'ChuckleVision' star Paul Elliott calls BBC tribute to his late brother Barry 'a slap in the face'

Amy West
·Contributor
Updated
The Chuckle Brothers, Barry (left) and Paul Elliott, arrive at Southwark Crown Court in London, where they wil appear as witnesses in the trial of Former DJ Dave Lee Travis who is accused of 13 counts of indecent assault dating back to between 1976 and 2003, and one count of sexual assault in 2008. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)
Paul Elliott, of the Chuckle Brothers, has slammed the BBC for not airing classic episodes of 'ChuckleVision' on mainstream TV as a tribute to his late brother Barry (right) (Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

Chuckle Brothers star Paul Elliott has taken aim at the BBC for airing children’s television series ChuckleVision on iPlayer rather than mainstream TV following his brother Barry’s death last August.

In a recent interview with the Radio Times, the 71-year-old said it felt like “a slap in the face” when the broadcaster uploaded the final series of the beloved slapstick show to its streaming service as a way for “viewers old and new [to] enjoy Barry and Paul’s unique brand of kids’ comedy.”

“They could have at least put it on the BBC – not iPlayer,” he added. “They asked permission and I said ‘why not on main TV?’”

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Elliott’s comments come just days after ChuckleVision - which was created by himself, Barry and Martin Hughes, aired for 22 years and inspired the siblings’ famous “To Me... To You” catchphrase - was voted the greatest CBBC series of all time.

More than 3,000 people voted for it in the Radio Times poll, which was inspired by the BBC ranking it below many of its other shows in a tweet last week.

Paul Elliott carries the coffin of his brother Barry Chuckle, 73, (real name Barry Elliott) at the New York Stadium, Rotherham, for his funeral following his death on Sunday August 5. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)
Paul Elliott carries the coffin of his brother Barry Chuckle, 73, (real name Barry Elliott) at the New York Stadium, Rotherham. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)

“It was absolutely ridiculous what they put,” he continued, touching on the social media post. “People were saying how stupid this is. It doesn’t really mean anything.

“When they dropped [the show] they didn’t tell us,” Elliott recalled. “We eventually rang them and said, ‘We’ve not done a script meeting’ and they said, ‘We’ve decided we’re not going to do one’ and that was it. They just dropped it.

“The excuse was that the repeats were getting as many views as the new ones, and then a year later they dropped that. It was a total lack of respect.”

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Elliott concluded by saying that when Barry died last year, he actively took a step back from doing stand-up and instead, threw himself into the world of nightclub appearances and DJ sets.

“I like clubbing, I always have. It really wasn’t Barry’s thing – he was teetotal. I’m the complete opposite. I’m fall-over-total.”