If you were a 90s kid growing up in the UK like me, chances are you will remember most, if not all of these awesome kids TV shows & Cartoons from when we were younger! I have started rewatching quite a few of these old shows, and it is really obvious that they helped shape my sense of humor!
Let’s take a walk down memory lane with this awesome collection of amazing kids shows (I’ve even put videos/pictures to help us remember!), and If I’ve forgotten any, PLEASE let me know!
I now have a hub for everything nostalgic about growing up as millennials in the 90s and 00s. Click here if you want to dive into everything that made our childhood awesome!
Just before you start, this page is a work-in-progress, so keep checking back (I’ve listed some off the top of my head at the bottom that I’ll continue filling out as we go!
Tots TV
This TV show is one of my earliest memories of TV! These three puppets (Tilly, Tom and Tiny) would usually go out and explore, teaching you along the way! Classic UK TV show!
Fun Fact: The cottage used for filming in Warwickshire, England, was abandoned after the series ended and became a ruinous site for urban explorers before finally being destroyed by landowners in 2021.
Rosie & Jim
Another classic UK TV show Rosie & Jim was about two dolls that lived on a a narrowboat, with a plastic duck that would quack to let them know the coast was clear!
Fun Fact: Well this isn’t a fun fact, rather a disturbing consipracy theory (sorry if this ruins the show for you!)… Narrowboats were used by a paedo ring to move around under the radar and avoid disclosing their location. It’s thought that Rosie & Jim may have been a way of trying to expose the people involved.
Noddy
This cute kids show is about Noddy, a little wooden doll who lives in Toyland with his red and yellow car, along with his best friends Big Ears, Mr. Plod and Tessie Bear
Fun Fact: Noddy was voiced by Susan Sheridan, who also voiced Dennis the Menace and Eilonwy in the Black Cauldron
Pingu
Stop motion TV show that followed the daily adventures of Pingu the penguin and his family. Some of the most memorable episodes also include his friend the seal!
Fun Fact: Pingu speaks Penguinese, which is a made up language. Because of that, it was loved by people all over the world!
Wizadora
A brilliant TV show starring Wizadora, a trainee wizard who uses her magic to solve problems in and around the house. Wizadora also had loads of friends like Tatty Bogle, Stan the Shopkeeper, Pippa the Postwoman, Top/Sticky/Bottom, Phoebe, Filbert, Hangle, and many others.
Fun Fact: Wizadora was created to be a tool to teach English as a second language!
Jungle Run
Jungle Run was an awesome after school TV show that saw contestants complete challenges to collect silver monkey statues, while two monkeys (Sid and Elvis) tried to stop them from winning. At the end, they would enter the final channel inside the king monkey’s stomach and depending how well they done, they would get some awesome (terrible) prizes!
Fun Fact: An adult version titled Naked Jungle was commissioned by Channel 5. It was presented by Keith Chegwin, where contestants competed completely naked.
Finders Keepers
Finders Keepers was a great room raiding type TV show that had two teams of two contestants, battling against each other!
Fun Fact: Finders Keepers was hosted by Neil Buchanan of Art Attack
Chucklevision
One of the most recognisable kids comedy duo (Up there with Dick & Dom). This show followed the crazy antics of Paul and Barry chuckle. Their catchphrase was ‘To me, to you’
Fun Fact: Chucklevision racked up a whopping 292 episodes between 1987 and 2009!
William’s Wish Wellingtons
This was one of those cartoon that I only ever seen when we had the old big TV wheeled out in school to keep us occupied (or when the teachers needed a break!).
Fun Fact: The show was narrated by Andrew Sachs, who is most famous for playing the bumbling waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers.
Spider!
This was another one of those cartoon that I only ever remember watching when I was in primary school. I don’t really remember any of the episodes, just the intro with the puddles and the batch tub!
Fun Fact: The show featured no spoken dialogue in the episodes, with all adventures told through songs sung by Jeff Stevenson, with his children, Casey and Holly, providing background vocals.
Brum
I loved this one, but always found it weird why nobody questioned why a random small car was driving around by itself. Even as a child I thought that it would stand out like a sore thumb!
Fun Fact: The show was produced as a modern silent film with no dialogue from the actors, relying on mime and narration, which made it easy to export to over 100 countries.
Count Duckula
This was one of my favourite cartoons when I was young. It’s clear to see why I grew up loving vampires and ended up being a goth as a teenager!
Fun Fact: Count Duckula was originally a villain in the DangerMouse series before getting his own spin-off.
Fun Fact 2: Count Duckula was voiced by the legend David Jason, most famously known as Delboy!
The Demon Headmaster
These types of kids TV shows were basically giving us some first steps into the horror genre. I was terrified of the Demon Headmaster!
Fun Fact: A 1997 Christmas pantomime special, The Demon Headmaster Takes Over TV
Bernard’s Watch
Follow Bernard and his magic watch that stops time! Still to this day, I think that I would take Bernard’s watch over a superpower!
Fun Fact: David Peachey, the original actor for Bernard, left the role to study art in Venice, leading to Ryan Watson taking over in later series.
Fireman Sam
A wholesome kids TV show following the life of Fireman Sam. Watch out for that Norman Price, he is always up to mischief!
Fun Fact: The original idea for the series came from two real-life former firemen from London, Dave Gingell and David Jones, who wanted to create a show that taught children about fire safety.
Postman Pat
Everyone’s favourite big ginger postman, driving around the town with his black and white cat Jess (who apparently was a male cat!)
Fun Fact: Pat’s Full Name: His full name is Patrick Clifton. He received his surname from a fellow teacher of John Cunliffe named Molly Clifton.
Fun House
I don’t know anyone that didn’t really, REALLY want to be a contestant on Fun House! It’s a whole lot of fun, with prizes to be won… In case you didn’t remember!
Fun Fact: Fun House was filmed at the Scottish Television (STV) studios in Cowcaddens, Glasgow. The karting company Scotkart in Cambuslang (now TeamSport) maintained and fixed the karts used on the show.
The Magic Roundabout
Looks very dated now, but I remember how wonderful and cute this was when I first watched it. My favourite character was Dougal the dog!
Fun Fact: The iconic closing line ‘Time for Bed’ by Zebedee was intentionally added because of the show’s time slot. Straight after the show was the evening news and bed time for most kids watching.
Alvin and the Chipmunks
One of the most enduring shows, as it has seen many iterations throughout the generations!
Fun Fact: The show used a technique of having actors read lines slowly and then speeding them up, to create the iconic high-pitched voices.
HOW 2
Brilliant educational show aimed at kids. This is probably why we loved QI when we were older!
Fun Fact: HOW 2 was actually a reboot of the original 1966–1981 series How, that answered questions about science, history, and trivia.
Mike & Angelo
I must confess that I didn’t really watch a lot of this one, but I always remember the intro coming on after something that I always watched!
Fun Fact: The scene of Angelo on the ceiling was achieved by building the set on its side.
Art Attack
Arguably the most iconic UK kids show of all time! I haven’t met a single millenial that didn’t watch and love Art Attack!
Fun Fact: Host Neil Buchanan was actually a heavy metal guitarist for the band Marseille, which once toured with Judas Priest.
Zzzap!
Zzzap! was one of the shows that my brother and I used to love! It had Neil Buchanan as the artist too! The best part for us was trying to guess what section was going to be selected that day, and hoping that it was one of the sections you hadn’t seen before!
Fun Fact: The opening and closing scenes, where the camera zooms in or out of the 18-foot comic book, were filmed backwards! This meant that the actors were walking or jumping in reverse!
Sooty & Co
Loveable little puppets that ran a brick-a-brac shop in Manchester! This was a sequel to the children’s programme The Sooty Show.
Fun Fact: An episode titled “Soo’s Babies” caused controversy because Soo pretended to be pregnant, which Matthew Corbett described as a “sort of educational piece” inspired by his own daughter, though it was later described as a scandalous moment.
The Riddlers
Looking back on this one… It’s absolutely terrifying! The into music is quite sinister sounding and the puppets are absolute nightmare fuel!
Fun Fact: The human lead, Marjorie Dawe, was named after the popular nursery rhyme “See Saw Margery Daw”.
Oakie Doke
This was a stop-motion kids show about a friendly character who helps his woodland friends. He starts the episode by going down a big slide that wraps around his treehouse.
Fun Fact: The show was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films, the same creators behind Noddy’s Toyland Adventures.
Barney
One of the most iconic kids characters across the world! Barney is a plushie dinosaur, but with the kids imagination, they imagine that he is alive!
Fun Fact: Barney was originally supposed to be a teddy bear, but creator Sheryl Leach changed him to a dinosaur after seeing her son’s obsession with a dinosaur at a museum exhibit
Come Outside
Follow Auntie Mabel and her dog Pippin, explore how everyday objects are made and how things work, travelling by her spotty aeroplane to visit locations all around the UK.
Fun Fact: Pippin (the dog) was also the famous dog from the Bakers Complete pet food commercials.
50/50
This was one of those shows that you always hoped that you seen a school that you knew on it! Basically, there were two schools that went head-to-head to complete challenges or quizzes (they were selected randomly). I never seen a school that I knew on it mind you!
Fun Fact: Over its nine-series run, a total of 118 episodes were produced, including four special Christmas editions.
My Parents Are Aliens
Three orphan kids are fostered by two people who are seemingly human… turns out they are aliens!
Fun Fact: The character of Sophie Johnson (mum) was played by two different actresses. The in-universe explanation was that she morphed into a new form and couldn’t change back.
SuperTed
A teddy bear who started out like any ordinary toy, was brought to life by a spotty man from outer space! Whenever I hear SuperTed, I can’t help but remember the SuperTed Vitamins!
Fun Fact: Creator Mike Young originally made up the stories to help his young son, Richard, overcome a fear of the dark.
Bananaman
This one is a little earlier (came out in the 80s), but I watched this load either on re-runs or VHS. I loved that they made a superhero who has insanely strong, but also insanely stupid!
Fun Fact: In the comic books the schoolboy was not actually human, he was sent to Earth from the Moon as a baby.
Bodger & Badger
I can only imagine how the poor clean-up crew felt making this TV show! Really catchy theme tune though… I can’t get it out of my head now!
Fun Fact: Thousands of gallons of real mashed potato were used throughout the show’s 124-episode run
Kenan & Kel
This still holds up today, it’s hilariously silly! And I still use the quote “Who loves orange soda?” regularly!
Fun Fact: Unlike many shows that use laugh tracks, Kenan & Kel was filmed in front of a live studio audience.
Are you Afraid of the Dark?
I can only imagine that all the kids who used to love this show are massive horror fans now! Brilliant.
Fun Fact: Because Canadian law prohibits showing real names on tombstones, the crew had to cover real markers with foam tombstones featuring fake names
Goosebumps
Another epic gateway show into the horror genre. I must have watched the haunted mask a million times on VHS!
Fun Fact: Author R.L. Stine owns a ventriloquist dummy made in his likeness, which appeared in “Night of the Living Dummy III
Dr Zitbag’s Transylvania Pet Shop
For me this was one of those shows that I had completely forgotten about until I saw a picture! Love it when that happens!
Fun Fact: The show was originally known as Dr. Globule in France.
Animaniacs
This show was basically like a clip show, with loads of different characters making appearances. It gave birth to Pinky & the Brain and loads of other iconic characters (like the pidgeon mafia!)
Fun Fact: To promote the show’s premiere, a giant balloon of Yakko was placed on the Warner Bros. Water Tower. However, the studio’s CEO at the time, Bob Daley, mistook it for a “bad” Mickey Mouse balloon and ordered its immediate removal.
The Raccoons
For me, this was another cartoon that I only vaguely remembered, but it clicked a nostalgic niggle when I seen the bad guys!
Fun Fact: The show originally planed for live-action characters, where the raccoons would have been puppets.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to upload the intro (They have blocked it worldwide for copyright, and I didn’t want to get into bother!)
Biker Mice from Mars
This show was completely badass! My brother and I used to love this show and would pick what character we were when we watched it! The main line that stands out to me is ‘Steel Finger’.
Fun Fact: The show is massive in Finland, where the dub is legendary for being much cruder than the original, featuring mild profanity and references to local celebrities and slang that weren’t in the English version.
Garfield & Friends
I had a volume of this cartoon on VHS back in the day. The pig and duck seem to feel the most nostalgic for me, for some reason!
Fun Fact: There were three different theme songs over its seven-season run
Freakazoid
This was another of Steven Spielberg’s hilarious creations, that was in the same humour vein as Animaniacs.
Fun Fact: A strange man named Emmitt Nervend appears at least once in almost every episode, usually in the background. The end credits often list exactly how many times he was hidden in that particular episode.
Yvon of the Yukon
This cartoon was right up my street growing up. It was disgusting… Full of snotters and poor hygiene that I just found (and still do) find hilarious.
Fun Fact: Tommy Tukyuk, Yvon’s best friend, was voiced by the late Kirby Morrow, a prolific voice actor also known for roles in Dragon Ball Z, such as Goku.
Mona the Vampire
This was one of those kids shows that both my younger brothers remember too (as it was late 90s and early 00s). Being the little goth that I am, I enjoyed anything to do with vampires!
Fun Fact: The show is a Canadian-French production, and although based in English-speaking surroundings, it never originally aired in the US.
Rugrats
It’s horrifying to look back at this show and realise that we are older than the rough, sleep-deprived parents in this show… Chuckie was always a standout character in this for me! One of the most memorable things about this show, however, is the orange VHS!
Fun Fact: The voice of Tommy Pickles, E.G. Daily, is also a well-known singer and actress who appeared in Friends as Phoebe’s friend, Leslie.
Rupert
This is a cartoon that I remember playing on compilation VHS back in the day, but I can’t recall seeing it on TV… I might be wrong, though!
Fun Fact: Rupert Bear is that he was originally drawn with brown fur. His fur was changed to white shortly after his 1920 debut in the Daily Express simply to save on printing costs by using less ink.
Captain Planet
I’m actually not 100% sure how I came about watching this show when I was younger because it came out in the early 90s (I was a late 89 baby!). It might have been a compilation VHS?
Fun Fact: IMDb reports that Tom Cruise originally agreed to voice the character and recorded six episodes before backing out.
Dexter’s Lab
I have absolutely nothing but pleasant memories of Dexter’s Lab, and all the TV shows from the golden age of Cartoon Network! Those shows really contributed to my sense of humour!
Fun Fact: Dexter was voiced by actress Christine Cavanaugh (the voice of Chuckie from Rugrats) for the first two seasons before Candi Milo took over the role.
Fun Fact 2: Dexter’s Laboratory was Cartoon Network’s first original series
Cow & Chicken
Another classic cartoon from the Golden Age of Cartoon Network! Cow & Chicken is just non-stop fun, with the red guy being one of my favourite cartoon characters of all time! I started watching this show again recently with my son (who finds it udder-ly hilarious)
Fun Fact: Actor Charlie Adler voiced both Cow and Chicken, along with 90% of the other characters in the show.
Johnny Bravo
This buff, but bone-headed Elvis impersonator is one of those shows from the past that likely wouldn’t exist in modern day because the whole show was basically about him trying to pick up women (and being rejected), but it’s filled with fun, and from rewatching a few episodes recently, it’s still funny!
Fun Fact: Johnny’s iconic blonde hairdo was actually inspired by Brad Pitt’s extreme hairstyle in the 1991 indie film Johnny Suede.
Courage the Cowardly Dog
This was another one of those shows that was borderline scary! Since putting this list together, I’ve realised that there are so many shows that are basically gateways for kids getting into the horror genre. My son watched a couple of seasons of Courage this week and found it hilarious and not scary at all… Maybe it was just me as a kid lol
Fun Fact: In early, unreleased versions, the mask Eustace wears to scare Courage was originally intended to be a shotgun, but it was changed to be less violent.
I am Weasel
Another classic show from the Golden Age of Cartoon Network. This show was basically about a weasel who was very sophisticated, and a baboon who was a bit dim and jealous of weasel!
Fun Fact: The voice of I.M. Weasel is provided by Michael Dorn, known for playing Worf in Star Trek. Charlie Adler also voiced I.R. Baboon (Who voices Cow & Chicken)
Two Stupid Dogs
I remember this show basically because it was on at 8pm, when I was supposed to turn my TV off for bed on a school night… Watching this show was basically my cheeky way of staying up later and hopefully not getting caught and told to turn it off. The bad guy in this show always had be laughing, which might be why I did end up getting caught! “Ain’t that cute… BUT IT’S WRONG!”
Fun Fact: The show was a training ground for future industry legends. Some creators and artists included Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Laboratory), Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls), and Paul Rudish (Mickey Mouse Shorts)
Jackie Chan Adventures
I loved martial arts movies, and when Jackie Chan Adventures came out, I was hooked! I even got the subscription to the magazine that came with a little talisman in every issue! If you have followed me for a while, you will probably know me enough to know that I am now going to purchase these talismans now… It has to be done! (To confirm… I did buy them lol)
Fun Fact: Uncle’s character was based on Jackie Chan’s real-life father, Charles Chan. “One More Thing!”
The Angry Beavers
An iconic Nickelodeon show about a couple of beavers. I was more of a Cartoon Network guy growing up, but when I did watch The Angry Beavers, I did enjoy it!
Fun Fact: The final episode (Bye-Bye Beavers) was intended to show Daggett and Norbert becoming aware they are cartoon characters in a show that is ending, but Nickelodeon refused to air it.
Watch my Chops
This was one of those random shows that we always watched after school when I was a bit older, but brings back a load of memories as my youngest brother was obsessed with it!
Fun Fact: The title Watch My Chops comes from the main character Corneil’s catchphrase, but this name was used exclusively in the UK. In the United States and Australia, the show aired under the more literal title Corneil & Bernie.
Oggy & the Cockroaches
This was a show that I always watched at my gran’s house on a Friday/Saturday. I love slapstick, so this gave me a more modern Tom & Jerry vibe!
Fun Fact: The show’s creator, Jean-Yves Raimbaud, was a fan of punk music, which inspired the names.
Pokemon
No list can be complete without including probably the most popular franchise of our childhood (and it’s still going today). Like the majority of the world, I was swept away with Pokemon fever too, and I loved every minute of it!
Fun Fact: The owners of Monster in My Pocket tried to sue Pokemon because they were called Pocket Monsters, but their lawyer did a poor job, and they lost. Prior to the lawsuit, they were offered $300,000 to stop it going to court!
Remember Monster in My Pocket? Check them out here!
Digimon
If you weren’t into Pokemon (or even if you were), Digimon was always an alternative that didn’t quite get the love it deserved! I must admit that I didn’t get to watch a lot of it growing up, but I was glued to it when it was on (back then we couldn’t just binge shows, we had to wait until they were on!)
Fun Fact: The franchise originally launched in 1997 as a “Digital Monster” virtual pet (a ‘masculine’ counterpart to the Tamagotchi) designed specifically to allow the pets to link up and battle.
Bonkers
One of the lesser-known Disney shows (I hardly hear anyone talking about it!), but I always got a laugh out of it. It did kind of remind me a little bit of Animaniacs for some reason (It might have been the style or something? not sure)
Fun Fact: The series was produced by two different teams who created two completely different versions of the show. The show that Disney thought was closer to Roger Rabbit ended up being the winner.
Kerching!
The show followed Taj Lewis, a teenage “dot-com” entrepreneur trying to make £1 million for his mother by running an online business under the pseudonym “Rudeboy”.
I loved this show on CBBC, it reminded me of Ed, Edd & Eddy because they were always trying to earn cash!
Fun Fact: Devon Anderson (Taj): Became a familiar face on soaps, playing Billie Jackson in EastEnders and Sonny Valentine in Hollyoaks.
GamesMaster
Starting off gaming life at a young age, I couldn’t get enough of Gamers Master! Finding out all about new games, watching people play games and getting some cheeky cheats (before you could just look them up on the internet!)
Fun Fact: Sir Patrick Moore reportedly negotiated his fee for the show based on how much he could “drink” (specifically a bottle of whisky) rather than a traditional salary.
Dinosaurs
This show just reminded me of a dinosaur version of The Simpsons, but the baby was a family favourite of ours growing up. We even had the baby plus with the string at the back that would say a load of catchphrases! ‘I’m gonna bite you now!’ was my favourite!
Fun Fact: The show used advanced animatronics from the same team behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Cramp Twins
This was another classic CBBC show that my brothers and I absolutely loved. I still use ‘Girl Pants’ to this day!
Fun Fact: Wayne Cramp is voiced by Tom Kenny, the same legendary voice actor behind SpongeBob SquarePants!
The Story of Tracy Beaker
Great CBBC show following Tracy Beaker in her foster home that she dubbed the dumping ground. I was a mosher/then goth, so I likely the style of the show, and I even had the jumper with the S on it, in the picture above!
Fun Fact: The Tracy Beaker books were the most-loaned books from public libraries in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2010.
Fat Dog Mendoza
I wasn’t a massive fan of this one growing up, but I did give it a good few watches, and the theme tune stayed with me… Every time I see a chubby dog, I always sing ‘Fat Dog….Mendoza!’
Fun Fact: Fat Dog was voiced by Mark Acheson (his debute to voice acting), I know him as the mailroom guy in Elf!
The Incredible Games
You will need to bear with me on this one. It’s hard to describe all the different games within this show, without it being a massive wall of text, but basically, this was kids riding a lift that had to do challenges, a bit like the Crystal Maze, for kids! The two standout challenges for me were ‘The Dark Knight’s Lair, which is the picture above (We used to play that on the living room rug, because it had a similar design), and the game where they had to swim in a giant bowl of soup to get letters and form a word… What a show!
Fun Fact: The talking lift was a young David Walliams before he became a household name!
Below is a full episode! Enjoy!
Terror Towers
This was one of those TV shows that I knew all about, but could NEVER find until recently! Finding this and the Incredible Games is really what inspired me to create this page! This was basically a traditional game show, set in a creepy castle, but the main thing I remember is the talking spider puppet!
Fun Fact: Neil Buchanan (famous for Art Attack) was co-creator and producer of Terror Towers!
