So it’s been a while since it was released so I best talk about it. The fourth series of ‘The Harvo Show’.

I enjoyed working on this one a lot more than series 3 as I wasn’t keen on the sitcom format as it would draw comparisons to Sooty (which it did).

So I decided to go back to the routes of the show and bring back the variety format but change it up slightly, bringing in new segments because previous ones didn’t work or tweaking the ones that I liked but the audience didn’t.

I also introduced a silent comedy sketch because I am a big fan of that era of comedy and have always wanted to make my own silent comedy. I decided that these would be simply shot with just one angle like in the very early days. I also consider myself a clown and it’s nice to explore physical comedy which I don’t get to do very often.

Episode 1

You may notice the first episode is the only one with an official title. ‘The New Show’ this is was made so there was a transition between the sitcom into a variety show. So I came up with a small plot, where Flopper and I are deciding what this series should be. It was a very meta episode but I liked that.

I also brought in a craft segment (to replace the teaching a magic trick segment from the earlier series)

I chose a paper lantern because when I did the research for this series, I found a program from the 50s called ‘Watch with Mother’, and on there they made paper lanterns and I thought it would be (In my head) my little homage to that.

This episode was the first one shot about 1 month before the rest of the series so we could see how the format looked.

Episode 2

This episode was the first proper with the newly renovated format. I introduced with this series an opening title where I would show highlights in a ‘coming up segment’ this is me paying tribute to Top Gear which I absolutely love.

This episode was also the one where everything went wrong and it actually did, it wasn’t scripted to do that. The craft failed and I ran out of time and resources so I had to move on. I asked the producers what they thought and agreed that it was funny enough to keep in the show.

The silent comedy sketch was even more ridiculous as it was one of the first ideas for the series and I didn’t realize until filming it that it wasn’t working, again the producers found it funny so it stayed in.

Episode 3

The grand finale. I love this episode as it ends the series nice and proper.

We start with a classic pantomime sketch based on a soundman and arguing with a microphone. As much as it doesn’t make much sense on a TV show when it’s clearly written for the stage, I still think it’s funny.

The next bit was the craft I will admit we ran out of ideas for simple crafts to do. We wanted something simple the audience could follow along with and it’s the best we could come up with (the craft segments were the last things filmed so I was slightly burnt out)

Then there was the final trick which I loved doing. Fun Fact originally the teddy that I make vanish was going to be a small Sooty teddy but it was cut for legal reasons.

You may have noticed that Flopper only appears in the 1^st episode and is only mentioned in later episodes, The reason for that is its called ‘The Harvo Show’, the thing people would talk about was the Flopper scenes and I felt that maybe he should be put to bed and focus on me Harvo.

So that’s it the end of the series and also the final one for now. I decided that after for series’ the show has run its course, on a budget of £0 and a crew of 0. I am not ruling out a possible return as there is a lot more potential and I still have a few ideas but for now I am shutting the door and wanting to work on new things.