Smile (British TV series) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Smile
Presented by	Devin Griffin (2002–03) Fearne Cotton (2002–04) Reggie Yates (2002–04) Rochelle Wiseman (2004–06) Barney Harwood (2004–07) Kirsten O'Brien (2005–07)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Producer(s)	Darrall Macqueen Ltd
Running time	2 hours, 30 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC Two
Picture format	16:9 (widescreen)
Original release	1 September 2002 (2002-09-01) – 26 August 2007 (2007-08-26)

Smile was a fun British TV show for kids. It aired on Sunday mornings. The show was made by a company called Darrall Macqueen Ltd for CBBC. It first started in 2002.

Smile was first shown on the CBBC Channel. Later, it moved to BBC Two. This happened to make space for another show called Dick and Dom in da Bungalow. Even though Dick and Dom ended in 2006, Smile stayed on BBC Two. The very last episode of Smile was on August 26, 2007. It ran from 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM.

Meet the Presenters of Smile

The first presenters of Smile were Fearne Cotton, Reggie Yates, and Devin Griffin. Devin was also known as DJ Devstar. In 2003, Devin left the show to focus on his radio work.

Soon after, Fearne and Reggie also left in 2004. They were replaced by Barney Harwood and Rochelle Wiseman. Rochelle was a singer from the group S Club 8. Later, she joined the girl group The Saturdays. In 2005, Kirsten O'Brien joined the team. Rochelle Wiseman left the show on March 26, 2006.

Did you know? Two of the Smile presenters, Fearne Cotton and Rochelle Wiseman (now Rochelle Humes), also voiced the Voice Trumpets in another Darrall Macqueen show, Teletubbies (the newer version).

Here's a list of the presenters and when they were on the show:

And here are some guest presenters who appeared on Smile:

Meet Nev the Bear

The presenters on Smile were always joined by a special puppet named Nev. Nev (short for Neville) is a small, blue bear. He has patches and part of his ear is missing. Nev lives with Barney.

At first, Nev's voice was recorded beforehand. His limited words were played when needed. Later, a puppeteer named Ross Mullan started doing Nev's voice live. This meant Nev's voice sounded a bit different in the studio compared to the phone-in games.

Nev loves socks, jam, his toy Duckie, Barney, and Kirsten. He calls Kirsten "Krusty" because it's hard for him to say her full name. Nev sometimes has trouble saying certain words. He can't sing well, but he's great at rapping.

Nev enjoys dressing up and sleeping in. He often got to dress up on the show. But sleeping in was hard on Sundays because of the show! Nev doesn't like baths or scary stories. When he gets scared, he sometimes growls, just like a real bear.

Nev's Own TV Show: Bear Behaving Badly

Nev and Barney even got their own TV show! It was a sitcom called Bear Behaving Badly. The show started on September 3, 2007. It aired on BBC One and the CBBC Channel.

Bear Behaving Badly became very popular. The BBC ordered more episodes because so many people watched it. It aired for four series in total. The show was so loved that it became one of CBBC's most popular programmes.

Nev Merchandise

Because Nev was so popular, you could even buy toys and other things featuring him! In 2005, a talking Nev the Bear toy came out. This toy said many of Nev's famous phrases, like "Fwightened" and "No no no no." A smaller version of the toy was also released later.

Nev's Funny Sayings

Here are some of Nev's most famous and funny quotes:

• "Happy Eater" (instead of "Happy Easter")
• "Hello, Ian" (instead of "Halloween")
• "Chrissy-mussy" (Nev's way of saying "Christmas")
• "Love you, Barney" or "Love you, Krusty."
• "Oh Dear, Oh Dear, Oh Dear!"
• "Duckie!", "Jam!" or "Socks!"
• "No, no, no, no."
• "Tut, girls." Or, "tut, boys."
• "Three, two, one...Jibadeeha" or "Three, two, one...Jam" followed by "Go, go, go, go!"
• "I win!!" (even when he hasn't won anything)
• "Bonjour"
• "Oh, la, la."
• "Confused"
• "Fwightened."
• "Can't scare me" or "Can't bathe me."
• "Oops" or "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear" or "Sorry, Barney" or "Sorry, Krusty."
• "Doggie"
• "Musley sun" (Nev's way of saying "Music Lesson")
• "Zibedeah"
• "Piggies"
• "BBBBBB!" (instead of "BB3B")
• "Rumble the crumble" (instead of "Rumble the Jumble")
• "No way Jose"
• "Yeah yeah!"
• "Yum yum!"
• "Snuggly Ducky Duck Duck" (the name of Nev's cuddly duck toy from "Bear Behaving Badly")
• "Muma-Dabi-Dun" (Medallion)
• "double two! double two!" (when reading the old Smile phone number)
• "Crazy Keith!"
• "Quick!"
• "'Thur" (instead of Arthur)

Fun Games and Activities on Smile

Smile had many fun games and activities over the years. Some of these included Bandit Bites, Bath the Bear, Drop Da Beatz, Nev It Up, Nev's Pie Jarmies, Nev's Socks, Rap It Up, and What Do You Fink. You can still find some of these games online. The original Smile website was saved before it closed down here.

Games Games Games Competition

This was a series of games where boys competed against girls. The winning team got a prize. The team that lost had to get into Nev's bath, which was filled with gunge! Some of these games were Bear Pairs, Duckey Bounce, Nev's Jam Buster, Bandit Bites, and Quick On The Draw.

Rumble the Jumble Challenge

In this game, viewers had to write down letters that appeared on the screen. Once all the letters were collected, they formed an anagram. An anagram is a word made by rearranging the letters of another word. Participants then had to figure out the word. After that, they would draw a picture or make something that showed the word. Kids would then send their creations to the show.

Dressing Up Fun

At the start of each show, Nev would dress up in a funny costume. Viewers were asked to send in pictures of themselves dressed up in the same way. The dressing up themes included:

• People, like clowns, grannies, pirates, waiters, or even The Doctor from Doctor Who.
• Animals, such as crabs, frogs, hedgehogs, or owls.
• Objects, like garden gnomes or trains.
• Food, such as Christmas puddings.
• Anything red for Comic Relief Red Nose Day.

Nev's Little Chefs: Cooking for Kids

Every week on Smile, kids showed Nev how to cook. They made yummy recipes like Apple Smiles, Breakfast Feast, Banana Lollies, BlueBeary Muffins, French Bread Pizza Boat, Jelly Beary Sundae, Nev's Biscuits, Nev's Mush, Watermelon Lemonade, and World Cup Biscuits.

Nev Sports and Activities

Smile also featured different sports and activities. These included basketball, climbing, cricket, karate, and tennis. They often showed tennis during the Wimbledon tournament.

Smile Backstage: Interactive TV

From March 5, 2006, viewers with digital TV could press the red button. This gave them access to Smile Backstage. This cool feature let them switch between watching the live show in the studio and seeing what was happening behind the scenes. You could use the left and right buttons on your TV remote to switch.

Most of the backstage action involved the presenters hanging out with special guests. They would do extra challenges, play games, and chat. Smile Backstage was the first time the BBC used this kind of interactive TV feature for a live show. Before this, viewers could also watch an extra seven minutes of content after the main show ended. Smile even won an award! It won the Interactive Award at the Children's BAFTAs in November 2005.