The programme was similar in style to
Wide Awake Club, which was also broadcast live and featured items such as the word-association games 'Bonk’n’Boob' and 'Mallett's Mallet' as well as 'Drop Your Toast', where Timmy Mallett would read out a viewer's name in the hope that they would be so shocked that they would drop their toast. From 1987, every series (there were six a year – one for each school holiday) would be themed around a different country that Timmy Mallett had visited. Pre-recorded reports from these countries would educate viewers about the country's culture, customs and history (though in a humorous way, including Mallett often acting out famous scenes from that country's past). In later series, the studio set was also decorated in the particular country's theme. Other regular features included a narrated story about the adventures of Magic, Timmy Mallett's cockatiel, various phone-in quizzes (typically at the end of the programme) where a selected viewer would compete in some
gunge-related competition, and a short five-minute cartoon, such as
Transformers,
Galaxy High School,
Batfink,
Challenge of the GoBots or
Dick Tracy. Although some minor items appeared and were retired over the years, the overall structure of the series remained the same throughout the show's life. The self-proclaimed 'show your telly was made for' eventually became even more successful than
Wide Awake Club and is the programme for which Mallett is probably best remembered. In fact, many of Timmy Mallett's trademarks, such as his giant pink mallet Pinky Punky (introduced in 1990) and 'bleugh!' catchphrase originated on
Wacaday. The "bleugh" saying originated from the rules of Mallet's Mallet, where Timmy Mallett would hurriedly repeat the rules every day. On one occasion early in the feature's life, he fluffed the lines and came out with "bleugh" – and from there, the catchphrase was born. Pinky Punky is a soft plush hammer with a yellow handle, pink head with glasses, and yellow "punk" hairstyle. Pinky was famous for his catchphrase: "Mr. Mallett! Mr. Mallett! Can I go to the toilet?" A Pinky Punky can be seen in the
Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in
Coventry, after he was donated by Mallett. Later on in
Wacadays run, Mallett's infamous routine of hitting people over the head with his giant foam mallet was changed slightly, particularly in the ''Mallett's Mallet'' game, where he would instead hit large buttons on a machine to keep score, as the producers feared that young viewers at home might try and copy the routine by hitting people over the head with heavy objects. The programme outlived its parent by two years, but ended in 1992 when TV-am lost its franchise. ==Other==