Club'' was part of cost cutting by management<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ragdoll.co.uk/html/story.html#3 |title=Ragdoll Story |publisher=Ragdoll.co.uk |access-date=2013-09-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053652/http://www.ragdoll.co.uk/html/story.html |archive-date=21 September 2013 |df=dmy }}</ref> and was devised by producer Nick Wilson.

''WAC'' was presented by Timmy Mallett, Arabella Warner and James Baker, with Tommy Boyd joining in February 1985 and Michaela Strachan in August 1986<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pelley |first1=Rich |title=Timmy Mallett and Michaela Strachan: how we made Wide Awake Club |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jul/20/wide-awake-club-timmy-mallett-michaela-strachan |website=The Guardian |access-date=20 July 2020 |date=20 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="Tait">{{cite book |last1=Tait |first1=Derek |title=A 1980s Childhood |date=2019 |publisher=Amberley Publishing |isbn=978-1445692418 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVe-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT254}}</ref> – all newcomers to television, except Boyd who had previously presented ''Magpie'' and Mallett who had presented the ''Oxford Road Show''.

The live programme combined comedy, games, celebrity guests, competitions and viewer interaction. There were also more educational features, including visiting experts such as Carol Vorderman for the science slot, and attempts to explain historical and contemporary events like the Cold War. A spelling contest, 'Bonk’n’Boob'<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pelley |first1=Rich |title=Timmy Mallett and Michaela Strachan: how we made Wide Awake Club |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jul/20/wide-awake-club-timmy-mallett-michaela-strachan |website=The Guardian |access-date=20 July 2020 |date=20 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timmymallett.co.uk/wacaday-20-best-bits/|title=Wacaday: 20 Best Bits – the Utterly Brilliant Timmy Mallett|access-date=9 August 2021|archive-date=9 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809134039/https://www.timmymallett.co.uk/wacaday-20-best-bits/|url-status=live}}</ref> was praised by teachers for encouraging children to learn to spell properly. The show also launched the career of Mike Myers, later a major Hollywood star, who made guest appearances with Neil Mullarkey on the show for a brief time, parodying the show's title in his segment "Sound Asleep Club", in which he sported pyjamas and a "bed-head" hairstyle. His roles included making earrings out of spoons, tape and string, as well as making a glass of water in a cookery section.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news/myers-reunited-with-mallett_1033989 |title=Myers Reunited With Mallett | author=WENN | publisher=Contactmusic.com |date=2007-06-13 |access-date=2013-09-07}}</ref>

When ''Wide Awake Club'' returned after its summer break on Saturday, 14 September 1985, the series was extended to broadcast for almost two hours from 7.30&nbsp;am until 9.25&nbsp;am.

The programme was so successful that it launched two spin-offs: ''Wacaday'', a programme for holiday mornings presented solely by Timmy Mallett (joined by Terry a puppet during its first series and Michaela Strachan for later editions) that became even more successful than its parent, and ''WAC Extra'', a Sunday morning version of the show. Both ''Wide Awake Club'' and ''Wacaday'' introduced the ''Wacawave'', done by making a 'w', by putting one's thumbs together, and waving.

Meanwhile, ''Wide Awake Club'' continued for many years with only minor changes to the format until 9 September 1989<ref>{{cite news | work=The Stage | date=7 September 1989 | page=17 | title=TVAM is looks for new "green" sponsor}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Hull Daily Mail | date=8 September 1989 | title=P5 Weekend, New Presenter Shelah Ferrel}}</ref> when it was relaunched as ''WAC '90'', broadcast from Granada's studios in Manchester (as opposed to TV-am's in London). However, the ''Wide Awake Club'' franchise continued as ''Wacaday'' until TV-am lost its franchise in 1992.

== Programming == *''Jem'' (1987–late 80's) * ''Transformers'' - * ''M.A.S.K.'' * ''Challenge of the GoBots'' * ''Batman'' * ''Flipper'' * ''Happy Days'' * ''The Shoe People''

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==External links== *[http://www.brillianttv.co.uk/timmymallett/television-wac.html Page at Timmy Mallett's website] *[http://www.cjetech.co.uk/watched_it/wac.html Page at Watched It!]

{{UK Breakfast TV}}

Category:1980s British children's television series Category:1984 British television series debuts Category:1989 British television series endings Category:Breakfast television in the United Kingdom Category:British children's television series Category:TV-am original programming Category:English-language British television shows