Following the cancellation of
The Magic Circle Club, actor/writer Max Bartlett continued to work in television production, moving to
Western Australia, where he helped to develop the character of Fat Cat and the children's series,
The Underground Video Show. The show is similar in concept to the
Nine Network's ''
Here's Humphrey'' featuring
Humphrey B. Bear. The program featured resident music artist
Patsy Biscoe, and was variously hosted by John Oster, Jane Reilly and Lynn Weston. Weston later hosted children's show
The Book Place, which replaced
Fat Cat and Friends after it was cancelled.
Fat Cat and Friends was originally produced in the studios of
SAS 10 in Adelaide and it survived the 1987 frequency switch of channels 10 and 7 in Adelaide. It was written, directed and produced by Murray George for 13 years. After 1988 it continued to be produced at the station which then became SAS-7. The show ran on the 0-10 Network (as it was then known) from 1972 until 1987, then on the
Seven Network from 1988 until 1991. Fat Cat was originally played by Reg Whiteman for more than a decade. Fat Cat was then played by Ralf Hadzic for five years. Fat Cat was then played by Melanie George (1980–1985) who is now a freelance choreographer. Robert Fordham played Fat Cat from 1994 and performed on three of the
Fat Cat Storytime videos. The character was later played off screen by a male friend of the show's musician, singer Patsy Biscoe. ==Cancellation==